v____^V^ V qof- //- CHRONICLES SELECTED FROM THE ORIGINALS OF Cartapfrilus, tfje Wanfcertng EMBRACING A PERIOD OF NEARLY XIX CENTURIES. NOW FIRST REVEALED TO, AND EDITED BY DAVID HOFFMAN, HON. j. u. D. of Gottegen, AUTHOR OF SOME LEGAL AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. CARTAPH. " Go fafter, Jefus, go fafter Why doft thou linger? JESUS. " I, indeed, am going but Thou fhalt tarry till I come." Old Legend. " All Chriftendom or Moordom through, I wot he hath no peer." " Seriouineis and Mirth Recolle&ion and Anticipation Spirituality and Senfuality Terreftrials and Celeftials Life and Death, are blended together in intimate combi nation." Von Schlegel. " Immortality peals Like the eternal thunders of the deep Into mine ears this truth Thou liv ft for ever ! " Lord Svrcn. [IN TWO SERIES EACH OF THREE VOLUMES.] SERIES THE FIRST VOL. I. LONDON: THOMAS BOSWORTH, 215, REGENT STREET. 1853. Co C6e CfnlDten of Cbe Difperfion,- JEHOVAH S FAVOURED PEOPLE, DURING SO MANY AGES CHRIS T S SCATTERED FLOCK, DURING AS MANY MORE : C&efe C&ronicles Are affectionately Infcribed Trujling that, under Providence, they may become a link, however Jmall, in that myjlerious but not invisible chain, that jeems to be now drawing Ijrael s fad and long enduring dejliny to a Jpeedy cloje and Her to the only revealed and TRUE FAITH. (KUOtfe comes to you under the name of an Hebrew re nowned in the early Centuries of your laft Difperfion and greatly famed in the Legends of thofe days but to your people of more recent times little known. He is now recently returned from a far Weftern Land, by your Forefathers and by the then Gentiles never feen. And yet that remote Land is feemingly deftined by Abra ham s God, to perform no fmall part in the great work of Human Melioration, and alfo of Ifrael s Reftoration ! Marvel not, O Sons of Abraham ! that this Revelation fhall prove how much He, who hath been called Cartaphilus the Wandering Jew, hath, ever fmce the days of Vefpafian and Titus, abidingly cherifhed a fure Hope for your Race as promifed through The Rock of Ages . Receive kindly, alfo, I pray thee, for my fake, the Offering of my chofen Editor His, as well as my own toils therein, are with no vain pretenfion but fpring from hearts deeply confcious of un- worthinefs feelingly alive to the prefent and paft condition of the Abrahamic Family and irrefiftibly impreffed with the joyous anticipation that Ifrael every where muft early fee far better days. CARTAPHILUS. London, Auftin Friars, September, 1852. TABLE OF THE GENERAL CONTENTS OF VOLUME THE FIRST. Page | EDICATION of Editor to his Brother iii Dedication of Cartaphilus to " The Children of the Dif- perfion" iv Editor s Hiftoirette of the Legend of the " Wandering Jew" v Epiftle of Cartaphilus to his Editor xxiii Editor to the Reader 1 Note as to the Appendix, containing a remarkable Letter of A.D. 1535, The Jew to Cornelius Agrippa Hi BOOK I. SECTION I. Birth, Parentage, &c. of Cartaphilus The Myfterious Dream The Hope of Shiloh s Coming 5 LETTER I. Cartaphilus to Rabbi Eben Ezra> Cities of Refuge The Baptift 7 SECTION II. Vifitto his Uncle The Prophetic Dream His Praifes of Mammon Self-Reproof 8 SECTION III. His Firft Meeting with Jefus 12 LETTER II. Cartaphilus to Eben Ezra Baptift s Imprifonment He rod s fplendid Feftival Salome and Herodias Salome s Dancing Baptift s Death 12 SECTION IV. His Second Meeting with Jefus in the Temple The Mi racle at Capernaum 17 LETTER III. Artemas to Cartaphilus Cure of the Ten Lepers . . 20 SECTION V. The Feaft of Tabernacles 25 SECTION VI. Avaricious Mufings Judah s Sceptre departing A Mo nologue 25 LETTER IV. Cartaphilus to Eben Ezra Ifrael s divided Faith Pha- rifees, Sadducees, Samaritans, Eflenes, &c 31 LETTER V. Cartaphilus to Artemas Doubts of Free-agency His Love for Rebecca The Ilcariot s Firft Treachery Triumphal Entry of Jefus into Jerufalem The Cafting Out from the Temple . 38 SECTION VII. He feeks Pontius Pilate 47 SECTION VIII. Judas and Cartaphilus meet 4.8 SECTION IX. Artemas and Cartaphilus vifit the Temple Deep Mufmg upon the Ablence of Jefus The Agreement between Cartaphilus and Judas 49 SECTION X. A Meditation upon his Interview with Judas Love for Re becca awakens Alarm The Sorrows of Artemas 53 SECTION XI. The Sanhedrim, its Organization Arrangements for the Betrayal by Judas The Opening Speech of Caiaphas Speech of Nicodemus Speech of Gamaliel Speech of the Arimathean Examination of Judas Concluding Speech of Caiaphas How Judas was paid True Time of the Laft Paflbver 57 a Cable of Contents. Page SECTION XII. The Sudden Appearance of Judas before Cartaphilus The Revelations of Judas before the Betrayal Reply of Carta philus Their joint Refolutions The Betrayal in Gethfemane The Trial of Jefus No final Decifion Referred to Pilate ... 70 SECTION XIII. The Meditations of Cartaphilus The fearful Skies during that Night Proceedings in the Pretorium 76 SECTION XIV. The Curfe The Crofs victorious The RefurreHon . 79 LETTER VI. Rabbi Eben Ezra to Cartaphilus His Reproof of him The Mourning over the Curled One 79 LETTER VII. Artemas to Eben Ezra Night of the Betrayal ... 83 LETTER VIII. Artemas to Prifcilla The TRIAL of Jefus before Pilate The Condemnation 86 LETTER IX. Artemas to Prifcilla The Crucifixion Proceffion Death by the Crofs defcribed The Curie of Cartaphilus Valtnefs of the Multitude The Mourners for Jefus in that Proceflion Prieftly Veftments defcribed Their Typical Import 91 LETTER X. Artemas to Prifcilla The Crucifixion defcribed Valley of Hinnom View from Gihon The Three Croffes The Crucified Malefactors The Penitent Thief The Expiration of Jefus The Gloom of Nature The Revival of Nature The Embalmment The Burial The Tomb, how guarded The Days in the Tomb The Refurreftion 103 BOOK II. SECTION XV. The Chronicles refumed by Cartaphilus His Medita tions upon Sin and Love Rebecca Artemas 115 LETTER XI. Artemas to Cartaphilus The Day of Pentecoft His Re proof of Cartaphilus The Converfion of Saul Death of Stephen, Artemas Love for Rebecca The Evil One, his many Names . . 118 SECTION XVI. Hinnom s Valley Stellar Influences Muiings upon Death and Immortality Apoftrophe to Mazzaroth 125 LETTER XII. Artemas to Cartaphilus Evidences of the RefurreCtion 133 LETTER XIII. Artemas to Cartaphilus Evidences of the Reiurreclion, Note as to why thefe two Letters are now omitted 133 LETTER XIV. Rebecca to Cartaphilus Removal to Pella Artemas Aquila Apollos The kind Admonitions of blighted Love Death of Salome Retributive Juftice The Herodian Family Death of Herodias Death of Pontius Pilate The lovely Solitudes of Pella Caiaphas removed The " Evening Dawn" 134 LETTER XV. Rabbi Eben Ezra to Cartaphilus The Converfion of Eben Ezra and Rebecca 149 LETTER XVI. Prifcilla to Cartaphilus Artemas weds the PrincefsDru- filla Agbarus Prince of Edefla Cure and Converfion of Prince Agbarus Jefus and Agbarus 150 LETTER XVII. King Agbarus of Edefla to Jefus of Jerufalem The Anfwer of Jefus to the Letter of King Agbarus 153 LETTER XVIII. Artemas to Saul of Tarfus 154 LETTER XIX. Aquila to Artemas Youthful Reminifcences Caefaria defcribed Primitive Organization of the Church . .... 156 LETTER XX. Paul of Tarfus to Artemas Recounts his Life . . . 169 BOOK III. SECTION XVII. A Glance at Roman Life The Emperor Claudius The NERO MAN A commenced AMufing of Cartaphilus The Ma tricide Death of Montanus Conflagration of Rome . . . . 179 SECTION XVIII. A Retrofpeft of Twenty Years in Rome, &c. Re minifcences of Early Life Love of our Natale folum 184 SECTION XIX. THE RETROSPECT 188 Roman Life continued His Firft Interview with Claudius His Cable of Contents; Page Firft Vifit to a Theatre Pompey s Theatre delcribed The Empe ror s Opinion of the Jews Procurators of Judea in the Claudian time Death of Claudius The NERONIANA continued The Emprefs Poppoea Julia Agrippina Seneca and Thrafeus Self-Reproof A Meditation The PRAISES OF WIT The People s Facetiae on Nero Death of Burrhus The fearlefs Thrafeus Colloquy between Seneca and Nero Seneca retires from the Court His fucceffor Ti- gellinus The Magnificent FeailofTigellinus The Pilb Confpiracy Death of Poppoea Arrival of Tiridates His Reception by Nero The Crowning of Tiridates Vologefes contemptuous Reply to Nero s Letter Affairs in Paleftine Death of the Apoftle Paul The Laft Hours of Paul Colloquy between Cartaphilus and Nero as to that Martyr Nero s Golden Palace Further Colloquy at the Palace Nero s propofed Expedition into Greece Their Departure for Greece End of the Retrofpecl 126 BOOK IV. SECTION XX. Nero s Travel into Greece His Firft Victories and Crowns Ifthmus of Corinth The propofed Canal The Travel lers afcend the Acrocorinthus Cartaphilus offends the Emperor Why forgiven 229 SECTION XXI. Cartaphilus vifits Athens alone Argos Cyclopian Walls Ruins of Mycenae Vifits the Tomb of Agamemnon The Ifland of Algina His Arrival at Athens A New Acquaintance A Meditation The Acropolis The Parthenon The Lefler Panathenais Proceffion The Propylaea Hall of Polygnotus The Ereftheum The Minerva Polias Bronze Statue by Phidias Temple of the Winds The Poikile Zeno The Pnyx Street of Tripods Monuments to Pericles and to Lyficrates The Choragi The Youth ALC^EUS The Thefeion The Prytaneum The Gymnafium Palaeftra The Academy The Ceramicus Value of Time A Mufmg Apoftrophe to Plato The Lyceum The Pe- ripathon Cynofarges Cynic Philofophers The Jew fighs for Jerufalem The Youth Alcaeus Temple of the Olympian Jupiter Temple of Triptolemus Legend as to Ceres Views from the Acropolis The Jew departs for Corinth Megara Phocion Euclid His Arrival at Corinth The NERONIANA continued Ar rival of Helius The Reception of Cartaphilus by the Emperor and Helius The Confpiracy at Rome The Murder of Corbulo They arrive at Neapolis Alba The ProceMion towards Rome Arrival at Rome The Forum 234 SECTION XXII. Confpiracy againft Nero NERO S LAST HOURS Nero s Death Nero s Tomb . 269 BOOK V. SECTION XXIII. Paleftine Its then Condition Petronius Arbiter John of Gifchala The Idumeans Efau Vefpafian 279 SECTION XXIV. Cartaphilus refolves to refcue JOSEPHUS His fears of Galba the Idumeans 283 SECTION XXV. Reception of Cartaphilus by Vefpafian and Jofephus . 284. LETTER XXI. Alcasus to Cartaphilus . . 284. LETTER XXII. Flavius Jofephus to Cartaphilus He vindicates himfelf His early Life The Sicarii Egyptian Impoftor The Nazarenes The Fa6Hons at Caefarea Herod Agrippa II The Procurators Fertus Albintis Death of James the Juft GefTius Florus Ceftius Gallus Rebellion of Caefaria Mafada joins in the Rebellion The Factions in Jerufalem Jofephus raifed to the higheft command He organizes the general Rebellion The Maffacre at Damafcus John Catle of Contents, Page of Gifchala s Confpiracy againft Jofephus The Revolt at Tiberias Enemies of Jofephus Arrival of Vefpafian in Judea Agrippa s reception of him Jofephus retires to Jotapata The Siege of Jota- pata by Vefpafian The Fall of Jotapata Perils of Jofephus The Capture of Jofephus Events in Paleftine after the Capture of Jofe phus Vindication by Flavius Jofephus of himfelf . . . . . 286 SECTION XXVI. Cartaphilus vifits the Pella Family Prifcilla s Narra tive promifed to Cartaphilus 311 SECTION XXVII. The Youth Alcaeus Artemas 313 PRISCILLA S NARRATIVE 314. The Artemifion of Diana at Ephefus Statue of Diana Chriftianity at Ephefus Alarm of the Ephefian Artizans Paul in Ephefus The Sons of Sceva The Travels of Paul Ananias the High Prieft and Paul Prifcilla s Zeal at Ephefus Their dangers and difficulties . . The earlieft Martyrs Her Twelve Sources of Hope for the growth of Chriftianity Each explained and illuftrated The Chriftian s LOVE of their One-God The Heathen s FEAR of their many Gods The only ufeful meaning of Coequality The Condition of WOMAN under Chriftianity The Condition of SLAVES under Chriftianity Philemon and his Slave Onefimus The Slaves of Cartaphilus The Slave-mart at Ephefus PHILOTERA and JULIANUS emancipated Their Betrothment Rebecca s abhorrence of Slavery The Heathen and Chriftian Argument thereon The Heathen Expecta tion of the Meffias The Sibylline Traditions and Books Their Hiftory and Fall The Judaic Platonifm of Philo The Chriftian Philofophy of Plato The Contemplative Eflenes The Practical Effenes The Samaritans. SECTION XXVIII. Prifcilla s Narrative continued 343 The Pella Family leave Ephefus The various Lands and Cities vifited by them Smyrna and its Vicinity Phocaea Thyatira Con dition of its Church Sardis and its Church Philadelphia and its Church Laodicea and its Church Pergamos and its Church Coloflas The Venerable Philemon Antioch of Pifidia Iconium Lyftra Derbe Tarfus Apollonius of Tyana His perfonal appearance The early Life of Apollonius Extenfive Travels of Apollonius Comana Temple of Bellona Melitene Tiridates King of Armenia Arrival at ARTAXATA Events there Chrif- tians at Artaxata Armenian Worfhip MEISALCUS Vologefes Venus Anaitis The early Life of Meifalcus The perfonal Appear ance and the devout Prayer of Meifalcus Story of Meifalcus and his two Daughters Vologefes vifits his brother Tiridates The five Doomed Chriftians Rebecca s Chriftian Zeal The Fugitive Chrif tian The Summons of the Pella Family, and of Meifalcus before the King Their Trial in the Palace Rebecca s Reply to King Tiri dates Their Condemnation Concealment of Philotera Eicape of Melchior Proceflion to the Tigranian Rock Proceedings there of the Minifter of Vengeance over the Den ot Lions The Doomed Chriftians perifh The Fate of Meifalcus Rebecca s firm Rebuke of Tiridates. SECTION XXIX. An Explanation needed 376 LETTER XXIII. Prifcilla to Cartaphilus The Explanation given . 377 BOOK VI. SECTION XXX. Cartaphilus vifits the Pella Family Arrival there of Artemas Influences of Chriftianity on perfonal Beauty .... 381 SECTION XXXI. Cartaphilus returns to Jerufalem 383 SECTION XXXII. Cartaphilus abandons Jerufalem Arrival at Pella The Ceremonials of Adoption and of Arrogation Banquet of Primitive Chriftians The Pella Family removed to Edeffa . . . 384 Cable of Content*, Page SECTION XXXIII. The three happy Families Joyful Arrival of a Friend 387 SECTION XXXIV. The Mufmgs of Cartaphilus upon Immortality He mourns the Death of Friends Apoftrophe to Confcience The Mourning of Primitive Chriftians their Funeral Ceremonials . . 390 SECTION XXXV. Betrothment and Marriage of Alcaeus and Cornelia . The Epithalamiums The Marriage Feaft The Paftime ofJEnig- mas and Riddles His Return to Paleftine 396 SECTION XXXVI. The Lament of Cartaphilus over Jerufalem s Ruins Self-contemplation His doubts of Free-agency Apoftrophe to Solitude 41 a LETTER XXIV. Melchior to Aquila Jerufalem s Deftruftion by an Eye-witnefs 416 LETTER XXV. Cartaphilus to Flaviusjofephus The Succeffors of Nero Galba Otho Vitellius The Works of Jofephus The Friends of Cartaphilus at EdefTa The deftruclion of Machaerus The youth ful Warrior Eleazar Deftru6Hon of Mafada Herod s magnificent Palace Eleazar s Patriotic Speech to the Mafadans Effett of Ele- azar s Speech A remarkable Coincidence The FourEvangelifts Cartaphilus a Fugitive Seeks an unknown Solitude 445 LETTER XXVI. Alcaeus to Thaddeus The fearch after Cartaphilus Antioch upon the Orontes [Hiftory of Roman Paper its nine varieties] The luxurious Grove of Daphne on the Orontes The Plain of Efdraelon The Region of Lebanon 460 LETTER XXVII. Alcseus to Cornelia The bootlefs Search after Carta philus The Family of Alcaeus BETHLEHEM then and in profpeft 470 LETTER XXVIII. Julianus to Philotera [The Roman and modem Modes of dating compared] Julian s Emotions on returning to his native City as a Freeman and Chriftian Love of Country Loyalty and Patriotifm diftinguifhed Narrative of Roman Affairs Vef- pafian The Barbarians Temple of Peace Temple of Pallas The Flavian Amphitheatre Julius Sabinus Death of Vefpafian Titus Emperor Queen Berenice and her Fate Apollonius of Tyana Anecdotes of Titus Eruption of Vefuvius Pompeii Albion, or Britannia Agricola Cornelius Tacitus Apoftrophe to Agricola Julianus and Tacitus converfe Domitian s Reign and Character Epitome of Domitian s Life The fecond General Perfecution John s Book of Revelations Apollonius of Tyana Domitian s prefentiment of his own Death Nerva s Reign Roman Authors of that Age Seneca The Pliny s Jofephus Quintilian Silius Italicus Statius 473 LETTER XXIX. Melchior to Aquila Martyrdom of Timothy at Ephefus Early Martyrs and Confeflbrs The Apoftle John at Ephe- fus Education among the primitive Chriftians Apollonius of Ty ana The Philofophy of EpiiStetus Apollonius difcourfes upon the God PAN The Philofophy and Religion of Apollonius Roman Affairs Nerva Emperor His Death and Character Trajan, his Life and Character 496 LETTER XXX. Rebecca to Thaddeus The Duty of Marriage recom mended Neapolis Cumae Pompeii Craves the fweet Repofe of the Tomb . . 59 LETTER XXXI. Melchior to Alcaeus The Arrival of Thaddeus at Rome with a youthful Stranger The Meeting there of many Friends All prepare to vifit Rebecca at Edeffa . . . . . . 510 BOOK VII. SECTIONS XXXVII. to XLI. RETROSPECTIVE MEMOIR OF CARTA PHILUS, FROM THE RUINS OF P^STUM DURING HIS XXVIII YEARS RESIDENCE THERE, FROM A. D. 74. TO A. D. 103 515 Catrte of Contents, Page He wanders from EdefTa, and reaches Nicephorum Artaxias the Magian His Philofophy and Religion Vifits Palmyra Its then Condition Why he abandoned it He retires to the Ruins of Pte- Jium His Slave Julianus Their life at Paeftum Their ftudies The value of Prayer They vifit Pompeii Events there Vefuvius Pompeii as it then was The Chriftians there Their Paintings, Statues, Tombs, Books Definition of that City The Wonders of his fubterranean Life under the Ames of Pompeii The minute World revealed to him His Efcape Returns to Paeftum The Slave Julianus Colloquies with Julianus Books from Pompeii ex amined Julianus deipatched to Rome. LETTER XXXII. JULIANUS TO TACASULRIPH Jofephus and his Works His Wives and Sons Domitian s kindnefs to Jofephus The Hiftorian Juftus His hoftility to Jofephus The partial difin- terment of Pompeii [Were Herculaneum and Pompeii deftroyedat the fame time?] 533 SECTION XLII. Joyful return of Julianus to Paeftum Man s focial Nature Qumtilian The Hifpanians Helvetians Alemanni, &c. The Clafles and Varieties of Man The Sources of their Diftinclions The Philofophy of Oratory 536 SECTION XLIII. Arrival at Paeftum of a Stranger Colloquies be tween Cartaphilus and Thaddeus, his Son by adoption A Mufmg upon Sin and Innocence . 540 SECTION XLIV. Origin and Progrefs of Paeftum Myfterious Symp toms of Death Thaddeus deipatched to Rome 543 SECTION XLV. THE FIRST TRANSFORMATION OF CARTAPHILUS The meeting upon the Salernurn road of the youth Tacafulriph and Thaddeus The marvellous Explanation The Interment of the Body of Cartaphilus The Cenotaph and Infcription Manumiffion of Julianus 544. SECTION XLVI. Tacafulriph and Thaddeus repair to Rome Joyous meeting there of friends The ftranger Tacafulriph Preparations for Edefla The Illnefs of Rebecca End of the Retrofpect of 28 years at Paeftum 550 SECTION XLVII. The Palace of Alcaeus at Edefla Meditations of Cartaphilus before feeing Rebecca His Reminifcences The Laft Hours of Rebecca The RECOGNITION Death of Rebecca . . 552 SECTION XLVIII. The return of Cartaphilus and Thaddeus to Rome Rebecca s Monument and Infcription at Ramoth-Gilead Their travels into Barbaric lands is doomed to wander! Civilization and Barbarifm alike abufed and mifunderftoocl [His long refidence at BRITANNIA, at this time omitted, and why ?] . 557 SECTION XLIX. A Century anticipated, for theprefent THE SECOND TRANSFORMATION OF CARTAPHILUS A Youth once more! Meditation upon his then condition Contemplations upon the Paft, Prefent, and Future Death of his adopted Son, Thaddeus The Rabbinical doctrine of Gilgul The Rabbi Ifaac and Rabbinifm Converfations with the Rabbi before the Transformation Cartaphi lus (as the youth Tacafulriph) attends his own funeral Colloquies between Tacafulriph and Rabbi Ifaac after the Transformation . 561 SECTION L. Tacafulriph, as the heir of Cartaphilus, refides with the Rabbi Ifaac Dejliny free-agency Prefcience -Predeftination . 569 SECTION LI. Domeftic Life of Tacafulriph Mufings upon HOPE and HABIT Further Inquiries into Rabbinifm Privileges of Youth againft the follies of Age The rahbies Judah, Hakadofh, Eleazar, Gamaliel, Akiba Remarkable Coincidences Akiba,inhis youth, Cable of Contents. Page and the Roman Lady Story of Aben-Judan and the Rabbi Akiba Death of that Rabbi 573 SECTION LII. NARRATIVE OF THE RABBI ISAAC 587 Born a Have His early life Freed by the Proconful Grannianus Written and Oral Law The eight Flights of the Sanhedrim The PATRIARCHATE OF TIBERIAS The Synagogues and Oratories The Lament of Rabbi Ifaac over Ifrael s ftate Powers of the San hedrim Their four Excommunications compared with thofe of the DRUIDS, and Chriftians. The famed Miffion of Rabbies Ifaac and Nathan to the Oriental Jews Its wonderful refult. THE ROMAN EMPERORS. TRAJAN 607 The Rabbi Judah Hakadom at Trajan s Court His Daughter Imlah s love for that Rabbi Trajan s affeflion for him Emperor s confent to the rebuilding of Jerusalem s Temple How defeated His con- duft of the Dacian War His magnificent Bridge over the Danube Triumphs decreed to him The Third Perfecution Its principal viflims Phocas, Bimop of Pontus ; Symphorofa, and her feven chil dren ; Clemens, Bimop of Rome, Ignatius, Bimop of Antioch, Sy- meon, Bimop of Jerufalem. The Seven Epiftles of St. Ignatius Trajan s Conquefts in the Eaft Earthquake at Antioch Revolt of the Mefopotamians Rebellion of the Jews Emperor s return to Syria The terrific {laughters in Cyrene, Alexandria, and Cyprus, under Andrew, Luminum, and Martus Turbo Death of Trajan Rabbi Ifaac s View of Trajan s character The magnificent Tri umphs of Trajan after his death Eftablimment of the Parthian Games in honour of Trajan. HADRIAN 618 His ftrong claims to the Imperial rule His Learning and wonderful Memory How Rabbi Ifaac, in his early youth, had gained the Emperor s favour Hadrian s Villa at Tibur The youth Ifaac in the Vale of Tempe The Colloquy between Hadrian and the Youth Ifaac s logical proof as to the Jewifti Scriptures Hadrian s enforcement of a Third Perfecution How he liftened at Athens to Bimop Quadratus The Vindication of the Chriftians by the Philo- fopher Anfides Alfo to Granianus, Ifaac s late mafter Hadrian, why called the " Travelling Emperor " The lands vifited by him, and his doings in them all The wonderful Youth ANTINOUS Death of the favourite Honours paid to the memory of Antinous The Jews again rebel The long-continued Severities of Hadrian Banifhment of the Jews from Paleftine The name of Jerufalem changed to ELIA CAPITOLINUS The Emperor s Illnefs at Barae His Death His poetical Apoftrophe to his Soul. MARCUS ANTONINUS Pius 628 The Emprefs Fauftina Juftin s Apology for the Chriftians The Havens built by him at Terracina and Capta His Aquedu&s at Antium Baths at Oftia His excellent character, and the Lamenta tions at his death. MARCUS AURELIUS, AND Lucius VERUS ...... 631 His political wifdom and juftice Juftin and his works His martyr dom Lucius Verus in the Eaft His return to Rome His unjuft triumph His malice againft the Chriftians The Fourth Perfecu tion Rabbi Ifaac s Opinion of the Primitive Chriftians The Hor rors of that Perfecution Martyrdom of St. Polycarp of the Youth Germanicus Death of Verus The Marcomanic War Mira culous prefervation of the Melitine Legion The " Meditations" of Cable of Contents Page Marcus Aurelius Their great excellence The Perfecution revived in Gaul The Rabbi Ifaac s generous endeavour to vindicate the Emperor from blame as to the Perfecutions Death of Aurelius The Rabbi s View of his Character The Equeftrian Statue raifed to his memory. COMMODUS 642 The Elements frown upon his birth A concentrated view of his vi cious Life and Character. PERTINAX 645 How called to the Empire His many virtues The excellence of his (hort Adminiftration The political phenomenon of his murder. DIDIUS JULIANUS 647 The panic excited by the death of Pertinax The Empire expofed to Sale at auftion ! Purchafed by a wealthy merchant Life and Cha racter of Didius Julianus The people s infolence towards him The three claimants for the Empire : Julian at Rome, Picenius Niger at Antioch Septimius Severus in Pannonia Death of Julianus by the Senate s order. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS 651 Character of S. Severus His triumphal Entry into Rome Rabbi Ifaac retires in difguftfrom Julian s Palace to Lugdunum His long and peaceful residence there The punifhment by Severus of the Praetorians Conduft of the Emperor towards Picenius Niger and Clodius Albinus Perfecution of the C. hriftians Why Severus was called " Antlchrijl " Martyrdom of St. Irenaeus The Plautian Confpiracy. End of the Retrofpecl of Cartaphilus, and of the Rabbi Ifaac s Nar rative 656 APPENDIX. A. Letter ccix. Ifaac Lakedion to Cornelius Agrippa, Paris, De cember fth, 1535 657 B. Note by the Editor on the Death of St. Paul, and on his Second Epiftle to Timothy 683 C. Genealogy of the Herodian Family 685 D. Table of Roman Dating, compared with the modern . . . . 687 OF THE of ti)e T is a well known hi/lorical fa<3 that during nearly eighteen centuries, there has been a myfterious and almojl invijible tradition quietly pajjing down that long jlream of time, in vari ous countries of Chrijlendom, rejpeffing a cer tain wonderful perjbnage endued with almojl perpetual life ; and who has been known under the general name of the Wandering Jew ; but whoje dijlinclive names, in different countries and ages, have been Cartapkilus, next AhafueruS) then Jofephus, and finally, Ifaac Lakedion, The curiojity of the ages -has been much exercijed to know who that remarkable individual was why dejilned thus to live and wander what were his " Savings " and " Doings " when and how his J o O \Vanderings Jhall terminate ? X^y^hat the nature of that ideality, or actuality is, which Jo greatly charms us in all Juch inquiries, and indeed in the contemplation of every remote antiquity (and ejpecially of all myjlerious perjbnages, be they real, or only legendary), has long been a problem not eajily Jblved : the facl, however, is indijputable : for, even the dullejl mind is Jbon lojl in a pleajmg wonder of belief or in a moving Jlate of alternate incredulity, and of cherijhcd Jelf-deception ; and, be it the one, or the other, I entirely agree with the philojbphy of the Abbe de Polnltz^ that Juch emotions are, on the whole, invari ably pleajurable. All antiquity, moreover, is environed by Jbmc halo of romance by a myjlic veil, that greatly engages our curio jity, and we all know that no awakener of the mind is Jo potent as Curiojity which began with Eva in Paradije ; and has never ceajed to rouje the energies of man, as well as of woman, in all the after ages ! Hence originate our love of hi/lory our delight in poetry that Protean child of Imagination our devotion to fictions and legends of every kind our cheriJTied blindnejs to the tales of fabulous ages our momentary belief in the marvels of giants, in i. b VI Legenn of tfje "bannering the chivalrous deeds of knights-errant in the doings and Jayings of the renowned " Seven Champions of Chriftendom " in the fajci- nating jlories of the " Thoufand and One Nights " which neither exhausted the patience of the fair Sche-hera-zade in telling them, nor her earnejl listeners. In this abundant fountain of curiojity we aljb fee with what eagernejs men jeek into the chronicles of Druidi- cal times into the figments of the mediaeval ages into the Mira- bilia Mundl, and the Polychronicons of cloijlered monks. To the Jame veneration for antiquity, and the like effecl of curiojity, we may refer the rejpecl, and even worjhip accorded by Jo many to relics In connexion with this, we aljb find an eagernejs for the prolongation of life through many artful and myjlerious devices the faith with which myriads, even down to the prejent hour, have jbught after a Juppojed Elixir Vitte, to gain that imaginary perpetuity of life, and finally, the readinejs of our credence in every legendary Jlory of life s metempjychojis, all being jure proofs of the two jburces of our pleajure in this regard, to which I have Jufficiently alluded, viz. love of Antiquity, and the power of Curiojity ! And yet, all antiquity is but comparative : what is myjlerious to one mind, through a jeeming great age, is not necejjarily Jo to another, when praclijed in Juch inquiries : its contemplation, however, to mojl perjbns, is extremely vague, perplexing, and contradictory : all long periods are very apt to bewilder, unlejs filled up by epochs and aeras, and especially by the graphic memorials of man s thoughts and actions, be they the veritable faffs of hijlory, or the jheer coinage of a prolific fancy. But, let the Jkiagram be jbmewhat occupied in either way, how clear do the paths and vijlas of very many con- Jecutive ages then Jeem to become ! By this means is it that hijlory, true or falje, may cauje even Time s Initiative hour to kijs the fleeting Now ; and make the remotejl period Jeem proximate ; and thus, too, not only to the philojbpher s thoughtful mind, but to far humbler intellects ; and, indeed, to every human being in the leajl accujlomed to think of the pajl, or to be curious as to the pre jent and the future. The capacity, however, of dealing Jagacioujly with the future belongs to the deeply thoughtful and experienced alone ; and only to the more clever intelligences among them : but the pafl and the prefent have each its " local habitations" and dif- tinclive " names" that give fixity to the thoughts of even common minds, whereas, any portion of a coming age is jhrowded in doubts, and often is wholly invisible, and, as to the boundlejs future, it hath abjblutely no epochs, even in the imagination no ideal jhores or mounds, on which the eye of thought may repoje for any contem plation. *^he Epijlle addrejjcd by Cartaphilus to his Elditor, will Juffi- ciently explain the origin, nature, and objects of his Chronicles ; and his pages will often explain, to every ujeful extent, the prejence or abjence of truth, in regard to his mere traditional hijlory. But, legenti of tbe " e&anfcering; 3|eto," Vll as the veritable Chronicles, now given to the world, will clearly manifejl that this tradition hath taken great liberties with the jujt fame and true character of our much renowned perjbnage, it is but fair to Cartaphilus that his Editor Jhould prejent to his readers the fragmentary and fparje materials of the Legend itfelf, as contracted with the " Selections from his Chronicles " that now arc given. D Cartaphilus is quite too experienced a philojbphcr in men s cuf- tomary ways, to take offence at Tradition for its vile mixture of idle falsehoods with undoubted facls rejpefting him. As might be expecled from the nature of verbal reports, and of Juperjlitious rumour, Cartaphilus has appeared to far lefs advantage in the Tradition, than he does in his own Chronicles. The Tradition, or Legend, will be now Jlated briefly, though Jufficiently for our pur- poje, from all the meagre exijting Jburces : the mendacity of Time cannot injure Cartaphilus, after this revelation of himjelf; and whether theje mijlakes and faljehoods be found in Spanijh, Italian, German, and other ballads or in the Hungarian, Bavarian, and Gallic traditions in the chronicles of Vienne upon the Rhone ; or finally, in whatever form his legendary Jlory may have been told in the pages of the mere Fiftionijls, it is now hoped that his genuine Chronicles will for ever Jet at rejl, not only profitlejs curiojity, but all disparaging tales, and Juperjlitious rumours as to his pajl, pre jent, and probable future de/tiny ! ^he " Wandering Jew " has been Jaid to have made Jeveral " Revelations " of himjelf personally but Jlill very partially, and only by his occajional prejence, and always verbally. No tradition has ever ajcribed to him much loquacity, either as to his Jayings or doings : but Jilence, dignity, poverty, the Jligmata of crimes, and myjlery have ujually been the lineaments of his reputed character ! and, in Juch revelations, there have always been Jurprije and terror in thoje who heard his few words rejpecling his curfe, and the fource of it ! Whether as Cartaphilus, Ahajuerus, Jojephus, or as IJaac Lakedion, the tradition has ever been that he is " doomed to wander 1 hath ll perpetual life" and generally that his alternations of " extreme age," and of " renewed youth " are as Jo many Jeeming deaths and rejurrcclions ! ^JjjMicnce came theje traditions why Jo general and why Jo uniformly ajfociated with the idea of Jewijli hojlility to the illujlrious Nazarene ? theje are the quejlions we Jhall now Jlrive to rejblve, and as briefly as may be. ^()oubtlejs, every reader will remember that, at the cloje of Saint John s Gojpel, there is recorded a very myjlerious Converfation that took place between Jejus (after his rejurre<3ion) and his great dijciple Peter. It Jeems that John, whom Jejus Jo much loved, was then Jeen by Peter approaching them ; when Peter Jaid ; " Lord ! what Jliall this man do ?" Now, it mujl be borne in mind that Peter ajked this quejlion immediately after Jejus had prophetically viii Hegenti of fyz " ^Bannering; 3(efo/ declared that Peter Jhould die an unnatural death. It is therefore probable that Peter was deeply interejled, and perhaps too curious to know what Jhould be John s fate aljb. Jefus, therefore, in reply to Peter, fays, " If I will that John jhall tarry // // I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." JHnd, in the 23rd verje it is faid " then went this faying abroad among the brethren, that that difciple Jhould not die : yet Jefus Jaid not unto him He Jhall not die but, if I will that he Jhall tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? Thefe remarkable pajfages have been fuppofed by many to be the fir ft fource, or true origin, of the legend of the Wandering Jew : and, though this is quite pojjlble, and even very probable, it would Jlill need Jbme explanation as to the manner, in which that conversation could have given it birth. ^]Q>ow, no one at this time can fuppofe that the Apojlle John the beloved of Jejus could be one and the fame perjbnage as the much-famed, and ill-famed erratic Jew ; but merely that, before Jerufalem s dejlruclion (which occurred about thirty-Jix years after that converfation) the faying of Jefus that John Jhould tarry till be came, was referred by the Jews to the final coming of Jefus : and hence that mijlaken view of the matter may eajily have given rife to the notion at that time (efpecially among the common people) that one of the difciples would never die: for the tarrying till Jefus Jhould again appear would naturally be deemed equivalent to per petual life ; whereas Jefus clearly meant nothing more than that John Jhould witnefs his coming, not in the glory of his lajt appear ance on earth, but in his prophejied one of Jerufalem s deftruftion ; which, as we know, was the lot of John, and of no other Apojlle ! John did live at the time of that calamitous event that "coming of Jefus" was well known of him ; but the other Eleven had all perifhed, in various ways, fome time before Jerufalem s dejlruclion. As the Jews, therefore, neither expected the dejlruclion of their city ; and, when it came, regarded it not as any fulfilment of a pro phecy, nor in any way as the " coming of Jefus," they faw in thofc words of Jefus to Peter, and alfo in John s greatly protracled life (which endured quite thirty years beyond that prophefied event), more than fufficient to raife a rumour among the unbelieving multi tude, that this John, or fome one elfe among the Nazarenes, Jhould tarry till Jefus Jhould a finally come, if come he ever fhould : for, though very many Jews believed not in the Nazarenc as the pro- mifed SHILOH, they had feen and heard too much to doubt as to his being a very wonderful perfonage, and a mighty prophet. Hence it was that, when the crude report had once gained ground among an unenlightened mafs, (whether full believers or not in his meffiah- Jhip), viz. that one of the difciples Jhould not die till Jefu s coming, John s actual death, near feventy years after the crucifixion, would not Jlop, nor even arrcjl in any way the pervading rumour, efpe cially as copies of that Gofpel were then extremely rare, and feldom of tfje " bannering; 3feto," in the hands of Jews or Gentiles of the common Jbrt. The tradition, once out, would not only Jpread, but ajjume additions and various forms; and might thus have eajily become ihefatient point whence arojc the entire Legend of the Wandering Jew. jj^o again, there is another prophetic declaration of our Saviour s, that may have tended to add to, and confirm the rumour ; and which has been equally mijunderftood. J^t will aljb be remembered by the reader, that Jcjiis ujed the following Jlrong language upon another occajion. " Verily I jay unto you, there be Jome of them which jland here, who Jhall not tajle of death, until they have Jeen the Kingdom of God come with power !" Here Jejus, doubtlejs, alludes to thoje who were not apojtles, or pojjibly not believers ; and chiefly to the younger por tion of his hearers ; who, as he knew, would live to witnejs God s terrific manifejtation of his power, not only in Jerusalem s projlration, but aljb in the wide diffufion of the Go/pel, by miracles and preach ings which was emphatically called the " Kingdom of God," though Jejus aljb well knew it would encounter Jbre perjecutions, but jlill would jo radicate itjelf, that all the Powers of Darknejs jhould never prevail againjl it ! ^ft is, indeed, true that after ages early and correctly explained all of thefe pajjages : but the legend itfelf could not be thereby ex- tinguijhed and pojjibly never will be. It was, then, thoroughly among the people of all the nations it had ajjumed new ajpefts, and had given birth to many jlrange jlories, and even to artful devices in Juperjtitious countries, jb as to have occajioned evidently falje, as well as mijguided, and jbmetimes very plaujible, imperfon- ations of that myjlerious perjbnage ! "^ have already intimated that the Gentile and Jewijh chrijlians of the firjl century, knew not how to underjland theje pajjages of the then jb recent jcriptures : they thought not of Jerujalem s pro phetic dejliny as jb nigh ; or as equivalent to " Jefus coming ,-" but they Juppofed that jbme one, or more perjbns were to remain on earth, to witnejs the jecond Advent of the Saviour, and the bright- nejs of his kingdom, at Jbme perhaps very remote period ! And this interpretation the Helenijlic Jews, and the Gentiles generally would be the more inclined to give, as the Greek national legend of PROMETHEUS had ajcribed to that wonderful Jon of Japetus an im mortality of woe ! Bound in chains to the Caucajlan rocks, a vulture preyed eternally upon his liver, in punijhment of that daring genius, which had caujed him to jubjtitute human reafon for the divine wijdom ; and to rob even the jupreme god Jupiter (only a perverjion of the name of Jehovah) of thoje gradual revelations he would vouchjafe to man ! This Grecian myth was eajily applied by them in Jupport of the erroneous views they may have taken of theje pajjages in the New Scriptures : and no marvel is it, if after ages, cj~pedally among the rude and jupcrftitious, Jaw the imagined Legenfc of tfje " bannering; 3ieto." " WANDERER OF AGES " in any poverty-Jlricken and aged Jew, whoje mijeries had driven him into caves and hidden recejjes or in other wretched exiles from humanity, but who Jlill were as inno cent of the crime and curje of Cartaphilus, as was the Apojlle John himfelf! jS^uffer me, then, to trace the aElual progrejs of this marvellous tradition from Juch lights as we do pojjejs ; and to Jlate it chrono logically, and wholly irrespective to the now publijhed veritable Chronicles of Cartaphilus. firjl explicit and authentic mention of the " Wandering Jew " will be found in the Latin Works of Roger de Wendover, a monk of St. Albans, who died in the year of Grace 1237. This work having been merged in the more extended one of MATTHEW PARIS, a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Clugny, likewije of the monajlery of St. Albans, about the year 1250, we there alfo find the fame account given of this myjlerious perjbnage. It appears, then, from Roger of Wendover, confirmed by Matthew Paris, that, in the year of the Nativity, 1228, a great convocation of Bijhops and of other church dignitaries, had ajjembled at St. Albans ; among whom was an Arch-bijhop of Armenia Major, who had come to England upon a pilgrimage to the relics, lately de- pojlted there by the Crufaders. The conversation, after a time, happened to turn upon the Jubjeft of that famed Wanderer of Ages, then named "Jojephus" the faith that might be placed in the long known tradition and as to the cauje of his terrific curfe. In the courfe of that interejting inquiry, the Archbijhop, through his interpreter, a knight, was ajked whether "he had ever Jeen or heard of that man, of whom there was much talk in the world, and who is Jlill alive, and who, when our Lord Juffered, was prejent and Jpoke to him." In reply, the knight Jlated, that "his lord, " the Archbijhop, well knows that man ; and Jhortly before his lord " had taken his way towards the W^ejlern Countries, the Jaid " Jojephus had ate at his table in Armenia, and that he had often " Jeen and held converje with him. On being further interrogated, " the knight Jlated for his lord, that, at the time of the Juffering of " Jejus Chrijl, and when Jeized by the Jews and carried into the " Hall of Judgment before Pontius Pilate that governor finding " no fault with him, nevertheless Jaid, Take ye him and judge "him according to thy law whereupon the Jhouts of the Jews " increajed, and he releajed unto them Barabbas, and delivered "Jejus to them to be crucified. Wlien therefore the Jews were " dragging Jejus forth, and had reached the door, Cartaphilus^ then " a porter of the hall in Pilate s Jervice, impioujly Jlruck the Saviour " on his back with his hand, and Jaid in mockery, Go fafter^ " Jcfus^ go faflcr, why dojl tbou linger f" And Jejus looking back " upon him with a Jevere countenance Jaid to him, * / am going, LegenU of t&e " bannering: 3ieto," xi and thou wilt wait till I return. According as our Lord Jaid, this Cartaphilus (now called Jojephus) is jlill awaiting his return ! At the time of our Lord s Juffering, Cartaphilus was thirty years old ; and when he attains the age of a hundred years, he always returns to the Jame age as he was at that time ! After Chrijl s death, and when the Catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was baptized by that Ananias who baptized the Apojlle Paul, and then took the name of Jojephus. He often dwells in both divisions of Armenia, and in other Oriental lands, pajfing his time amidjl the bijhops and other prelates of the church : he is a man of holy converjation of few words, and circumjpecl in his demeanour, for he does not fpeak at all, unlejs when quejlioned by the bijhops and religious men : and then he tells of the events of old times, O 7 and of thoje which occurred at the Juffering and rejurreclion of our Lord, and of the witnejjes of the rejurreclion, namely, thoje who aroje with Chrijl, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto men : he aljb tells of the creed of the Apojlles, and of their Jeparation and preaching, and all this he relates without Jmiling or levity of converjation as one who is well praclijed in Jbrrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with fear to the coming of Jejus Chrijl, lejl at the lajl judgment he Jhould find Him in anger, whom, when on his way to death, he had provoked to jujl vengeance. Numbers come to him from different parts of the world, enjoying his Jbciety and converjation ; and to them, if they are men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters whereon he is quejlioned. He refujcs all gifts that are offered to him, being content with Jlight food and clothing. He places his hope of Jalvation on the faft that he Jinned through ignorance ; for the Lord when Juffering prayed for his enemies in theje words Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. J^uch is the narrative we have in the pages of Matthew Paris ; but without comment by him, or by his predecejjor Roger de Wen- dover ; and yet doubtlejs, with entire belief in the faft that it was Jo given by the Armenian prelate, and aljb in the perfect veracity of that narrator. CHH e next hear of this Jingular perjbnage, Jbmewhat more than a century later, that is, in the meagre chronicles of the fourteenth century which allufion to him, however, has abandoned the names of Cartaphilus, and of Jojephus, and given us that of ISAAC LAKE- DION : and it aljb makes no mention of periodical alternations of age and youth ; but Jlill imputes to him perpetual life ! Our next acquaintance with the unhappy Jew is one of a very wonderful character ; and is altogether Jo extraordinary, that we Jhould much rather have expected to have found it among the monks of the Jeventh century, than connected, as it is, with a name of no Jmall celebrity in thejixteentb century ! I allude to the very famous interview he is Jaid to have had with the renowned CORNELIUS xii Legenn of tfje " bannering: 3Iefo." AGRIPPA himjelf a very wije man, and no little of a wanderer, which, even in thoje days, was in itjelf regarded as a Jbmewhat Jujpicious circumjlance, especially if the traveller was at all addicted to the occult fciences, or, unfortunately, had gained to himjelf, from overmuch learning, the name of magician ! Agrippa, doubtlejs, was at that time much occupied in the alchemic arts ; but not Jo fearfully and diabolically, as the ignorance and Juperjtition of many, even in that comparatively enlightened age, imputed to him. Judi cial ajlrology, aljb the remnants of necromancy, and the Juppojed alliance of magic with the trijmegijlic or alchemic arts, were not yet quite out of vogue ; Jo that the fpirit of the age Jlill cherijlied a multitude who firmly believed that Cornelius Agrippa was a mojl Jujpicious man, and that his Jlrange doings in the adyta of his retired Jludium, would not endure the light ; and that therein would be found fuch familiar JpiritSj and even diaboli, as take delight in mijleading and poijbning men s Jbuls, through the artifices of his un natural learning ! An examination of the character, and publijhed works of Agrippa, however, would induce imprejjlons much at variance with the chronicle now to be detailed. The date of this remarkable interview, Jaid to have taken place between Cartaphilus and Cornelius Agrippa, has not been given : but as Agrippa died in 1539, ** * s certainly the firjl revelation the Jew made of himjelf, Juice that in Bohemia ; after which he ajfumed the name of IJaac Lakedion ; but again rejumed that of Cartaphilus in Italy, about thirty-Jlx years before his vijit to Agrippa. The Jlory I mujl Jbme what condenje ; and aljb prejent it in a more Jeemly garb, though in perfect harmony with this portion of his legendary hijlory. ^magine, then, the famed Necromancer, Cornelius Agrippa, buried in an abyjs of thought Jurrounded by divers crucibles and alembics, with Jkeletons of various animals that garnijhed his walls. Upon his table lay Jbme ponderous and worm-eaten folios, in confujlon many Jlrange mixtures of metals, placed in acrid fluids numerous amalgams upon his right and left : aljb, the Elixirs, the Salts, and the Sulphurs the Ammonias, and divers other ingredients of his potential and Jecret art ! A Jhelf, nigh at hand, was burthened with many Jmall vejjels, the curious contents of which the Jhining labels told, juch as, Mandibularum liquor, or the oil of jaw-bones Mandella, or the feed of black hellebore Jaffa, or the herb Trinity, and very many others ! ^J^he Jhades of night were gathering over Florence ; and the lovely valley of the Arno had yet Jbme feeble glimmerings of twi light repojing upon its green bojbm, as if reluctant to part with Jo much beauty, or to cloud its charms by night s darker mantle. Suddenly, Agrippa heard a low quick rap at his door : a tall figure entered, with much courtejy in his demeanour nobly formed myjterious and awful in his carriage, and whofe eye could ill be divined, as both youth and age were Jb Jlrangely blended, as were JLegenn of t&e " bannering 3|eto." xm never before jeen in any mortal countenance ! No furrow was upon his cheek, nor wrinkle on his brow : his large dark eye flajhed with the brilliancy of early manhood, and yet with all the intellectuality of long-experienced age ! But his jtately figure Jeemed to have the weight of Jbme years, and his hair jlreamed upon his jhoulders in ample locks of fleecy white, blended with Jbme of nearly jet black ! His voice, though he had uttered "only a Jentence, was tremulous, but melodious Jbul-Jearching and enunciative of the jbbricty of wijdom ! A Jilken abnet, injcribed with many oriental characters, encompajfed his waijl in Jeveral ample and graceful folds : in his hand he held a palmer s Jlaff upon his feet were gorgeous Jandles, faded and worn : on his Jhoulders was a purple Kphod, of rare and exquijlte workman/hip, likewije the worje for time and wear ; and upon the lappets of which, in front, were the Hebrew letters Thauf- Rejh Yod, and Alepb ; and on that behind, Jujpended two cubits in length, was J~een, embroidered in gold, a triangle, beneath that a Jingle eye, the centre or pupil of which was formed of an inejlimable Japphire, the lajhes of thin dazzling rubies ; and, over the upper lid of the eye was injcribed the letter Beth ! ^J^he eye of the Stranger was quick in rejling a moment upon a graceful, but mojl intensely black dog ; whoje Jmall and piercing eye Jhot forth the intelligence, more of man than beajl ; and whoje general exprejfion Jeemed to amble upon the very borders of humanity ! Time and circumjlances, at that injlant, permitted to the Stranger no clojer Jcrutiny of the remarkable animal : but thought is Jpeedier than aclion, and he could not Jhut out a rujh of ideas, injpired in him by that devoted and much-famed attendant upon the great philofopher ; for the Jew had heard of what the crude people Jo jlubbornly injljled that this jet black dog was naught but the very demon wherewith Agrippa wrought his marvellous deeds in the magic art ! Still the Jew Jpoke no further words than at his firjl entrance ; but gazed upon Monfieur (for Jo Agrippa had named his dog), then repojing at his majler s feet, amidjl many ponderous volumes and opened manuscripts on the floor around him ! As the Stranger entered, and uttered a few words of civility, there was an eye of the dog keenly intent upon him, and the other upon Agrippa, Jeemingly to inquire of his lord whether he Jhould give to the Jew a kindly welcome ! A morjel was injlantly cajt to the noble beajl (his well known Jignal of hojpitality), and quickly the philojbpher and his dog were on their feet, to welcome the approaching guejl. j?Jgrippa gazed involuntarily, for a moment, in Jllence and wonder mixed with awe, upon the high intelligence of the Jlranger ; whoje eyes Jhone with unnatural lujlre in the evening dawn, but whoje countenance was pleajing to behold, and powerfully awaken ing there being deep-laid Jbrrow, wifdom, and rejignation, that Jeemed to reveal a tale of long-accujlomed mijery, entirely Jbftened by the Jupremacy of mind ! XIV Legenti of t&e " bannering 3[eto." me, O Agrippa ! this untimous intrusion, Jo unbidden, upon thy pri\ T acy," at length faid the Jew: "thy vajl fame hath reached unto the world s limits ; and I could not leave this fair city without communing with thee^ its brightest ornament Jo loved by Jbme, and Jo dreaded by others !" " ^J^hrice welcome art thou, O Stranger," Jaid Agrippa, " but thy curiojity in thus feeking me, will, I fear, be ill requited : for fame is often mendacious, whether to praife, or to cenfure ; and to Agrippa it hath been both. My many years have been more de voted to profitlefs and vain purfuits, than in the gain of enduring honour, and of real wealth : it is not all regulus that hath remained at the bottom of my crucible, O Stranger !" " X)J^ t ^ ou ta ^ f many and tedious years, O learned and re nowned Agrippa!" exclaimed the unknown one, " dojl tbou, who hajl fcarcely feen more than three fcore years, talk of lengthened life, fpent in much thought and vexation ? I do remember me that, when quite a youth, O Agrippa ! I ufed to gaze upon the bright orb of day as he declined, and thought with delight of his fpeedy renovation in the far Ea/t, after he had quenched his rays in the boundlefs waters ! and then fooliJMy coveted that my life fhould be like unto his and be for ever ! But, my Agrippa, a young head can wifli for more than old Jhoulders can endure, and long ex perience hath taught me that far better is it to Jlumber among thofe tombs on the Arno s banks, than, like the fun, to rife into reno vated life, and thus, for ages, to purfue the fame dull and toiljbme exijlence : But the tyrannous dejliny of that Sun is mine /" Jtlgrippa fhrank within himfelf, as the thought flitted through his mind, that a dangerous madman was pojjibly before him ! But the Jiranger mildly continued, " I fear I trouble thee with my vi/it, and by my unwonted fpeech, that hath been too much of my poor Jclf." " Thou indeed hajl wondered me much, good Stranger," rejoined Agrippa. " Not Jo much, O Agrippa, as thou mayejl me wonder, if report doth not belie thee and, if thou wilt grant my requejl. I would have thee tell me of that MARVELLOUS MIRROR, which thy potent art of magic hath enabled thee to make the renown of which hath brought even me, Cartaphilus (for that is the name I bear), within thy door, Jeeking after fuch Jlrange knowledge. Tell me, I pray thee, is it indeed true that whojbever looketh into that Mirror, with faith, doth fee therein the far-dijlant, and the long dead? If fo it be, then much doth Cartaphilus defire to look into that truthful mirror, fmce his eyes are wholly clofed upon fuch far dijlant fcenes upon the long dead upon thofe that departed hence centuries ago yea, Agrippa, upon very many dear friends ! To me, O Agrippa ! all life is but as a vale of tears : myriads of my riads cafily die and when, and as they would not : but Cartaphilus follows not rivers do change their courfe the folid rocks do dif- integrate the mountain tops rcpofe, at length, upon the bofom of of tfje " COantiectng 3[eto/ the valley the proud maujbleums rejijl the elements only for a time, and even the Jblidejl of them do fade away at lajl ! Not fo with me ! O give me therefore, I pray thee, but one look into thy much famed mirror, Jo that my earlieft life the one of my real youth, may again be feen of me." jjyLgrippa was greatly moved, but at length replied, "Whom wouldft thou fee ? oh, wonderful man !" " Son, or daughter, never had I at that time," anfwered the Jew, " but earnejlly do I crave to fee REBECCA, only daughter of Rabbi Eben Ezra a princefs of every virtue, and the mojl beloved of all Jcwifh or other maidens. I would behold her, as Jhe was in youth before Shiloh was fully revealed : as Jhe was, I fay, when with her I wandered, as Carta- philus, fon of Mariamne, upon the flowery banks of the Kedron, in her father s garden or, as we rambled in joyous carelejfnefs, and with the boundlefs innocence of earliejl mutual love, upon the heights of Ramoth-Gilead." J^jLgrippa trembled as the afpen : " Who, and what art thou ? and whether of Gehenna, or of Paradife, I wot not : but thy petition fhall be effayed, come what may from the nether world," exclaimed Agrippa with tremulous lips whereupon he incontinently chaunted much Jtrange language and then he polifhed his mirror with the foftejl furs next, divers thin veils of fhining gojfamer were fuf- pended before that metallic mirror ; and many lights, of various colours, were feen Jlreaming in from all directions ! Agrippa then fuddenly arofe, raifed his arms aloft towards Heaven, and anon de- prejfed them towards Gehenna ; when lo ! quick as a meteor burjls, a mafs of dazzling white light fhone around, and the mirror fparkled as the meridian fun ! " ^J^hou art feemingly of but few years, compared with what thou fayejl," cried Agrippa, " and the mirror cannot be faithful, unlefs my wand fhall waive once, for every ten years fince the maiden lived : proceed now, O Jtrange man ! to number thcfe tens, fince laft fhe breathed or, if thou lijleth, fince the early youth of which thou fpeakejl : and be thou mojl faithful not to deceive me." As bidden, the anxious and foul-wrapped Jew numbered 149 times ! Agrippa gazed in maddening terror ; and at length fank with ex- haujlion upon his couch. " Wave on ! wave on !" Sternly yet imploringly exclaimed the Jew ; the wand foon continued to move, and but twice more noting thereby juft 1510 years in all when lo ! the mirror s furface was filled with numerous forms, reflected from its fhining difk, feemingly as large as life, upon the gojjamer veils that cncompajfed the mirror ! All thofe forms were in the habiliments of ancient Palejline each engaged appropriately in rural fports and aclions ! Upon this fweet fcene the Jew gazed in wild rapture, as if his eyes would devour, what his arms could not embrace ! In the dijlance were lofty mountains, afpiring to kifs the clouds ; and hard-by was defcricd Ramoth-Gilead, an ancient City legenn of t6e " bannering Jeto." of Refuge ! In the foreground was a luxurious valley, garnijhed with various goodly flowers, and refrejhed by a limpid Jlream, gujhing through wide crevices of rocks, and anon, gently laving the banks upon which were Jeen indolently repo/ing many fleecy Jheep, a tamed gazelle, and numerous domejlic animals the cherijhed pets of a female of matchlejs beauty, who then was Jhcltered from the noon-tide Jun, by lofty cedars grouped there by nature s tajleful hand! " Tisjhe! tis /he!" cried the enraptured Cartaphilus, " yea, Rebecca as Jhe was in the days of the then Holy Temple a work of human art the greatejl and lovelie/t as wasjbe the per- feclejl of nature s gifts ! I mujt, I vf\\\fpeak." Cartaphilus fpoke to her ! and lo ! injtantly thereon, the charm was dijjblved ; a cloud gathered over the mirror ; the dazzling light had wholly vanijhed ; and the myjterious Jew Jank, as one Jenjelejs, upon the couch ! JJeviving, after a time, he Jeized the hands of Agrippa, and faid, " Oh, many and boundlejs thanks unto thee, learned Agrippa thou Prince of all the Magicians ! I pray thee, receive this purje of cojlly jewels. In it thou wilt find more of value than in any other within my abnet and worthily do I bejlow it on thee." "No! No!" exclaimed Cornelius Agrippa, "keep thy jewels, of whatever worth ; I will none of them no Chnjllan man, per haps, dare receive them : but tell me, I do implore thee, who tbou art? juch a recompense, I may take of thee ; but not thy jewelled purje there Jeemeth danger in it." " ^f^o peril to thee is either in my will, or in my power, mo/t worthy Cornelius Agrippa," replied the Jew. " My name thou already hajl ; but that reveals me not unto thee, as it Jeemeth. But now behold ! I pray thee, that exquijite painting Jujpended on thy walls, upon the left : doth it not represent the SAVIOUR bearing his Crofs ? and look further upon thy right ; yea, at that portrait and then upon me ! Agrippa was lojl in wonder ; for the likenejs was indeed perfect ! " That portrait, oh myjlerious man !" Jaid Agrippa, " is the faithful representation of that wretched infidel Jew, who Jmote the Saviour, and urged him on when groaning under the weight of his Crofs. " Tis I tis CARTAPHILUS, the mijer- able Wanderer now before thee !" exclaimed the Jew, and in- Jlantly rujhed from the chamber. Agrippa retired to his couch, but not to jleep. jSfuch, in Jubjiance, is the wonderful revelation, Jaid to have been made at that period by the Wandering Jew ! ^pn about ten years thereafter, on Eajter Sunday, of the year 1 542, we again find him, lijlening attentively to a Jermon in a church at Hamburg. As the Jlory goes, he then had the name of AHASUERUS. He was objerved in that Church by two German Jludcnts from Strajbourg; who represented him as being remarkably tall, with Legenn of tfje " SBanuering: 31eto," jhowy hair reaching below his waijl and with a beard that ex tended, when jeated, to his abnet. Though the weather was then Jevere, his feet were quite naked. His lower limbs were covered with wide Turkifh thigh-garments, above which was a clojely fitting vejl- ment around his body : and over that a looje and very Jmall caracalla, or cloak. He converged freely with the jludents in various languages promptly giving them his name ; and jlated that before the Crucifixion he had been a projperous cordwainer ! He acknowledges that he had joined the multitude around Pilate s judgment-Jeat ; and had clamored loudly for the releaje of Barabbas, and for the death of Jejus ; but that he had Jo done, more from excitement, than from any Jpecial religious hatred of the Nazarene, or perjbnal rancour again/I him. He further Jlated, that when Jejus was groaning beneath his crojs, he had urged him on was then curfed with perpetual life, and never Jince had known rejl ! ^heje fludents reprejented Ahajuerus as being wonderfully ab- Jlemious ; as accepting alms only that he might dijlribute them among the poor ; and as anxioujly exhorting them to bejlow their prayers for his Jpeedy death ! ftBL e next h ear f him at Strajbourg, about twenty years after his appearance at Hamburg that is, in the year 1562. Upon entering Strajbourg, he notified the magijlrates that they Jhould not record him as a Jlranger ; for that, if they would Jearch their regijlers, the facl would be verified that, jujl two centuries before, he had pajjed through their city ; whereupon the books being conjulted, they were found perfectly to Jujlain the marvellous ajjer- tion ! X) urm g his Jbjourn at Strajtourg, the Jew made many kind inquiries after the youths of that city whom he had jcen at Ham burg as Jludents, and whoje conversation had Jo much pleajed him. He then Jlated that he had vijited, during the intervening twenty years, all the Oriental countries. ^hirteen years after this, we again hear of him in Brabant, in the year 1575; when he is reprefented as Jlill meanly clad; but as being a man of Jurprijing knowledge, and of pleajlng manners as /peaking the German in abjblute purity ; and aljb, as Jo fine a Spanijh Jcholar, that no nobleman in the Duke of Alva s court could equal him ! But here, again, we find the Jew under the name of IJaac Lakedion, as is Jeen in the famed BRABANTINE BALLAD. Its Englijh garb is probably a crude tranjlation ; but Jeems to have been nearly as current in Britain as in Brabant. It has much of that legendary and ballad interejl which mark the efFufions of thoje days. This poetic chronicle, of twenty-four verjes, is quite too extended to be here given at length ; and yet, perhaps, too germain to our Jiibjecl to be wholly omitted. The ballad is de- Jcriptive of his perjon his mijeries, his travels, and of the conver- Jation held by him with the worthy burgejjes of Brabant. PoJJibly Legena of t&e " bannering: 3(eto<" the reader may be pleajed at the insertion of a few of the verjes. The Burgejjes Jay unto the Jew : " We ujed to think your jlory Was but an idle dream ; But, when thus wan and hoary And broken down you Jeem, The Jight cannot deceive And we the tale believe. " Are You that man of Jbrrow Of whom our authors write Grief comes with every morrow, And wretchednejs at night ? Oh ! let us know, are you IJaac, the Wandering Jew ? " Then he replied Believe me I Juffer bitter woe ; Incejjant travels grieve me, No rejl s for me below ; A rejpite I have never, But onward march for ever ! " Twas by my rajh behaviour, I wrought this fearful Jcathe ; As Chrijl our Lord and Saviour Was pajjing to the grave His mild requejl I Jpurn d, His gentle pleading Jcorn d. " A Jecret force expell d me That injtant from my home ; And jince, the doom hath held me Unceajingly to roam, But neither day nor night Mujl check my onward flight ! " I have no home to hide me ; No wealth can I dijplay ; Yet, Unknown Powers provide me Five farthings every day ! This always is my Jlore Tis never lefs, nor more ! ^f\ may here be remarked as an interejling characleriJUc facl, that, whiljr. the Germans and French have always jpoken of the " Wandering Jew" kindly, and as meritorious, at this time, of our Lepnti of tfje " bannering 3|eto/ xix Sympathy, and even of our deep compajjion, the Spaniards, on the contrary, in all their legends rejpecling him, have ever regarded him with unmingled detejlation, and as an object to be hunted and cruelly persecuted. Whether our unhappy Jew appeared as Car- taphilus, as Ahajuerus, Jojephus, or as IJaac Lakedion, he is always represented in other countries as philosophic, dignified, and learned not as invariably poor and always as kind and well-bred. He is generally described as aged and care-worn as often having an immenfe white beard grizzled hair rather tattered garments and as being no little fond of crude traces of Oriental finery. 4jjJ[c Sometimes find our Jew represented as a Scbolaflic cobbler, in which caSe he is Said to have worn a leathern apron : and, indeed, it may be invariably faid that the legend (brief as are its chronicles) takes its peculiar features and colouring, in a large degree, from the character of the people themSelves, or of the age in which he happens to be noticed. In Spain, for example, he is Said to have been often S^en with an a\vfu\J?igma upon his forehead, which conjijied of a flaming crucifix conSuming his brain for ever ; but which continued to grow jujl as fajl as it was thus conSumed ; and hence occajioned him unceajing agony a fable in jujl harmony with divers other fearful things in that country, which are not legendary. jFIccording to Xeniola, this dreadful mark was concealed by a black bandage : and that author jlates that the INQUISITION, though long in Search of him, could never take him ! Cartaphilus, however, in his veritable Chronicles, contradicts that author ; and minutely deScribes the fierce cruelties he endured in that odious Injlitution. The Same author S a y s that the InquiSitors often heard of his magical incantations ; at which time he would diSplay the croSs during Jome dark night ! and, from this, probably, School-boys, in mojl countries, have derived their alarming trick on their fellows, of Jlicking Small bits of phoSphorus upon their own foreheads, in the form of a croSs ; which, in the darkneSs of night, might well occaSion dread to timid and Superjlitious youths. But Cartaphilus, in his faithful Chroni cles, Sujlains a far more dignified character than in theSe legends ; and converts mojl of fuch tales as to magic, and Some of them as to the hated Jligmata, and other myjlerious appearances about him, into the contrivances of Superjlitious monks, and of the fierce papijls of thoSe times and Showing that theirs are not veracious pictures of his own Sufficiently miSerable life, made fo from many other cauSes than Such as Sp ran g from his SuppoScd magic, and diabolic arts. ^Jhe next time we hear of the famed Jew is in France, in the year 1604, when it is vaguely recorded that the learned Pere Louvet of Beauvais, Saw him at that place on a Sunday, coming from maSs ! for the legend has, in this reSpecl among others, been faithful in aScribing to him a Species of faith in Chrijlianity. But in his Chronicles, the exacl truth of this matter is jlated with much detail; and forms the baSis of mojl of the Jlirring events of his miscellaneous xx LegentJ of t&e " bannering Jeto. and wonderful life at all times in conflict with papacy, but Jeldom in oppo/ition to Chrijlianity of Jbme Jbrt : and finally, his creed Jetties down into the mojl orthodox and fervent piety. But to pro ceed. At Beauvais, it is Jaid that he recited to the children, who were ujed to Jurround him, many Jtories of the Saviour s Juffer- ings ; and that this was done in Juch melancholy tones, as failed not to draw tears from their young eyes, and aljb to open the pre- vioujly tied purjes of his more aged auditors ! Theje alms, never- thelejs, were received by him in a tone of majejly ; and Jeemingly as of right imparting thereby to his hearers the idea, that he was conferring, rather than receiving a favour. ^()uring nearly twenty years, France was greatly moved by the appearances, at intervals, of this myjterious perjbnage, and, doubtlejs, this Jlimulated others to perjbnate his character in various ways ; and thus to extort from the credulous multitude charities, which, according to his own Chronicles, he never exacted from the good people of either ancient or modern Gaul, or in any other land whatever. j^pace will not Jerve me to detail his J*everal appearances at Venice, Neapolis, and at Salamanca. Theje accounts are meagre, and but little varied. At Naples, the on dit was that the Jew had been marvelloujly Jiiccejsful as a gambler a charge that aroje, no doubt, from Neapolitan corruption, and their own propensity to that vice, Jo at variance with the other legends rejpecling the Jew, and which is contradicted in every page of his truthful hijtory. ^he next revelation of himjelf took place at Brujjels, on the 22nd of April, 1771. Upon that occajion, he gracioujly Jat for his portrait, which, being engraved, was made to accompany a rapid Jale of a new edition of the famed Brabantine Ballad of 1575 Jbme verjes of which have been given. ||^n very many cottages of Belgium may now be Jeen this fame wood-engraving of his portrait. Belgium being a land in which all that concerns our Jempiternal wanderer is highly valued ; Jo much Jo, that no two names are Jo univerjally known to the Flemings as that of CARTAPHILUS and of NAPOLEON ! And here may be briefly noted, what is given by Brand, a learned antiquary ; who Jlates that a few years before he was then writing, probably about the year 1760, a remarkably curious IJraelite made his appearance in Scotland. This Jew maintained a very hermetic life and exterior : but he was Jbmetimes found wandering to and fro in the Jtreets of towns and villages, ever followed by a train of playful, or mij~- chievous boys ; whiljl the aged pedejtrian would be muttering "Poor "Jack alone!" "Poor Jack alone!" and always in Jo Jingular and plaintive a mood, as to occajion much Jympathy. The Author adds " they thought him the Wandering "Jeiv." fji conclujion of this Jkctch of the Legend, I have only to add that of all the revelations Cartaphilus is Jaid to have made of him- of t&e " COantiering; 3[eto/ XXI Jelf, none is more interejling than that which took place at Vienne upon the Rhone, in Dauphiny the burial place of Pontius Pilate; and aljb in the vicinity of that river in which perijhed the beautiful Salome, niece of Herod, tetrarch of Galilee the Jame maiden that Jo artijlically danced off the head of John the Baptijl. This appearance of the Jew at Vienne occurred in 1777 : but, unhappily for our prejent purpoje, we Jcarce have a fragment left of the detail Jaid^to have been then given ; and Jo will it remain, unlejs Carta- philus himjelf Jhall furnijh it in the jecond Jeries, and lajl volume of theje his Chronicles if dejlined to fee the light : and which detail he may aljb furnijh in the words of the records (if yet extant) in the prejent monajlery near Vienne ! In that monajlery there was, and may be, a Latin chronicle of the, Jo called, " CONFESSIONS of Pontius Pilate ! " It is Jaid to conjijl of four large folio pages ; in which are Jlated the early hijlory of the melancholy tragedy upon Mount Calvary, in a way of great tendernejs and truth, and in which evidences will be found, either to confirm thoje ConfeJJions of Pilate or, that Cartaphilus himjelf furnifhed them in the year 1777, when, for a time, in communion with the people of Vienne ! f^ may not end this hiftoriette, without exprejjing Jbme un- affecled Jurprije that, as this tradition may be found in almojl every age and country, yet that Jo barren are the chronicles, even of the Juperjlitious ages, that Jcarce fifty printed pages would Juffice to quite exhaujl what has been transmitted to us concerning this famous perjbnage and that no one has yet attempted to make even thoje materials ajjume a more narrative and connected form ! A lively interejl has at all times been manifejled in all that relates to him. The Editor hopes, therefore, that his veritable Chronicles from A.D. 27 to 1850, may not only place Cartaphilus in his real and only ufeful point of view, but awaken the too erratic mind of the young, and of the Jciolous among the aged, to the fpirit of thoje conjecutive ages, and to the philojbphy of that hijlory, civil and ecclejiajtic, in which Cartaphilus Jo amply deals and more ejpecially, to the intenjely interejling worth of all prophecy, as applied to the whole. <JUJChy permit me to ajk, Jhould the entire Jlory of the fated Wanderer, be Juffered to repoje upon a few imperfect, jcattered, and often idle legends ? Why, out of juch a multum in parvo, and, in this point of view, fuch ample and rich materials, Jhould naught but wretched dramas be written, to amuje an ignorant and Juper jlitious crowd ? Or, why Jhould even the fine conception of the " Curfe of Kehama" or the gorgeous romance of " Salathiel" which only traces the ^ew fiftitioujly, during a few brief years, and in contradiction of the entire legend, and, moreover, with no ad herence to utilities and probabilities, but only in the fajhion of a pleajing novel, be deemed JufRcient to exhaujl our interejl ? legenD of tf)e " bannering: M. Eugene Sue, fome years after thefe Chronicles were nearly in readinefs for the prefs, jaw fit to adopt a fimilar title for a work of loathing immorality but of undoubted genius in which, however, the Jew is permitted to make no figure, is fcarcely, at all, re cognized as one of the dramatis perfena ; and in which there is a Jtrange and tedious melange of magnificent descriptions, worthy of any pen, blended with much that, in manner and Jlyle, would ill fuit even a daily journal ! 4 " ^J^he Chronicles of Cartaphilus," however, are fpread over nearly nineteen centuries the ftory of the Gallic Novelijl extends over but a few years of the prefent day, the one is addrejjed to the moral and thoughtful the other to the fenfuous and thoughtlefs multitude the latter has been mojl extenjively read the other may lie dujly on the undijlurbed Jhelf ! but Cartaphilus would blujh with very fhame, could he fuppofe that his carefully elaborated, and veracious chronicles, his recurrent mufings, and his many ecclefiaftic heterodoxies, (though often enlivened by his Jlorics of real events, and by the details of his anomalous life) jhould be regarded by any one, in the leajl as partaking the character of a novel ! And finally, why Jhould the hajly notice of the Jew by Goethe, (in the mere travejlie of the Brabantine Legend) and the few Italian, German, and other Ballads, be allowed to fritter away the fympathy of ages in a much cheri/hed tradition regarding a perjbnage, Jb Jlrangely and interejlingly connected even with the dawn of our holy religion ; and who, if ever a Wanderer, is equally the fame at this time ? We therefore now refer our Reader to his only veri table and ufeful chronicles : they may be found to generate jbmc profitable thoughts in the heart and mind of every reader, who defires to deal with the long pajl the prefent and the future, as fources of pleafing and falutary injlruclion. THE EDITOR. LONDON, Upper Brook St., Grofvenor Sq., March 10, 1851. EPISTLE OF Cartapljtlus to l)ts Ctittor. O M E W HAT more than eighteen centuries have pajfed jince, in the Jeven and twentieth year of my age, my hand was firjl jet to the labour of recording the marvels of no ordinary Life as Jeen of thee in my original Polychronicon for by that name were the many Volumes called, when entrusted by me to thy judicious revijlon and Jeleclion. JH s thoje manujcript rolls embraced within their ample range the events of many ages, the whole were aptly Jo called by me, not only as exprejjive of that fa<3, but becauje divers other perjbns, in the early centuries, thus Jlyled their Jimilar works, and at my fuggejlion : and of this might I Jlate unto thee various injlances ; but will Jpecially note only the Latin Polychronicon of the worthy Ralph Higden, afterwards done into Englijh by the admirable yohn of Trevifa. Now this Ralph Higden was well known of me ; and often would we converje together in the cloijlers of St. Werberg which is the prejent Cathedral in the goodly old city of Chejler, he being a Benedictine there ; who, in kindnejs and good qualities, and in holy zeal, did much remind me of Simplicius, the firjl Benedicline I ever knew as will be found recorded in the LXXXVIII Seclion of theje my Chronicles. The monk Higden lived unto a good old age, being jbmewhat more than a nonagena rian came into life at the cloje of the third Henry s reign, and departed in the year of Grace 1363. ^n the jame monajlery of St. Werberg, aljb lived one Ranul- phus ; who likewije entitled his Jimilar work in the like way: but, as the times now are not as then, I willingly yield to thy Juggejlions, not only to Jhorten and winnow down, by Jeleclion, my voluminous rolls, but to change the name thereof unto CHRONICLES and likewije to do the whole into veritable and readable Englijh rendered the more necejjary, as divers parts thereof could not now be pojjibly read by any, even of the riper jcholars of the prejent day ! And, even as theje Chronicles now are, (after our united toil in this regard) much do I fear the Jtyle of theje volumes permitted (gpiffle of Cartapfrilu.s to Fri.s OBUitor. now to Jec the light, after Jo many centuries of concealment may not yet be in a fajhion as jlmple and uniform and pure, as Jhall meet the tajle of the prejent age. ^3 Jt, in truth, my Elditor, it is not of the nature of Cartaphilus to come up to the height, nor to dejcend unto the lownejs, of the fajhion of writing Jo ujual at this time. The Jmoothnejs of a current doth Jhow deep water, I confejs ; but whether it be Jo with the Jlyle or manner of a writing, is a matter not Jo readily yielded by me. All ufe of words, their collocation, and their orthography, are matters far better underjlood now, than formerly : for, in thefc rcjpecls, every one writes well, and more Jweetly, than was the wont in Jbme pajl centuries : and yet is Cartaphilus compelled Jlill to think that exprejjivenejs, cloje thought, and dijlilled learning have Jbmewhat Juffered thereby, and that the now idle dread of neologijms (by thoje who are purifts as to manner, andfcatterlings as to Jub/tance) hath aljb added its Jhare of fignal defefls in very many of thoje countlejs volumes of the prejent day, with which the almojl mechanical facility of mere conventional compojition, and the yet greater facilities of Jleam publication, have deluged the world. ^)oubt it not, worthy Editor, that if the individuality of any one who hath Jeparated himjelf from the common herd, be a matter dejlrable to be known, and that if the Jame may be Jbmewhat ascertained by Juch Jmall instances as his calligraphy his tone of voice or even by his peculiar Jliake of the hand, and divers others, (Jo cognizable by the deep philojbphy of Jbme in the now age) much more, in this regard, may be gleaned from his peculiar Jlylc of writing a matter that irreprejjibly belongcth to every individual, who hath, indeed, any decided warp and woof of character, to be in any way manifejled. Cartaphilus, therefore, loves to Jec, in every Jetter down of his thoughts, that individualization which is given out by his own manner of writing, whatever it be : for this reveals unto the reader the very texture and marrow of the author s mind ; and enables us the better to go deeper into his natural veins of thought if any he have. ^f\ was aljb my wijh, courteous Editor, as thou knowejl, to have retained, in various portions of the " Selections " made by thee from my " Polychronicon," Jbme Jpecimens, jujl as they were written by me in the various ages : but, in this likewije (of thy judicioujhejs) have I been overruled and mainly by the jujl fear of the Purijls, and aljb of the Multitude who Jhun Jiich novelries, and hard readings, however Jparfely they may be found ! ^Jut, my Editor, thou haft Jpared one pervading feature ; for the which my readers may thank thce, as I do : I mean the dramatic and narrative forms, into which truth, and my own nature, enforced me, even from the commencement of my Polychronicon. In all the ages of the world, as thou well knowcjt, Dialogue and Narrative have plcajed the popular tajlc, as finding their gencjls, probably, in of Carrapfrilus to 610 OEtritor. XXV man s carliejl and mojl: natural mode of imparting his thoughts. This we fee throughout the Pentateuch in the Iliad and OdyJJey in the pages of Livy, and in divers others among the ancients without making fpecial mention of Bunyan, De Foe, and others, among the moderns, all of which have awakened and preserved more of popular favour than any other writings whatever, however learned, didactic, and perfect in ftyle fuch others may have been. ^Uhcther or no, the concluding feries of thefe Chronicles (ex tracted from my original Polychronicon) which brings down my eventful narrative to the clofe of the prefentyear of Grace M.DCCCLII, Jhall ever fee the light, time will dijclojfe through the now volumes ; which, if in kindnefs received, will bid me reveal matters in a fccond jeries, pojjibly of greater interejl ; and yet only Jo, becaufe more germain to the known and ordinary vein of thought. jFfnd now, unto thee and them, let me Jay that, although I have never had a headman in all the eighteen centuries of my mar vellous life, yet do I " confefs " my great Jblicitude for the recep tion the Public may give unto this my firjl revelation ! It is a faithful and well meaning chronicle indited, furely, by the mojl notorious perjbnage the world hath known, one who, being an eye-witncjs through Jo many changing ages, could fcarce fail to defcribe fcenes and events, and the imprejs of his times, more feelingly and truthfully, than thofe who have to deal only with by-gone centuries as to thcmfelves, and with tranjaclions in which they have had neither part nor lot. ^fj\ the prefent volumes, however myjlerious and doubtful the character of the Chronicler may heretofore have been, he believes and earnejtly hopes that the Pious the Infidel the Thoughtful and the Worldling may, pojjibly, be edified and entertained : and that, whiljl all Seels and Faiths may find therein jbmething in regard to their cherijhed opinions, (either to confirm, or to drive them from their refpeftive creeds) the ultimate opinions of Carta- philus will difplay the lovelinefs and power of Truth and of that Truth, alone, which was the "Brightness" the "burning and foining Light," from before which all " the clouds paffed away ! " j^| s Cartaphilus now fees, in the prefent " Signs of the Times," many things to ajfure him that mankind are undergoing a more rapid change, (Intellectual, Moral, Religious, Political, and Phyfical) than the world hath ever witnejfed, he trujls the advantage of his long and varied experience may not be neglected ; and that the popular character which his Editor has gracioujly permitted his Chronicles to retain, may commend them even to lighter readers than were thought of, when firjl he began to note the pajfmg events of the days of Tiberius Czefar ! and alfo, that thofe well verfed in the " rerum divinarum et humanarum Scientia," may find in them divers matters not to be contemned ; and fome things that belong to the inncrmojl adyta of the human heart. XXVI of Cartapfrilus to fn$ (ZEDitor. Q^artaphilus, indeed, hath not entitled his volumes " MIRA- BILIA MUNDI," as Jbme have had the vanity to do, and yet, without jhow of wonders, or of deep learning, he may truly jay there are in them divers mental and phyfical marvels and myjlerics worthy of note veracioujly true, and in no wife drawn from fancy s Jlorehoufe : and, as to Jbme others, the courteous reader mujl him- felf judge how far the anomalous nature of Cartaphilus may have blended his own fertile imaginings with quejlionlefs truths a mix ture that can never lead to error, cither de qualitate, or de fubftantia, in any well regulated mind. Nor hath the " Wanderer " the leajt need to render any account whence he drew his furniture throughout the ages, (as the Britijh Chronicler DANIEL, and many others doubtlefs had to do) feeing that, in the prefent volumes, he deals mainly with things feen, or done of him or deals in con fidence with others whom he valued as entirely veracious : and hence hath he, happily, no occajion to charge his margins with lumber of that fort fufficient weight and authority being found therein, as he hopes, (from the intrinfic circumjlances) to fatisfy any generous and judicioujly confiding reader. And to all this Carta philus mujl add that, in truth, he hath ever had but poor relijh for thofe " marginal Jlufnngs," in which the overcharged in learning or the fciolous pretenders do fo often annoy their readers. Such fumpter mules (burthened with references and citations) may be had even for a maravedi of thought, to a talent of labour alike pro- fitlefs to all, fave in cafes of real doubt, and of equal interejl ; and then ancient and cotemporary authorities are invoked. ^he many herefies, fchifms, and heterodoxies, moreover, which have fignalized my own life, and thofe of all other fuch agitators, will have wholly pajfed away before my labour of chronicling fhall have wholly ended : and, though the greatejl among offenders in this way, (as my varied hijlory fo painfully Jhows) yet hath Carta philus not been living and doing fo long, but that he hath wrought, as well as wened, divers goodly things towards man s much needed wifdom, and likewife in aid of his phyjlcal melioration : and if fo, then, as he hopes, in fome atonement for the many evils to the inner man, which, doubtlefs, he hath caufed. Now, among the greatejl marvels of his mixed life, and the one he doth mojl com placently regard, (and efpecially at this time) is his Jleady rejection, in all the ages, of every doSlrine and difcipline that peculiarize the Latin Church, as almojl every page of his Chronicles, fo far as they relate to the Church, do amply tejlify. And this reminifcencc is the more agreeable to him, not only as he communed fo often and affectionately with many of its pious luminaries in every age, long before, and ever fince, Rome s bijhop afpired to an extra-territorial jurifdiclion, (for none of the centuries nay years have been with out fome Jhining light, worthy of love) but alfo, as he hath ever abftaincd from epithets of unfeeling feverity and from every grofs of Cartapbilus to fris OElutor. XXVll vituperation towards that Church. And this hath been his courfe, though Jo often an eye-witnejs of its fiercenejs, and its mournful departures from the Jimplicity, eternal truths, and irrejljlible fafts of the primitive faith all likewije Jeen and heard by him too brightly, and dijlinclly, not for him to know (and feel as it were) the day and hour and motives of all the daring innovations of the Latin Church. Throughout his pages, dear Editor, thou wilt find he hath but faithfully chronicled the fafts of its marvellous deeds proving thereby biftoricalfy, its early, continually adding, and finally deep and ajlounding violations of, and additions to the Apojlolic fabric ; until it hath become Jo ejjentially one and in variable in its factitious and terrene Jpirit, that, humanly Jpeaking, it can never be aught elje than what it *V, and bath been, and was propbefied that it would be! The attempt, then, is vain to amalga mate, to modify, or, in any way, to blend the two Jyjtems : they are the oppofites of each other; and this ROMANISM will never vanijh, nor change, until the times of the Gentiles be fully accom- plijhed ! That this is no dogmatical ajjertion of Cartaphilus, is proved by the entire hijlory of that Church during nearly Jlxteen hundred years for it had its days of comparative purity of doctrine, and of observances : and, as we find an unmijiakeable prophecy rejpefting it : and an equally garijh fulfilment, Cartaphilus is com pelled thus to think, and thus to chronicle, but never oblivious of whatever of lujlrous and of holy zeal whatever of charity, of expanjive benevolence, of human learning, and of primitive Jimpli city, were manifejted by very many individuals of that Church whether of the laity, or of the clergy Benedictines, Francijcans, Dominicans or, whether they were of the Whites of Citeaux, or of the Blacks of Clugni. jFnd, in every page of theje my Chronicles, you, my Editor, will have remarked therein two pervading features fir/?, that although never could I harmonize with the Roman Church in any of its peculiar doclrines, objervances, and dijcipline ; yet fecondly, that my zeal of oppojition never betrayed me into juch judicial blindnejs, as would cauje me to join in an indijcriminate " Hue and Cry " of the often Jciolous, and Jbmctimes mendacious Protejlants and more particularly in regard to, what they have named, the " Dark Ages " as if thoje centuries had been conjlgned to utter follies, corruptions, ignorances, and to total unacquaintance with the Bible and aljb to an hojlility to human knowledges and further, as if the now certainly greatly Reformed Church, and the vajl majs of learning we now have in it, owe no debt of gratitude to thoje very Ages, of which they Jo harjhly Jpeak ! Cartaphilus believes and knows that much of this is a modern error the more unpardonable, as there are Jiill extant Jufficient chronicles of thoje times and veracioujly accurate, too ; and Jo beautifully eloquent, divinely charitable, eminently pious, and thoroughly orthodox in iii (jBpiflie of Cartapfnlus to &i# OEliitor, very many particulars, as to ajjure any candid mind that the Church of thoje " Dark Ages," or that of the Mediaeval times, was never in that Jlate of profound darknejs and corruption, which Jbmc illujlrious writers of the lajl and prejent centuries have Jo fondly imagined, and Jo recklejsly and daringly reprejented ! Doubtlejs, the exprejjlon " Dark Ages," (from the Eighth to the Twelfth century) hath Jbme jujl meaning : thoj*e centuries Jurely were dark, compared with Jbme others that preceded and followed ; but thoje Ages are yet much darker to all who fail to Jeek after the lights that actually belong to them : they are Jtill far darker, from their prejudices from the mijreprejentations of indolent or Jciolous authors from their Jlovenly habit of yielding ajjent to traditional mijlakes, or Jheer faljehoods : and they are now again darker than once they were, from the facl of the lojs of countlcjs manujcripts, during a Juccejfion of fierce wars, of conflagrations, and of many accidents. But theje greatly mijrcprejented Ages were not Jo dark, " in themfehes" (as a wije, and liberal, and very Jearching Pro- tejlant writer of the prejent day hath clearly proved *) but that there were in them times in which the Church was not dead, but comparatively indujlrious, zealous, meritorious, and orthodox Ages that did much to prejcrve the Jlores of by-gone times, profane as well as Jacred rejcuing, no little of what we now pojjejs, from the grajp of heathen and barbaric ignorance from the rude de- Jtrucfion of feclarian animojity and JuperfHtion : and, though pojjibly we have not remaining at this time the one thoujandth part of the rejults of their unobtrufive toils and rejearch, we Jlill have quite Jufficient to ajjurc us that light, and piety, and good feeling, and burning eloquence, and even good tajle, were by no means ex- tinguijhed in the Cloijiers, or eljewhere ! And, how evident is all this to thoje who Jearch, and will read with candour ! Let them but turn, with that Jpirit, to the familiar epijllcs of Gildas, of Alcuin, of Boniface and of very many others in thoje, Jo called benighted ages, and in thoje epijlles will be found nothing to offend a generous mind ; and little even of the Jcholajlic Jcveritics, and of thoje theological refinements, that have marked many of the ages : but theje cloijlered writers evince the dcepejl tendernejs of friendjhip a lively interejl in rational domejlic enjoyments the playful Jallies of wit all the courtcjies of a refined life and an enlightened and dijinterejled concern for the world s action and good, all of which teach us, what too often is forgotten, that cultivated man, in all the ages, and of all faiths, when not inflamed by rude oppojltions by the pajjions of war, of conflicting policies, * Cartaphilus here alludes to the Rev. S. R. Maitland s very able EfTays on the " Dark Ages 5" which had only come to his knowledge when add re fling this letter to his Editor; and in which, he lays, lie earneltly concurs in nearly every ftatement made in that very able work. of Cartapfrilus to 610 OBDitor. or of religion, evince the like noble feelings, and manifejl them in the like elegant and fcholarly way. ^he fact perhaps is, that during thofe centuries, it was not jb much the darknefs of Church and State, as the wickednefs of both ; and that within the cloijlers there was probably little of either. The general multitude were fierce, ignorant, idle and corrupt Jlavery abounded every where opprejjions were rife every where arms were the only profejjlon of the great ; and among the poor were few excitements of any kind, fave thofe connected with war and religion. The gentler fex fought repofe and refinements in the cloijlers, whiljl the milder fpirits among the men took fhelter in the monajleries ; and there created a literature, and preferved an exijling knowledge, that foftened their own natures, and diffufed out of doors a radiance of peace over the troubled and warlike mafs to which the Arts of mufic, painting, architecture, and fculpture were wholly indebted and all of which laid the broad foundations of that refined tajle and knowledge that energized modern Europe, and which have made Chrijlendom fo eminently civilized among the nations of the world. ^Q^either truth, therefore, nor hijlorical jujlice, nor policy, will jujlify the fevere dealing of many Protejlant writers, not only to wards thofe Ages, but alfo in regard to many excellent individuals, though of coenobitic memory or, even as to the Roman Church itfelf, as to fome particulars. God knoweth that, in all of the ages, and unto the prefent hour, that Church is fignalized by follies and fins and fuperjlitions, quite jufHcient to mark it as the fure antitype of prophecies in both the Tejlaments, without robbing it of a fingle merit it ever did pojfefs : and hence Cartaphilus confcntcd not, at any time, to clofe his heart againjl the many individuals, who (during the whole of that long Jlream of time that defines the origin, pro- grefs, culmination, and decline of the Roman Church) were often, and now are, fuch bright exemplars of learning, of piety, and of the mojl lovely and winning Chrijlian charity and fimplicity. Who, that hath a heart, (whiljl he may weep over their mijlaken faith in fome things) fhall refufe to Saint Columbanus, of Bangor, afterwards the Evangelizer of the Sucvi, and of other barbaric nations to Saint Benedict, of CaJJinum, and alfo of Gregorian fame to Saint Bernard of Citcaux to the Venerable Peter, and his Notary, both of Clugni to the Abbot Bonus, of Pifa to the Abbot Gcrbert, of Bobbio to Rabanus, of Mentz to Odo, of Clugni to the excellent and fimple-hearted Johannilinus, abbot of Fefcamp, to the inimitable monk Bardo, of Fulda, and afterwards Archbijhop of Mayence to the much famed Lanfranc of Bee, the luminary of his age to the jujlly renowned Saint Eligius, the Goldfmith, afterwards bifhop of Noyou to Ulricus, a monk of Clugni ; and, in fine, to very many others of thofe Earlier and alfo Middle Ages : who, 1 fay, can jujlly withhold from them a large oBptfile of Cartapfjiltis to fris CDitor. Jhare of beautiful piety, of good fenfe, deep acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures, fervid eloquence, and of embcllijhed tajle ? Car- taphilus furely cannot : he fees their virtues he marvels at their attainments delights that, under Providence, they were the inftru- ments who preserved much excellent wheat, amidjl Jo many weeds and tares and brambles of all kinds ! And yet, good Editor, I have faid that no faith whatever have I in any human plan that hopes for a compromife-union, or modified amalgamation of the greater divifions into which the Church of Chrijl hath Jo long been divided. But, neverthelefs, that thefe dijfenfions will ultimately pafs away the Chronicler doubts not : but not by any fafhion of man s mere contrivance : no policy of State, or of Church no human wit, or philojbphy, or religion, will ever blend thoje churches ; or dejlroy either, or raife a perfect one out of the disjecta membra of all, or of either : and yet, as Cartaphilus thinks, the work will infallibly be done ! And this, his conviction, rejts upon the fad that the Anglo- Saxon Church was one of great purity, and almojl wholly according to the now Protcjlant opinion of orthodoxy and that the aclual condition of that early church was at all times well known to the Latin Church. The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Alfrlc deny nearly every doclrine of faith and of difcipline that characterizes the Roman, as dijlinguifhed from the Reformed faith, promulgated fix centuries after : and, at the time of that Reformation, it was vain to appeal to thofe primitive Homilies ; and equally bootlefs that the Reformers triumphantly declared, " Lo ! here are the novelties with which you charge us are they not older than thy doftrines ? we deny them to be innovations now, as did that early Church in the times of our Saxon fathers." But thoje homilies became very odious to the Latin Church, and Jo remain to this day ! And was it not equally Jo at all times with regard to the Waldenfes thofc carliejl witneffes of the true faith ? but their clouds will aljb pafs away other witnejjes, of the far Eajl, will unite with thoje of the central valleys thoje again with the remnants of the Anglo-Saxon times and the whole, in bright effulgence, will fhinc from the remotejl Wejt, and fend forth a light dejlined to energize and en- compafs the earth ! Doubtlefs, there will be a preparation for all that mighty change but even that forerunner will not effect the downfall of the Latin Church ; nor caufe the perfection of cither of its great opponents. ^jMiere are words of Prophecy that are not to be gotten over, and \vhich are yet in gremio temporis. And though prophecies were not given to enable man to foreknow any thing ; yet, after they are fulfilled, he is derelicl in duty, who fhall negle<3 to fee, in the events, the fure Interpretation of thofe prophecies. So alfo, even before their accomplijhment, man fhould be a patient and humble looker-on, that he may not be coldly infenfiblc to the figns of the times. Whiljl, therefore, prophetic hijlorics were not dcfigncd to of Cartapfnlus to fris CtJitor. be thoroughly underjlood before their actual fulfilment, yet they Jhould ever awaken attention, and when accomplijhed, Jhould be fully Jeen, and acknowledged as bright manifejlations of God s Jure omnijcience. It is with prophecy, as with moji of God s revelations of knowledges we, at firjl, look through a glajs darkly, and attain to approximations only, and until the fulnejs of the rejpeclive times has actually come : and in this way only can man s prejumption be Jtayed, and his faith be kept alive : and hence the eyes of the mind Jhould never be clojed, neither by incredulity, that caujes us to regard Juch matters as wholly injcrutable, nor by prejumptuous faith, that Jhall make us think we furely have unravelled all the myjlery, and denned the very points of the future ! Even Carta- philus, then, looks doubtfully and fearfully on the prejent and on the future, though earnejlly jlriving to draw lejjbns from an em bodied and clearly vijible pajl : and yet, (with neither incredulity, nor prejumption) his conviclions are deep that man has the compe tency to pronounce that the dawn, at leajl, of a very marvellous change is at hand a dawn, not likely to endure very long, Jince a century and a half more may eajily accomplijh greater changes, than all that yet have occurred, during the many pajt centuries : and thus will the " Fulnefs of the Gentiles " be found to Jynchronije with the commencement of the Seventh millennium ! a matter that, more or lejs, hath rejled in the mind of man during quite two thoujand years, as will be found recorded in one of the Jeclions of the third century of theje Chronicles. ^Jut, though it is not for man to jay affirmatively^ as to when and how any future event will accomplijti a prophecy ; yet may he often jujlly jay negatively, that certain predicted times have not yet come, becauje he is jure that certain other prior events have not yet taken place : neglecl of this dijlinclion hath Jbmetimes caujed the great prejumption and ignorance of thoje, who define the very year as cloje by, when the world Jhall ceaje to exijt ; or when certain other prophecies are to be fulfilled ! and yet man is fully competent to ajjert that this cannot be jb becauje he knows that jbme prophecied events have not yet occurred and aljb, that theje cannot take place in jb brief a time : and thus, by a cloje injpeclion of the pajt, as compared with the prefent, he may aljb Jay with confidence, that the aftual now doth reveal Jlrong probabilities, nay proofs, that the early future mujt itjelf be one of Jignal changes ; and be Juch as cannot arije without Juperinducing much of that Fulnejs of the times of the Gentiles, Jo often Jpoken of by the prophets : and this is all that man Jhould venture to fay, or that Cartaphilus Jhall dare to utter. *^he infallible progeny of ignorance is Juperjlition ; and hence is it that the crude multitude are Jo apt to confound fagacity with prophecy: but prediction is not necejjarily divino numine afflatus, far from it ; for there be very many Jound predictions that are not xxii oBpiflle of Cartapbilus to fjis OBDitor. prophecies. Is not the long-pajl Jbmewhat a mirror of the long- future ? Cartaphilus Jo thinks ; for man changes but little even with ages, the like caujes beget like effects ; and the great events of one age are often very jimilar to thoje of another age, having been brought into exijtence by thoughts and impuljcs founded in man s ejfential identity of nature in all the climates, and in all the times. ^(3 ut this diving into the future belongs only unto the long ex perienced ; and, even among them, only to the clojcly objervant and thoughtful ; yet, doubt it not, my Editor, that if the Jigns of all the Jeajbns may make one wije as to coming jlorms and con- vuljions in air earth and Jea, Jo aijb may a careful injpeclion of the doings of men, and of nations, enable him to be a Jeeming pro phet, as to the conduct, and fate even of Empires and why not of the Jo called Popedom ? pj^ow the many links are connected in the vajl chain that binds the paji prejcnt and future, is not given to man clearly to Jee : but that the chain exijls, and that there is far more of repetition in the nature of thoje links or in the whole eventful hijlory of our Jpecies, than can be noted by the multitude, the "Wanderer of Ages " doubts not : and keenly doth he dejire to hold this opinion ever in view, and to judge upon that belief. ^hat the religion, therefore, of the Wonderful Nazarcne mujl even yet pajs through divers ordeals that it mujl occajion Jtill further Jtruggles varied, numerous, doubtful, triumphant, waning, growing, generous, perfecuting, heavenly, diabolic and finally, glorious is the firm belief, not of Cartaphilus alone, from his much experience, but of every objerving mind. ^TjMrvel not therefore, worthy Editor, at the Protean forms religion hath Jo often ajjumed, or Jhall yet ajjume ; for it doth take its complexion (at leajl for a time) from any peculiar flatus of the nation where it is : nor Jhouldjt thou marvel that, in Juch nation, it Jhall manifejl itjelf one, and anon various : for, as the mixtures of many fluids and Jalts and earths may produce great changes and internal commotions, and yet, after a time, that mix ture doth end in a homogeneous majs Jllent, transparent, and ujeful, Jo will it be with Chrijlianity and at no dijlant day ! jfj writer of the lajl century hath well objervcd, (as you, my Editor, may remember) that " When the cannons of Princes began war, the canons of the Church were like to be dejlroyed. It was firjl mitrum that governed the world, and then nitrum firjl Saint Peter, and then Saltpetre." But the times are again dcjtincd to change, when neither mitre nor nitre will tyrannically triumph but the primitive Church of the Chrijlus and his Apojlles will be as the genial and fructifying Sun of the temperate zone. " ^Q/urifni tranfibunt, et multiplex crit fcicntia " faith the prophet Daniel, alluding to the comparatively latter times of Cartapfnlus to iris (Suitor, xxxiii "Many Jhall run to and fro, and knowledge /hall be increafed." Now, doubtlejs, there have been in the various ages Jince that pro phecy, divers pourings out of the Spirit of Knowledges but none to be compared with that manifejlly Divine effluence, that Jo Jignally marks the prejent age : for, without any vain imaginings thereon, the JrJr among the nations the inventions and discoveries of the pajl half century the homogeneity of opinions the break ing down of mighty barriers, and of mountainous prejudices the annihilation of Jpace and of time, giving to the multitudes of all lands, of all faiths, and of all practices, a means of blending and of comparifon (which is knowledge) alfo the almojl miraculous diffusion over the earth of the people of all nations the raijing up of thofe multitudes to a nearer approach to the true dignity of human nature the liberalizing and rationalizing of the illuftrious few ; whoje intelligence, wealth, and power are now being turned into channels of far more practical ujefulnejs than ever before were known, and finally, the eJlabliJTiment of that firm flatus, on which alone can be founded the kingly power of Chrijt, to prove infallibly thereby his former prophetic and priejlly offices, all theje are at this time, as I think, more plenteoujly developed, than in any other of the ages known in man s truly mijcellaneous hijtory : verifying, not only that we are, comparatively, in the " latter times," but that theje words of prophecy are now fulfilling, as it were, perfaltum, and likewije with ajlounding clearness ! And, in this belief, Carta- philus is far from being alone ; the general and irrejijlible feeling of the multitude, and the Jbber judgment of the learned and Jludious, are largely in that way ; and none can, nor do deny, but that thefe times have revealed more of Man s high dejliny, phyfical as well as intellectual, than during very many previous ages ! Hence is it that, now, the " WANDERER OF AGES " mujl no longer withhold theje Chronicles of his much experience, and varied mujings on his conjecutive times believing, as he Purely doth, that the Turk muft Jbon fade away the Crefcent vanijh before the Crofs the Children of the Difperfion brighten in the ejleem of all faithful Nazarenes the Land of Promife be again revived in beauty and in great glory the Second Babylon, and the Man of Sin be coupled in their fall, Jynchronoujly, with that of the Arabian Prophet, and of his City, Jo that, when the " Time of the Gentiles " Jhall be ended, it may be lojl in the eternal Fulncfs of the " CHILD OF BETHLEHEM ; " and all memory of herejies, Jchijms, and persecutions all collisions of Faiths, be only as things beyond the Flood ! jf-jnd though, after the experience of Jo many ages, and after a retrojpecl of all hijlory, we find the alternations of improvement and degradation in man s condition, to have been very many, and Jbmetimes even alarming as to his ultimate dejliny ; yet Cartaphilus hath never Jblidly doubted but that in man s entire career, there hath been a gradual melioration, up to the prejent hour ; and that Cpiflle of Cartapfrilu.s to Fris Ctiitor. the cloje future is pregnant with the Jeeds of his perfectibility, which are dejlined to a far more rapid development and permanency of rejults, than heretofore ! Individuals and nations may have greatly improved, and then degenerated arts and philojbphy, as we know, have Jhone with vajl brilliancy, and then been nearly lojl in after darknejs : yet, as the world of nature Juffers nothing to peri/h quite, but only to encounter divers changes that counterfeit dejlru<3ion, Jo is the world of intellectuality and of morals equally conservative ; and the beautiful, nay ajlounding marvel is, that jbmetimes the alual Jiatus of man becomes Jo gravidly pregnant, as to force out (not by accident, but by a Jpecies of necejfity) Juch dijcoveries and in ventions, as Jhall never be lojl : and thus, not only revive what was apparently perijhed, but eternally prejerve them, as accumulated Jlores in the vajl garner of human knowledges ! (artaphilus hath Jeen Athens and Rome in the days of their glory, the City of Conjlantine in her infancy and maturity Palmyra, when Jhe had the lujlre of the Jun, and all the grace and beauty of the orb of night Perjepolis in the majejly of her ruin Babylon and Nineveh and the Egyptian Thebes, as aljb Ctejiphon and Sileucia and Sufa, all yielding dazzling proofs of their former wonderful greatnejs : he hath likewije witncjfed Arabia in her night of ignorance, and in all of that Judden illumination, which broke upon the world as a flood of light from Superior Intelligences : he hath Jeen the conflicts of mighty armies for the rejcuc of Jeru- Jalem, and took no Jmall part in thoje marvellous Crujades he hath gazed in admiration upon the many daring deeds, and, often with delight, on the amenities of Chivalry Jo Jalutary in thoje fierce and feudal times he hath marked the origin, growth, and decline of the great Jyjlem of FEUDALITY hath revelled amidjl, and pondered over, myriads of volumes of ancient days, and looked with wonder on thoje more modern ones, which were the gifts of kings and princes, or the Infigna Ornamenta in churches and monasteries, all as gorgeoujly Jhining in precious jewels, in bur- nijhed and chajcd gold, blended with exquijite purple and pure white pearls, as was ever crown or diadem Jeen on imperial brows ! and yet Cartaphilus may truly affirm that all theje evidences of Jkill and learning, and of man s mighty doings, fade clean away in the far greater brilliancy of thoje ajlounding actualities, that mark the pajl one hundred years, and ejpecially the lajl half century ! And theje have come upon the world, certainly, through no accident, nor even from the individual wit of man, but by that Jure law of nature s own unavoidable parturition, (Jo to /peak) that doth Jyn- chronoujly dejlgnate the individuals, as exigences demand, who arc to give birth to thojc Jurprijing progenies of the mind that arc dejlined eventually to ally man and his great career with the Supernal Intelligences ! of Cartapfrilus to fris OEDitor. now a word only unto the long dijperfed FLOCK OF ISRAEL. The day (doubt it not) is fajl dawning upon thee when the " RESTORER " Jhall ajfemble thee from the twelve winds of Heaven when the Gentiles Jhall jee thy righteoujhejs, and all kings thy glory when not a tittle Jhall fail of all that IJaiah de clared unto thee, more than two Jcore and a half of centuries ago a day of perpetual brightness unto IJrael, in which thy Shechinah Jhall encompajs thee, when thou Jhalt no more be termed " For- Jaken," neither Jhall thy land any more be termed " Dejblate " when all the nations Jhall delight to bow down themjelves at the jbles of thy feet, and call thee The City of the Lord ! For in His wrath He Jmote thee, but in His favour will He have mercy on thee. * But yet, oh IJrael ! harbour not the thought that thy promijed Rejloration is to be largely of earth earthy for Juch would be like thy firjl great error in the days of the only Emanuel. His then kingdom was Jpiritual, and Jo will it for ever be the wall of partition was then broken down and Jo it will for ever remain : IJrael will be rejlored ; and, as the Prophets Jaid, Jhall become great and very glorious : Jerusalem and the whole Land of Promije Jhall again be theirs, and in great beauty but not theirs alone the Gentiles, indeed, Jhall greatly honour thee but not for thy worldly glory Faith and Obedience Jhall be thy chiefejl dignity : now this is a myjlery, yet wholly unknown unto thy people ! cherijli it, for it is infallibly true.-f- (Dan is too apt to regard learning as a mere exifting faff, rather than as a majs of ajjiired principles and truths! There be now, and ever have been, very many Jludents, who, on all matters are content to acquire what is written or ajjerted rejpecling Juch matters, and who deal dogmatically with the majs as knowledge in faff, but with little concern whether they be knowledges in truth : and hence is it that the learning earnejlly toiled for in one age, is often worthlejs and contemned in the next, and Jbmetimes merely bccauje it hath been Juperjeded by a new Jet of opinions, * See Ifaiah, chap. Ix. &c. + It here appears that Cartaphilus eflentially differs in opinion from the popular idea among Jews and Gentiles, as to the nature of the long expected Reftoration of the Jews. He does not believe that it will ever be a fudden, national, exclufive, and bodily reftoration of Ifrael to Jemfalem and to the once Holy Land but that they will unite in one Church with the whole Gentile world that, by reafon of their perfeft faith, and lively obedience, they will be greatly diftinguifhed and beloved in the Church and that, although the earthly Palefline will alfo become again blooming and verdant, it will be alike for Jew and Gentile and that the Spiritual Paleftine is mainly fignified by all the prophets: and finally, he cautions them againft falling into the like errone ous expectation of an earthly reftoration for that the fecond coming of the true and only Meflias will be, like the firft, mainly to promote his fpiritual kingdom, but in which Ifrael will be as eminent for the purity of her faith, as me formerly was in her ftolid incredulity. of Cattap{)iliis to 610 (ZEDitcr. pojjibly, as remote from reality or truth, as thojc that have been re jected ! This anxious gain of Juppojed or falje knowledge this Jedulous dealing with they^^f? of man s opinions, as if thoje opinions conjlituted genuine learning and this treajuring up, and applying them all, as if real Jcience, and finally, this contentment thus to acquire and thus to uje them, in lieu of ascertained truths, have been in all the ages the mijchievous caujes of perpetuating error, and of rendering veritable learning Jo Jlationary, by inducing man, from youth to age, and from century to century, to purjue idealities injiead of actualities traditionary opinion injlead of known and immutable principles ! J^ow often hath it been the lot of Cartaphilus, in all the times, and in all the regions in which his dejliny hath cajl him, to be forced to Jmile with contempt at the idlenejs of vaunted learning ; and Jbmetimes with even bitternejs to reprove their folly ! To know, however, the Jpirit of our times, we mujl neglect neither its vanities, nor its prejudices. When Jo engaged, but only for a time, how deep would be my mortification, and my hopelejjnejs of man s intellectual freedom ! And often, when communing with the learned jargon of the AJlrologers, or of the Alchemijls, or with the Jpecious Jubtleties of the Logicians, or with the metaphyjical crudities of the Jchoolmen, or with the right fads, but wrong caujcs, of the Phyjiologijls, my wearied mind would Jhrink from the lumbrous volumes, and with the dejire never to Jcc them more. Often have I converged with Anfelm, (before and after he was Canterbury s bijhop) and been delighted with his truths, but much confounded and encumbered with his ragged habiliments his mere human Jubtleties and with his errors, though often clad in robes of revealed, or of heavenly injpired principles ! Aljo, often have we communed rejpecling his famous ontolog ical method, as given by him in his Prologium: and likcwije as to his other writings, ejpc- cially " De Libertate Arbltrii " " De Veritate" and particu larly, as to his views of original Jin ; which he fondly cherijhed, but failed to commit fully to paper, and which he Jo much re gretted, when almojl in articulo mortis. jS^o, aljo, many times have I communed with Peter Lombard, when teacher at the abbey of St. Gcncvievc, and afterwards when he became bijhop of Paris ! His " Mafter of Sentences " furnijhcd us ample means of dijputation ; which failed not to make him largely Jujpecl me of herejics. But the bijhop was no maniac in dialectics he was far wijcr than Jome who had gone before him ; and more Jo than many who Joon followed, but Jlill a mere infant compared with others who now live : and yet, doubtlcjs, even thcjc are babes compared with thojc who Jhall diffujc the promijcd light, in lejs than a century and a half hence ! ^n the like way, and with Jimilar feelings, did I convcrjc with Bcrengcr, of Tours he who was Jo wijc, in a degree, and Jo mij- of Cartap&ilus to 6is OBUitor. taken aljb, in a degree, especially in the myjterious matter of Tran- fubjlantiation, and who, had he lived four centuries later, would have then proved a mighty coadjutor with Luther, have had more jlability in his faith, and would have been incapable of the follies that Jbmewhat Jullied his character. ^jQJTjth Hugo, of Amiens, and with Mofes Maimonides, I had many dijputations, neither of whom could agree with me, the latter especially, whoje Jewijh and Arabian, aljb medical and meta- phyjlcal civil and theological education, gave him a wonderful amount of human knowledges, according to the fa/hion of his day ; jb that he became the " Glory of the Wejt " the " Light of the Eajl ! " and yet his " Sepber Hammifotk" or Book of Pre cepts and his " Moreb Nevochim" or the Teacher of the Con founded, occasioned us very many warm words. <gj|[ith the famed Roger Bacon, and with the two Lully s, all of whom Jludied nature more than mind, I converged often and largely : and though, in their dark gropings, they found Jbme precious Jlones, they unhappily pojfejjed not the art wherewith to poli/h them nor the knowledge how to clajs them nor an acquaintance with their Several relations, whereby to avoid Serious errors. Bonaventura had much worth and gentleneSs, a Sweet ardour of religious feeling leSs of Scholajlic follies than uSual and far leSs of myjleries than mojl of his fellows. But this worthy " Doftor Sera- phicus " loved the aScetic Severities ; was too S u P er /titio us to much of an idolater of the Virgin and of the Hojl and too much of a New Platoni/t, and alSo of an Arijlotelian, for me to harmonize with. His illujlrious contemporary and opponent, the Dominican AQUINAS (with all his eloquence and wit and human maJSes of knowledge, S called,) never enabled me to view him, like others did, as the " Fifth Dottor of the Church " the " Angel of the Schools" and the " Eagle of Divines /" ^OHN DUNS SCOTUS, a FranciScan, a few years thereafter, doubtleSs alSo made a marvellous noije in the world ; and, nearly to the extent of Aquinas, heaped Pelion upon Ojja, in the voluminous bulk and variety of his writings ; but in a manner far inferior to Aquinas. His notions on the Subject of Grace, and of the Immacu late Conception and likewiSe his Jlerile refinements in the Scholajlic theology generally, and in the miSguided and ill-underjlood meta- phyjics of the Stagyrite, mujl for ever claS him among the mojl uSeleSs and vain of labourers. ^JjJ^ith the fanciful, loquacious, and plauSible, and Somewhat learned, Abelard, I could never arrive at any comprehenSible and certain point : his miJlreSs Eloifa, of famous memory, was more truthful and natural, and, as I think, more virtuous. Her Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, were all Superior to ms : an d her heart of devotion merited a better fate : but Abelard was SoulleSs and pojterity to this hour has never done jujlice to the Suffering d <2Bpi(He of CartapFrilus to 610 OBDitor. But with the claflical and poetical, yet Jage Francis Petrarch of Arezzo, I delighted to hold converje, and often did jb, especially when he was at Montpellier and at Boulogne, as a law Jludent ! which Jcience, however, little Jiiited his tajle : and often afterwards at Avignon, at Verona, Rome, Milan, and at Vancluje, when in the full maturity of his fame and of his pajjion ! His love for the ancients greatly charmed me ; and far more than his wild pajjion for Laura; and then he and I fometimes journeyed together, (as has been fully recorded in the Jecond Jeries of theje my Chronicles) I, being at that time a youth, under the name of Tacafulripb, an anagram of my more favoured name. ()f all that have purfued knowledge Jlnce my Claudian and Neronian days, none have jb well pleajed me as Petrarcha : but whether that chajle and wonderful genius could have been in any rejpeft wijer, had he lived now, injtead of then, is no matter of doubt with Cartaphilus whojc rejponje would be no, as be alone is greate/t and the mojl ujeful who can, by the force of vajl and in herent genius, enlighten the ignorance that is around him dijpel the prejudices of his own age rejijl the habits of his own times and, from the moral and intellectual Pijgah (almojl of his own creation) look dow r n upon the valleys overrun with the weeds, and clouded by the mijls, that nearly repel the vijion of all others ! Petrarch, indeed, did not wholly accomplijh this ; and, moreover, became almojl the victim of Love ! a noble pajQlon indeed, but, can any pajjion that may make one the abject Jlave of another be ejjentially noble ? Religion makes none a Jlave ; but its injidious Jubjlitute hath perverted the human Jbul and made Jlaves of thousands not indeed to Heaven, as all hijlory Jo abundantly proves. And, though Petrarch was aljb called religious, it was Jlill too largely after the fajhion of his times : and yet, in mere human learning, I know of none Jb rational as he. ^JjJTjth Matthew Paris and Matthew of Gracovia, (the former a Benedidine of St. Albans, who hath made jbme brief memorial of Cartaphilus in his Hijloria Major, and the latter, whoje writings were not to my fancy) I Jcldom communed ; as both, like Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Gregorius of Tours, were too marvelloujly addicled to the recording of every idle and Juperjlitious fancy, and were Jb highly gifted with faith as to take in all things gulose ! jHs for Theopbrajlus Paracelfus, I have eljcwhere recorded, in full, my opinion of him, and will only now add that his incarnated folly, and grojs Jenjuoujhejs, caujed him to be Jpecially odious to me. Paulus Jovius, and the two Scaligers, frequently amujcd me greatly the former was Jbmething of a phyjician, Jbmcwhat of an hijlorian and wholly a bijhop, de fa<3o but not a pious one : for his mendacity and his venal flattery could not be concealed, even by his highly gifted eloquence, and it would be as vain to deny him the former as the latter. OBpiflle of Cartapfrilus to bis OBtiitor. xxxi two Scaligers, father and jbn, were doubtlefs extremely eminent men the former, Julius Caefar, the latter, Jofephus Jujlus : the father, a Romanijl: of extraordinary attainments the Jbn, a Protejlant ; and both decidedly the mojl learned men of their age. But, unhappily, they were both morbidly vain, and difgujlingly arrogant Jb that they, as well as their learning, were hated by very many, and their ufefulnefs was thereby greatly impaired. ^Tjn the mere glance now given of the learned labours of a few, to Jhow the fad tendencies of learning mifapplied or falfely Jb called, I was then, and am now reminded by nearly all of thofe days, of Jbme wife fayings, in this regard, efpecially of my then valued friend ST. BERNARD, of Clairveaux ; who, though not very learned either in the ufeful, or in the idle knowledge of his day, was ftill very deep in all the riches of heavenly wiJHom, and in the foundejl refults of clofe thought, and of earnejl felf-communion. As to the vanity of curious and of prefumptuous knowledge, and the motives for its acquifition, Bernard thus exprejfed himfelf. " Some " there be who defire to know, merely for the fake of knowing a " mean curiofity I Some wifh to know, that they themfelves may " be known a mean vanity ! Some feek for knowledge caufa " lucri an avaricious bafenefs ! Some defire to know, fo as to " edify their neighbours a noble CHARITY ! Others, again, that " they may themfelves be edified which is WISDOM !" and, if Cartaphilus be now permitted to add thereunto, he would fay that fome thirjl after knowledge, that they may ruin fouls and this is DIABOLISM ! jf-l nd yet, in all that hath now been faid, Cartaphilus would in no wife be mifunderjtood. Knowledge is not necejfarily vain, the juft application of which is not at once obvious : he condemns only that which is wordy unprincipled or fheerly idle : for Cartaphilus knows of very many, who knew full well that they did not them felves underjland what had been fo laboriously written by them ! thofe, indeed, who feduloujly coined words and fentences, and fajhioned myjleries, only to deceive, or to gain factitious and tem porary fame ! And others are known of him, who, ex induftria, have added folly to long traditional folly fuftaining their grounds by falfe facls, or by the grofs abufe of their mental energies, in fupport of daring and mifchievous theories, that they might be wondered at, and noifed about ! Such was the cafe with mojl of the Necromancers, the AJlrologers, and with many of the Alche- mijls and doubtlefs, with fome of the prefent day, that fhall be namelefs, at leajl if living, when my chronicles fhall fee the light. ^Jut, unhappily, as well I remember, it was the fate of fome few to be hated and dreaded for real knowledge ; and to be clajfed with wizards and magicians, though they were fincere fearchers after truth ; and who honejlly believed they were unveiling nature, and who, in part, had done fo and yet, as may be admitted, far from the extent they had fo fondly imagined. To that extent their xi piflle of Cattapfrilus to &is OBtiitor, vanity was unfortunate ; but not mifchievoujly difhonejl : and the truths they did reveal, or the approximations to veritable know ledge made by them, jujlly entitled them to the regard of their own times, and to the gratitude of pojlerity : and among thefe we may clafs Roger Bacon whofe was a mojl inquifitive mind, ufefully employed, in the main, though no little affecled by the popular prejudices, and idle fictions of his day. JM LBERTUS MAGNUS, aljb, for every fpecies of learning bound ing upon truth (perhaps, as far as the fpirit of his times allowed) has great merit mixed with the ufual alloy : likewife CORNELIUS AGRIPPA was extremely bright with varied learning though too cynical and vain, and not fufficiently willing to repel the foul charge of too clofe an acquaintance with familiar fpirits ! So aljb in this clajs we may place Thomas Aquinas, of vajl depth of thought, and acquirements, and yet with no little chaff: and MacoiaveUi} Jo remarkable for thorough knowledge of man s wicked heart, and equally for a mojl cunning mode of u/ing it felfifhly ! And preeminent over all is the great dramatijl, Shakjpeare, wholly wonderful for the mojl truthful and fearching acquaintance with man s marvelloujly varied nature, and for language that never failed to exprefs it all perfectly ! His learning was moderate but his creative power, out of fmall materials, was immeafurably in advance of his times, and abundantly Jhows that, had he pojfejfed much learning, he could never have abufed it. )^ut nearly on a level with the poet, and far beyond him in learning, jtands my cloje and ever valued friend, FRANCIS BACON he whofe jhining light dims not with age whofe glory it was to pierce the remote future to jean all pajl and prejent fafts, and from them to extracl the mojl abiding refults by comparifon a mode of gaining aclual knowledge more jure than any other, and in which the great author of the " Novum Organum" and " De Augmentls Scientiarum" manifejled a clearer infight into the foun tains and adyta of truth, than any of his predecejjbrs. And yet, even that illujlrious jbul jhowed earthinefs as his clojing fcene Jo lamentably revealed ! but never in the way of perverting his vajl attainments. ^J^he Lord Verulam faith of Hijlory, that its true province is to reprefent the events themfelves, and with only the more direct eounfels leaving the more Jludied obfervations and conclufions thereon to the liberty and faculty of each man s judgment. And yet he further faith, " I cannot be ignorant of a. form of writing, which fome grave and wife men have ufed, containing a fcattered hijlory of thofe aclions they have thought worthy of recording, with politic difcourfe and obfervation thereon not incorporated into the details, but feparately, and as the mere principal of their intention : which kind of ruminated hijlory hath place among books of policy, rather than among books of hijlory." OEpiftle of Cartapbilus to 610 aEtiitov. xii this hath often been the hopeful defign of theje my humble Chronicles which will be found, perhaps, a jbmewhat more " ru minated " record of events, than is Jpoken of in the firjl book of the Lord Verulam s " Advancement of Learning :" and yet, Carta- philus trujls that the dejigned character of his pages will not have Juffered by the many politic dijcourjes, and other thoughtful rumi nations which his very nature urged upon him, and which his ano malous condition perpetually cherijhed. But his hope Jlill is that theje, and even the personal adventures of the " Wanderer," often Jo anomalous, may not be found to impair the worth of his Chroni cles as a carefully elaborated Hijlory. nd now, my Editor, (as in all of our many interviews, thy wonder at my eventful life hath been often great) permit me to Jlate for thee, and for Juch as may take jbme interejl in him, who hath been called " The Wandering Jew," what the great OCEAN OF LIFE truly is : for my one life hath been little elje than typical of the aggregate of the many lives that have pajjed down the long Jlream of time, Jince firjl I breathed ! and, moreover, the whole world is fuller of myjlery, and each man therein is more a micro- cojm of marvels, than even the mojl experienced and thoughtful have been wont to perceive or to conceive ! ^Qajs thy mental eye with me, but for a moment, over life s Jhorelejs Ocean, and there thou wilt fee how the children of men are cajl therein, as it were from the clouds and wilt learn what manner of reception, and of after-dealing they mujl experience yea, from their firjl breath, until extinction comes in death ! All therein is but as a Jlorm, with only here and there a Jpot of calm ; and the myriads of frejh lives are thrown upon that ocean, like drops Jlied by the Pluvian Jove ! Some are as bubbles ; and, fur- viving an injlant only, are lojl for ever amidjl its boundlejs waters, Jeemingly, as if thoje beautiful and garijh and inflated drops were formed but to dazzle and to die in a Jingle aft ! Others, having a fajhion of Jbme more Jlrength, are rudely cajl about, and are Jeen buffeting with force giving thereby no Jmall hope of endurance : but Juddenly they, too, vanijh on the extended Jurface, and the waters of life know them no more ! But lo ! next we behold very many, full of activity, joyoujly floating about now here, anon there ; and ever vaunting of much power : they jojlle among them- Jelves, and againjl divers others of far more weight they crujh the weaker, and change the forms of Jbme that be naturally Jlronger : they Jeem dejlined to ride over the waves, recklejs of the Jlorm, and to avoid harm from all the many rocks and ijles they meet : and yet, an unlooked-for and heavy cloud incontinently pours down its raging winds, and watery majjes on them ; and the whole are quickly merged beneath the Jurges and foams that abound ! look again ! Some feeble globules are here Jhcd as mere xiii (ZBpiftle of Cartapfrilus to fris CtJitor. dew upon thofe waters : they give no expectation of continuance : yet, if thine eye will clofely follow them, they mature marvelloujly into form and jblidity they grow from Jlrength unto Jlrength they are every where feen, and for a long time, they are da/hed about as things that cannot be drowned ; and, as a cork upon the aclual billows of a raging fea, they perijh not, but endure until time and Jlow friction, together with the internal feeds of wajle and dijfolution Jhall bring death even unto them ! And yet even their places are Jbon forgotten of men, none leaves an enduring wake ; the waters of life clofe up, and the myriads that flattered them, and who were ajlonied at their deeds, now give but feeble utterance of their names, and after-ages can make but poor reference to any of them : or, jhould their names Jiirvive, and even Jbme of their works, great may be the doubt as to the localities of their once wide renown ! jf-jnd fuch, forjboth, is Life ! It is as the Jhadow that hath departed as the dream of the night, Jlriven to be recalled to me mory on the morrow as the tale of woe told unto the giddy and unfeeling ! It is as a drop of precious odour cajl upon a troubled Jlream ; or, as the vapour hurried off by the evening breeze ! What, then, is all Life but an ill-ajforted compound of idle fancies vain hopes fleeting actualities fore disappointments galling tears unmeaning laughters heavy Jighs and, at length, of terrific deaths, and loathing corruptions of the body yea, often ere the tomb is tenanted ! JL^ife, moreover, is not only the mojl uncertain of things, but Death is revealed to us in forms, Jo infinitely various and unex pected, that garnijhment but feldom comes. Goes not the bride unto her nuptial chamber full of joy, and may jhe not there find her death-couch ? doth not the fuccefsful warrior often perijh at the moment of receiving his reward ? and the happy mother, gives Jhe not birth to the heir, who hath been her long cherijhed ex pectation and dies he not in the hour after ? So fuch things often are : for the long abfent traveller voyages over perilous feas to the home of his affeclions arrives upon his native fhore ; but death Jtops him ere the wife of his bofom, or his hopeful children, or his aged parents, can hold him in their arms fuch being the un certainty of life ! K)eath, moreover, fometimes becometh " dainty-mouthed; " he pajfcth by unheeded the poor and lowly, but maketh great havoc among the lordly, and thofe with filled coffers ! then, anon, becoming gluttonous, he fecdeth ravcnoujly upon the bodies of the impoverifhed and vile, fo that none may vaunt in fccurity at any time, fmce they know not the figns when death Jhall change his relijh.* * Cartaphilus, in a letter of June 1849 to n s Editor ftates that, vvhilft en- compaflcd by the Cholera, which then raged in London, he was repoletully of Cartapirilus to iris OB&itor. xiiii j^-| nd the manner of death aljb ; oh, how full of vagaries, how diversely doth it come ! *"he experienced chirurgeon hath but fcratched his finger it jbon fejlers, and he peri/hes of a lock-jaw ! The philosopher, in Jheer abfence of mind, doth fwallow the plum he Jhould have majli- cated and death comes to him of choaking ! The lujty youth dafhes his top with violence, it rebounds with equal force, Jlrikes a tender part, and he Jinks in death ! A pebble, or a peeling, trips one up the fkull is fraclured, and life is Jbon gone ! What fea, then, is more bejet with perils, than that of Life ? Health and riches avail nothing to make its tenure furer : prudence, with all its Argus eyes, penetrates no veil that Jhields an accident. In the midjl of fuch hidden chances, who Jhall be indifferent to death s coming, fave him, whofe life of virtue doth make death but the entrance into a far more blifsful exijlence than life here can ever be ? But, when Jbul and body have been made, during a long life, naught but the receptacle of every corruption, the ajhes of the deceafed are then vile indeed : and not a whit more worthy do they become by all the gorgeous paraphernalia of his careful funeral, nor is the inner man, though wholly freed of the body, in the leajl lejs odious than as it was before ; for then, all difembodied fpirits are thoroughly known of each other. Pagan, Jew, Chrijlian, Maho- medan whatever the faith may have been, death feldom hath found him able to introvert his mind, and truthfully to fay, his life hath been Jo pure, that the tomb hath no terror in it. Xi ow different have men s views been as to Death and Life ! and which, therefore, is the founder philofophy that of Ennius of Solon or of Euripides ? The Chrijlian hath a higher fource, whereby to refolve all fuch quejlions : and yet the truth may be fomewhat extracted from thefe three Heathen poets. (The wifh of Ennius was,) " Let none bejlow upon my pajjing bier One needlefs figh, or unavailing tear." (That of Solon fays,) " Let me not unlamented die, but o er my bier Bur/I forth the tender Jigh the friendly tear ! " (And Euripides hath it,) " When man is born, tis ft, with folemn Jhow We fpeak our fenfe of his approaching woe ; With other gejlures, and a different eye Proclaim our pie a fur e when he s bid to die." writing the prefent Epiftle ; and that the daily reports of its ravages (often fo fitfully made among rich and poor, and in the beft, as well as in the meaneil parts of that great metropolis) occafioned him to indite the prefent fentence, and with a feeling of no ordinary convidtion of its truth. (ZBpiftle of <artapirilu0 to 610 OBUitor. t, my Editor, all know that, hateful as death ujually is, life is Jometimes equally Jo ; and that men often run Jtraightway to the cord, to the Jword, the river, the precipice, or to poijbn Jeeking after death : and yet Juch Wanderers in Jearch of a Tomb, (vx mifero mihi /) have often no Juch happy refuge. Vere, protinus ad laqueum, ad gladium, ad flumen, ad precipitum, out ad venemim currunt homines but Cartaphilus hath choice of neither, and cannot exclaim, O prteclarum ilium diem mortis, cum ad illud animarum concilium propcifcar ! None for him will Jound a death-trumpet no one will admonijh him to pack up his little all, and hajten for death s Jpeedy coming none will Jay to him Sarcinulas collige brevi aderit dies, qui te ad plures ducit He, alone, mu/t bide his time ! j^| nd here am I reminded of what Athenxus hath Jaid of Ninus, that great monarch of AJJyria, whoje Life and Death are Jo much to my now purpoje. " ^f^inus had an ocean of gold, and aljo other riches more than the Jands of the Cajpian Jea : but he looked not on the Jtars, and dejired not to Jee them ! Ninus Jlirred not up the holy fires among the Magi ; nor did he touch his god with the Jacred rod as by law he Jhould have done : he never offered Jacrifice, nor worjhipped the deity, nor adminijlered jujtice, nor Jpake to his people, nor numbered them : but Ninus was mojt valiant to eat, and to drink ; and having mingled his wines, he cajl the rejl upon the earth. This king now is dead ; behold his Jepulchre, and what of himjelf he Jaith ! " " Formerly I was Ninus, and drew the breath of a living man ; but now am I nothing but vile clay. I have naught but what I did eat and drink, and, in my lujis, minijlered unto myfelf: thefe were and are my only portion. The riches with which all thought me fo blejjed, met together upon my death, and bore themfelves away, like as the mad Thyades carry off a raw goat / To Hades am I gone : and when there, neither gold, nor filver, nor horfe, nor chariot carried I with me : but I, who once wore a crown, am now but a little heap of duft ! " * ^JJ^ith this will I end my long epijlle Jave that unto ALBION will I now utter a word of reproof and of kind admonition. I pray thee, then, my Editor, have patience with me a while longer, that I may apojlrophije that famed " Lady IJland" ere I depart from its Jhores pojjibly for the lajl time. It is a land in which Carta philus, at various times, hath had more repoje and Jecurity, during * Cartaphilus mentions that a portion of this vein of thought on the muta tions of Life was fomewhat occafioned in him, after reading that admirable work of Jeremy Taylor, on " Holy Living and Dying." In a degree they refemble each other : the Editor therefore prays the reader to note the manner of the two, and aflign to each its due. of Cattapiuius to 610 OEtutor, fome centuries of his anomalous life than elfewhere : but Albion is now in fore peril of her " Candle/lick" and may become as low as any of the Seven Apocalyptic Churches, if unto Pope Leo Jhe re- turneth, or with King Henry, or with Queen Elizabeth Jhe wholly remaineth ! for * madnefs lies " in either path. ()h Thou, that dwellejl in the midjl of the waters, who once wajl as Jlrong and clear as thofe briny waves whofe now treafures are boundlefs, and whofe children are from the rijing unto the Jetting fun ! Yet thy end may jbon come, and thou perijh as did the mighty nations of the olden time, if Roman idols be again em braced of thee, and if their falfe lights /hall once more bewilder and beguile thee ! The meafure of thy covetoufnefs, O Albion, hath aljb been very great, and Jlill is Jo ; thy pride is as the mijls that Jbar upon thy Cambrian hills thy knowledge, though vajl, is often greatly mifapplied thy means of unmixed Faith is yet greater than of all the early nations, or of any yet around thee thy Jilver and thy gold and thy treajures from land and ocean, are Jlill more abundant than any other chrijlian or heathen people ever had and yet, oh Fairejl Daughter of the Seas ! tell it not in Gath publijh it not in AJkelon, that now the modern Spiritual Babylon hath bewitched thee greatly ! Receive not that dread " mark " prophejied of old : cajl off from thee that infallible cauje of un- timous decay, and certain ruin ; but live again, as well thou mayejl, in renewed lujlihood, if to thy earliejl Saxon faith before Augujline s days, thou Jhalt return. " Is wifdom in Teman? Is counfel perijhed from the prudent ? hath their wifehood vani/hed ? " Remember, O Albion ! that Ifrael and Judah, though now a " Jcattered Jheep," will again flourijh in Zion : for tis only becaufe they of Abraham s feed will join in the true faith, and never take part with the " Seven-hilled Babylon." The lions of AJfyria, at one time dif- perfed thofe favoured people of Palejline ; aljb a fierce king of Chaldea " broke their bones ; " and yet the fiercer power of Im perial Rome dejlroyed them wholly as a nation, and fprinkled them over the earth, even as worthlefs rubbage ! But Jlill AJJyria and Chaldea utterly perijhed ; and Rome s vajl Jlrength and boundlejs empire Jo faded, at firjl, into mere impotency, as to leave fcarce the name of an Italian dukedom and thus continued until a new dynajly of ajjumed power, and of impious pomp and pretenjion arofe claiming to rule the nations of the Univerje, as the vicege rents of Him who created it ! And now, O Albion, thy own inquifitive people (after raking up the ajhes of all thofe people, and with an almojl idolatrous veneration of mere antiquity ; yea, the ajhes of the once mighty Nineveh, alfo thofe of " Chaldea s Ex cellency," likewife thofe of the " Phrahs of Egypt," and of the once Kingly, Republican, and Imperial City) fhould not themfelves become oblivious that age is fajl creeping upon thee alfo ; and that all things, ancient and buried, (when brought to light) are only to piOle of Cartapfriliis to Fris OBtutor. be now prized as revelations jhowing how and why and when they pcrijhed, as the holy Prophets had foretold ! But the inner Jbul and mind of thoje long interred people, arc Jlill nearly without mementos thoje cannot be raked up with their ajhes and with their monuments Jo impotent are the outward works of man to tell us of his intellectual being ! Remember, then, O Albion, that, in the greatnejs of thy vaunted greatnejs, nothing is Jo worth prejerving as the evidences of thy Soul s Doings not thoje of thy hands in bronze and in marbles, but only of thy Jbund Religion of thy favour with Him who values the Heart alone. And, as thy lights have been Jo many, and pure, and- bright, how much greater thy now Jin, than that of Chaldea and of Egypt, if, in theje latter times, like JOASH, thou Jhalt be blinded by the " Myjlerious Babylon," whoje deeds, unlike thoje of the proud City on the Euphrates, are done amidjl the effulgent halo that encompajjeth Calvary ! And if the now Jujpicion againjl thee Jliould be ripened into an awakening reality, doubt it not, O " Lady IJland ! " other people in after ages will rake thy afl>es too doubt it not, oh Albion, that the mere penumbra of idolatry in thee, would be far more odious, than its radiance was in thoje of the days of EJar-Haddon. Unto thine integrity, as once it was, be now Jledfajl cajl from thee the Jhib- boleths and peculiar indicia, and all the fajhions, and the merely terrene ways of that "marked" Church imitate alone their virtues their many holy means their cherijhed glory in, and zeal for, their religion, yet not with the vain ambition of projelytijers. But Juch virtues as they Jurcly do pojjcjs, can give thee no warrant for thy adoption of any other part ; or, as Jbme have done the whole ! nor doth it jujlify thy doubts as to the purity of thy own far purer faith, becauje there are Jpots upon thine own Jim : but rather Jtrive to dijjipate them all a far eajler tajk than to fajhion a polifhed Mirror of Faith out of the disjefla membra of a religion, which, though ancient, perjijlent, and with wonderful unity, in Jbme things, is yet equally full of objlinacy againjl light of variablenejs according to recurring policies of earthy proclivities of dij~- Jcnjions and contradictions of theoretic purities, and practical JenJuouJneJJes of heavenly mildnejs, and of fierce dictation ! theje all, being the drojs of that merely terrene Jbul, clearly forc- Jeen of Prophecy, and which Hijlory hath abundantly proved. Why then, O Albion ! cloje thine eyes to thine own lights, and purjue the phantoms of Supremacy of Mariolatry of Celibacy of hourly Sacrifices of Penances of Indulgences, and of divers more Juch figments, becaufe of their aclual or Juppojcd antiquity, and of the tenacity with which they have been maintained by the Latin Church, when thine own dogmas and observances are far more ancient are apojlolic, and have worked well, whiljl thoje of Rome have in all the ages brought Jo feeble a harvejl of vital goods ? Be adhcjive therefore, O Albion ! to thy more Jimple and of Cartap6ilu0 to 610 oEtiitor, earlier faith : for, I tell thee, thou wilt Jbrely need it in the ap proaching darknejs cajl upon that Latin Church an effujion of wickednejs more intenfe, diffujive, infidious, and fatuous, than in all the pajl times ! Doubt it not, oh Albion, their Jlruggle with the Powers of Light will come Quejlion it not, their means of attack, and thine of rejijlance, were never before Jo great : and I further tell thee that, as the various rulers of nations Jhall at length wholly forjake their pajl modes of War and of Peace, Jo will thoje great Powers of Belial and of Heaven, each cajl off their earthy feeblenejs for the mighty conflict ! Momentous rejult ! Let the Spiritual Waterloo be arjo thine ! 7 X^, OW > although ever Jlnce the Council of Trent, in 1563, the theory hath continually been that all jurijdiffion, civil and eccle- Jiajlic, mujl flow from but one Jburce viz., the Chair of St. Peter at Rome yet we know that, in practice, all power is exercijed by that Church and by another power, equally if not Jlill more potent ! It is now in vain that we look to one only we mujl Jeek it not only in the White-robed Pontiff of the Vatican and his minijlers, but aljb in the Black-robed General of the Gesu and his Jbldiers ! The Jiibordinates of the GENERAL mujl all do as they are bid : and the whole of that Fraternity wield as tremendous an influence over the Pontifex-Maximus, and the Catholic world, as that General does over his own Subordinates ! The mijchievous rejults to the multitude, from this combined power of the t\vo, can be cjlimated by no human calculation it being infinite and various. The Few of the Vatican and of the Gesu may be the mojl learned and Jeduclive among men but the Multitude mujl be kept in nearly Cimmerian darknejs, before the ways of Gehennom and of Heaven can be thus unnaturally combined and Jujlained ! And the greatejl of all the marvels is that among the Multitude of that Church, and aljb among the Few of the Vatican and of the Gesu, there are In dividuals of Jlngular piety, and honejlly zealous in their cauje, when not the mere viclims of an artful diabolic agency ! In the two are found elements born of Hell whiljl jbme of their rejpeclive mem bers appear and are among the brightejl exemplars of Chrijlian zeal and purity the unconjcious, and we believe irrejponjible agents, of Him who is the Jburce of all "deceivablenejs." Myf- terious power ! W T onderful combination of unnatural elements ! ^Q>o need hajl thou, oh Albion, for " Royal Primacy ," more than hath the world at large for "Papal Supremacy" Jave that the Church s defigned wcaknefs in things civil and political, (after clearly defining its fpiritual rights and claims) mujl leave their enforcement to the conjcience of the Temporal Power, JTiould need there be : for, in the melancholy caje of a conflict, the Church can never war upon the Throne ; the former is then in deep grief- and mujl Jubmit, until a change of heart Jhall vijit, from on high, both, or one : then maycjl thou live long in thy wonted ujcfulnejs, iii oBpiflle of CartapFnlus to 610 and in the enjoyment of all thy jujl and great renown. SHUN ROME ! no cauje wilt thou then have to fear lejl the owl Jhall jit jblitary in thy now gorgeous palaces the fox bark out of the windows of thy many proud manfions, and the hijjing reptiles repoje among the weeds of thy ruined fortrejjes and dilapidated cities ! No Jeremiah is yet needed to lament for thee : but, if hereafter needed, none would be then vouchsafed : thine own lights, now and ever, mujl wholly jerve thee, Jhade them not, lejl thy waters be dried up lejl thy potency become weaknejs lejl thy knowledges become as delujive meteors, and lejl, as of old, God jhall deliver thee up to the " Syrians " though they " come with a fmall company of men ! " Doubt it not, oh Albion! danger now is in all thy paths, and never before was there greater cauje to cry out in the words of the PJalmijl, " Help Lord! for the godly man ceafeth for the faithful fail from among the children of men. If the foundations be dejlroyed, what can the righteous do!" And remember, once more, O Albion ! there be other lands in the far Wejl, as well as in the remote Eajl, whoje future greatnejs may take place of thine and endure unto the end and yet only if their own Faith be pure, and only Jo long as it thus remains, for no nation that forjakes the Faith hath Jure life. Nations perijh not, nor ever did, and never will, by old age alone : they perijh through Jin alone : full of years, then, as Albion now is, jlill may Jhe flourijli in perpetual manhood but only whiljl her Apojlolic-Saxon Faith jhall remain, and her Practice be the like. Accipite animis, atque haec mea figite difta. ()nly a few words more unto thee, oh Albion ! Thou mayejl be either the Saviour, or the Dejlroyer of Man s bejl hopes on Earth, and in Heaven, for there are in thee two /ignal Virtues, flowing from the Source of all Good " TOLERATION " and " LIBERTY " the juft ufe of either of which is heavenly the abufe of which is diabolic ! Dojl thou not know that the GREAT DECEIVER hath Jpecioujly taken unto himjelf both of theje but only to mijlead thee and the world whiljl he is enjlaving both ? Doth he not charm thee with the lovelinejs of the names of Tole ration and of Political and Civil Liberty yet only in Juch a way as to lead thee into the certain abufe of each, Jo that every crime againjl Religion and Government againjl Jalutary Toleration, and wholejbme Liberty, may be perpetrated under the divine forms of them all, whiljl thou and the world are becoming in a degree the real Jlaves, and his numerous minions the only Freemen, and the only Perjecutors to do as they lijl in all of their diabolic Jchemes ? Doubt it not ! Thy morbid and mawkijh abuje of theje two Jhining virtues is now becoming the mojl powerful of all the Satanic means revealed to mankind for their utter ruin ! Doubt it not, oh Albion, that thy " Toleration," without confervative limi tations, and thy " Liberty," without its ejjcntial rejlriclions, arc (ZBpiflle of Cartap&ilus to trig OEDitor. fafcinatlng thee into the abyjs thou wouldjl anxioujly avoid into the very pit which the Deceiver hath Jo long aimed to cajl thee and the world, however much thou and thy admirers have Jeemingly Jtrived, during Jbme centuries, to dignify man by religious toleration by humanity to thy foes and by civil and political liberty ! But be wife, oh Albion ! Virtues, ijfuing from the clear fountains of God s immaculate wij~dom, are the very purities with which the Great Deceiver would now Jtrive to mijlead thee ! and thoje virtues, Jbrely abujed, may be thy overthrow and will be, if thou remain oblivious of their inherent and jujl limitations. Beware of traditional pride in this matter of thy Toleration, and of thy Liberty ! It is thy bejetting illufion LOOK TO THE JESUITS ! now hath Cartaphilus delivered himjelf of a duty unto thee, as his Editor and unto thofe, if any, who Jhall read theje Chroni cles : and the Jew would only add unto his foregoing Meditations upon Life and Death, his hope that every one will feel through life, as Ninus Jeems to have done only when in the article of death ! And now, veils et remis, I go for Oriental lands ; LONDON Auflin Friars, September 16, 1852. . . . Julian Period . . . 6565 Anno Mundi, Supputatione Chriftianorum .......... 5856 Anno Mundi, Supputatione Hebraeorum 3 Tifri ...... 5612 Anno IVth Olympiadis .................... 657 Ab Urbe Condita, (Terentius Varro) ............ 2605 Anno Seleuc: (Eloul) ...- ................. 2163 JEra. Juliani Augufti ..................... 1897 Anno Nativitatis XVI Kal : Oft ............... 1852 The VHIth Year of the 19 Years Cycle (Judaical Civil Year) commencing Sept. 16 1852 .......... 5613 Anno Hegirae, ift Dhu Chasjah ............... 1268 Anno XVI Viftoriae Reginae Brit : Jupiter in Libra Golden Number 10 Dominical Letters F. E. Old Style. Dom: Letters D.C. New Style Epaft 9. finally, my Editor, the remaining two volumes of this my fir/I revelation, I entrujl to thy discretion. I bid thee, and Chrijtendom, a loving, but no Jhort FAREWELL. CARTAPHILUS. Clje 6Ditor to tt)e OURTEOUS Reader ! it is probable a few words may be expected of thee from the Editor of a Chronicle coming from a fource fo little contem plated, and of a character, in many refpecSts, fo anomalous. That it may not fuit the tafte of fome is altogether likely ; and that, moreover, it may occafionally offend others is equally to be expected, however anxioufly the " Wanderer " and his Editor have endeavoured to gain friends, or at leaft a docile ear. It alfo may be prefumed that a few will be found fo faftidious, as fcarce to tolerate the blending of fo great a variety of diflimilar topics, and perhaps ftyles, in the fame work : but as the world is perhaps vaft and various enough to yield even a numerous clafs of readers of fimilar tafte, and fufficiently liberal to weigh foberly the ultimate objects and tendencies of the whole, both as to matter and manner, the Editor has ventured to cherifh the hope that Cartaphilus will be kindly welcomed on his return from Oriental lands, and that his Scholiaft may alfo be, though both are as confcious as any one can be that, in all refpets the execution of the enterprife may be regarded as extremely imperfect, compared with the vaftnefs, and poffibly the effential worth of the general fcheme or ideality itfelf. To the entire clafs of Purifts and Carpers, the Editor will only fay read the whole or none : go not in purfuit of faults, or as to what might have been done, both are liberally, but moft regret fully admitted and then let your judgment be a tender one, no lefs towards the long afflicted and finning, but now Converted Jew, than towards the retired Jurifconfult,- who, when in eager pur fuit of mental occupation, hath, perhaps, inconfiderately and in- judicioufly undertaken a duty towards the " Wanderer of Ages," that ill harmonized with the early readings and vein of thought, fo ufually among the difciples of Littleton, and of his great Com mentator. But, fuch as the whole may be, he now prefents it, neither craving praife, nor deprecating cenfure but ftill hopeful of juftice. Cbe OBtiitor to t&e iReatier, n Now, as the Jew is again wandering, the Editor (whofe feel ing hath ever been, Ubi fum, ibi patria Where I am, there is my country ) is grateful for all the benevolences he hath received in this, and in other lands : but now doth he yearn for his natal foil ; and, nearly in the words of the gifted poet, Tupper, is inclined to fay " Thither thy fon, O Columbia ! is haft ning There for true riches fecurely to fearch ; Not for thy gold, California, longing But for fweet Home, with enough and a Church." DAVID HOFFMAN. LONDON, 6A. Hanover St. Hanover Square, September, 1852. Hi HE Editor anticipates, but only from a certain clafs of readers, the objection that thefe Volumes deal too largely in theolo gical and ecclefiaftic matters : but the remark would be erroneous in fact, and no lefs unfound in theory than wanting in correct feel ing as it will be found that quite four-fifths of the entire work are wholly free of this objection, if otherwife a juft one; and alfo that the eflential character of the JEW, and the very aim and fpirit of his Chronicles demanded the progreffive development of his anomalous character the caufe, effects, and approaching removal of his wonderful deftiny. Cartaphilus is certainly anxious to win readers now that the revelation of his Chronicles became neceflary : but ftill, with extremely little of an Author s ufual folicitude. Well knowing, alfo, the human heart, he has forefeen equally with his Editor, the probable objection alluded to ; and therefore ftoutly in- fifted, at firft, that the following letter to the much famed Cornelius dg r ipp a i addrefTed by Cartaphilus to him in 1535, fhould not be here anticipated, but be inferted in its order of time. The Editor, however, had feveral reafons for the prefent chronological departure in this folitary cafe, which need no further mention than that he fuppofed the perufal of the LEGEND may have awakened fome curiofity to know at once fomething more of the Wanderer s connection with Agrippa ; and alfo that as the topics of that fingular letter reveal much of the eflential character of our Hero, if fo he may be called, it would add to the reader s early intereft in him, and alfo infpire a juft hope that ultimately his orthodoxy would be all that could be defired and hence the infertion of this letter out of place, though at the rifk of increafmg the objection we both have feared. We, however, have placed it in the Appendix to the firft Volume to be taken up at the option of the reader. DAVID HOFFMAN. Wandering Jew; Chronicles of CartapJ)itu, POLYCHRONICON, i. Chronicles of CartapJrilug, Century Nifan s New Moon Jerufalem s trouble. Afaph s fweet Shophar, making a "joyful noife before the Lord." A fullen filence reigned around and the gate of the Inner Court that looketh to the Eaft, remained ftill fait clofed ! Thus was all Jerufalem troubled, and in fore fufpenfe, during the four entire days before my melancholy birth, when, at length, the gladfome founds were heard from the MefTengers, hailing the infant year, and thefe were quickly taken up by the chief Senator of the BETH-YAZEK, who ufhered the well-known cry of " Me- kuddajh Mekuddajh ! " to Ifrael s anxious people. "he air of Judea, ufually fo ferene and genial and the fkies fo cloudlefs, when Nifan is proclaimed, were cheerlefs and cold and black with many vapours, during thofe four prefaging days before my birth ; and the hours of the morning watch, of that firft day which gave me breath, were as full of mental agonies to the father and mother of me their firft and only born, as were the elements then, and after, with thofe lurid and unnatural afpe6ls ! Rumour of "T^f 16 cau ^ e f m 7 parents great difquietude was amyfterlous found in a hideous dream, with which their deep dream. was yifited a dream full of awful prefages concern ing their expected offspring a dream that baffled the utmoft fkill of divination ! The fhocking vifion re-appeared, and with addi tional clearnefs, on the night of my eighth day a day that had fomewhat revived their wounded fpirits, as being that on which, by Circumcifion, I had been fymbolically allied to the houfehold of faith. *^he fame vifion, I fay, of horror, as at the hour of my birth repeated to both my parents fo early after the joyous event of my circumcifion and at Night s fourth watch, when dreams are moft veracious, vifions, too, that no one, to whom they had been facredly entrufted, could in any wife refolve, were potent circumftances to prefs forely upon the minds of thofe, whom, by nature and our holy laws, we are ever bound to venerate and love though they were the authors of an exiftence which, to the prefent hour, hath known no joy ! As my parents are faid to have deeply grieved, they furely mourned not folely for themfelves : oh no, they, at leaft, loved me ; and their brief example feems now the only caufe of the little kindnefs a few do fhow me, in this my early manhood ! ^he world around me had early heard and cherifhed the vague rumours, as to fome portentous myftery at my birth : and whilft that was frefh in memory, they either hated, or dreaded me, its then wholly innocent object. But alas ! ere a fingle revolution of the fun and heavens around the plain that man inhabits had been completed, my parents were gathered to their fathers : and, (that the myfterious cup of my affliction might overflow, even in Cfje 22!antiettng 3|eto. His Parentage The Myftery. the dawn of life, and thus adumbrate the future) they both departed to their eternal home, on the fame day and hour ! Wonderful, indeed, are the ways of Abraham s God ! CDv mother is faid to have been the lovelieft of beings my father, SERAIAH, the moft venerated of men : but they were both, by defcent, Ifhmaelites, not Jews ; and both were Profelytes of the Gate ; who, indeed, faithfully worfhipped God, but had remained uncircumcifed : and my own initiation into the ftricl faith of our father Abraham, is faid to have been occafioned by the agitation caufed by thofe fearful vifions attendant upon my birth. ()n their death I parted into the hands of a maiden aunt, on my mother s fide ; who being by her own birth and education, but not by previous defcent, a Samaritan, and hence, by religion, no friend to her Sifter s new-born faith, fcowled upon her charge from his earlieft days : and though ftie gave me the protection of her roof, and faw me educated in moft of the learning of the times, ftill made my home fufficiently wretched, which was greatly em bittered, moreover, not only by the myftery that hung over my natal hour, but by the inevitable hatred alfo cheriftied towards me by my paternal uncle ANMAR, formerly of Arabia, who regarded me, not only as the immediate caufe of my parents melancholy end, but of their fudden adoption of circumcifion and of the pail- over thereby becoming, almoft in the article of death, full Pro felytes of the Covenant a faith to which my uncle was no friend, if indeed he were to any. ^ell me, oh my foul ! what were the vifions that fo weighed down the fpirits of thofe who gave me birth, as thus to change them, and fo fpeedily to confign both to an early and fynchronous tomb? declare unto me, ye Angels that hover invifible around us, be ye good or evil, the meaning of thofe dark and fhadowy and terrific intimations oh, tell me, if but in whifpers, and more obfcure than thofe vouchfafed my parents fo that, peradventure, by much ftudy, I may refolve them, and mitigate (or, even though it increafe) my woes ! jftt their death, they both charged my uncle (as the fole depositary, among all my relatives of a portion only of their fatal fecret) ftriclly to withhold even that flight difclofure, from CARTA- PHILUS, their fon for fo had I been in due feafon named ! ^Quring the period of my Aunt s limited protection, and of her far more flender affec~lion, I was ftill encompafled by many vague rumours of the idle and malicious world, as to this my myfterious birth and deftiny, and thefe were whifpered to my young mind, long before I could underftand the leaft of their import. Thefe, as I grew older, tortured my inner foul gave me up to many diabolical influences poifoned all my thoughts, and eventually 6 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century \. His Parents death Hope of Shiloh His hatred of the Romans. feparated me eternally from every being in Paleftine, in whofe veins my anceftral blood was flowing ! Thofe tender names, " Father " and " Mother," had never reached my infant heart and compre- henfion : they, whofe devoted cares would have nourifhed me, whofe loving counfels would have reftrained me to the paths of virtue and peace, were now for ever gone ; and I, a helplefs degraded child, was caft upon the icy feelings of a bigoted and fuperftitious world ; with no other inheritance than a foul ftory pendent over me, from the firft hour I breathed a ftory, which, though all could lifp, and delighted fo to do, yet could none define its particulars, nor in the leaft unravel its pregnant meaning, for fuch is the world s malice ! jF folitary being am I ; of whom, as they fay, even now, " Heaven has determined fomething awful!" but what? ah, that may remain for ever the awakening the tormenting queftion ! I fee I feel the myftery all around me ; but as lightlefs as a night of blackeft ignorance impenetrable to all alike, and equally fo to me, though twenty and feven years have now palled away ! * * * Would that no more of Nifan s moons could fhed upon me their foft and filvery light ! and that thefe eyes were now fealed up in eternal fleep yea, in eternal death ! or rather, would that, if SHILOH is to come, he come quickly, for that day mujt be one of radiance a day of blifs to all a day that furely will refolve all myfteries ! * * * ^jhe Prophets fay He is to come ; and HofeofShihK i firml hold nearl jf not in thefe times I coming. ] , / r)1 .1 if j i_ c j j and our rharitees, alio, and the oadducees, to gether with the Priefts and others, do further hold, that he will be a mighty Conqueror one that mail rid our land of ftrangers of thefe Idumeans, yea, furely of thefe all-pervading and odious Romans and raife Ifrael from her now deep degradation, even unto a lofty national power, and unbounded wealth ! O that thefe days would haften as running ftreams from Olivet s heights ! O that they were at our very gates ! for Jerufalem much needs a conqueror now, far more, indeed, than even in Babylonian times : for the iron grafp of Rome, at prefent, feems far more fatal to our laws and religion, than was ever Chaldea s heavy hand, and fore captivity. Our people, then, (as a youth, ardent and full of ftrength) were not only confcious of their chains, and mourned over their deep ingratitude to Abraham s God, but they longed for the occafion to redeem themfelves from both. But Roman fetters, in thefe our degenerate days, hang lightly on us ; and our motley religion now feems as various in its creeds, as if our Mafter Mofes had conferred, upon all who would, the power to thunder forth from any little Sinai, a Law to fuit their fafhion ! Oh, how weary Letter i. C&c {KHantiering; 3feto, 7 The Baptift Cities of Refuge. am I of the times, both in State and Temple ! and, as a Sadducee, (of courfe without a hope of things beyond the grave) this world mould be good enough for me and worth the living for yet only when in its beft eftate only when we remain mafters of our country mafters of our own mind and actions, feeking, finding, and ufmg riches, as we lift : thefe all, or any, withheld, the tomb of our forefathers mould be welcomed as a home of fweet repofe, yea, of eternal oblivion. O that Shiloh would quickly come ! * LETTER I. CARTAPHILUS TO RABBI EBEN-ZRA [now of Ramoth-Gilead], JERUSALEM. Seleucid<e, 343. Tebeth, 8th day. [A.D. 31. Friday, 14. December.] HOU art gone, my friend, to a City of Refuge ! and yet thy alleged crime is furely none, feeing that it was not only involuntary on thy part, but com mitted againft one of thofe noify fellows, who followed that maniac the Baptift. Be it thy confolation, then, to learn that he is now in prifon ! Herodias hath contrived this good, and a woman, as thou knoweft, when once angered and endued with power, ftoppeth not ; but is a match for a hoft of men yea, even of Beel-zebuls ! *^his new-comer, who hath feduced fo many by _. his preachings, his baptifms, and his ftrange aufterities, a ^ ventured to tell even Herod, that God would afflict him with fore evils, fhould he take Herodias to wife. She is his niece, indeed, and the lawful wife of his brother Herod-Philip j but, as me hath already become his victim, the evil had better be thus cured, than made worfe. Philip in this hath been much maltreated ; but Herod Antipas will have his humour and fo will Herodias : and yet I marvel much the u Old Fox " doth not prefer the beautiful SALOME, her daughter but it may likewife come to this at laft ! r ^J^hy flight, my Rabbi, was rapid and effectual, thanks to our newly repaired roads from the Holy City, to all thofe of Refuge ! They now each and all, are nearly forty cubits in width ; the rivers and ftreams are all well bridged ; the fign-pofts, with their label " To the Refuge," are confpicuoufly fet up the magiftrates, in this at leaft, having done their duty fully. I hope, moreover, thy feledted city of Ramoth- * The SHILOH had in faft appeared thirty years before Cartaphilus thus chronicles, that is, juft three years before his own birth. C&ronicles of Cartapfrilug, Century \. The Avenger of" Blood Viiit to his Uncle. Gilead is plentifully ftored, for this cometh alfo within the Law of Refuge, as thou well knoweft. ^he AVENGER OF BLOOD, I am happy to inform thee, foon gave over his purfuit ; whether from ignorance of thy firft abode, or from Herod s winking at thy homicide, I wot not. Thy exile, however, may not be of long duration, as the High-Prieft is now aged ; and his death^ as thou knoweft, will neceflarily releafe thee, if thy freedom come not fooner. When Shiloh appears, thefe things will all be better managed, for thy hafty flaying of the babbler (though done with intemperate zeal, and yet with no defign on life) was ftill done in Shiloh s great caufe : for this John furely is not that Shiloh nor yet his MefTenger : Shiloh will come in power, and in great majefty ; and not as this man, with a rude garment of camel s-hair a girdle of fkin about his loins preaching in wildernefles and feeding upon locufts and wild honey ! ^Jut ftill, John s baptifms have taken wonderfully with the multitude ! Thefe, however, are now likely to have an end for ever : for he is not only in prifon, whence there is no efcape, but it is rumoured throughout all Jerufalem, as well as Galilee, that Herodias, (if not Herod, whofe fears) doth earneftly feek his death ! I will write to thee anon, fhould John be flain. <Ql.any who love thee, even more in thy now misfortune, falute thee. The young and noble ARTEMAS, of Caefaria on the coaft, is now here from Sepphoris, where he temporarily refides. He bids me, in the name of his newly made acquaintance with thee, to greet Eben-Ezra and his fpoufe Prifcilla, moft kindly. Freely do I add mine own and not forgetting the young and gentle Rebecca. FARE-THEE-WELL. CARTAPHILUS. SECTION ll.Tebeth, i6th day. [Saturday, 22 December, A.D. 31.] HAVE juft returned from my Uncle ANMAR S houfe ! Some years had parted fmce we communed : but his ghoft being then about to depart (and as the Pharifees would fay) either to Abraham s bofom or to Sheol, I judge not which ; he fummoned me to his bed-fide, and thus addrefled me. " I know, Cartaphilus, that unto thee I have been as no uncle : but my Vifitto/iis death being near, I now feek to make thee fome amends ; and will difclofe all, though that be little, which thy parents vouchfafed refpedling thofe dreadful vifions that fo greatly tormented them ; and which haftened their fouls, as I truft, to Paradife if an hereafter there be indeed. And, though charged by them both to reveal to thee nothing, left, as they falfely n. Cfte flUantiermg; 3leto The Prophetic Dream. fuppofed, thou ftiouldeft be made thereby ftill more unhappy, than thy unknown though rumoured deftiny would doubtlefs make thee, my judgment and confcience now bid me declare unto thee the brief words then entrufted to me. Thefe, poflibly, to thy mind, may fhadow fomething to unravel the great, and now long-enduring myftery : but to mine, they have yielded nothing but mingled doubts, and vexatious fancies." " J^inow, then, that nought of the portentous " vifions would they yield me fave that Thou, their ****&** " infant fon, wert feen {landing upon the fummit of a " lofty and eternal mountain, looking down upon all the Nations " on Earth s vaft plain : and whilft there, thou becameft full of " years large in mental ftature, and with hoary locks ! And, as " nations and ages parted before thee, thy whitened and flowing " hair gradually faded away thy body in like manner diminiflied ; " but not thy inner man : thy once youthful form feemed dimly " returning to thee the mountain vanimed amidft dark clouds : " but anon, thefe clouds difperfed, and Thou waft feen again in " the full bloom of youth ! On the mountain s fummit, thy " young body was found again increafing rapidly to man s proudeft " ftrength and form age then came on in courfe ; and thou " didft ftand, as they thought, like unto a lofty and venerable pine, " on the top of Libanus ! This was often repeated ; fometimes at un- " equal periods and, feemingly to them, during full two thoufand " years ! " " JJnow further, O Cartaphilus ! that, in this vifion, thy " young body was, at one time, fuddenly enveloped in a cloud of " the fupremeft darknefs ; but through which thy form was in- " diftin&ly feen, as a dim and very feeble light, ftriving to difpel " the blacknefs around thee, and all the nations ! Upon thy " breaft refted the Hebrew letters Tbauf Rejh Tod Aleph^ " ft "ID an d, m tne thicknefs of this profound darknefs, thou " didft remain six MINUTES, TWENTY AND FOUR SECONDS ! And " then fucceeded a delufive and flickering brightnefs, that endured " juft EIGHT MINUTES, TWENTY AND FOUR SECONDS !* Far be- " neath thy feet, lay a brilliant cloud of light through which was " radiant, in furprifmg brightnefs, the letter Beth, j and lo ! the " cloud around thy head and body flowly diflolved from before " thee, until all became too fplendid for man s prefent vifion. But " thou, O Cartaphilus, wert no more to be feen and yet, whether " living or dead, they wift not ! " * Thefe, in apocalyptic language, would feem to import two periods of fixteen years and twenty-one years : and how thefe were exaftly verified, in the tkirty-fe*ven years of a certain remarkable perfonage, will appear in the vii th Century of thefe Chronicles. Chronicles of Cartapfulus, century \. The Avenger of" Blood Viiit to his Uncle. Gilead is plentifully ftored, for this cometh alfo within the Law of Refuge, as thou well knoweft. ^he AVENGER OF BLOOD, I am happy to inform thee, foon gave over his purfuit ; whether from ignorance of thy firft abode, or from Herod s winking at thy homicide, I wot not. Thy exile, however, may not be of long duration, as the High-Prieft is now aged ; and his death^ as thou knoweft, will neceflarily releafe thee, if thy freedom come not fooner. When Shtlob appears, thefe things will all be better managed, for thy hafty flaying of the babbler (though done with intemperate zeal, and yet with no defign on life) was ftill done in Shiloh s great caufe : for this John furely is not that Shiloh nor yet his MeiTenger : Shiloh will come in power, and in great majefty ; and not as this man, with a rude garment of camel s-hair a girdle of (kin about his loins preaching in wildernelTes and feeding upon locufts and wild honey ! ^(3 ut ftiU> John s baptifms have taken wonderfully with the multitude ! Thefe, however, are now likely to have an end for ever : for he is not only in prifon, whence there is no efcape, but it is rumoured throughout all Jerufalem, as well as Galilee, that Herodias, (if not Herod, whofe fears) doth earneftly feek his death ! I will write to thee anon, fhould John be flain. CD any who love thee, even more in thy now misfortune, falute thee. The young and noble ARTEMAS, of Caefaria on the coaft, is now here from Sepphoris, where he temporarily refides. He bids me, in the name of his newly made acquaintance with thee, to freet Eben-Ezra and his fpoufe Prifcilla, moft kindly. Freely do add mine own and not forgetting the young and gentle Rebecca. FARE-THEE-WELL. CARTAPHILUS. SECTION ll.Tebeth, i6th day. [Saturday, 22 December, A.D. 31.] HAVE juft returned from my Uncle ANMAR S houfe ! Some years had pafled fince we communed : but his ghoft being then about to depart (and as the Pharifees would fay) either to Abraham s bofom or to Sheol, I judge not which ; he fummoned me to his bed-fide, and thus addrefled me. " I know, Cartaphilus, that unto thee I have been as no uncle : but my Vifittohis death being near, I now feek to make thee fome amends ; and will difclofe all, though that be little, which thy parents vouchfafed refpecting thofe dreadful vifions that fo greatly tormented them ; and which haftened their fouls, as I truft, to Paradife if an hereafter there be indeed. And, though charged by them both to reveal to thee nothing, left, as they falfely n. Cjje COanDermg: 3lcto The Prophetic Dream. fuppofed, thou ftiouldeft be made thereby ftill more unhappy, than thy unknown though rumoured deftiny would doubtlefs make thee, my judgment and confcience now bid me declare unto thee the brief words then entrufted to me. Thefe, poflibly, to thy mind, may fhadow fomething to unravel the great, and now long-enduring myftery : but to mine, they have yielded nothing but mingled doubts, and vexatious fancies." " ^^now, then, that nought of the portentous " vifions would they yield me fave that Thou, their TfoPnpfotic " infant fon, wert feen ftanding upon the fummit of a " lofty and eternal mountain, looking down upon all the Nations " on Earth s vaft plain : and whilft there, thou becameft full of " years large in mental ftature, and with hoary locks ! And, as " nations and ages pafled before thee, thy whitened and flowing " hair gradually faded away thy body in like manner diminifhed ; " but not thy inner man : thy once youthful form feemed dimly " returning to thee the mountain vanimed amidft dark clouds : " but anon, thefe clouds difperfed, and Thou waft feen again in " the full bloom of youth ! On the mountain s fummit, thy " young body was found again increafmg rapidly to man s proudeft " ftrength and form age then came on in courfe ; and thou " didft ftand, as they thought, like unto a lofty and venerable pine, " on the top of Libanus ! This was often repeated ; fometimes at un- " equal periods and, feemingly to them, during full two thoufand " years ! " " JJnow further, O Cartaphilus ! that, in this vifion, thy " young body was, at one time, fuddenly enveloped in a cloud of " the fupremeft darknefs ; but through which thy form was in- " diftin&ly feen, as a dim and very feeble light, ftriving to difpel " the blacknefs around thee, and all the nations ! Upon thy " breaft refted the Hebrew letters TkaufReJh YodAhph^ " K *in and, in the thicknefs of this profound darknefs, thou " didft remain six MINUTES, TWENTY AND FOUR SECONDS ! And " then fucceeded a delufive and flickering brightnefs, that endured " juft EIGHT MINUTES, TWENTY AND FOUR SECONDS !* Far be- " neath thy feet, lay a brilliant cloud of light through which was " radiant, in furprifmg brightnefs, the letter Beth, j and lo ! the " cloud around thy head and body flowly diflolved from before " thee, until all became too fplendid for man s prefent vifion. But " thou, O Cartaphilus, wert no more to be feen and yet, whether " living or dead, they wift not ! " * Thefe, in apocalyptic language, would feem to import two periods of fixtecn years and twenty-one years : and how thefe were exaftly verified, in the thirty-fe<ven years of a certain remarkable perfonage, will appear in the vn th Century of thefe Chronicles. io Chronicles of Cartapfrito, Century \. The Uncle s Admonition The Praifes of Mammon. is, my Cartaphilus, is the extent of what I have to reveal " as to thy parents wonderful dream ; fave, that it was feen before " thy birth, and alfo on the eighth day after ; and that thofe who " gave thee life, ever held that vifion as fymbolizing fome foul " curfe upon thee ; but for what crime committed by thy forefathers u or feen by the Omnifcient Eye, as thine own, I wot not and " they revealed not." * " ^JHhat I have told thee would have caufed to my mind no " fpecial uneafinefs for them, or for thee ; as to me it feemed to " prefage as much good as evil : but thy parents deep griefs, and " their affurance unto me that there was feen of them an aftound- " ing evil, caufed me to hate thee forely ; and to banifh from my " houfe and prefence one fo clofe to me in blood as thou art. " My parting word, and rich legacy unto thee, Cartaphilus, is this; " Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth and fo I " bid thee an eternal farewell." CDy uncle s fpirit was fet free in a few hours after : and I at the age of twenty-eight, was left nearly a mendicant by that repentant uncle whofe confcience bade him fuch amends ! jPt LEGACY ! a rich one, too, as he called it and yet of words, of mere words^ known to our forefathers more than a thoufand years ! and hence, not my uncle s legacy, but Solomon s ! Did my uncle remember his Creator, either in the days of his youth or even of his old-age? No, furely; elfe, after his fore oppreflions of me, he would not thus have dealt in words which are but breath and left me fhekellefs, but, inftead thereof, out of his fart accumulations, he would abundantly have endowed me ; fo that I might regain thereby, in my long honoured family, that high rank, by birth my own but which, by adverfe fortunes, and foul injuftice, fo long hath been withheld. f Q that this uncle, not in mockery, but in very fiJrZ^L* deed, had converted each word of Solomon s admo- oj Mammon. . . . . r r . riii<- nition into a talent or hlver yea, or gold! for MONEY truly is the foul s awakener the clear and copious fountain that allays all thirft the vital fpark of all that is worthy in earth, air, water, and fire ! Money is a faft friend, in need, and a good one, at all times : money gaineth civil fpeeches gracious entreat- ment many followers and only a few, but impotent enemies : money is kind and true, and may be trufted, where even one s beft friends, yea, father and mother, may prove falfe : money flandereth * In the progrefs of thefe Chronicles it will be feen, that the life of Carta philus is a perpetual fulfilment of this wonderful vifion. The Hebrew letters would feem to import the numbers 611 and 2000 : but how thefe, and likewife the 1 6 and 21 years, are connefted with his deftiny, may not be now intimated. f A.Jbekel is a fmall Jewifh coin, equal to about zs. \d. fterling. n. Cfje COan&ermg 31eto, The Praifes of Mammon His firft felf-reproof. not, but is indeed the fweeteft, beft, and moft abiding of com panions, for, by it may be gained all fweets, and all companions that one willeth ! Money cools the blood of angry relations but, when we have it not, their riches are as freezing waters fhed upon a fummer fky ! Money not only winneth friends, but enableth one to reward their actual worth, or to punifh their perfidy, and the wrongs of all our enemies. By money we may buy revenge, or ward it off: by money, all authority is at command, and all obeifance too : by money, laws may be made, or unmade ! Money is the key of all confcience the oil that penetrateth all hearts making the fevere judgments of to-day, the foft and compliant decifions of the morrow ! Of all elfe in life, than money, we may grow weary of that never ! for, when we loath all elfe, money may fecure retirement yea Death ! X^e who hath much money may have fome trouble. He who once had much, but little now, muft pine at the remembrance. He who hath no money, but fome friends, may yet languifh in pains. But he who hath neither mammon nor friends muft perifti in fore defpair. Much mammon begets many friends, and thefe may add to thy (lores poffefled of both, thou haft gained Paradife! O then, Cartapliilus, cherim both as the apples of thine eyes : for he who parts with either, may foon part with both. * J^ad mine uncle s legacy been money and words, the fage pre cept of Solomon had been well remembered by me ; but, as it is, my heart doth turn to gall ; and, all hope, in man s deareft hope, MONEY, feems loft to me, fave from my own good wits, and toiling hands flow and odious as thefe muft be : for now, alas ! what fhall even wit or toil avail in thefe defperate Roman times ? My Aunt, too, if death {hould fummon her, loves me not and will do by me no better part. But hold, Cartaphilus ! Do not the goodlieft fhrubs and trees fpring from almoft invifible points, lodged in the matrix of all feeds, however fmall they be ? do not the tiny fountains make the ftreams and they the majeftic rivers and thefe again the boundlefs Ocean ? If fo, why not try the Temple s Court ? many, there, have more furely gained mammon, than their fouls ! but why not gain both, if an after life there be ? and if in this the Pharifees be right, ftill poverty is a blighting foe to the foul s fafety, as all Sadducees will urge. To the Temple, then, will I haften, and fell doves hoping that, with thefe, and the exchange of a few coins, of which I ftill am mafter, I may build up, in time, even an envied fortune, from this fo poor beginning ! Ardua prima via eft et Initium in quaque re difficillimum, as the Romans juftly fay But do not they alfo fay, Venter prcecepta non audit et non babet aures ? Remember, then, O Cartaphilus, thy fole inheritance is Induftry and thy Wits ! 1 2 Chronicles of Cattap frilus, Century His firft meeting with JESUS The Baptift. SECTION III. Swan, i6thday. [Tuefday, 2fth May, A. D. 32.] HILST in the Temple to-day, one JESUS (of whom I had heard much, but feen nothing a Nazarene, and furely an uncommon man) came in ; and viewed all the glories around him, in a way that commanded great attention ! Though the fon of Jofeph, a car penter, known to many, the foolifh multitude will have it that he hath wrought fome notable miracles ! This Jefus Hts firft meet- ant j ^ B a p t i{t, as it would feem, colleague together ingwitk Jefus. , , , ,. r . . , , fe . , , they both have duciples ; poor and unknown, indeed, but marvelloufly fhrewd : and, if the tales be true that are told of thefe two men, they are either more than prophets, or they work their marvellous doings through Beel-zebul ; who, as tis faid, hath often turned himfelf into an Angel of Light or prophet or what ever elfe he lifteth, that he may gain his diabolic ends ! ^his Jefus looked at me ftrangely but no words paffed between us. LETTER II. CARTAPHILUS TO RABBI EBEN-EZRA. JERUSALEM. Seleucid<e, 345, Adar, 24. [March 8th, A.0. 33.] PROMISED, when laft I wrote, to inftruft thee, good Rabbi, in all things refpecling JOHN : and now Artemas hath juft called, with wonders upon his lips! Know, then, from him, that the Baptift is flain ! Salome, the graceful and beautiful Salome, received his head in a charger, from the hands of her uncle ! Hath not What followed lovely woman been at the core of all mifchief, ever the Baptift slm- fmce our firft mother loft us Paradife thereby making prifonment. Satan a monarch, if not of the world, yet of its larger half? Herod Antipas, as thou knoweft, hated John; but more from perfonal motives than from any regard he hath for IfraePs religion ; he envied him, becaufe of the influence he was daily gaining over the minds of the people. The multitude, he faid, were led by John, and this impaired his own authority. He hated the Baptift alfo for Herodias fake, and for the fevere rebuke he and that adulterous and inceftuous woman had received, for having taken to himfelf his brother Philip s wife ! He hated this John ftill further, as fome did rumour, and do record, that Sbiloh would Letter n. Cfjc OHan&ering; 31efo, 13 Herod Antipas Heroclias Salome Artemas. come through the preachings and baptifms of John, and thus dif- place Herod from all kingly power ! *^"ou, my friend, have thought John a holy man, and juft, though a fanatic, and hence mifchievous ; this may be fo : but I more clearly agree with thee, that, as he and his followers are wild zealots difturbers of the public peace introducers of divers vile novelties into our holy religion, they mould be put down, nay, punifhed : and through thy juft zeal was it, that thou didft, though inadvertently, flay one of thefe brawlers caufing thee to feek refuge in thy prefent abode. I like not thefe men ; and yet hate this Herod more. I muft therefore take counfel with myfelf, and fee further of them, ere I would willingly inflidr. death, or harm any of them : but, mould they prefs matters longer, and treat me, and my dealings in the Temple, as was done by the Nazarene to others, I mall go with Herod againft them all. Herod, doubtlefs, would now releafe thee from Ramoth, were the matter wholly within his province fo to do : but this appertains more largely to thofe in holy office. ***** It now is time for me to redeem my promife as to the ftrange events which caufed the Bap- tift s death. A prifoner in the caftle of Machaerus, well-nigh a year and a half, Herodias (that incarnate fiend in woman s blefled form) expofed John during all that period, to her utmoft fury, fave only death. Herod feared the multitude, but feared Herodias more and yet John the moft ! An occafion for his death, however, was only needed and that came for, that the inclination was never wanting will appear, when I tell thee that the Baptift s head was danced off and by Salome received ! Thou wilt naturally afk, why by the fair Salome ? Moft of what I mall now detail, comes from Artemas, and others, eye-witnefles thereof. jjEfrtemas was prefent, as a gueft, at Sepphoris, on Herod s birth-day feftival ; which, at night, was folem- nized with unufual fplendour. The Tetrarch s palace, without, was brilliant with myriads of lights fancifully arranged, which blended their infinite rays in a concentrated mafs ; and, like the fun at noon, dazzled the eye when gazed on, but which, when diftufed genially through the furrounding diftant foliage, gave a foft and moon-light radiance. The palace, within, was gorgeous with many filver and brightly burniftied lamps, medding fubdued rays through thin tranfparent horn, of various colours, whilft the mild air was redolent of frankincenfe and other precious gums, and of flowers in luftrous vafes, all in vaft but graceful profufion ! <^he Throne of State was magnificent in lights, reflected from plates of polifhed gold, inlaid with the emerald, the amethyft, fap- phire, garnet, chryfolite, and other coftly ftones ; whilft polifhed jafper and porphyry the onyx, and other ftones and marbles of 14 Chronicles of Cartapinlus, century i. The Birth-day Feftival Salome s brilliant drefs. various colours, that covered the walls of the extenfive apartments, caft back, on joyous faces, their mixed and mellifluous tints ! as the ftars of heaven s beautiful vault hide heads, when the more powerful luftre of Nifan s faireft moon appears, fo was every brilliant object of the furrounding fcene veiled, as it were, by the furprifmg brightnefs of the maiden Niece as (he entered lovely always, but on that feftive night, far exceeding her wonted felf ! Jgf ALOME, queen of the night, was feated oppofite to Herod and Herodias, upon a throne of lefs elevation and grandeur than her uncle s, and yet in a centre of encircling lights.. Columns of brightly polimed onyx and jafper, alternately arranged, and inlaid with many precious ftones, fuftained a gorgeous canopy over her head ! The canopy was famioned of tranfparent alabafter, which became more fo from the many glittering lights within ! The extenfive Hall fparkled with a thoufand rainbow hues, reflected from the polimed furfaces of fo many varied marbles, and coloured ivory all dazzling the eyes, and bewildering the fenfes with their matchlefs luftre, more than a hundredfold increafed by the many co loured rays that iffued from a thoufand tiny lamps of odoriferous oils ! J^alome s lucid mantles, taftefully difpofed, and fuch as even filk- worms never fpun, were of a texture thin as the nets that fpiders weave which, in the early morning dew, are found gleaming with myriads of fmall watery diamonds ! Her trefles, bright as the ftars of night s middle watch, were yet exceeded by her beaming eyes, and by the rofeate fremnefs of her blooming cheeks.* ^j^he gaiety and mirth attendant upon fuch fplendours, and ftill more from the many lufcious and mixed wines from fpiced per fumes from the melody of mufic and from the richeftviand s ferved in fumptuous profufion, had fo maddened the head of that proud and kingly Tetrarch, that he moved and fpoke as if more than mortal, though we know him to be the bafeft of men ; who, from his yet more infamous father, feems to have inherited moft of his vices, and but a fmall {hare of his capacity for rule. chiefeft men of Galilee and of Perasa were there, all * The defcription here given of the exquifite texture of Salome s attire, and efpecially of her mantle, will not be deemed exceffive, when we advert to the faft that, even now (as veracious travellers relate) there are muflins in Hindoftan, (wrought by the hands alone of their girls) which far furpafs in delicacy any production known to have been achieved even by the moft perfedl of modern machinery, guided by the moft careful fcience ! To illuftrate the wonderful finenefs of its warp and woof, it is faid that, in England, cotton has been fpun fo fine, that a thread 490 miles in length, would weigh but a pound and yet that the Hindoo manipulators are known to make their thread fo that it would need one of 1000 miles in length to weigh a pound ! and, that thofe muflins of Deccale, when fpread upon the ground, and covered by dew, became wholly invifible ! Letter n. Cfje (KHan&eung; Jeto, 15 Salome s Dancing Herod s Promife. brightening the gorgeous fcene, by their apparel of the richeft Tyrian dyes, fparkling in golden devices of cunning workmanfhip ! J^alome s magnificent attire the beauty of her throne the bril liancy of all around the adulation rendered to her lovelinefs the honours lavifhed upon Antipas, by the numerous parafites that encompafled him, together with the natural joyoufnefs of the occa- fion, caufed the damfel (even in the midft of Ifrael s faireft daughters) to be hailed by all, as the ruling ftar the prefiding glory of the palace ! ^j^hen came the hour of mufic and the dance. Arte- mas.the handfomeft and wealthieft youth of Caefaria, was * lom ? s rinjiTT j ijci ^ r u A Dancing. felected by Herod to lead balome from her throne. As the maiden defcended, and approached nigher unto Herod s pre- fence, her almoft celeftial form and unrivalled grace attracted a mul titude around her, to watch with eager eyes her agile and fkilful motions, fo harmonious with the mufic, and fo in unifon with the foul of the delighted Salome ! J^erod was enraptured ; his flattering guefts ftill more fo ; and the dancing of the fair maiden was, doubtlefs, perfect. Artemas, who had retired with profound obeifance, as a fpectator in the midft of the encompaffing circle, watched with keen eye the laft motions of Salome; and again received the lovely damfel, to replace her upon the throne. Each gueft, alike emulous to praife, then approached the joyous and triumphant Salome, and lavifhed upon her enraptured ear the loftieft praifes ! ()n an occafion fuch as this, when none were content with general acclamations of their approval, the Tetrarch could not long remain in dubious filence. From his throne, he bade the female attendants of his niece bring Salome to him and thus addrefTed her: " jQiy Daughter ! (for To would I now call thee) thy lovelinefs hath greatly charmed us all ; for thou haft well honoured this feftive occafion by thy matchlefs attire by thy courteous fmiles, and winning manners fo befitting this night, and our afTembled friends. But thy dancing hath furpalled all thy well-known excellence heretofore, and hence it merits, not the unproductive words of praifes only ; and, therefore is it, that I would now promife unto thee, and perform it, too, fomething more worthy thy acceptance, than fpeech, of even higheft commendation. Afk of me, Salome, whatfoever thou wilt, nay, even unto the one half of my kingdom, and I fwear unto thee by Jerufalem, and in token thereof, I now lift up my hand towards Heaven, that furely I will give it unto thee !" The damfel eyed the mother made a low obeifance, and then retired. ^J^he impious Herodias foon followed Salome j who fubmifiively confulted her mother refpefting ^aptlfl Herod s folemn and kingly vow. The half of his 1 6 C&romcles of Cartapfriltis, century i. Herod s Oath Death of The Baptift. kingdom founded well ! but ftill was of little value to Salome, fmce Herodias ^ in truth, poflefTed the whole and him alfo, but not the Baptift s head ! What the mother controlled, the daughter fufficiently fhared ; fo that no great occafion had fhe to enforce the promife, as to wealth or power but yet great occafion to oblige her vindictive mother. " What, then, O Queen, mail I feek from Herod ? " faid the bewildered maiden. " Demand, in continently of the King," replied Herodias, (her eyes fparkling with exulting rage) " demand, I fay, the head of John Baptift, to be given forthwith unto thee in a charger ! " Salome s tender years, not her well inftruted heart, fhrank from the requeft yet, with the weaknefs fo ufual in the daughters of Eve, with whom religion and revenge love and hatred, are often but inordinate impulfes, Salome foon complied ! She addrefled herfelf to Herod, demanded in execution of his vow, the Baptift s head, and then with dread and exultation, returned to Herodias. jf-jn order forthwith ifliied John was flain : and, in a charger, the ghaftly head of the victim was brought ! It was given into the (oft hands of the damfel, who prefented it to Herodias ; who fmiled thereon as if Gehenna and Paradife were then in her bofom rage and joy contending for the maftery ! * ^f\ hath been rumoured, indeed, that Herod, when the requeft was made, became greatly troubled and this well may be ; and if fo, was it not chiefly becaufe all previous ufage hath eftablifhed that, on birthday feafts, all anger is to be fufpended all conten tions reftrained, nay, that even the pleadings of our courts (hall ceafe ; and, above all, that on fuch a day, the king fhall filed no blood, and plot no mifchief in any way, againft human kind ? If troubled, did not Antipas fear the people, more than his own con- fcience ? for the people greatly cleave unto the Baptift more fo than yet they have done, or are likely ever to do, unto the Naza- rene. The Pharifees, and thofe high in office, never difliked * If tradition may be relied on as to the decollation of the Baptift, the fad event took place on the vi th of the Calends of September, which correfponds with Auguft zgth. But the prefent letter of Cartaphilus is dated 8th March, and ftates that an order iflued forthwith for the death of John. In the Church of Rome, however, their lift of the Saints days uniformly refers the event to the agth of Auguft and the Editor is unable to reconcile Cartaphilus and a tradition in refpeft to the date : for even if the word "forthwith " be referred to the "order" the letter alfo ftates that the death immediately followed, which would be not only in harmony with the Gofpel ftatement, but with the fierce difpofition and great power of Herodias, and therefore far more probable than that the beheading was delayed until the enfuing Auguft. Nor is it poffible that if the event occurred in the Auguft preceding, the letter of the following March could have ftated it as an event that had juft taken place. We, however, muft follow our Chronicler, and the reader muft refer the event to either the month of March or of Auguft of A. D. 32. Cjjc flxHantiermg; 3[eto. 17 Herodias The lecond meeting with JESUS. John half fo much as they now feem to hate this Jefus : and the multitude, ftimulated by their mafters, have ever liftened to John with more attention, than to the Nazarene. Thefe, my Rabbi, were the caufes of the Tetrarch s fleeting trouble ! I know this man well this degenerate fon of a moft wicked Idumean father, and Arabian mother. I know this half king, half tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea he, who apes the vices, the tyranny, yea, even the expenfe, of our Roman foes ! and therefore, I cannot think his troubles fank deeper than his policy caufed them felftm- nefs and cowardice having but flender alliance, if any, with a really wounded confcience. And, though thefe repenting Baptifts thefe new-faftiioned EfTenes, as well as thefe miracle-working Nazarenes, are no way to my mind of liking, I ftill hold this flaying of John to be, in Antipas, a foul and cauielefs murder. ^^ut the folly and wickednefs of the inceftuous mother went ftill further : for Herodias muft have believed that John had power, either from Abraham s God, or from the great enemy, Beelzebul ! Now, if from the latter, the acl: I am to mention was fupremely foolifh ; fince the foul fpirit would furely have baffled fo poor a device and, if from the former, it was fupremely wicked and daring, fince the Almighty could never be baffled. What I allude to is, that when Herodias received the head from Salome, it is faid me thruft her needle through the tongue thereof, and then buried the head in her own palace, left it mould fly back to the Baptift s moulders, and there become again united, to ha rangue her and Herod refpe&ing their unlawful union ! Such, my friend, is the filly ignorance and fuperftition that often accom pany fuperlative wickednefs ! But, it is now time to relieve thee from my too garrulous pen ; and I will merely add, that John s dif- ciples obtained the headlefs body ; buried it with care at Sebafte ; and, as I have heard, between the graves of the prophets Elizeus and Abdias. FARE-THEE-WELL. CARTAPHILUS. SECTION IV. JERUSALEM. Thamuz, 22. Seleucidx, 344. [Wednefday, i July, A.D. 33.] H E Nazarene, as I thought, eyed me fpecially, nay, piercingly, to-day ! And, as I offered my doves and other facrificial things, as likewife my moneys in exchange, He refolutely ad- Hisfecond monifhed us all that this was finfull I would not then quarrel with him, though informed how, nearly two years ago, this fame Jefus, with a fcourge of cords, drove out of the Temple all who buy and fell there, as i. c 1 8 C&ronicles of Cartapfrito, century \. His fecond meeting with JESUS Relation of a Miracle. we do now calling it his "Father s Houfe," and yet none laid hands upon him ! I therefore merely afked him, how it were poffible for poor men to live, in thefe prefling times of Roman exaction or how they were to pay their tribute to the Temple, of a half fhekel each, if fo innocent a vocation, as holding a mart in the Outer Court, were prohibited as fmful ? To this, he vouchfafed no reply whatever : but, One having fome authority under this Bethlehemite, or Nazarene, (as moft do call him) mildly whifpered to me " Friend ! this Jefus, though Lord of all, is now as poor as thou art having no certain place whereon to lay his head ! Yet doth he ftri&ly obey the laws venerate the Temple and pay his tribute !" j-f fo poor," I replied, "how doth he pay his tribute?" Strange infatuation! mine ears could fcarce aflure me of the marvellous anfwer of that difciple. " Neighbour, thou afkeft in " ignorance ; " faid he, " haft thou not feen or heard of his miracles? " If neither, I will tell thee of one ; and do thou feek to fee others : " be then convinced, and be converted from thy fins repent " and be forgiven ! It is but a few weeks fmce, that, at Caper- " naum, they who have authority to demand the tribute, afked one "of us, Doth not thy mafter pay tribute ? Yea, was the " reply : but Jefus, then, had not the wherewith to pay the afked- " for didrachma, fmall as is the fum ! and, that he might give no " offence to thofe in power, his will was inftantly to pay it, though " a miracle were requifite to obtain the means! whereupon, a " difciple was ordered incontinently to go unto the fea-fide caft a " hook into the waters, and draw up the firft fifti that came " thereto : this was done ; and lo, in the mouth thereof, a piece of " money, fufficient for Jefus and that difciple, was found and the " tributes were therewith paid !"* J^o idle a tale as this forely vexed my fpirit ; for the man did but trifle with my fuppofed credulity ; and hence my harm reply. I bade him be inftantly gone that we of the Holy City looked deeper into fuch matters ; and that, though fuch foolim ftories might, indeed, deceive thofe of Capernaum^ they could not but be fcoffed at by the far wifer heads of Jerufalem. Jefus then faid to his difciple, " Follow me ; that man is yet in the gall of bitternefs ! " * * * * What can thefe words of his import? they were uttered by him, as one having fupreme authority, far beyond that even of the Scribes, or Pharifees, or Sadducees, and yet was he as gentle as the dove I then held in my hand ! * * * " The gall * See the record of this miracle in Matthew xvii. 24.. It took place at CapernauiTi, fomewhat more than two months after the Baptift s death ; and probably on Sunday, 25 May, in the Saviour s 3jrd year, and about 10 months before his death. Cfje (RHanliering; Jeto. 19 His Meditation thereon. of bitternefs !" how doth this man know whether gall, or honey, doth moft prevail in my heart ? The felling of doves in the Temple s outer courts is a fin ! no vocation doth he follow is poorer than I am and yet he payeth his taxes and tributes ftriclly, and without reviling thofe who demand them ! * * * And, then, his countenance, how lovely to behold ! It is as benignant as the moon of Nifan, when lofty in the boundlefs blue fky ! Was ever face of man like his fo feraphic, that you would think of the innocence of a babe grown to man s full ftature and yet with the mind of venerable old age ! truly, this is all wonderful I * * * But, do they not fay that Satanas, and Belial, and Baal-zebul, can alfo put on fuch a face ? The Nazarene, as all do know, is Jofeph s fon ! If a prophet, and " Lord of all," why then fo poor ? If of fbme Evil Spirit, why fo poor ; and, if miracles are at his command, why mould they be ufed to procure merely a didracbma ? And, ftill further, were he the friend of John, and fo powerful, why did he fuffer him to languim in a foul prifon full fourteen months the fport of Herodias, and under jeopardy of life and then fuffer him, like a dog, to be beheaded ; and, withal, why permit himfelf to be homelefs ? And yet, how gentle, how mildly authoritative how fweet in mien and carriage ! * * * Oh, my foul ! who, and what, mail relieve me from thefe conflicting and vexing doubts ? for, if thefe men be true, they have great power, and hereafter will ufe it if impoftors, what are their motives ? * * * But ftill, if impoftors, though motivelefs, fave in frenzies, they do trifle with holy things they fully the Law s honour, and hence do merit puniftiment. They, moreover, difturb us in our vocation and that they mujl not do. I mall look to this ; and, if they would tarnifh the glories of our Temple, or moleft me in my fales and exchanges, they mall tremble for it. Look to this, Cartaphilus look to this ! * ^ have juft received the following letter from Artemas, now in Sychar, of Samaria. It doth aftonifh and trouble me much. Surely, thefe times have greatly bewildered him, and he hath loft the ftaff of his ufual wifdom ! How often and long doth error live, ere reafon can have birth ! * * * But ftill, Artemas writes not as one whofe brain is wrecked he raves not, but utters all with fobernefs and method ! I muft ponder it again ; and once more queftion myfelf, as to who is the deceiver or the deceived. * The Reader will pleafe always diftinguim between the Chronicle proper in the SECTIONS, which contain his daily Narratives and Meditations, and the Letters, which are from himfelf, or others. chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century Artemas reproofs of Cartaphilus. LETTER III. ARTEMAS TO CARTAPHILUS. Sychar, Creation, 3793*, Marchefvan, i. [Thurfday, i6th O6to. A.D. 33.] CHARGE thee, my Cartaphilus, as thou valueft thy foul s peace, even in this world, enter thou not into any combination with thofe that would perfecute the followers of the beheaded Baptift, or the friends of the humble Nazarene. John repofes at Sebafte but JESUS, who hath juft pafled through Samaria and Galilee, amazed the people by his miracles conciliated them by his pre cepts and doctrines and hath won them, above all, by the gentle- nefs of his tempers. *^hou, Cartaphilus, knoweft full well, how, for near two years paft, I have confented with Annas and Caiaphas, and lately even with Herod and Pilate, and fomewhat with my new friend Eben- Ezra, to watch, and, if need be, to fupprefs with force, thefe ftrange men : and, when laft I parted from thee, a few months ago, thou wilt remember how hot I found thy temper againft thefe peaceful and extraordinary teachers ; and mainly, forfooth, becaufe thou, and others, who deal in the Temple s Courts, are fearful left the preachments of thofe people againft the defecration of our Holy Houfe, might end in the lofs of thy and their vocations ! Thou art now poor, O my Cartaphilus ; but remember thy family s dignity and wealth ; remember how thy fortunes were firft blighted, and then deftroyed ; and forget not that education, at leaft, hath not been denied unto thee ; and that thy talents and acquirements are known and prized by very many. I venture thus to fpeak, becaufe I have ever thought that Herod (the father of my Galilean ruler, after having fo highly improved and adorned our fecond Temple, by Zerubbabel built, fo that now it almoft rivals that raifed by the illuftrious Solomon) fhould not have permitted any of its courts to be thus profaned for they often are fo, by loud and vile contentions by avarice, and cruel oppreffions of the needy and ignorant, efpecially in the exchanges of their moneys the harder upon thofe who come to worfhip there from diftant * The Jews fometimes dated from the Creation; and they number only 3760 years as having elapfed at the epoch from which Chriftians now date ; who extend that period to 4000, or to 4.004. years. Others, at that time, alfo dated from the aera of the Seleucidae fome from the building of Solomon s Temple others from the Vocation of Abraham, &c. Letter m. c&e fcffJantiering 3|eto 2 1 Cure of the ten Lepers. lands ; and indeed, by the mere fat of devoting, even the Outer Courts of God s Holy Houfe, to any of life s mercenary tranfa&ions. I know that, to thee, Cartaphilus, it hath been for fome time paft thy chief means of fubfiftence, and believe that thy dealings therein have been quiet and confcientious but ftill, little called for, be- caufe thy pride refufed to receive from me, out of my more than abundance, fuch aid, as thou fo much doth need ! When, there fore, fault hath been found with matters as they now are in thofe Courts, no offence to thee in particular was defigned, either by the Nazarene, or his difciples ; but only the vindication of holinefs and in this, thy friend is againft thee, and wholly with the Nazarene. I mourn, therefore, to learn that thou haft been ftimulated to rage, and almoft to madnefs, againft thefe people, fmce laft we converfed; and only have I hope now, becaufe I learn that this has been caufed, more by others, than by even thy own hafty humours. But, my Cartaphilus, be thou careful of thofe who would urge thee onward in this matter at not rafhly againft any of John s followers, nor againft any of thofe who adhere to the, fo called, Son of David: for, fmce I left thee, I have encountered the Nazarene in Galilee, and in Samaria, feveral times ; and, whether the carpenter s fon or not of David s lineage, or not, and whether the Shiloh, or not, Artemas is fure of his great holinefs^ and of his immenfe power ; and will now difclofe unto thee, not what he has heard of Jefus but that which he hath moft furely feen ! ^g"ou can bear me witnefs, dear Cartaphilus, that I Cure of the had no liking for any of the recent innovators, and in- ten Lepers troducers of marvellous doctrines, and novel practices ; ***x***f*A by but feared them much. My prefent wholly changed rtemas - mind, then, can be owing to nothing lefs than a moft potent caufe, and one that I have no power to refift ; and fo wilt thou judge, unlefs thy own high eftimation of me hath changed from what it was : nor couldft thou, my friend, have found the leaft fupport to thy many prejudices, hadft thou feen what my eyes fo lately beheld unlefs Cartaphilus hath funk in the eftimation I have fo often exprefled of him. But, convinced as I am that we are both as honeft and as fenfible as we were, I mail rely upon thy wifdom and candour ; and thou wilt repofe upon my calmnefs and fairnefs in all that I now utter. *he Nazarene I found attended by only two of his difciples thofe named John and James : and what I now declare unto thee is what my eyes intently witnefled, and my ears keenly heard, not in a dark and myfterious corner, but in the garifh light of the day, and in an open place : not by any defign, moreover, but by a chance only : not with people that could colleague, but with thofe that were 22 Cfttonicleis of Cartapjjilus, century \. JESUS and his two Diiciples. hopeleflly helplefs, poor and wretched and difeafed ; and hence, thou muft rely, in perfect confidence, upon all I now declare, unlefs thou fhouldft fay that Beelzebul utterly deceived me; or, that, though actually done by the Nazarene, and really witnefled by me, yet that it was ftill done, not through divine agency, but through the power of fome diabolic fpirit, neither of which, as to me it feemeth, can be imagined, becaufe, firft, if by Beel-zebul, the a6t was one of the tendereft mercy ; and he labours not in that way and fecondly, if not wrought, but I alone was deceived, the foul Spirit hath gained no friend in me, and only aflured me the more that he is the prince of deceivers. But liften to my ftory it fhould awaken thee, and to all other thoughts than thofe of un- kindnefs and want of faith, in the wonderful Being who wrought this work ! ]I^n a fmall village nigh unto Sychar, Jefus and his two difciples, after a wearifome journey, had fought fome refrefhment from the villagers ; but which they moft inhofpitably refufed to give ! " Matter ! mail we call fire down from Heaven," faid the difciples, " to confume thefe men, as did Elias ?" But the Nazarene, with heavenly mildnefs, fuch as I never faw in human countenance, checked their intemperate zeal, and faid, " Not fo Ye know not the temper whereof ye are, elfe would ye not expect the Son of Man to deftroy that which he hath come tofave /" *^]hefe words, fo full of celeftial benignity, at a moment, too, when other men s tempers would have been, at leaft fomewhat excited, fank deep into my mind nay into my inner heart ; for the look and voice of Jefus confirmed his words, and mowed no human excitement whatever, but perfect tendernefs and heavenly mercy on thofe, whom fin had fo much perverted ! I pondered over this for fome hours brought to my remembrance his benign expreffion ; and queftioned my underftanding, not my prejudices, whether fuch things could be of evil, or ever tend to evil ; and alfo, whether Satanas could, or would ever confer fuch tempers. To thee, Cartaphilus, I put the fame queftion. Xl, e calls himfelf "The Son of Man," faid I mufingly and faith that he " hath come to fave, not to deftroy." This, my Cartaphilus, as to me it feemeth, is not the language oi f elf-deception, nor of the fpirit of the Evil One, fince all felf-deception is not only irregular, but enthufiaftic but Jefus is all harmony and calm- nefs and, had he been neither, he would, doubtlefs, have yielded to the defire of his difciples, under the firm belief that fire would defcend from Heaven at their bidding : he, therefore, was not felf- deceived and hence muft be an impoftor in this, or the heavenly Being I now claim for him. That he was, in that matter, no impoftor, what is yet to follow will clearly prove and, if no Letter m. &e &BanDering 3|eto. 23 JESUS and the Lepers. impoftor, then tis with thee to fay, at laft, that he is from Heaven or Hell for the powers exercifed were not of Earth ! Mufmg unto myfelf, in the way I am now writing, I refolved to attend Jefus on his courfe, and to carefully watch the three. It was then Tefris laft day and they were journeying, as I fuppofed, to Jeru- falem, whither I was alfo bound ; but foon learned that Jerusalem was not their deftination. I then ftill followed on their track ; and, when near the foot of Mount Ebal, no lefs than Ten foul LEPERS fuddenly appeared from a ravine of the mountain, and proftrated themfelves before the Nazarene, exclaiming as they approached, " JESUS ! MASTER ! have mercy upon us !" *"he fight of thefe afflicted beings curdled my blood a cold fweat rufhed over my body, and I trembled /5 *?* in every limb. Never before had I feen a leper fo clofely and none fo loft to all hope of cure. Their half-naked limbs were fo livid, that it feemed as if the blood that feebly moved in their veins, had all been changed to water mixed with afhes ! The hair of their heads flood out like innumerable briftles on the back of fome fretted hyaena : and as they, in the madnefs of their torments, plucked them out^ it took with them portions of difeafed flefh ! Their protruded eyes were red and purulent with inflam mation ; whilft they fearfully fparkled with unnatural rays, like animals of prey, when watching for their victims in the darknefs of the night ! White fcales, caft out by the foul humours of their body, covered their livid fkin, whilft their tongue fwollen, and black and ulcerated, protruded from their parched and withered mouths ! The faces of fome were green, and full of knobs, afhy at their tops, others, again, had loft fome members the nofe, or fingers, and all had voices fo hoarfe and fepulchral, as to pierce my inward foul with horror, at every word they feebly uttered ! Such were the beings then before me, imploring relief from that myfteri- ous man named Jefus ! ()h, how aftonimed was I at his reply ! which, though prompt and full of companion, was fo unlike what I had exped-ted, if, indeed, I expected anything. I had not time to think deliberately what he poflibly might fay or do ; and furely, I then had no fpice of faith, fave what arofe from his lovely reply to his difciples refpe<5Hng the unkind conduit towards him of the villagers. But ftill a crowd of ideas feemed to rufh intuitively through my mind. As thefe Lepers (feemingly accurfed of God, and actually abhorred of men) now placed their firm and only hope upon this unearthly man, methought that, " if he be a mere man, he will then not fail to ufe many words , that, by them, he may lull thefe poor creatures into fome crude, but fatal hopes and thus get rid of them : and if, again, his com merce be with Beel-zebul, or other evil fpirits, he may cure them, 24 Cfjromcles of Cartapfnlus, Century \. JESUS and the Miracle Ingratitude. but only upon fome hellljh terms, to the advantage of his kingdom ! but, fhould this man s counfel be of God, he will (how his power, either by their inftant deftru&ion, as being unworthy of life, even in their prefent torments, or, by a fingle word, cure them effectually, as objects worthy his pardoning mercy." Such were my thoughts, as quickly paffing through my mind, as doth lightning courfe through the empyrean for minutes feem as inftants, when we think deeply and anxioufly with hope and yet, my Carta- philus, neither of thefe things did Jefus ! but ftill the work was infallibly done not as by an evil fpirit nor yet as by a man, but truly as by a god, and in fuch a way as I had wholly failed to conceive ! " Go, Jhow yourfelves to the Priejt," faid Jefus mildly, " according as the LAW requires ; and, BEFORE ye are come thither, ye Jhall all be healed." (T)y heart, I need not aflure thee, beat with intenfe intereft and curiouty ; and yet with many ftruggling doubts. He had fpoken as one having full power, and yet as willing to put them to fome trial of their faith; he had uttered the words of omnipotence, and yet required of them to go on their way to the prieft ; he had promifed their cure, and yet with no unkind delay of their torments for they were to be healed before they fhould reach the prieft ; he yielded to the entreaties of all ten, and yet he muft have known that nearly all would prove lefs worthy than even the moft of men ! j^| s they journeyed on their way, I followed clofely by them : the minutes were as hours to me and the few hours as fo many days ! After a time, I heard a fhout of joy and I declare unto thee, Cartaphilus, they were all cured!" Doubt it not queftion it not argue it not ; the facl is fo, thefe eyes beheld it, thefe ears heard it, thefe hands have handled it ! But, my Cartaphilus, go with me a little further ; and as I have fhown thee a God, now behold what Man too often is felfifh and ungrateful ! Wouldft deem it poflible ! Jefus was a little in the rear of the Lepers, when the miraculous cure came on ; and, of the whole Ten, thus fpeedily refcued from unutterable mifery, only One retraced his fteps, to pour his foul of thanks to this wonder-working man ! Oh, how that poor leper, now in the frefhnefs of his new-born health, proftrated himfelf to the earth, at Jefus feet uttered his grateful flood of feelings in tones of fweet exultation and glorified Him, as his Mafter, and his God ! ()h fhame, (hame, one only, out of ten ! and that one a Samaritan ! The others I beheld going lightly onward ; and, for- faking the mountains that fo long had fcreenecl them from the gaze of man, they now fought, with haftening Hep, the villages and v. Cfje bantering 3[eto, 25 Ingratitude A Meditation. other haunts of our fallen race ! I cannot will not dare not go with thee, O Cartaphilus, one ftep further in oppofition to thefe wonderful minifters of power, whatsoever, or whofefoever they be. And, as what hath been done by the Nazarene cannot be of mortality (be he or not the carpenter s fon, and from Galilee, whence, as they fay, no prophet cometh) tell me, O tell me, Cartaphilus, with thy utmoft fkill and candour, (for thou art my fenior in age, and largely fo in knowledge) whether this doing hath not been of God ? FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. SECTION V. Marchefvan, gth day. [Friday, Oftober z^th, A.D. 33.] [HESE words of Artemas have fhaken the foundations of my foul ; and my mind is agitated, forward and backward, with but mo- A r/-iii /- mentary refts ! As the fitful lake of Gennefareth, it is covered with tempeftuous waves ; and then, anon, is as the poliftied fpeculum, yet only for a fleeting time, that it may again rage the more violently. Happily, how ever, the joyous Feftival of Tabernacles ended Sixteen days ago and moft profperoufly for me. That great feaft of ingathering of the fruits of our land, on Tefri s fifteenth day, and which, during eight days, feldom fails to gladden every heart, hath proved fo to Cartaphilus. During feven of thefe days we make offerings, by fire, unto the Lord ; and on the eighth day, all Ifrael holds its folemn aflembly its holy convocation, abandoning their tabernacles, and returning to their refpe6tive homes, ceafmg from all labour for a time, that they may render thanks to the God of Abraham for the riches of our gathered harvefts. As the firft feven days are designed to remind us how our Fathers, in the wildernefs, dwelt in rude tents ere they reached this promifed land, fo is the eighth day a fymbol of the repofe that Ifrael found, when eftablifhed in our blelTed Paleftine ! SECTION Vl.Marc/iefvan, i^h day. [Wednefday, zgth ALF a moon has gone by fince our Feaft of Taber nacles ended ; and five days fince Artemas fent that aftounding letter and yet no further word from him, nor is he here, as looked for ! What a foul- ftirring time were thofe eight days of the Feftival ! what events crowded in upon its fix firft days, events, fuch as 26 Chronicles of Cartapjnlus, century \. Avaricious Mufings The Feaft of Tabernacles. Jerufalem hath fcarce witnefled during many ages ! Since the days of Ifrael s mightieft King, (now fully a thoufand years) this feftival, poffibly, hath not been kept with more obfervance whether of heart, or of lip fervice, or from fome myfterious dread that is now upon the people, I wot not ; but fure I am that many were there, far more from fear than love, thefe times being indeed full of expectation as to Shiloh s coming, and alfo with panic dread of thefe all-pervading Romans ! Hence is it that worfhippers, even from the remoteft lands, were feen in fuch furprifing numbers ! and to myfelf fo gainful. On the fourth day of the Feaft, Jefus appeared in the Temple and great were the wonders of that day great the agitation of the people ! * ^f, when SHILOH cometh, the Sceptre is to Judah s depart from Judah, (and fo all prophecies, holy and fading P r f ane ) do feem to fay) is it not now true that the Sceptre is already nearly invifible ? Are not thefe Romans our mafters now ? Judah hath, indeed, encountered nu merous trials at other times than thefe ; (he hath been forely op- prefled at various periods, by Egypt and Aflyria by Macedonia and by Syria and alfo formerly by thefe Romans : but ftill, Judah in all thefe was never wholly without a hope feldom without the rule of State, as well as of Temple. Judah heretofore hath deeply mourned over her captivities ; but me had confolation in the re membrance of her marvellous reftorations : Judah may have grieved over the violations of her Holy Temple, by an Epiphanes, and a Pompey but me faw luftrous days under her Maccabees, and even after the firft Roman afTault. In Ariftobulus, unhappily, we received a King over us but Judah ftill was a Power ftill a Na tion : then came the Great Herod, the firft of his vile Idumean race tributary to Rome, and confirmed by her Senate ; but Judah * The Feaft of Tabernacles is from the i5th to the 2 3rd of the month Tifri ; which in that year, was from Wednefday, Oftober lit, to the 8th. In about a week after the ending of that feftival, occurred the miracle wrought on the ten lepers. The events, therefore, from the 4th to the i6th of that month, (Ibmewhat more than five months before the PafTion) were the firft that loudly awakened Cartaphilus, and drove him to thole conflicting meditations which follow. His very flight notice of the doings of Jefus, in and about the Temple, during the four days of his attendance on the Feaft of Tabernacles, was probably owing to the avaricious occupations in which Cartaphilus was engaged in the Temple, and which may have prevented his being an eye or ear witnefs of the wonders that then fo much excited the Rulers againft Jefus. But, in about ten days thereafter, the letter from Artemas, refpe&ing the cure of the Lepers, reached Cartaphilus ; and this urged him to argue the matter in his own mind againft Artemas, fo that felfiuineis and the/>r/2? of opinion, with other caufes that followed in quick fucceffion, gave a more fixed courfe to his thoughts and aftions ; and ended in the calamitous way the reader will prefently find. vi. Cjje (KHantiering 31eti>, 27 Judah s Sceptre Departing or Departed ! was ftill not without hope for he was our King, and a mighty one. After this came Archelaus, the fon of that Herod, alfo of Roman appointment ; and even he left us, after nine years of rule, ftill with fome feeming political exiftence. But now, alas ! Judah is wholly faded away, and hath become a mere flavifh province yea, a diftrift of a province, SYRIA being in truth our mafter, and (he the flave of Imperial Rome ! Where, then, is Judah s fceptre now ? is it not devoured wholly by the Roman Eagle ? truly it fo feemeth unto Cartaphilus.* jJnd yet Shiloh hath not come ! Strange ! And the more fo, as, well do I remember, it was faid by that wonderful man, the Baptift, that be was Shiloh s Meflenger ! and others tell me that the yet more awful man JESUS, when only twelve years old, and at the very time that Judah became a mere province, entered into the Holy Temple, and there confounded by his wifdom even the wifeft of our doctors ! Oh, how marvellous indeed are thefe times ! Is there an ordained virtue in thefe ftrange coincidences^ or, in the vaft whirlpool of time, muft we regard fuch things as mere for tuitous harmonies, by men called chance * * * * or, may not all thefe be but the imaginings of my own bufy and ever fertile brain ? profoundly troubled, deeply perplexed is Cartaphilus Either, or neither, may be the truth : and yet, of a certainty, this Nazarene hath made much noile of late among the people who fpealc largely, alfo, of divers Miracles, (feen of others, but not by me) and they would even confirm that ftrange tale by Artemas told ! This Jefus, moreover, doth now frequent the Temple, oftener,and openly, and even during our feftivals, there teaching fuch doctrines as never before were heard and with a boldnefs, too, that greatly angers Sadducees, no lefs than thofe proud and arch-hypocrites the l j harifees : and (far more wonderful than all) many do hold that " they gladly would lay hands upon him, but that they cannot^ though daily is he in their prefence ! " ^ft was but yefterday that the Pharifees proclaimed, and truly, " IVe know bis parentage and his education : and yet, how comes he * It may be proper here, for the young reader, to ftate that, upon the death of Herod the Great, his dominions were divided into four parts, called Tetrar- chies, from the Greek word tetra, tour, and arche, government. Herod- Antipas ruled over that of Galilee and Peraea his brother, Herod-Philip over that of Itruria, Traconitis, &c. Lyfanias over Abilene, and Archelaus over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. Being the eldeft fon of the great Herod, Ar chelaus had the title of king, for a time : but being removed by the Romans, in the month of June, A.D. 12, an officer, called Procurator, was appointed ; and, after feveral had exercifed it, Pontius Pilate became the procurator in September, A.D. 24., and was fuperfeded by Vitellius in September, A.D. 34, of the vulgar aera. Herod Antipas, however, during the procuratorfhips, ftill re taining the title of king, probably, by courtefy. 2 8 (ZT&romcles of Cattap jriius, century \ . The Sceptre Departing Avaricious Mufings. to under/land fo well^ the Law and the Scriptures^ never having been taught in the Schools of the Prophets ? " And who mall anfwer this queftion ? Neverthelefs, is it not even a proverb among the learned in the Scriptures, that " Out of Galilee cometh no Prophet ?" and, is not Jefus from Galilee ? Wearied am I with thefe many and troublous doubts and conje&ures all this doth ficken my heart, and confufe my mind both, now, fo tempeft-toffed, that fain would I barter the little of mammon I have for their folution ! jnd even NICODEMUS, fo renowned in our great Sanhedrim, doth of late greatly favour this Nazarene, if he hath not wholly gone over to him ! And, when the Scribes and Pharifees, with all their gall and cunning, fought lately to confound the Nazarene, as to a woman charged with incontinence, how fignally did he deftroy their artful contrivance there not being one among them all, who dared to caft the firft ftone ! And why ? becaufe the teji he fo wonderfully put to the conscience of each of that woman s accufers, was alfo done in a way that feemingly read their inmojt thoughts ! All were glad to retire from the presence of that myfterious man and the Nazarene, finding all her and his enemies put to flight, is faid to have mildly looked on her and faid, " Woman ! now depart thou in peace ) and fin no more" J^uch, and divers other things, are now related of this Jefus ! Thefe do trouble me greatly; and they, with the teftimony of Artemas, have won me, fomewhat, to this Nazarene ! And, though Shiloh he cannot be, I will not difturb him, or his followers, if he and they trouble us of the Temple no further in our daily calling that they have no right to do. Marchefvan, 27. [November u, A.D. 33.] URING the late feftival of the Tabernacles^ fo won derfully crowded, great were the profits of thy deal ings in the Temple, O Cartaphilus ! and fweet is the mufic of Money a melody that foftens all hearts, even unto thee caufing them to forget (and almoft thy Aunt) the hideous rumour of thy natal hour ! A few more years of fuch thrifty work in the Temple s Court, His avaricious wou jj make thee rich, maugre the icy coldnefs of thy Mufmes. , . ij i unnatural relative ; and would leave thee no great need to curfe thy uncle s memory further ! " " *Th e P r i yate facrifices, truly, were numerous, and all well paid for ; though they, as well as the public offerings, daily diminim in numbers, from the firft unto the o6tave of our holy fef- vi. c&c (KBanDering; Jeto. 29 Soliloquy. tival." * * * * " But, if the Dodors rightly fay, that this daily diminution doth prefage that, when MESSIAS comes, there will be no more facrifices ! what then of thy vocation, O Carta- philus ? And moreover, it is alfo faid by thefe fage doctors that this decreafe muft go on, and in a fafhion fomewhat thus ! Ninety-one bullocks fhould be the true number that being juft thirteen for each of the feven days : whereas, all know that only the firft of thefe feven days doth receive that number ; and that each of the following days drops one, fo that all of our feven feftival days demand but feventy, and not ninety-one : and the eighth, being the laft, confumes but feven, inftead of thirteen ! Thefe feventy bul locks the doctors further tell us, typify a like number of diftincl nations or wholly feparate languages, which the world now con tains ; and that this daily decreafe of the facrifices is but a prefage or fhadow of the like gradual extinction of all thefe nations or lan guages, until all mall be refolved into that great and laft one under the reign of Meflias ! Should that be fo indeed, then it doth follow that Meffias is yet far off unlefs the mighty empire which hath lately feized upon us, be deftined quickly to fwallow up all others ! Rome, in truth, is faft becoming " Lord of all " Meflias, then, muft conquer Rome or Rome muft place Meffias at her head ! How idle then is the notion that this poor Nazarene will be that Shiloh ; for no Conqueror is he or fit agent for thofe who do conquer ; and furely, his followers feem alike in this, all without ambition, or care for worldly power. This Galilean, then, cannot be the Shiloh ; and if not him, his wonders can be of no good fpirit but may be of fome evil one ! " * * * # " Artemas ! thou didft but dream, and all thou haft uttered refpe&ing the Ten Lepers, is the vifion of thy indigeftion the idle fancy of thy fleeping hours, early in the night s watch but ftill fo clear as greatly to have difturbed thy mental eye, fo that thou haft thought it real ! " * * * * " Strange ! Even thou, O Cartaphilus ! hadft well-nigh been won over to the Nazarene by that phantom feen of Artemas ! Aroufe thyfelf ! this fon of Jofeph hath, in deed, more than once baffled Scribes and Pharifees and Sadducees ; and hath infatuated fome even of the Sanhedrim ! Truly, I hate thofe Pharifees, as they do me but ftill, in this matter, I go with them never to the injury of my good friend Artemas, but only to the probing of that folly, that would make of the Nazarene the long defired Shiloh ! " " ^hefe cold and heartlefs and haughty Pharifees, moreover, call me, and all who flatter them not, " people of the earth " as if poverty were doubtlefs a crime, and juftly as odious as is the filthy earth ; and alfo, as if difference in faith were alfo a crime they furely right, and we Sadducees as furely wrong ! But they fhould 32 Cfjromcles of Cartapfrilus, century The numerous Sefts Nicodemus. Jr TYhou, my Rabbi, art a Sadducee, and fo am I ; Ifraeis much . r *-*-, ,. / . i \ divided faith. " not "7 birth, yet by education and choice : and it doth gall my fpirit thus to fee fome, even of our faith, yielding to the notions of one, who, though indeed v/onderful, may yet not be true ; and who would, as they fay, abolifh alike the faith and practice of all yea, the ordinances of Mofes ; and who hath openly declared fome words of wonderful import, even againft our beautiful Temple, in which myriads have fo long worfhipped, and which even Romans cannot gaze at without wonder and delight ! ^here are, doubtlefs, my Rabbi, foul practices enough among all our numerous Se6ls ; and it is moft true that the Nazarene hath faid to each and all of them, many wife things of reproof and hath alfo done, as tis faid, many notable miracles, that manifeft in him fome unearthly power ! But, have not other falfe prophets done the like ? And hence for our inftru&ion, hath it not been expreffly writ ten in Deuteronomy, thus ? " If there arife among you a prophet , or a dreamer of dreams, and glveth tbee a fign or wonder, and the fign or wonder come to pafs w hereof he fpake unto tbee, faying, Let us go after other Gods, which thou haft not known, and let us ferve them, thou /halt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or dreamer of dreams." And this fcripture I ventured to urge upon the more than wavering Nicodemus ; who, though a Pharifee, and a ruler in the Sanhedrim, hath lately gone partly, or wholly, over to this Gali lean this " dreamer of dreams," fo clearly pointed at in Deuter onomy ! but Nicodemus ftrangely replied to me, " O Carta- philus ! thou haft not well read that fcripture : for, though fome falfe prophets have been permitted to prove God s people by mere wonders, and by idle interpretations of dreams, yet thefe were not miracles at all ; and furely not fuch as thofe now wrought by Jefus. And, moreover, the object of fuch falfe prophets was to draw them away from the true God to l other Gods, by their lying ngns and mere wonders, but which is no part of Jefus* purpofe, either by his doctrines, his precepts, or his miracles : and Deuteronomy furely forbids not our hearkening to true prophets, and true miracles ; which are to difplay the power and grace of the only true God and not to fet up any other God." ^ft would have been vain in me, my Rabbi, further to wafte breath in arguing with Nicodemus now as blind with thefe new inventions, as often he hath been with others, for, like moft of his feel:, whether for or againft this Nazarene, he and they are ever in extremes.* * This famous paflage from Deuteronomy, xiii. i, 2, 3, ftill continues to be greatly valued and relied upon by the "Children of the Difperfion;" fo much fo, that one can feldom converfe with an Ifraelite refpefting the claims of Letter iv. c&e (KBanBeting; 3|eto. 33 Jewifh Seels Pharifees. , my good Rabbi, even our Galilean friend, the gifted, and accomplifhed and excellent Artemas, 7 though a Sadducee, is likewife now ftrongly in this way of think ing ! Strange infatuation ! to what muft all this come, if men like him if learned and wealthy Sadducees^ the rulers of our land thofe, too, who under Shiloh, when he comes, mould be great captains to free us from the Roman yoke, and raife Ifrael as much above all other nations, as the pines of Libanus tower over the tiny ihrubs that feek their nourishment in the clefts of rocks beneath them if all thefe, I fay, are now found fo blind to reafon, when mall Ifrael hope to be united in one faith in one action and in one govern ment ? ^gJJ^e now have a divided faith a divided action and no govern ment that really belongs to Abraham s feed ! We have Pharifees Sadducee s Samaritans EJJenes Nazarites Rechabites Kar- raites Herodians Gaulonites Baptifts and now NAZARENES ! all, except the two laft, differing among themfelves, and fome, of all the reft, feemingly well difpofed to abandon every thing to thefe new-comers thefe innovators, who would deftroy both Law and Temple ! But when Shiloh mall really appear, he will furely bring them all into one fold ; and into a faith, which you and I are willing to believe, muft be more like that of the Sadducee^ for SHILOH will come with might, and wealth, and learning, and authority, able and willing to deftroy thefe grafping Romans thefe political Hero dians thefe wily Gaulonites, and others. ^$ut the fiercenefs of his anger muft be againft the PHARISEES, thofe obftinate contenders for the Law, beyond its utmoft letter thofe feparatifts^ who, in their own PHARISEES. efteem, are ever holier than other men thofe crabbed interpreters of all that hath been written, yea, of much more thofe believers in a refurreclion of foul, and even of body thofe vouchers for the idle fancy that fouls do tranfmigrate, and inhabit various bodies ! thofe rigid fafters, perfevering wafhers, and cruel whippers of their own flefh ! thofe who lie on flinty beds, and on the cold earth thofe payers of tythes, yea even of cummin ! efpecially, I fay, Shiloh, when he cometh, will fcowl upon thefe PHARISEES thofe makers of long prayers, to be meafured by the cubit, and which are bellowed forth at ftreet corners, to be heard and feen of men, rather than of God ! thofe who bear upon their fore- our Meffiah, without having this text vauntingly cited in difproof of them ! the conclufive anfwer however to which is to be found in the words of Nicode- mus, notwithftanding Cartaphilus fo fcoffingly flighted them ; but without a fingle word of reply, fo unufual with him, who never needed words, nor argu ments for any purpofe ! I. D 34 Chronicles of Cartapfnlu0, Century \. EJJenes Samaritans Nazarites. head and left arm, their broad phylafferies or fcrolls of the Law, that they may refrefti thereby their exhaufted memories, or drive away, as by a charm, Bel-zebub, or other evil fpirit ! for fuch, my Rabbi, are the Pharifees ! who, as I think, will be then utterly extinguiflied. ^JJhen Shiloh comes, he will likewife win over ESSENES. thofe mad ESSENES they, who abftain from all tem- ple-worfhip, and retire from the world into woods and caves have no individual property, but hold to a community of fcanty pofleffions they who delight in poverty, and daily pray that the fun may rife upon them! as if that glorious luminary would fail to rife, {hould they fail to pray ! thofe ElTenes, I fay, who abjure all wars, and would not famion a fwdrd or fhield, or even an arrow, for all the wealth of Ophir : they alfo, will furely fade away when Shiloh comes. j[nd, my worthy Rabbi, a word as to the SAMA- SAMARITANS. RITANS thofe mongrel Jews, by origin Aflyrians, fent here after our own captivity, and whofe idolatry, upon their firft coming into the mountains of Samaria, was early feared out of them by the numerous beafts of prey, which then in- fefted them, and which they ignorantly fuppofed had been fent there by IfraePs God to punifh them ! even they will yield their motley religion, laws, and inftitutions, to the all-ablbrbing power of Meflias. j[nd what (hall I fay of the NAZARITES, or rather, NAZARITES. what need have I to fay aught to tbee, my Rabbi, who art fo learned in all fuch matters ? But thou wilt prefently fee why I do thus unburthen my mind as to Ifrael s divided faith. Some of thefe Nazarites, as thou haft often feen, reject even the Books of our mafter Mofes, fome dedicate themfelves, in tender infancy, yea, are fometimes thus devoted before their birth by fome over-zealous friends, to a life of ftricl devotion, in their way, and adhering to precepts and practices of fuch fafhion, as dif- honour human intelligence, whilft, others of them, in later life, thus bind themfelves for a limited time ; during which they abftain fo ftri&ly from all fenfuous enjoyments, that, in abandoning wine, they muft not venture to eat even of the grapes, be they ever fo green ! Thefe men remain unfhorn of head and beard, until the days of their vow be ended ; and then they are to be fhaved at the door of the tabernacle, and their hair burnt under the altar ! They are men, too, who, on no account muft come near to any dead body ; and yet they and all mankind muft foon alike become vile corpfes.* * The vein of bitter feeling manifefted by Cartaphilus, in his remarks upon Letter iv. c&e COanBenng 3feto. 35 Rechabites Karraites. my excellent Eben-Ezra, the RECHABITES are now nearly expired thofe uncircumcifed defcendants of Jethro, father-in-law of Mofes fo like the Nazarites RECHABITES. in their way of living, though differing in many of their religious notions will they not alfo utterly vanifh before Shiloh s prefence ? They belong not to any of our tribes, they being Kenites. And yet, was it not promifed unto the fon of Rechab that there never mould be wanted a man to ftand before the Lord ? Doubt- lefs, my Rabbi, they were good people, and a few may now be fo it being the nature of the beft things to be moft vile when cor rupted thefe will be deftroyed, and the reft be abforbed by the effulgence of Shiloh. j word likewife as to the KARRAITES thofe abjurers of all the traditions, for they reft upon the Scriptures alone, but make ftrange interpretations of them ! they ad- KARRAITES. mit to their Paflbver none but males, and only thofe at full age they kill their Pafchal facrifice only after funfet they begin their month with the firft appearance of the moon after change they burn the remains of their paftbver on the fifteenth of the month Nifan and differ alfo in feveral other matters from all around them. Are they not of Sadducean origin ? and if fo, good Rabbi, both have changed from what they were. the Set.s of that day, rnuft be received with fome caution, as being thofe of a mere worldling, little capable of duly appreciating either the vices or virtues of any of them. It is probable, however, that he is mainly correct: as to fome, but largely erroneous in his favour towards the Sadducees, and in his prejudices againft the Nazarites and Nazarenes, whofe really fpiritual and unearthly nature his own fenfuous mind could in no degree comprehend. The Nazarite vow was of great antiquity, and at all times was regarded as of fingular holinefs, and not as one of merely afcetical inftitution, but as a defigned human contraft to the condition of the Leper coniidered as a divine vifitation a living type of fin, as the former was of holinefs. The Leper, like the Nazarite, was a rigid feparatift but from very different caufes the one, condemned of heaven, was foul in body and the loathed fymbol of fin ; the other, approved of heaven, was the type of abfolute temperance and of fingular purity of body, as the living fymbol of an immaculate mind. Upon a clofe infpection, therefore, of the habits and cuftoms of the Nazarites, it will be found that each and all of them, fo farcaftically remarked on by Cartaphilus, are not juftly obnoxious to any of his cenfures, and that the utmoft inno- cency of life, and cleanlinefs of body harmonized with the intentional contraft of the impurity inflicted upon the Leper always regarded as the vifible fign of his fin. The modern notions therefore of B ahr, of Henftenberg, and of many others (fo difparaging to the real character of the Nazarite) are not only erro neous in the particular cafe, but afford to the infidel and fenfualift a mifchievous countenance of objection even to fuch purifts as John the Baptift, Jefus of Nazareth, and others, in whom the lovely ideality of the Nazarite (hone out in its fublimeft form. 36 Chronicles ofCartapbilus, century Sadducees THE WONDERFUL NAZARENE. , as to the Sadducees, to which we belong, furely, even they are not faultlefs : and yet, was not our beautiful SADDUCEES. world created for man s enjoyment, and have not our feel, more than all others, made honourable that de- fign ? We hold to no refurreclion of foul or of body ; and believe that man hath been made the fole arbiter of his actions ; being as free to aft, as if he had made himfelf and that this world is the fcene where moral and phyfical evil are in clofe alliance. The Pentateuch alone is our guide; and therein we find that wifdom and virtue, folly and vice, have here^ and no where elfe^ their appro priate rewards and punimments. By thefe opinions is it that the Sadducees, as well thou knoweft, have generally become the moft diftinguifhed and opulent of all the fects; and are now the highefr in all the fervices of Temple, and of State. Such, then, will the Sadducees be found when Shiloh cometh fit inftruments to advance his glorious kingdom competent to relieve Ifrael from foreign oppreffions, and to reftore this now degraded land to a meafure of power, of wealth, and of magnificence, far excelling even that of Solomon, in the brighteft days of his glory ! ^f have thus, my Eben-Ezra, ventured to commune with thce on matters familiar to thy mind ; becaufe now, certain among us in the higheft ftations, quail at, and tamper with, thefe difturbers of our peace thereby preventing the coming of that long looked-for Meffias, whofe kingdom can have none of thofe felf-devoting and idle mortifications of body and foul, which, efpeciallyin the Efienes, the Nazarites, the Rechabites, the Karraites, and now in the in famous Pharifees, do fo captivate the people ! * jHfafrly, O, Eben-Ezra, I would dwell fome- vviNAZAiiwR w ^at upon thefe Nazarenes, the great caufe, now, of all the agitations among all the fedls ! True, indeed, neither the Baptifr, nor the Great Nazarene, ever fpared the follies of any of them ; and yet, what are the doings and layings of thefe deluded Nazarenes ! This Jefus, I admit, countenances, in the others, neither their long prayers, their fevere aufterities * The Sadduceean faith, at that time, was as ftated ; but probably, in its earlier hiftory, the foul s refurreftion was not denied ; and they then differed from the Pharifees chiefly in withholding their affent to the oral and vaunted traditions, fo much relied on by the boaftful Separatists. The pious John Hyrcanus, (under whom the Jews were fo profperous during thirty years, about a century before the time of Cartaphilus) could fcarcely have rejected the doftrine of refurrefHon, and of a future judgment. He had been a Pharifee, and knew them well ; but in leaving them for the Sadducees, would not have fo done had that feft then believed in temporal rewards and punimments alone, and rejected the undoubted taith of Mofes in the foul s refurreHon. Carta philus, therefore, in his portrait of the Sadducees, muft be reftrifted to thofe of his own corrupt times. Letter iv. Cf)0 WmftttinS 3[0tD. 37 The Meffialifhip. their vaunted adherence to the Law and the Traditions nor, efpecially, their vile corbans and rafh vows ; and yet this " Son of David" difclaims all worldly glory deals with the prophetic Scrip tures far differently from all other Jews fpeaks of a kingdom in this world, but not o/ this world fays that the glorious inheritance of our father Abraham {hall be taken from us, and be given to the Gentiles ! proclaims that even the Temple fhall depart from us, and {hall foon be utterly destroyed not cleanfed, though it be, as he faith, " His Father s Houfe ! " and finally, he hath lately declared that he is greater than even the Temple, and that before . Abraham was, He was ! He, moreover, faith that Jonah and all the Prophets looked to his day ! that even King David, whofe fon he claims to be, called him Lord that the Sabbath was made for man that he is matter even of the Sabbath that the Law {hall be abolimed and that the days are faft coming, when Ifrael {hall worfliip neither on Mount Moriah^ nor upon Mount Gerizim! ^Jut, my Rabbi, the crowning wonder of all thefe ftrange decla rations, and that which doth molt offend me, is, that this Nazarene hath now, and for the firft time, expreffly taken upon himfelf the title and office of the Great Meflias ! and the people further rumour, that, when his difciples, and efpecially one Simon, a poor fimerman, fully admitted his MESSIAHSHIP, the Nazarene gave forthwith to this Simon (who was one of his earlieft friends) a new name, and called him PETER, declaring, at the fame time, that upon " this rock" (by which I underftand Simon s then open confeffion of that Meffiahmip,) he would build his Church, and eftablim his King dom ! and truly, the Mefliahftiip, if admitted, would be a rock upon which he might well build ! * *^he matters I have now detailed, together with others vaguely rumoured, and likewife many figns and wonders, and miracles, which fome declare he truly doth perform, have fo greatly roufed the people, that Jerufalem is ftiaken to its very centre ; and * As the general and lefs informed reader might erroneoufly fuppofe, that this interefting event had occurred only about that time, it is proper to ftate that Peter s open confeffion of his Matter s Meffiahfliip, and the remarkable promife then made as to the Church by Jefus, took place at Cselarea Philippi, in the month of May, about ten months before Cartaphilus thus notices it the date of the prefent letter being in December, and only about three months before the Crucifixion. It, however, is not neceflarily to be inferred that this important faft remained unknown to Cartaphilus till then ; or that he records it as having only then taken place. But, as it is quite probable that the claim of the Mafter, and the open admiffion of the Meffiah by that great dilciple, infpired additional con fidence the Mefliahmip of Jefus had become, at the time of this letter, fo avowedly and ftrongly infifted on, as to occafion his opponents to further and more decided afts of hoftility : and in that fpirit the letter to Rabbi Eben-Ezra feems to have been indited. 38 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Free-agency. agitated, not in the rude crowd merely, but among the wealthy and powerful and learned alfo ! All are troubled fome are diftracled many follow him zealoufly others gaze with idle curiofity many fufpecl: him fome hate him and not a few even compafs his early death, as being one guilty of blafphemy, and other violations of law, human and divine. ^hefe things, moft excellent Rabbi, but feebly reach tbee^ in thy mountains of Ramoth-Gilead poflibly, not at all; but, if they do come to thee, it can only be in whifpers, that ruffle not thy foul : with me, tis far different they prefs not lightly upon my mind ; and far more than I well know how to account for ; and therefore is it that I would now feek thy fobereft counfel, as having (befides thee and Artemas) few to counfel with. As to Artemas great inclining to the Nazarene, I have fully advifed thee. ^rufting to hear foon from thee, I now, with the kindeft greetings unto thy fpoufe, the moft excellent PRISCILLA, and to thy daughter REBECCA, worthy of fuch a mother, bid thee FAREWELL. CARTAPHILUS. LETTER V. CARTAPHILUS TO ARTEMAS [of Caefaria, late Straton s Tower ]. JERUSALEM. Seleucidte, 34.6. Nifan, nth day. [Monday, zznd March, A.D. 35.] PRAY thee haften, as an arrow from the ftrongeft bow, to our Holy City ; for the wonders that have thickened upon us, within the laft few days, do baffle all description ! It is now near fun-fet the hours of the prefent day have nearly maddened thy friend, who would now feek folace of thee. ^ know not why, but fo it is, my Artemas, thefe His doubts of aw f u j times feem to weigh far more heavily upon my foul, than upon others! for whilft, to moft around me, the approaching Paffover hath its cuftomary pleafing hopes, the heart of thy Cartaphilus finks deeply, and involuntarily within him ; and all his thoughts recoil with horror from the future ! Tell me, oh my friend, the caufe of this tell me, can this be deft my ? Ah, my dear Artemas, fpurn me not that I, fo fturdy a Sadducee do put this queftion ; for thou wilt fay, what hath a Sadducee to do with deftiny, or it with him ? And yet the future cannot bind me, if that we be free-agents and, not as the Pharifees fay, bound by a neceffity we can in no wife control. But whence the dreads that fo forely haunt me by night and by day in dreams Letter v. C&C {DOfflUiefing JCto. 39 Rebecca of Ramoth. The worth of Mammon. and in vifions ? whence my fearful forebodings as to what thy admired Nazarene and his difciples lately have been doing ? I would conceal nothing from thee that is wholly mine, of others I cannot fpeak but of myfelf I fully may / bate the Nazarene, and now avow myfelf, to thee, to be his deadly foe becaufe, again hath he openly declared he would deftroy the Temple ! and becaufe he hath once more outraged thofe who deal within its cloifters, declaring that the long pratifed exchanges and fales therein mall no longer be permitted ! ^fj^ow do I crave thy patience, whilft I detail the events of the laft few days events that have fixed my purpofe, and which irrevocably call me to prompt and vigorous action yea, even to the death, if need there be, of this my enemy the Law s enemy the blafphemer of our holy religion the mifleader of our people and the deftroyer of the poor man s privileges in the Temple ! But firft, a word of mere private concern. Of late, as I have before informed thee, I had been doing well in the Temple. My maiden Aunt, f Love for LI r i i j j Rebecca. moreover, has been growing lomewhat kinder towards me and her wealth is great this me parts with feebly, if at all, to thofe who cannot, or will not, help themfelves ; for, with her, poverty and misfortune are more hated, as crimeful, than pitied as unfortunate ! and finding me now more profperous, her abnet is lefs tightly drawn ! The excellent Eben-Ezra, likewife, doth not in any way frown upon my fuit for his lovely daughter fo fair, that the rofe of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley, in fweeteft union combined, were not fairer ! Nor doth the loving mother, Prifcilla, though fo ftriclly prudent (as Jewifti mothers moftly are) give me caufe to doubt her free confent : but, oh my Artemas, more than this even the lovely maiden REBECCA, though fupremely beautiful, and only now on the threfhold of life s moft blooming and cheerful period, feems willingly, though fo modeftly, to cherifh hope in me : for, as the tender and often petted lamb, {he repofes in me her utmoft confidence ; and delights (as do fuch young and fpotlefs pets) to play even at my very nod before me, and thus to cheer my wearied fpirits, when, from fo many other caufes, they flag ! Now, my excellent Artemas, may not all this bright funmine upon my love thefe luftrous hopes, and all thefe enchanting vifions, be darkened, nay deftroyed, if an exile from the Temple, I am once more an outcaft upon the tumultuous fea of life, without a calling ? Then would my Aunt again begin to frown, and feverer be than ever! then mould I feem in the world s regard the mere mendicant lover ! Oh no, my Artemas, MAMMON (preach the EfTenes, and other madmen, as they lift) Mammon is food for foul and body, and hath now become fo 40 Chronicles of CartapfriUis, Century i. Treachery of Judas Ifcariot. effential in all life, that it is not only the primal element of happi- nefs, but the only potent equalizer of conditions the fceptre of all authority the fortrefs of all fecurity : yea, tis mammon alone that giveth wings to foar above calamity yea, over all calamity, fave only difeafe and death! and even them^ it largely mitigates! Mammon, therefore, muft not, /hall not, be denied me by this meddling Nazarene. Placed as I now am, every fhekel hath double value : for, if I wed the lovely Rebecca, with fome wealth and a calling of my own, all the world, as well thou knoweft, will fmile upon me ; and my mother s unnatural fitter will enlarge her generoufnefs, for fo is the world to the profperous ! What, therefore, hath juft now been done by the carpenter s fon, hath fo ftirred up the deepeft gall within me, that vengeance calls aloud, and bids me onward ! This, my Artemas, is the chief matter that hath caufed me to urge thee on, quick as the winds unto Jerufalem ! Haften Artemas, haften ! . , r ^hree days ago, it being then fix before the now fofttraefarv a PP roac h n g PafTover, the Nazarene was lodged with one Lazarus^ at Bethany, it being Sabbath the Qth of Nifan.* There, a certain wealthy Pharifee, named Simon, once a leper, curious to fee Jefus, (who had arrived on the preceding night, from Ephraim of Samaria) invited him to fupper ; and among the guefts was this Lazarus, (concerning whom the people of Jerufalem and elfewhere, have an idle rumour that the Nazarene, about fix weeks before, had raifed him from the dead, after being in the tomb fome days !) and he was accompanied at the fupper by his fitters, Martha and Mary. It fo chanced that Mary, defiring to add unto the grandeur and liberal hofpitality of Simon s enter tainment ; or, as fome imagine, eager to teftify her gratitude to Jefus for her brother s refurre&ion ! anointed the feet of her Lord, and dried them with her rich and flowing hair. The deli cious perfume, from an alabafter vafe of very coftly and odoriferous ointment, diffufed itfelf inftantly through the apartments, and admo- nifhed all prefent of the high value of the balfam, and the folly of fuch an honour upon one fo poor, and, until lately, fo obfcure, as was the Nazarene. This ointment (the genuine Nard, compofed of pureft extracts from nine forts of extremely rare herbs) feemed a caufelefs and idle wafte, even to one of his dijciples^ named JUDAS, as I think. He, therefore, openly murmured at the vain ceremony, and exprefled his natural thoughts, that the rare eflence had far better have been fold, and its large price diftributed among the poor. But the Nazarene regarded it in Mary as an acl: of fignal holinefs ; and therefore rebuked the officious difciple ! This, as I Saturday, zoth March. Letter v. Cfje WmDtnn$ Jeto. 41 Triumphal Entry of Jefus. have caufe to believe, hath not a little enraged this Judas : for thofe of Jerufalem, then at Bethany, on their return, report that this Nazarene s purfe-bearer (hence called Scariot) is not likely to hold much longer faithful to his matter ! But of this I will fay no more, than that fome of the Sanhedrim would like to commune with this Judas ! * * The anointment of Jefus, as recorded by Matt. xxvi. 6, and by Mark xiv. 3, who agree and by John xii. i to 8, which differs from both (actually, or apparently) feems to have been varioufly confufed by different commentators, who would have us believe there was more than one fuch occurrence ! Certainly, there are fome difficulties, if the matter be not fomewhat clofely and im partially looked into, but the chief of which is removed by the mode in which Cartaphilus ftates it ; who evidently regards the three ftatements as being of only one faff, and that the occurrence did not take place in the houfe of Lazarus, (as fome ftrangely ftippole) but in that of Simon the leper, at which Lazarus and his lifters were prefent. The difficulties, real or imaginary, are as follows : i. St. Matthew and St. Mark ftate the anointing as being of the head. z. That it took place t-VJO days before the PafTover. 3. That it was in the houfe of Simon, the leper. 4.. That " a woman " not naming her came and poured a box of precious ointment on his head whilft he fat at meat. 5. St. "John ftates it as beingy?* days before the PafTover. 6. That it was an anointing of his feet. 7 . That it was by Mary. 8. And fome commentators infer that St. John ftates it as being in the houfe of Lazarus, as no exprefs mention is made, by that Evangelift, of Simon. Now, if this inference be (as others juftly iiippofe it to be) erroneous, and if it did take place, (as rtated by Cartaphilus) in the houfe of Simon, in the pre- fence of Lazarus and his filters, the other difficulties feem eafily to vanifh: for, i. The mention of the head, by the other two Evangelifts, cannot be exclu- five of the_/^>/, efpecially as it alib fays that his body was anointed. z. The time mentioned, as tnjjo days before the Paflbver, is in a diftin6t and fubftantive fentence, not by any means neceffarily referring to the day of the fupper and the anointing, mentioned alfo in a fubftantive paragraph, for that fupper may have been Jour days previous to the two days alluded to by the Evangelifts, as being then before the Paflbver. 3. The general ftatement by them of "a woman," inftead of the named one by St. John, is of no moment whatever. He evidently defigned more detail than the others he records all the names, fo manifeftly in accordance with the general ftatement by St. Matthew and St. Mark, that there is no neceffity for us to fuppofe there was any other anointing of Jefus, at any other time, or elfewhere. 4. The details of the two firft Evangelifts ftate it expreffly as happening at Simon s houfe : and St. John does not by any means ftate it as occurring at the houfe of Lazarus but only fays, "there (at Bethany) they made him a fupper." He does not fay by whom the fupper was given nor at what houfe ; but he does Jiate a faft, in a way obvioufly at variance, as we think, with the idea of its being at the houfe of Lazarus , for he fays, " but Lazarus was one of them that fat with Him at table $" which manner of ftating the fadt of his prefence is quite confiftent with Lazarus being an invited gueft at the houfe of Simon ; but it would be ftrange to record that Lazarus was at his own table ! 42 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century \. The Triumphal Entry of Jefus. Triumphal Entry of *Ti ne rumour as to tne fuppofed refurrec~tion Jefus into Jerufalem of Lazarus was then at its height, and agitated and the Temple. tne people greatly : and, whilft it occafioned at Bethany a multitude to flock from Jerufalem and other places, it hath ftimulated the Sanhedrim to debate as to puniming Lazarus alfo, for thus countenancing fo moving a tale. Early next morn ing, it being the 10th of Nifan, Jefus left Bethany, and came to Bethphage a fmall village, as thou knoweft, at the foot of Olivet, fcarce two miles from the City. Curiofity was intenfe to know whether the Nazarene would now venture into the city, efpecially during the Paflbver, then five days off feeing that, although the people, or very many of them, would do him no evil, the Rulers were greatly enraged againft him ; and, doubtlefs, could eafily draw the people, by management, wholly over to them. Many of the multitude were heard to cry out, that they vehemently longed to fee him who, not only had raifed Lazarus after four days of corruption in the fepulchre, but who, fmce that time, had cured one Bartimas of blindnefs ! They alfo cried out to fee him, who had threatened to deftroy, and to rebuild our great Temple in three little days ! a temple, good Artemas, which, as all know, is now the world s glory a temple which had God and Solomon for its firft defigner and builder, and then Zerubbabel for its reftorer, afiifted by unheard of numbers and, finally, as our eyes now tell us, a temple moft expenfively improved and adorned with inefti- mable magnificence by the firft Herod, and by others fince, through a period of full fix and forty years ! and yet this Nazarene will unmake and make this glorious building, (if fo it pleafe him,) in three days ! No marvel, then, is it, that an ignorant multitude, hearing all fuch ftories in every corner of the land, mould flock in maiTes, ready to hail this man as KING OF THE JEWS, in preference to our imbecile Roman tetrarchs, and ethnarchs, and ftill more puny fpiritual governors, for, even the Priefthood now is not what once it was ! "^ou, my Artemas, will readily agree with me that this excite ment is moft natural ; and for this very reafon is it, that / would now endeavour to unite all hearts, all hands, and all feels political as well as religious to fupprefs thefe fanatic outrages upon our The conclufion, then, upon the whole matter is, that there never was but one fupper and one anointing of Jefus defigned to be recorded, viz., that which took place at the houfe of Simon, the leper, fix days before the Paflbver (though probably known to the Evangelift only t f wo days before that Paflbver) at which Martha and Mary and Lazarus were prefent as guefts ; and that " a woman," mentioned by Matthew and Mark, was no other than " Mary," the fifter of Lazarus, who anointed his feet, his head, and his body: nor does there feem to be the leaft occafion to labour with any real difficulties, as they all vanifh under the prefent explanation. Letter v. C&c O3antJering; Jefou 43 The Triumphal Entry of Jefus. laws, our religion, and our moft ancient and venerated inftitutions. Your own tendernefs towards thefe people, therefore, greatly pains and furprifes me : for, if this Nazarene be Shiloh, he cannot approve their wildnefs : but he comes wholly without credentials, and greatly mifleads the people, either by falfe miracles, or by working them through fome fatanic agency : and that he is not the Shiloh, demands no further proof: for, what could one without a fhekel in his abnet or a place whereon to lay his head, do for Ifrael s refcue from Rome s tremendous power, and how can fuch an one be that " Expectation of Ages," which prophets and kings have fo much defired to behold ? ^he approaching Paffover, now but three days off, hath brought to us many foreign Jews from Afia, Egypt, Rome, Syria, and likewife multitudes from all Judea, Galilee, Samaria, and from all parts beyond the Jordan. Thoufands of thefe, and of the Holy City, on hearing of the Nazarene s approach from Bethphage, went out in triumph, yefterday, to meet him ! The living mafs from Jerufalem (bearing in their hands branches of palm and olive) proceeded up the wide avenue towards that village : and, as this vaft proceflion (midway, that is, about one mile from Jerufalem) met the other fmall and humble proceflion of Jefus and his followers, the NAZARENE, to the great furprife of all from the Holy City, was found feated upon a colt, the foal of an afs, which was covered with fome rude garments, whilft his difciples and others were flowly walking on each fide of their adopted mafter ! jHs the multitude from the City came nearer to thofe from Bethphage, they rent the air with loud and joyous acclamations waved on high their palms and olives ftrewed the way with their richeft garments ; and, as the two proceffions met, that from Jerufalem divided, the one half preceding, and the other half following JESUS, whilft his difciples gave to the air their oft- repeated cries, then alfo echoed by the multitude, " HOSANNA TO THE SoN OF DAVID ! BLESSED IS HE THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LoRD ! HoSANNA IN THE HIGHEST !" jf-j s the now united proceflions afcended an eminence of Olivet, which overlooks the City, fome of the Pharifees and chief Priefts, defiring to check this outrage, required the Nazarene to reject, and to fupprefs the facrilegious plaudits of the inconfiderate multitude : but the fhort reply of the fhrewd fon of Jofeph was, " Should thefe people ceafe their Hallelujahs, the very Jlones would cry out ?" And then, filently looking towards Jerufalem, for a time, with a {ready gaze and weeping eye, the Enthufiaft turned, firft to his difciples then towards the City, and exclaimed, " Would, ohyerufalem ! that thou hadft known, at lea/} in this thy day, the things which belong to 44 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, Century Jefus in the Temple. thy peace ! but now they are hidden from thine tyes. For the day /halt come when thine enemies Jhall cajl a trench about thee, and compafs thee round, and hem thee in on every fide, and lay thee even with the ground^ with thy children within thee ; and Jhall not leave in thee one Jl one upon another , becaufe thou knoweji not the time of thy vifitation" jH_s the proceflion entered the Holy City by the Sheep Gate, nearly the whole remaining population, then in violent commotion, crowded around from every fide, friends and enemies Jews and Gentiles young and old people of all conditions and occu pations, and of both fexes fome afking "Who is this?" " Whence comes he?" others crying aloud " This furely is the great Prophet of whom our majier Mofes fpake he is the Son of David bleffed is He who comet h in the name of the Lord ! " ^J^he Nazarene, with thefe demonftrations in his favour, feemed no way elated ; but proceeded directly to the Temple, then like- wife filled to overflowing with a living mafs, impatiently awaiting his coming ! ntering the cloifters by the Gate of Shufhan, this new-born " King " found accefs into the Temple nearly impracticable, from the teeming multitude that covered the Porch of Solomon, and likewife the Courts of the Gentiles, and the cloifters on both fides, whilft the noble flight of fteps on the Temple s three fides, (affording a view over the heads of the fea-like multitude) were wholly loft fight of by the folid mafs of anxious gazers below ! ^he entire fcene, my Artemas, was inexpreffibly impofing and gorgeous : for, on that day, the tenth of Nifan, not only were the heavens beautifully tranfparent, but the fun {hone with more than wonted luftre fending back his golden rays from the dazzling white and lofty pillars, which form the outer portico, and again from the polifhed furfaces of the numerous columns that range within the extenfive cloifters and ftill further, from the nine magnificent gateways, with their towering pillars on either fide ! In the midft of fo unclouded a fun, the Temple itfelf feemed to rife before us in peerlefs majefty its golden portal glittering as topaz, with myriads of reflected rays whilft the enormous VINE, (of the fame precious and (hining metal, that hangs over the gate, redundant in golden grapes, each clufter fhaming the fize even of Goliah s head) alfo fent forth, in a thoufand forms, the ruddy and reflected beams of the ever glorious Orb of day ! Long muft that Tenth of Nifan be remembered by all and never can it fade from the memory of your Cartaphilus.* * This correfponded to March aift now called Palm Sunday being five days inclufive before the Crucifixion, A.D. 35, correfled ?era. Letter v. c&e 2x13 anB eritig; 3eto. 45 Cartaphilus caft out of the Temple. tne Nazarene approached the " Beautiful Gate" the multitude, particularly thofe who fo triumphantly had hailed him on the road from Bethphage, as alfo his now much-delighted dif- ciples, who refponded their Hofannas, by exclaiming, " BlefTed is the King who cometh in the name of the Lord peace in Heaven, and glory in the higheft !" were foon after fadly difappointed ; for they all looked for it as certain, that, whilft {landing by the Gate, he would loudly proclaim his Mefliahfhip, with an invincible autho rity, too, thereby at once to eftablifh his kingdom in vaft glory, and in abfolute power ! But, how great was their furprife, when Jefus merely looked around upon the Temple then haftily upon the crowd anon, upon various things within the Temple and forth with retired from it, and proceeded on to Bethphage ! ()n the following day, however, which is the Cartaphilus and prefent day, and early in the morning, Jefus again others cafl out was prefent in the Temple: and, whilft paffing of the Temple . through the " Beautiful Gate," and ftill through the like aflembled multitude, I was placed againft the right pillar, immediately in front of that inner entrance, and of the outer one of Shufhan. My tables, as ufual, were near that pillar, which, with all the reft, were forely prefled upon by the anxious mafs whilft entering. The Nazarene, methought, inftantly eyed me in particular ; and then waving his hand to the crowd, bade them all to relieve the tables, and to prefs further on into the cloifters; this done, he incontinently overthrew my tables, with all their varied contents ; and, in the like manner, the tables of all the others bidding us all begone; and faying, with a commanding, though gentle voice, " It is written, MY HOUSE Jhall be called the Houfe of Prayer for all the nations ; but ye have made it a den of thieves :" and, not content with thus declaring our Holy Temple his houfe, and open to the prayers of all the Gentiles, he ordered, with the like aflumed authority, that no veflel, or other thing whatever, mould pafs in or out the gates, fave for the Temple s fervice : this done, he calmly walked through the Beautiful Gate thence through the Nicanor, and then on to the foot of the Brazen Altar none in any way molefting him ! (gj|[hat could we, indeed, do in fuch a cafe ? the multitude being awe-ftruck, and they feemingly were with him : his boldnefs, moreover, being truly majeftic his air of authority celeftial his eye benignant, yet withering ! Now, whether God or Devil, none did, or dared more than to follow, and to gaze upon him ; and the filence that prevailed through the aftonifhed multitude was in itfelf moft unnatural and fubduing ! Incontinently, thereafter, I left the Temple neither attempting, nor thinking, to regain my fcattered and much abufed property and fo did the others likewife ! t, my Artemas, thanks to our rulers ! this fuperftitious panic 46 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Cartaphilus leeks Pontius Pilate. will foon be made to pafs away, and thefe fanatics to know the majefty of our laws : the people, alfo, will early fee their grofs error; for, as the winds do at firft but ruffle the fmooth waters of Tiberias, then raife them into fearful waves, and foon pafs off to other lands, leaving the fea once more as a mirror, fo will our fickle multitude (now fo maddened with many wild fancies) haftily fubfide into a deep calm ! how long to continue, who mail fay ? for, may not that fame people, in their next ftorm, be againft, as well as for this Nazarene ? it furely may fo be, fmce, when the nation boils, the fcum is uppermoft, and floats it knows not whither the hero of to-day being often the victim of the morrow ! *^he Sanhedrim, as I now learn, will inftantly afTemble ; and furely it will maintain the Law s fupremacy, and the Temple s fancSlity now more groflly violated than by Syrian, or by Roman conquerors ! The more eminent of the Sadducees and Pharifees the Priefts and the Lawyers, are all clearly with us ; and, as I have told thee, Artemas, my resolution can never now be changed : this violator of our rights mail be made to know and feel that he is no king. And though, with grief, I know the temper of thy mind is, of late, not with me, and that thou art ftrangely taken with the Nazarene, thou furely wilt not cannot wholly forfake thy friend ! Let Jofeph s fon, then, have a trial and do thou haften to Jerufalem, and fee more of this man s proceedings, before thou doft confent to abandon the laws and the religion of thy country, and condemn thy friend for rafhnefs and injuftice. I would be neither hafty nor unjuft but the law s prompt aflertor. r hy ftory of the ten lepers, I confefs, much aroufed me ; and diligently have I fmce pondered it, but thou wert deceived groflly deceived, my good friend Artemas ! and if not, thy fevered brain did afterwards coin, out of feeming wonders, things that ex- ifted not ! Much have I heard of his miracles alfo communed often with thofe who believe in them, but yet have I feen none. The Nazarene hath again retired to Bethany ; and when next he comes to the Temple, I would have thee there : Thou and the people (then calling for his credentials) will be taught to judge more coolly as to thofe rumoured miracles ; and will feverely con demn the facrilege he fo often hath committed. Let but the Great Sanhedrim fpeak, and the multitude, that fo lately fhouted his praifes, will fpeedily end his triumph ! Come quickly, dear Ar temas, come quickly. FAREWELL. CARTAPHILUS. vn. c&e bannering 3|eto. 47 Judas and Cartaphilus meet. SECTION VlI.Nifan, nth day, and Watch of the Night. [Monday, 22 March, 7 o Clock.] ASSOVER is clofe at hand Artemas will doubtlefs be here late to-morrow and now inftantly (this night) will I to Pilate, and crave admiffion into his fervice though I a Jew, and he a hated Roman ! The Chamberlain of his palace, as I learn, hath juft been difmifled; and I muft have his place ! Is not that office in the Procurator s fervice more honourable than felling doves, and exchanging of moneys, though far lefs profitable ? Pilate, moreover, needs urging ; and I would roufe this lagging and undecifive Roman ; who, had he done his duty, would long ere this have checked the Nazarene and his fimermen, fo that they would not, as now, have thus mifled the people. Pilate is cruel and bloody enough, as all have witnefled, efp.ecially when labouring for his own ends : and this we lately faw in his foul murder of the Galileans done, too, when they were wormipping even in the Temple s courts ! And we have further witnefled how infidioufly he brought the Roman ftandards into our Holy City a matter fo abhorrent to all Jews, who would fhun every femblance of idolatry. So alfo, when our meflengers fought this Pilate at Caefaria befeeching him for five whole days and nights, proftrate upon the earth, that he would withdraw thofe idolatrous ftandards, he refufed fo to do, and threatened forely to take their lives, and which were faved to them, only by their invincible firmnefs ! This fame Pontius Pilate, as I alfo well remember, gave, on a certain occafion, a fignal to his men to wound and indifcriminately kill, all who mould oppofe his robbery of our facred treafures, that with them he might build, forfooth, an aqueduct, fimilar to thofe of Rome, two hundred ftadia in length !* Pilate, therefore, hath without doubt, that within him, when moved, that mall rid us effectually of thefe turbulent innovators this fabricator of a new religion this kingly lawgiver, who ftrives to fupplant our mafter Mofes ! The Procurator, moreover, if he gains a fingle friend more to Caefar, would find death in any form no obftacle to that purpofe. * * * But this JUDAS is now my ftrong hope and, in my now adventure, the very tower of my ftrength ! The dif- contented purfe-bearer is, of all others, the inftrument moft needed by me : for, mould be appear againft the Nazarene, it would be eloquent proof of the foul impofture we allege. Twenty-five miles. 48 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, century A Meditation thereon. s, then, (the avaricious Scariot of this needy fon of David) {hall be earneftly cultivated by me ; fo that, if not already fully traitor to his fo-called matter, he fpeedily may be made fo ! Pilate and Judas, then, be henceforth my anxious aim ! SECTION VIll.Nifan, izth day. [Tuefday morning, 23 March.] LL is well moft well ! I am now of PILATE S houfe- hold, and deep in his confidence, too ! We com muned full three hours refpecling this Nazarene s kingly afpirations ; and eipecially of the late exciting events on the Bethphage road, and in the Temple. What in his ear I fo zealoufly whifpered, feems to have fomewhat roufed him Pilate may now lift en to thofe of the Sanhedrim > and poffibly be brought to att. I fee he is his own friend firft, and then Caefar s but he greatly, and that will do more than love towards that emperor : but felf, fear, and love muft all be awakened in him. My fuccefs alfo with Judas, laft night, furpafled my utmoft hope : and, though avaricious beyond expectation, he ftill prated much of Jefu s power ; and feems yet to cherifh fome lurking faith in him, whether from fear or love I wot not. But the wily difciple faith (and it may be fo) that he doth defire but to tejl his Mafter* s pow er ! for, if death he cannot repel, Judas hath nothing loft if death he doth refill, then is Judas only the hajtener of his triumph, and therefore meritorious of reward ! Poor falvo this to a {lender con- fcience a hideous mixture of venal faith and of flimfy fuperftition ! Something of hope I found in him, but more of anger and of dif- appointment in the petty vaultings of his ambition. Judas, as it feems, would beyfr/? among the difciples ! and yet, from his own words, I would judge him the lowift. Judas would fell the pre cious ointment to benefit the poor and yet deny to Shiloh an honour yielded by a fitter s gratitude ! Judas doth hail the Naza- rene as Matter and yet would fee that matter flain, becaufe the purfe he bears is not fo full as Shiloh syft<?w/W be ! Judas doth love his Lord and yet would experiment, even to jeopardy of life, that the Servant may in both ways win ! Oh, how loathing unto me is that puling wickednefs, which doth coin fuch paltry excufes that may deceive himfelf alone ; and which, with love of mammon, would feed Intention to the full, but lack of all daring to do the deed ! Judas knows not himfelf nor the kingdom he fo fondly imagines he greatly covets ; but nothing real would he peril to win it ! Judas hath faith but only when the ikies are clear and congenial ! Judas hoped for that fair kingdom, but became forelv vexed that it ix. c&e COantJenng 3ieto, 49 The plot againft Jefus thickens Arrival of Artemas. is fo "long delayed I" Judas venerates his mafter, but would peril that mafter s life, only that he may hajten the mafter s triumph ! * * * Such, in brief words, is the fubftance of all that Judas uttered, in his miferable colloquy with me laft night ! but ftill, I left the Scariot full of aflurance that, if traitor now, in feeling, to the Nazarene, he will not prove faithlefs to me hereafter in ex ecution, hence do I find that Judas, fo poor in wifdom and in honefty, may ftill anfwer my purpofe well ! * * * * !O ut > on Cartaphilus ! in all this ugly matter, art thou fure of tbyfelf^ and of thine own clear confcience ? What hath Jofeph s fon done unto thee, that thou fliouldft either compafs or be confentient to his death ? * * * The Nazarene hath fpoiled fome of thy goods ! or hath uttered unto thee a grievous word ; and yet only fuch as Artemas, thy beft friend, hath ufed ! And may not Rebecca be for ever loft to thee and likewife Eben- Ezra and Prifcilla, for thus, with Judas leaguing, and in a deed, fo violative of friendfhip, and of all holy confidence ? * * * Oh folly, folly ! caft thought to the twelve winds ! what hath Cartaphilus now to do with queftionings ? SECTION IX.Nifan, ^th day. [Wednefday, a^th March.] RTEMAS hath juft arrived ! Oh, he hath been quick upon my letter fo like my valued friend! But, even to him, I muft no further difclofe my plans, than what concerns myfelf alone nothing of Judas, nor of my counfelling with Pilate, or with Caiaphas ! Much vexed, I fear, will he be, to find me here in the Procurator s fervice and yet far more, were he cognizant of the folemn league I have made with that filly and falfe difciple ! * * * How * The vein of contemptuous irony here manifefted againft Judas, and at the moment when Cartaphilus fo much defired the aid of that wicked inftrument, ftrongly illuftrates the artifices of the TEMPTER the mifcellaneous nature and wonderful deceivablenefs of the human heart the haughty fpirit conferred on the wicked, when confcious of great intellectual fuperiority over their guilty aflbciates the confolation they would derive to themfelves from luch difpa- raging contrafts and the eagernefs with which they would feek to merge their own confcience in the arrogance of accufations againft others. Doubtlefs, the chara6ter of Judas is here correftly drawn ; but Cartaphilus knew not himfelf, and, had he then been capable of even a moment of found refleftion, he would have feen through the goflamer veil he ftrived to caft over himfelf, by the truthful portrait drawn by him of another. I. E 50 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century r. Cartaphilus and Artemas vifit the Temple. Artemas counfelled with me, and wept, I muft not cannot record ! We, however, refolved inftantly to vifit the Temple, where the people were anxioufly expecting Jefus. There we tarried fome hours but the Nazarene appeared not ! Many then began to fay he would not come, but would continue at Bethany, whither they would go we joined therein : and when at Bethany, we there found the anxious people faying that, when Jefus left the Temple on yefterday, he had declared " his miflion ended ! " and further, that " in three days more he muft needs be a facrifice ! " The people likewife faid that a taunting mefTage, to the like effe6t, had been fent by him even unto Herod ! jTDyfterious Being ! thy " Miflion " but why, and by whom fent ? and if fent, why muft thou be a facrifice ? Wonderful man ! powerlefs, yet powerful ! But are not all evilfpirits thus ? is there not unto them a law " thus far may ye go, and no further?" But thou weepeji over Jerufalem and yet denounce/} her ! and, as they fay, thou cureft the halt and the blind, and, oh Jefus ! thou raifeft the dead and makeft wine out of water and feedeft thoufands from invifible means and confounded: the wifeft with thy fpeech and, at pleafure, thou vanifheft, from our fight ! All thefe, and far more, are declared of thee : and yet, why fo poor, why yield to the arrogance and power of thy foes, why refort to oft-repeated flights, why wander in fecret places, in Olivet and Bethany and in Bethphage, and, why permit thyfelf to be betrayed by one who fo long hath known thee and, if knowing fo much, as thy difciples fay of thee, why not fully know Judas defigned treafon, though now known to none but Judas and Cartaphilus ? Surely the idle and infenfate multitude can no juft anfwer make to thefe inquiries. Ah, Cartaphilus ! thou art a logician, and doft look more deeply into fuch things, than Artemas, and the reft with him. * * * * ^3 ut hold, Cartaphilus ! hold ! be thou candid and wife, and no felf-deceiver. Art thou quite fure of thy alleged facts and of thy proud conclufions, and that all hath been as fairly and as fully argued with thy own felf, as if with interlocutors in the fchools of philofophy ? May it not well be afked, what need had Jefus ever to retire for fafety into fecret places, and whether he ever did fo ? has he not for years paft been openly among the people and none to do him harm, though many were doubtlefs willing fo to do ? was he not ever as much within the Sanhedrim s power at Bethany, and is he not fo now, as when within Jerufalem s walls ? was he ever in difguife ? and, even when he fo boldly ufed the Temple as his own houfe, who, of all the vaft multitude, ventured to afTail him ? not one ! and did he not fearleflly *. c&e anannering; 3[eto. 51 Deep Mufmgs upon not finding Jefus at the Temple. reproach the moft exalted among our rulers, both of State and Temple? and yet who to fay him nay ! And oh, did not even thofe whofe tables were caft over fhrink from his prefence and, when he flowly retired from the multitude, fought he not folitude merely for his own repofe ? doubtlefs, all is juft fo. And yet, Cartaphilus, wonderful as all this truly is, may not all this panic in the people be caufed by the dread of a demon, as well as of a beatific fpirit ? No miracle of his have I ever witnefled many, indeed, fay they have ; and though the late proceeding in the Temple was, indeed, moft ftrange, yet it was no miracle : multitudes, like the ftormy waves, are ever unmanageable, and driven by hidden impulfes into ftrange follies. But, doubt it not, the people will foon revive, and fo will the Sanhedrim what need then to plot his death, and why cherifti Judas treafon, when at any hour, Jefus may be taken, and fairly brought to trial ? Thefe are the matters for and againft the Nazarene ! greatly do they difturb my foul. * * * Such, and the like, were my rapid thoughts during the two hours fpent by us at Bethany. Artemas and I then haftened to the City for it was now manifeft that Jefus would vifit the Temple no more, for ever, as he had declared ! f * * * Vi s now th e fecond hour of night s firft watch, and Judas is in waiting for me ! Artemas in filence mourns in my adjoining room, and, there, fecretly I will leave him, until this hideous matter with Judas be ended. * * * Oh, Cartaphilus, would thou hadft never feen the light ! better had it been that Nifan s moon, which came fo fluggimly at thy natal hour, had never come! O that the then anxious feekers of the Beth- Yazeck had found that moon fhrouded in eternal darknefs or, that in fome other land, unknown of Ifrael, thou hadft been born, f- It will be feen that Artemas and Cartaphilus vifited the Temple on Wednefday morning, expecting to fee Jefus, and were difappointed ; but after wards, on reaching Bethany, they were informed that on Tuefday, nth Nifan, (or 23rd March) the Nazarene had openly declared his miffion ended; and that in three days more he mould be facrificed ! Tuefday, therefore, was the la/I day of Jefus prefence there ; but ftill the multitude (ignorant of the true import of Jefus prophetic words) came on Wednefday, and on Thurfday, looking for him. The meditations of Cartaphilus at Bethany mow very clearly that he and others finned not from want of light, or rather the means of light : but, ftill it will be remembered, the imprefiions were very general and powerful that Shiloh was to come in a wholly different form alfo that wonders might be wrought by a falfe, as well as by a true prophet and that he, who could not, or would not, fhield himfelf from the power of the Sanhedrim, could not be that " EXPECTATION of Ages " that " EMANUEL," of which their prophets had fpoken, and if not, that then the warning given in the i3th Chapter of Deuteronomy, was imperative on them ! and yet, what but Ifrael s wicked heart ever fuggefted the thought of a merely temporal Meffias ? 52 CfjrOntCleg Of CartapMlUS, Century i. Conflicting mufmgs between reafon and revenge. a Gentile rather, than with fo enlightened and confcience-ftricken a foul, thus to be tormented with endlefs doubts and torturing mif- givings ! * * * But no fitting thoughts are thefe in me, who muft Jnftantly commune with that Scariot, Judas. Roufe thee, Cartaphilus ! and be ftrongly clothed in refolution, and with a fixed foul ! forget not thy corban : remember, moreover, how an ancient tradition doth hold that the world endures but fix tboufand years 2000 whereof are from creation until the giving of the Law 2000 more whereof are to be under that Law and that the re maining 2000 are deftined for Shiloh s reign ! Now, if fo, Shiloh s time furely hath not yet come : for do we not count, even to this very hour, but three tboufand^ feven hundred^ ninety and five years fmce creation ? and therefore, tis plain^ the coming of the great Meflias needs full two hundred and five more years j * # * But night s black mantle is now deep upon all nature and fo lightlefs are its folds to me, that all is fuited to my much belaboured foul ! Oh, how doth refiftlefs thought tear and rack the inner man with its rufhing and burning current ! Since at Bethany, now eight hours, hath not my foul been all thought yea, as a wheel in fuch rapid motion, as leaves after it no abiding vifion ? # * * * PILATE muft I fee this night or early on the morrow. jFJnd now, Cartaphilus, remember how it behoves thee to deal with both ! be thou with them wife as the Serpent artful as the Fox gentle as the facrificial Doves for thefe men demand thy utmoft wit the Roman, that thou mayeft overcome his timid nature heightened as it hath been by fome filly dreams his wife doth prate of! and, with the money-loving Jew, fee that thou conquer the leaven of his fear, or affection, towards his mafter, with the which his brain is even yet fomewhat befet ! Oh folly ineffable, and paft endurance ! vice and cunning and wit and learning, may all be made to do obeifance unto a fuperior mind each having its defencelefs point but, he who would ftrive with fuperjlition^ or with the wifdom of a fool, or with the hopeful and the doubtful, vexedly combined, will find great need for caution, and for the beft ftrategy of his fobereft head ! Remember likewife that, in two days hence, the PafTover will demand the prefence of our Galilean Prince. Herod Antipas doth, indeed, hold no friendly communion with Pilate : but of this, they both muft be cured and quickly, too elfe Herod s hate of Jefus might caufe the Pro curator to befriend the Nazarene, for thofe at enmity, work not well in a common caufe -felf being often ftronger than duty. Now, fo it chanceth, that this Herod hath, of late, been fomewhat beholden unto me ; and hath fhown me, in return, fome fpecial kindnefs : hence, may I now the more freely give my counfel to him, as well in regard to Pilate, as the Nazarene. Should I heal the breach between them, by ufing many foothing words to both, x. cfjc ^antieung 3leto. 53 Cartaphilus and Judas agree The horrors of that meeting. the dealing of each, towards this difturber of our peace, will be the firmer, and more to my mind. * # * And now for JUDAS ! and, on the morrow early, (if not this night,) Pilate and Herod fhall be feen of me : they all muft be abforbed by Cartaphilus for fouls extinguifh fouls, as do the greater lights the lefs ! SECTION X. Ntfarfs i^th day. Night s 4th Watch. [March 25, 5 o Clock, Wednefday night.] H night of horrors juft pafled, and morn now fweetly dawning, how raylefs are ye both of Mufmgs upon further happinefs to Cartaphilus ! The his interview wretched hours I fpent with Judas till tfl J udas - the dead of night, were blifsful compared with thofe that followed ; when, upon my couch I lay, counting oblivious fleep that would not come and hoping (but with no fruition) to drown the many foul and hellifti thoughts that forced their rude refiftlefs paflage into my already maddened foul ! Sleep came at laft but oh, fuch fleep ! fo full of bufy vifions, as tired nature in her agony creates peopling all fpace with filthy dreams with a world of demons, and each with appropriate mien and action ! and oh, how terrifically clear were all thofe varied fcenes of horror ! and yet, but one little hour did Cartaphilus fleep ! an hour that would have filled an age with miferies ! * * * Have not our Sages often told us that our fins appear to us but as feeble Jhadows^ when our day is in its glory, but that, towards the evening of our life, or, which is the fame, towards the fetting of its profperity, thefe fins do fhow themfelves in hideous forms ? If thus it be, furely life, or profperity foon muft end with me. The matter fo warmly urged by me on Judas, and fo cunningly, too, feemed then fcarce the fhadow of a fin ; but, when upon my couch encompafTed with night s darknefs, and fo full of thought^ it all became fo bright and monftrous, that Gehenna itfelf laughed me to fcorn and, even to myfelf, more vile I feemed than that traitor Judas ! for Judas ftill had fome fears fome hopes, but I, his urger, had none ! Is this, then, indeed the evening of my life, or, worfe, the evening of my profperity ? Is Cartaphilus, then, a fuborner of foul mur der, and of atrocious treafon againft domeftic truft and friend- fhip ? Oh no, it cannot be tis but the fever of a wildered brain a ficknefs of body and of foul, making of Cartaphilus a poor and trembling coward ! But why fhould thought^ which is but a fleeting, immaterial fomething, or a nothing ever coming and going without our bidding thus greatly move me ? If no other world there be no torturing fpirits no angels of mil- chief and of utter darknefs, if revenge be natural, and each for 54 Cfjtonicleg of Cartapftilus, Century \ . Cartaphilus refolves He welcomes the dawn of day. himfelf muft care ; and oh, if no dejllny there be, but all have free will (and fo my Sadducean teaching hath ever been) why mould now my foul recoil from what with Judas I have refolved ? Oh no the NAZARENE SHALL SURELY DIE ! for, hath he not trampled upon my lawful calling in the Temple threatens he not the deftruflion even of that Holy Houfe ? * * * Be now ftill, O my foul ! and let this bright and lovely morn, fo frem with dewy fragrance, fhed upon thee, as well as others, its fofteft influences a morn, breathing airs diftilled of pureft empyrean, oh let it bring upon its wings the choiceft perfumes from gardens it hath juft kiffed, when the moiftened fhrubs and flowers are firft faluted by the fun fo that, in thefe delightful odours may be wrapped my much difturbed foul yea, a morn moft luftrous in nature s lovely garniture, and fo unlike the horrid night juft paft, that all of God s creatures now rum to hail it ! Oh then, even unto Cartaphilus let it bring courage, and perennial floods of joy left his bruifed and crumed heart mall fink to rife no more ! The fourth Watch will foon end.* ^he birds now carol fweetly their blitheft notes the gaudy butterflies are at their early gambols the infects of various hues and form and fize, are buzzing and humming every where around me: and mall I, a being of lovely woman born God s laft and perfected work remain the only ingrate filent and wretched ? So muft it no longer be. * * * Glorious indeed is this morn of Nifan s fourteenth day : and the young fun, in foft and cloudlefs majefty, fmiles upon the hills and valleys, and upon all that breathes bidding every moving thing cheer him with their grateful fongs and not thus, as man fo often doth, unkindly flight his genial influence ! Awake, Cartaphilus ! awake ! and be thyfelf again ! Nifan, i4.th day. [Thurfday, March 25, 10 o Clock, A.M.] was well refolved laft night: and the night of the prefent day is the time fixed for the momentous act Further pro- j n wn j cn \ am engaged ! Judas will bring to Gethfe- Judaf mane s garden, (where Jefus fo loves to linger,) a fuffi- cient force; and there betray him unto the minions of the Great Sanhedrim ! Pilate, I have already communed with ; and though reluctant and timid, as ufual, he hath cheered me with the welcome news that the Sanhedrim will meet to-day, and at an * Night and Day were each divided into four watches, each of three hours the fourth watch of the night therefore ended at fix o clock in the morning. . Cfje flxHantiermg Jeto. 55 Further proceedings with Judas The alarms of Love. early hour this being the_/?r/? of Unleavened Bread.* Judas will attend that formal conclave and, if permiflion may be had, fo will Cartaphilus ; for meet is it that I fhould witnefs what is promifed by the difciple, and that Judas, in this, fhould nothing fail. * * * I have juft returned from Judas, who argued the ugly matter bravely with his confcience ! He mouthed much con cerning a withered fig-tree, near Bethany ; which, as he faid, had been curfed by his mafter, on the evening of Nifan s loth day, and been found on the following morning, utterly leaflefs and lifelefs ! But, enough of this, HEROD will I now inftantly fee then the Sanhedrim and finally fettle the hour in which Judas fhall meet me, before going to Gethfemane. , ere I fally forth, let me, for a brief time commune (in thought, at leaft) with thee, thou lovelieft of maid ens, and faireft of all Judah s daughters deareft Re- ( becca ! What, of thy Cartaphilus, wouldft thou fay, a i arm were all his mind and deeds, for fix days part, fully revealed unto thee \ Can thy dovelike heart conceive, or thy foft and rofy lips give utterance, to aught againft thy fond one he who hath loved thee from thy tendered years, and fondly watched thy graceful motions, fo like the fportive fawn, even before thy pearly teeth and ruby lips could give diftinclnefs to all thy words ? Ah, no treafon were it, indeed, againft thy devoted friendfhip, if not thy love, fo to think of thee. ^Q>ow, that even the rofes of thy parental bowers have fought their frefheft bloom from thy love-tinctured cheeks now, that the lilies alfo, (which reflec/t their brightnefs, and fhed around their delicious perfumes) have taken both from thee, when treading the panfied borders of the blue-ftreamed Kedron now, that the zephyrs which gently play over Ramoth-Gilead s verdant heights, fteal their foftnefs from thy matured and filvery voice, and, from thy fpicy breath, fhed the fweeteft incenfe over the vales below ; yes, deareft Rebecca ! now, that the radiance of thy fparkling eye, and each word that flows as neclar from thy lips, have to me be come more potent than fpells of magic ftealing o er my foul like * According to the Hebrew mode of computing days, which begin at fun- fet, the firft day of unleavened bread began on Wednesday at funfet, and con tinued till the funfet of Thurfday. The feaft of Paflbver, therefore, commenced on Thurfday after funfet, and ended at funfet of Friday. From Wednefday- funfet till Thurfday-funfet was the i^-th day of their month Nifan, correfponding with our 25th of March and from Thurfday-funfet to Friday-funfet, was the i sth of Nifan, or the z6th of March. 56 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century Affliftion of Artemas Early before the Night of the Betrayal. the holy oil that ran through Aaron s beard gently piercing my heart, though they be foft as the air of morn playing o er beds of violets, thou, my Rebecca, wilt not, cannot foriake thy once happy, but now wretched Cartaphilus ! Willingly, I would not bring to thee a figh oh, no, not for all the golden treafures once enmrined within the Beautiful Gate, even of Solomon s own more famed Temple a temple renowned in all the lands during more than a thoufand years a temple, though now greatly changed, as I know, yet moft dear unto thee, and therefore doubly fo to me. Our prefent glorious Temple of Zerubbabel, (fallen off from that of Solomon) doth ftill wonder the world, which furely hath not its like : and that Temple, fo loved of thee, would I now refcue from all peril yea, from all the wild fancies that fo threaten it ; ah, even unto the death of that truly awful Nazarene ! Oh, let not this, my Rofe, my faireft Lily ! be condemned of thee as vile and murderous ! for, tis not the nature of thy gentle fex to know, nor fcarce conceive, the rude elements whereof Man is made and wifely made, that he may contend the more fuccefsfully, and with all required energy, againft fuch as delight in levelling to the duft (as would the Nazarene) all that the wife, the good, the great, and the learned have raifed with care, throughout all the ages ! But, my Rebecca, if tears muft flow from thy lovely eyes, when thefe fad tidings reach thy tender foul, Love s magic will transform them all into pearls of pureft whitenefs, that I may wear them ever in my bofom and then, on the wings of the wind will I haften to thee, craving thy forgivenefs ! Bad news, indeed will be fure to reach thee early and ever in hideous forms : this day, then, will I furely write to thee thefe prefent words not being for thine eye, but for mine alone yes, for mine own deeply troubled heart, mufing now in folitary fadnefs. * * * * * But, I muft now leave thy fweet image, and feek Herod then to the San hedrim and laftly, in Gethfemane, to meet that Judas for weal or for wo ! from Herod I had returned, I found Artemas in a re tired part of my chamber, in fadnefs, fuch as never had ^ ^ een n ^ m ^ e we pt over me > a $ would a child who from his fond parents was about to feparate for ever. He queftioned me not of Judas, but was full of grave fufpicions ! Oh, excellent, gentle Friend, how noble and generous thy heart how ftrong thy love ! but, hath not thy too rigid virtue dealt feverely with me ? Am I a murderer in thine eyes, becaufe I cannot fee like thee ? Our creed, indeed, doth differ greatly in all this matter ; and yet have I never queftioned thy regard for the laws, or for our holy religion. Thy prudence is great mine may not be fo : and, if the Bethlehemite efcape this night from Geth- xi. Cfje fcftanBering; 3lto 57 Cartaphilus meets the Sanhedrim. femane, or, if, when taken, he manifefts his vaunted power, and difpels that of the Sanhedrim, that would be miracle enough for me, and my corban would then be no longer binding. But this will not occur ; the Sanhedrim are now in earneft, and as intent upon his death, as is the famimed lion upon its prey : is not this with caufe, and are they not our rulers ? SECTION XI. 14 of Nifan, 5th hour. [Thurfday, March 25th, ii o Clock, A.M.] I HE hour for the Sanhedrim is now clofe at hand ; the money-loving Scariot will then make his difclofure, and the conditions whereon he bargains for his mafter ! A free admittance I hope for or fecretly, under Judas and Cai aphas ; for the Chief Prieft doth know my anger, and would cherifh a ftrong friend to his caufe, efpecially one coming from among the people. And now, to the Scariot* firft, for a brief time and then to the Sanhedrim at the fixth hour.f THE SANHEDRIM. J^udas has arranged for my admiffion, openly, before IfraeFs feleted wifdom ! At the laft hour of the day s fecond watch, the GREAT SANHEDRIM met in full attendance. I found affembled there the Chief Priefts the Elders of the People and the Scribes, in all, feventy and two in number, moftly Sadducees, to vin dicate our holy laws and inftitutions to fupprefs the wild illufions of the times ; and chiefly to devife the means of bringing Jefus, The Falfe Meffiah to condign punimment.J ^Jy permiflion of the High Prieft, CAIAPHAS, I entered into Halls my eyes had never feen ; and, under the guidance of his father-in-law, Annas, I was feated clofe by the Golden Seat of the i) or President of the Sanhedrim. The auguft council was al- * It will be perceived that Cartaphilus never makes ufe of the initial I, fo invariably prefixed in after times. Some of the earlieft copies of the New Teftament juftify this ; for the Syriac word Scarjuta, or fckaryuta, and the Greek fcariotes, both of which fignify fteward or purfe-bearer, as likewife the Hebrew and Arabic, all omit the I. Scariot, the correft name, was probably made to affume the initial I, merely as being fofter, and this is found to be the cafe with many other words in the various languages of modern Europe. The name " Ifcariot," however, will be hereafter ufed in preference, being more familiar to the ears of all. f ThefoetA hour correfponds with our 12 o clock, the Sanhedrim met on Thurfday, the i^th of Nifan, or 25th March, at 12 o clock, A.M. 5 which alfo correfponds with the Jewifh laft hour of the day s fecond watch. I As to the number that compofed the Sanhedrim, there has been fomc diverfity of opinion. Some fay 70, others 71 We follow Cartaphilus. 58 Chronicles of Cartapfjilus, century i. The Great Sanhedrim Opening Speech of CaVaphas. ready formally arranged, in their cuftomary femicircular form, and foon after, with haughty ftep, and vifage full of thought, Caiaphas entered the Hall, and took the Golden Chair, as Prince or Nafi of our Sanhedrim. Qn his right was the AB-BETH-DIN, or vice-prefident, GA MALIEL a renowned Pharifee, and moft learned Doctor of our Laws ; being, moreover, the fon of that Simeon, who, as tis faid, hailed in the Temple this very Jefus, when yet a babe, and then, clafping him in his arms, bleffed him as the true Mefliah !* Qn the left of the Nafi was feated the WISE-MAN ; whofe office more fpecially is, to refolve the law in very doubtful cafes. Then came JOSEPH, of Arimathea, whofe fad and difturbed countenance gave affurance to the general belief that he, like NICODEMUS, who was feated next to him, was too deeply affected by the idle fuper- ftition of our day, to do aught againft the Nazarene. My eye, however, foon refted, and happily, upon PHILO, and found in him, and in Caiaphas, fufficient pledges for the fpeedy accomplimment of the great work. jfft each end of the femicircular array of Ifrael s minimed power, was a Secretary, the one to record the votes of acquittal, the other thofe of condemnation. jfj s Caiaphas arofe, all eyes were upon him, and The opening ^ ^ opened, in brief words, the deliberations of Speech of v .. Caiaphas. the Council. " !^ r i e ft s 5 Elders and Levites \ holy and learned men of Judea ! Ye, to whom are entrufted the Laws, the Tra ditions, and the Institutions of our forefathers ! it is now high time to check with powerful hand, yea, to crufh for ever, the blind fuper- ftitions that now prevail throughout our land. The once feeble, but now powerful rebellion againft our holy Priefthood the daring facrilege againft our ftill more Holy Temple, demand our inftant interference ; that, in the perfon of the Nazarene, known as JESUS CHRISTUS, we may ftop the pernicious frenzies of which we com plain elfe, they will furely crufh us, and our long venerated laws ! And juftly, too, O Men of Judah and of Benjamin! fmce, if Ifrael s fuffering people awake not now, how mail Judah retain her Sceptre how mall Benjamin dwell between the moulders of the Lord and how mail they both efcape God s vengeance ? Men of Ifrael ! is not this Jefus now become the idolized prophet of a growing multitude ? Do not our people forfake even Zion s Tem ple, to follow in deferts and in fecret places, this moft myfterious of all Beel-zebul s agents this worker of magic this feducer of the multitude, by falfe, though notable miracles ? Is not this new * This was the fame Gamaliel who was the teacher of Saul of Tarfus afterwards Paul, the great Apollle to the Gentiles. on xi. Cfjc 33 anli sting 3|eto 59 The Speech of Nicodemus The Speech of Philo. afpirant to the Mefliahftiip, more juftly to be feared than all who have gone before him ? And have I not told ye all, but ye would not heed my prophecy, how that it is now expedient for one to die for the People left the whole nation perifh ! Let that victim, then, be none elfe than this felf-created Meflias this Nazarene, that would be the Shiloh ! This, and naught but this, will bring repofe to our diftra&ed people and our Holy Temple will no longer be molefted. Haften, then, O Priefts and Elders and Levites ! this good work, and fo that it fall not on the Feaft day, left the people murmur." " JC? ecret: ty> nave I already communed with one of the Naza- rene s difciples, cognizant of his, fo called, Mafter s unholy afpi- rations : and that witnefs, by appointment, is now at hand, willing to deliver into thy hands, him, whom once he fo wickedly and fuperftitioufly followed, and that being done, do YE fee, and quickly too, that this new "King of the Jews" doth die the death." ^J^ICODEMUS then arofe ; and with that firm ferenity which ever marks him, thus addrefled the Council. " I do fee ye are all intent upon blood ! Would ye flay the C odemu Lord of Life would ye kill the Anointed of God the Holy One of Ifrael, and that, too, without witnefles a thing fo contrary to our law ? But ye cannot fee, ye are wholly blind ! and this as a punifhment for thy great obduracy. Doubt it not, in Ye are verified the words of Ifaiah, They are drunken but not with wine ; they Dagger but not with ftrong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the fpirit of deep Jleep, and hath clofed your eyes^ and the vifion of all hath become unto you as the words of a book that is fealed. * Look to it ye Men of Ifrael ! I charge ye, look to it, if that Holy Man ye flay !" And there upon, Nicodemus was feated. The Sanhedrim was greatly agitated by this fpeech a dread filence reigned, for a time, throughout the Hall ; and even Cai aphas trembled and grew pale." (]C a ^- n fuddenly his mantle off, PHILO arofe ; and, unlike thofe who had gone before, rufhed from his feat, and came midway before the council ! His eyes ** e flafhing fire his breaft heaved with contending emotions, and he cried out, " Fathers of our Holy Jerufalem ! are ye to be inti midated by all the whining of this timid and fuperftitious Difciple of the carpenter s fon ? Are ye to be driven from your purpofe by Nicodemus, who, from the firft, hath countenanced this Gali lean, and thus brought upon us the great mifchief we lament ? Will ye liften to him, who fecretly conforted with this Jefus ; and, for fome time paft, hath talked to the vulgar herd, fome incompre- Ifaiah xxix. 9 to 14, 60 Chronicles of CartapMus, Century The Speech of Gamaliel Speech of The Arimathean. henfible philofophy of this Nazarene, about " New Birth" "Eternal Life" " Everlajling Punijhment" " Faith in the Lord s Anointed" and other myftical notions ? Oh, is it not monftrous that NICODEMUS a Ruler in Ifrael fhould thus coun tenance fo great a folly ! He, furely, ought to know doth know, that no Prophet will ever come out of Galilee ! and this he would not have pafled over, had he better heeded the Scriptures, than treafured up the vain and wicked fancies of that Galilean, Men of Ifrael ! I would fee this JUDAS, and incontinently bargain for the delivery by him to us, of his, fo ftyled, Matter ! I have fpoken !" ^he general cry then was, " Let Judas come forth ; we will now hear him" But Gamaliel arofe with great dignity ; and waving his hand, filence was again reftored. " Jgfadducees ! Pharifees ! Ye Rulers of our Gamaliel. afflicted country, of whatever faith ! I invoke thy calm and patient hearing. No time is this for rage no time for invidious diftintions no time for irritating words, and galling epithets : but with fobernefs, and in fteady judgment, we mould all ftrive to fee what good, not what evil, can be done. Ifrael is now forely oppreffed by outward caufes and yet much more by thofe that are inward, for {he is greatly at variance with herfelf ! I fay unto ye, Ifrael doth not now poflefs the power of life and death ! and, if (he did, would it not be better to leave the caufe of this Nazarene in God s own hands, than rafhly to take it to ourfelves, and thus, peradventure, be found fighting againft God? That wondrous works have been wrought by this Jefus, ye all do know : nor can I now judge, by what power thefe things are done but this I will fay, he is wholly innocent of death, and Ye are not his judges unto death." (Gamaliel ended, Cai aphas quickly arofe, and bade Judas forth : whereupon the Arimathean JOSEPH interpofed, and foftly afked permiflion to be heard. Cai aphas {lowly refumed his feat, but with quivering lips and fcowling brow, whilft Philo, in vexation, lay buried in the ample folds of his mantle. Jofeph eyed them not, and thus he fpoke. " Tt is well known to ye, Senators ! how our holy Speech of the D C~ r u i_ L /- j Arimathean ^ r phets, {rom the beginning, have promned unto Ifrael a SAVIOUR ; and ye cannot gainfay it, that much he is needed; nor, but that he hath been, of late, much and anxioufly looked for not, indeed, that ye do zealoufly feek righte- oufnefs but temporal preferment. " ^he promife of this Shiloh was firft made by GOD himfelf to Adam, in that The feed of the Woman fhould bruifc the Serpent s head that feed, as Ye mould know, is CHRIST, and the . Cfje COanBenng 3leto. 61 Speech oi The Arimathean. Woman, is his highly favoured mother, according to the flefh whilft the Serpent is naught elfe than the wickednefs of this world, and a portion of the other, over which Meffias will furely triumph ! Again the promlfe was made to our father ABRAHAM, that in him mould c all the families or nations of the earth be blejjea" and to Ifaac and Jacob, it was renewed in the like language, Jacob pro phetically faying that Shiloh comes, when Judah s fceptre is depart ing from her ! Judge ye now, how much of a fceptre remains among us ! " jFfter a time, our Mafter MOSES announces that a prophet 4 like unto himfelfj would be raifed by God ; and that thofe who fet at naught his teachings, Ihould be punifhed. Judge ye now, whether He of Bethlehem (not of Nazareth) mould remind ye of MofeS) feeing that, from the time of that great Lawgiver, until this very hour, none of the Prophets claimed to be a Lawgiver, fave this Nazarene alone, (as ye erroneoufly do call him^ who is, by birth, no Galilean) who doth claim to be both Lawgiver and Prophet. And, ye Men of Ifrael ! fee the likenefs further. Mofes confirmed his own teachings by notable Miracles fo doth the Bethlehemite. Mofes relieved our nation alone from Egyptian bondage He, of the little Bethlehem, would relieve our people, and alib the whole world, from the bondage of fin ! Mofes promifed to our people a goodly land, and happinefs therein, to thofe who kept the Law the Son of David promifes a far better country beyond the grave ; and, to all who keep his law, eternal happinefs ! Mofes failed during forty days the, fo called, Nazarene did fo likewife ! Mofes gave food to a famifhed multitude in the wilder- nefs the Nazarene twice created food in a wildernefs for many thoufand perfons ! Mofes divided the waters of the Red Sea, and brought his people through in fafety the Bethlehemite walked upon the billows, and bade the ftorm fubfide ? Mofes fhone in his face with fupernal brightnefs, when defcending from the mountain Jefus was transfigured upon Olivet, where his face fhone as the fun in the higheft heavens ! Mofes prayed for the cure of Miriam s leprofy, and it was granted unto him Jefus by his own inherent power, cured ten of the fouleft lepers ! Mofes changed the name of Ofhea into Jofhua the Chriftus gave unto Simon the name of Peter. Mofes appointed feventy rulers over his people Jefus fent feventy, by twos, into every part of Galilee and Samaria. Mofes fent forth Twelve men for the preparation of his way and ye all know that the Nazarene hath Twelve ; who, as his meflengers or Apoftles, are in all our regions. Mofes was miraculoufly preferved when a babe Jefus, when alfo an infant, was wonderfully refcued from the murderous edict of the firft Herod ! Mofes fled from Egypt into Midian, in great jeopardy of life the parents of Jefus 62 Cjjronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Speech of The Arimathean. fought refuge in Egypt, with their child, to avoid the decree that fought his death ! Mofes was bidden to return to Egypt, fince thofe who fought his life were dead Jefus was bidden to return to Judea, as all who would flay him were then no longer living ! Mofes craved not diftinc~t.ion, refufmg to be the fon of Pharaoh s daughter the Bethlemite hath ever been gentle, and, as ye all do know, refufed to be a king, when, only a few days fince the people would hail him fuch ! Mofes was learned in all the wifdom of the Egyp tians the Nazarene hath contended with our greateft Rabbies confounded alike our Pharifees and Sadducees, and hath {hown him- felf richer in all the learning and hidden wifdom of our Scriptures, than the whole Seventy and Two that we do number ! Mofes often prophefied calamities on the difobedient, and all were fulfilled this Chriftus has as often prophetically denounced ye all ! Judge ye now, O Men of Ifrael, whether thofe denunciations will be accom- plifhed ! Thefe, O Senators are fome of the many fimilitudes between the now defpifed Nazarene, and our ever-honoured Lawgiver and Prophet, Mofes ! and Ye ought to fee, but ye do not, that Jefus is deftined to be far greater than Mofes ! " r ^hen came king DAVID, more than one thoujand years before our day ; and, in various pfalms, now daily read and fung throughout our land, proclaims that Shiloh s kingdom will in no wife be fuch as ye do crave and how it will differ from thy own imaginings and carnal wifhes, judge ye ! for thefe Pfalms and your temporal ex pectations are now both before ye ! " jFJnd after David came ISAIAH, who declares to this effeft, that in the loft days, (not of the World, O Senators, but of our pre- fent Mofaic Difpenfation) the Gentiles fhall be brought in, and new ordinances fhall go forth to the ends of the earth- fo that Shiloh s kingdom fhall be one of Righteoufnefs, founded upon the Throne of David that the light of falvation fhall come from Galilee that the Child to be born fhall be called WONDERFUL THE PRINCE OF PEACE THE MIGHTY GOD, and yet that he fhall be a MAN OF SORROW fhall be wounded for our tranfgrejjions ! Believe ye the Prophets ? I know that ye do but in thine own perverfe way, O Men of Ifrael ! And yet I tell ye, that this very Jefus cannot be Mejfias, unlefs ye do flay him ! Marvel not at this ftrange faying for IT, likewife, is parcel of that prophecy and Ye will fulfil it ! " ^J^hy prefent blindnefs, O Senators ! is alfo the fulfilment of a prophecy denounced againft thee, in punifhment : for, the fame Ifaiah faith, The wifdom of their wife men foall perijh^ and the under/landing of their prudent men jhall be bid - yea, hidden, O Men of Ifrael ! from all thofe who draw nigh unto God with their mouth, and who with their LIPS do honour him, but who have removed xi. Cjje COantJeting; 3leto 63 Speech of The Arimathean. their HEARTS far from him and now judge, again I fay, whether Ye be fuch ! But, O thou feed of Abraham ! (after thejfte/h only) I would have ye remember that prophecy, be it of bleflings, or of curfes, determines nothing fixedly upon ye, nothing is pre defined but is only forefeen \ Man is ever a free agent but all is a perpetual now unto God ; and hence, when it is declared by him that things will take place, it imports not that they Jhall. He hath left ye all wholly free ; but, from his own eternal vifion of what man calls the future, He knows them as actions prefent to himfelf, but controls them not, by uttering, ages before their accom- plifhment in time, that they w ill take place ! and hence, what ye Jhall do is caufe of faith and of deep repentance ! " !G ut I mu ft now proceed further to (how ye this great Scheme of Prophecy and MICAH comes next. He faith expreffly, that Meflias will be born in Bethlehem ! And hear ye the words, " Thou Bethlehem, though LITTLE among the thoufands ofjudah,yet OUT OF THEE Jhall come forth unto me, HE that is to be Ruler in Ifrael whofe goings forth have been from old -from EVERLAST ING! judge ye, ftill again, O Senators! whether the defpifed c Galilean were of Bethlehem, or not. Ye know that there he was born ! and ye further do know, or fome of ye, how the matter truly was. Now, though Jofeph and Mary were both dwellers in Nazareth, of Galilee, yet the birth of their only fon was in that 4 little Bethlehem ! and how that came to pafs was, feemingly accidental, and only by reafon of the taxation decreed by Auguftus, and which demanded the prefence of Jofeph and Mary there, as their birth place and at that time Jefus was there born, and in marvellous humility ! Next comes the prophet JEREMIAH, and he fays, c Behold / the days come, faith the Lord, that I will raife unto DAVID a righteous branch, and HE Jhall execute judgment and jujlice in the earth* Now, that this Jefus is the fon of David, none of ye can deny. Judge ye of this out of thine own Genea logies which lie not; and ye will therein find (if ye take the reputed father) that this very Jofeph is the neareft relative and heir of HELI, who is the father of that MARY who was mother of this Jefus ! And, if ye pafs Jofeph wholly by, which ye well may, ye will alfo find that Mary is the fortieth in defcent from King David : and further I charge ye to remember, that Jofeph is not only re lated to his wife Mary, but that, on both fides, the two branches of King David s family united in that very Zerubbabel who built our prefent Temple ! and, again, further, that both of his branches, met in that very Jefus, whofe claim to be called the c Son of David, fome of ye do now ftrive to contemn ! Judge ye now all, O Men of Ifrael, whether a c righteous branch hath not, in this, fo called c Nazarene, been furely raifed unto David, as the Prophet foretold ! 64 Chronicles of Cartapjrilus, Century Speech of The Arimathean. " ^n a few years after this, came DANIEL ; who lived during our captivity at Babylon now more than fix hundred years ago ; and that prophet announces Mefliah s kingdom as one that c fhall never be deftroyed but fhall break in pieces and confume all the preceding kingdoms ! and do ye, in your blindnefs, fuppofe that Shiloh will build up a gorgeous earthly kingdom ? " ^Q>ow this fame Daniel hath been yet more clear in this than Jeremiah : and, if the eyes and ears of thy underftanding were open, ye would fee and hearken ; for that prophet of the Captivity reveals nearly the day and hour of Shiloh s coming ! Daniel s Seventy weeks of years (that were determined upon Ifrael, as the period that muft intervene between the decree for rebuilding our City and Temple, and the coming of Meflias to poflefs that Holy Houfe) were four hundred and ninety years ! Now, O Senators ! perceive ye not that thefe years are nearly gone by, at this very hour ? And, if ye will reject that Mefliah, and feek his life becaufe lowly and meekly born what time is left unto you for the coming of that Shiloh who is the hope of thy own vain imaginations ? The appointed time is already here, and no temporal Meffias hath yet come, but ye do ftill find that a moft wonderful perfon bath furely come, and is in our midft claiming to be Him of whom Daniel and all the prophets have fpoken and doth he not caufe the blind to fee the lame to walk the dumb to fpeak ? and will ye caft him off, only for that he declares his kingdom to be, not of earth, but a fpiritual one a kingdom, not as Ye would have it, but as He would have it ? Oh, let not the iniquity of Ifrael make the fulfilled prophecies more myfrerious than when firft given ! " ^Q^ext in order of time, came the prophet HAGGAI ; and he declares unto us that the i Defire of all Nations will fill our Temple with a glory excelling that of Solomon ! Now, though the prefent Temple is a goodly building, and in itfelf indeed very glorious, yet was it fo inferior to Solomon s, that the people, as ye well know, wept over it in bitter remembrance. But EMANUEL S prefence in that mourned one, would give unto it a glory beyond all human art ; and thus vindicates the prophet s truth. Now, O Men of Judah and Benjamin ! ye all do know, and many have been offended thereat, what authority this fame JESUS hath lately exercifed when prefent in our Temple, and none preventing ! Judge ye again then, whether that authority were from Heaven, or from Gehenna : and, if from the ikies, whether it hath not given to our Temple a glory that would darken all the magnificence of Solomon and Zerub- babel s combined ? Can ye ftill be blind can ye longer refift the light, or is it becaufe, in fpiritual vifion, ye are now more blind than were the natural eyes of thofe men, to whom this Jefus reftored fight ? and remember that the natural infirmity fins not ; but the xi. C&e bannering 3|eto. 65 Speech of The Arimathean. fpiritual infirmity is always fin, and ends in death, which is the wages of fin. Bear with me, Senators ! I do but plead Ifrael s falvation much have I fpent upon ye but words will flow in fuch a caufe. Our next prophet is ZECHARIAH : and he hath told us in what a low ly form the Meflias fhould appear ! l Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Z ion ! Behold! thy King comet h to thee with yuftice and Salvation^ lowly, and riding upon an Afs, and upon a colt, the foal of an afs ! Who among ye did not witnefs the Nazarene s entry into Jerufalem from Bethphage, only a few days fince ? Did He not then come to c His Temple feated upon a colt, the foal of an afs, and with that lowlinefs, too, mentioned by the prophet more than five hundred and fifty years before the late wonderful event ? Remember, moreover, how the multitude received him, though thus meekly feated and attired ! was it not as a great King or hoping he would prove fuch and as one that could bring Juftice and Salvation unto Ifrael ? The people ftrewed his way with palms, and with olive branches ; they fpread their richeft garments before him, and fhouted Hofannahs to the Son of David ! But this was not of Jefu s feeking ; for what the people gave in igno rance, or from felfifh hope, that he received in meeknefs, but with a heavenly dignity, as of his due : and thus this prophecy, unknown to myriads, was on that day perfectly fulfilled ! " jf-jnd now, O Senators of Ifrael s fallen people, I have but one more prophet to name MALACHI ; and even he, as ye all know, hath flept more than four hundred and fifty years ! Liften attentively, I pray thee, unto him. c Behold I will fend my MES SENGER and he Jhall PREPARE the way before me; and the Lord whom ye feek, Jhall fuddenly come into His Temple! Deny it not argue it not doubt it not : that meflenger was the very Baptift whom Herod flew ! Oueftion it not, for furely the Way of the Lord was prepared by that JOHN ; who, when afked whether he was the Chrift, declared he was not ; but that he was the herald of Him, who foon was to follow, and of one far more worthy than himfelf ! And ye cannot gainfay but that, fhortly after this, a certain other perfon did come among us, and fuddenly entered the Holy Temple of Ages claiming it as His Houfe, and fcourging therefrom thofe who deal therein with merchandizes, inftead of worfhipping there in purity of heart ! and, for this " coming unto his own," Ye would feek to flay him ! " J[X ear a g am > an d tremble, O Men of Ifrael ! what the fame Malachi further faith, c But who may abide the day of His coming ? and who Jhall Jt and when He appear eth ? -for he is like a refiner s fire, and like a fuller s foap ! " Twice did the Bethlehemite purge his Temple, often hath he admonfhied and threatened: notable miracles, alfo, hath he wrought : and, if ye had hearkened unto him, I. F 66 Chronicles of Cartapinlus, Century \. Speech of The Arimathean. they would have been unto ye as u refiner s fire," and as a " fuller s foap" purifying the believer from all fin. But then, ye would not, and now , ye cannot hearken for ye are blind : hence there muft come upon ye that, which all will find it hard tojland againft, and fearful to abide, at the day of his coming. O Senators ! ye may now rudely fend him away ye may be his murderers ! but will he not come again ? doubt it not : and then indeed will come more than the refiner s fire, and fuller s foap yea, in power will He come, fuch as no eye hath witnefled, nor the mind of man ever imagined for this prophecy concerns that rejected One, whofe blood ye do now feek : and thefe, Oh Elders of Ifrael ! are the fearful words of our laft prophet ! 44 Liften ! but once more, I fay, to this laft of the ancient pro phets j who alfo faith, 4 Behold! I will fend you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great day of the Lord. This, if I err not, is truly a great marvel : for, who was this Elias ? Ye all do know that, more than nine hundred years ago, he lived but died not, being translated into Heaven ! And now, in this our day, as to me it feemeth, Elias may have been found in the perfon of him we knew as John the Baptift the very MefTenger fent to prepare the way for Shiloh s coming ! If fo it be, then doth it look as if the irrevocable appointment of God is that every one born of woman muft once die and hence Elias reappears and dies by Herod s hands. And that this is fo judge ye from the words of his reply to thofe who afked concerning John, (if rightly the words of Jefus be under- ftood of me), For this is he of whom It is written, Behold f I fend my Mejfenger to prepare my way before thee. Verily I fay unto thee, among them that are born of woman, there hath not rifen a greater than yohn the Baptift and if ye will receive it, this is the ELIAS which was for to come. 11 ^Q^early two years after thefe words were uttered, the fame wonderful perfon faid to his difciples, " Ye afk why the Scribes fay Ellas muft firft come : but I fay unto you, Elias has already come but they knew him not, and have done to him whatfoever they lifted." " X1. OW 5 O Senators, did Ye know the Baptifl ? and know ye not how our rulers did unto him whatfoever they lifted, even unto years of imprifonment, and then his death ? Elias furely then hath come, and YeJIew him. Shiloh hath come, and ye will flay him alfo ! I have done"* * In an after part of the Polychronicon, (omitted in our felefted Chronicles,) a different opinion from that of the Arimathean s is exprefled by Cartaphilus on this, at one time, fomewhat mooted queftion, and which, no doubt, is the true one, viz. that the Baptift was not attually the prophet Elias $ but only that, xi. c&e 2Jant)ering; Jeto, 67 Examination of Judas Ifcariot. effecl: of the Arimathean s ipeech on many was almoft unto madnefs : fome rent their garments ^ xa , m n r a r tl0 ". f nil- i i 11 Pi. n- judas Icarwt. others gnaihed their teeth, and, in all directions were heard fubdued hillings, and whifpering execrations ! " Thou haft blafphemed," exclaimed Cai aphas and Philo, nearly at the fame inftant " thou art no Jew no friend to Ifrael, perifli thou, and thy vain and wicked fuperftitions ! Do thou, CARTA- PHILUS, inftantly call in Judas Ifcariot" This was flowly done by me ! and Judas ftood in the midft of Jerufalem s Senators with downcaft eyes ! Silence proclaimed, the High-Prieft proceeded. CAIAPHAS. " ^hou, Judas, art a difciple, or haft been, of the Nazarene ; who, for fome years paft, hath fo greatly agitated our people. We would now have an end of thefe pernicious doings, and we have been told thou art willing to deliver him into our hands. Wilt thou fo do ? JUDAS ISCARIOT. " J^e hath been kind to me but not of late. He feemeth not of this world we have long waited his promifed kingdom for fome days paft I have doubted my larger hope hath fallen off He now refufeth to enter the Temple more, and faith his work is finifhed ! " CAIAPHAS. " jR"h ! Judas, thou haft truly faid : and thus will it ever be with kingdoms that are of Satanas. Thou haft feen or heard of the like doings by one Theudas^ who feduced many ; and likewife of thy namefake, the Gaulonite, who took with him much people : but they and their wild notions wholly perifhed and fo, in like manner, will the Nazarene. Wilt thou, Judas, furely deliver unto us that man, that we may deal with him as our holy laws require ? " JUDAS. " "mj^hat thou afkeft doth now no further thought as the herald of the Merliah, he came fully in the "/pint" and "power " of Elias this being all that was ever meant, either by the Prophets, or by Jefus. This view of the matter is entirely confentaneous with the language of both in refpeft to John s coming and character. But ftill, it is no way furprifing that a more literal meaning mould have been adopted by fome Jews of that day. Elias was manifeftly a type of the Baptift : they both were very auftere, intrepid, and alfo fond of folitary and wild places. John, therefore, is only figuratively named Elias. John himfelf, when queftioned whether he was Elias, (by which the Jews, of courfe, meant aSluallf) was prompt in his reply " / am not." And, when Chrift fays, " if ye will receive it, he was Elias that was to come" and when he further faith, "Elias hath already come, but they knew him not," he merely fignified that, if the Jews would receive the true meaning of the prophets, they would find in John the antitype of that Elias mentioned by Malachi and alfo the " Voice of one crying in the ivildernefs ," as announced by Ilaiah. But, whether figuratively, or aftually Elias, it is now quite certain that John was the very evangelical Meffenger, fo often alluded to by the prophets, as coming fomewhat in advance of Meflias, who was to be the true Light. 68 Chronicles of CartapJrilus, Century \. Judas examined How he was paid. demand fave that thy promifed recompenfe be forthwith in hand : then will I furely deliver him unto thee." CAIAPHAS. " ^fn that, O Judas, thy ftipulation is accepted." of our Holy Jerufalem ! happy are we to find in Judas a reclaimed fon one who no longer bends the knee to a living Idol, nor yields to the mifchievous fancies of the carpenter s fon. The Nazarene and his Meflenger whom fome would call Elias ! are now alike abjured by Judas, who, returning to the or dinances of our Fathers, hath thus boldly caft from him all alle giance to that falfe Shiloh." jFJnd now, O Men of Ifrael, we difmifs this Sanhedrim again to aflemble at the clofe of this night s Second Watch."* u ~ jM s Cai aphas defcended from his Golden Seat, was taid ^ e delivered unto me a purfe, faying, " Do thou, my Cartaphilus, deliver this incontinently into the hands of Judas, the Scariot : it is the reward ftipulated between us yea, to the half fhekel." *^Vhe Council were foon difperfed ; and I handed, in privacy, untojudas the purfe. It contained thirty fmall pieces of filver, moftly fhekels : thefe he carefully numbered over, and thoughtfully faid, " This, O Cartaphilus, is indeed what I bargained for, privily, with the High Prieft but truly it is fmall more may poflibly come hereafter, as the work is yet to be done."f Judas then eyed me intently, and further faid, " Do thou, Cartaphilus, meet me this night, at the fourth hour near the Oilprefs, hard-by the Southern gate of Shemaiah s Garden, bordering upon Gethfemane. Jefus intends there to fpend the night, its lovelinefs and retire ment inviting him fo to do and its wealthy and generous owner permitting him its free ufe. Something, moreover, have I to re veal to thee, that weighs upon me. No time have I longer now to tarry with thee. Jefus and the Twelve will eat the PafTover to-night, at the houfe of one Jonah, on the firft ftreet that leads from the Beaft Market. Peter and John were bidden to prepare it thither I muft haften, as the fun is faft declining, and foon thereafter it will be eaten. Much have I to do, O Cartaphiius, ere we meet again at the fourth hour. If before then thou fhouldft * Thurfday night, i5th Nifan, 12 o clock. f- Thofe thirty pieces of filver have been calculated to amount to 3/. 8j. $d. fterling or about fixteen dollars and twenty-one cents of our currency. Some have fuppofed they were not all fhekels: for, as 30 fliekels amount to 3/. 15^., there can be no doubt that if the pieces amounted to only 3/. %s. $d., the addi tional 6s. jd. muft have arifen from fome of them being of larger value than the filver fhekel. J The " fourth hour" and the " firft hour of night s fecond watch" mean the fame ; and agree with our ro o clock at night. xi. C&c 23an&ering 3(eto, 69 True time of the laft Paflbver. need me, leave thy meflage at the houfe of that Jonah where, in a large upper room, I alfo muft partake with them in the pafT- over!" " X3 ut now comes i f > Judas," faid I, " that thy Mafter doth take the paflbver this evening after funfet, when the Jews, every where, will partake of it on the morrow, at that hour?" " The Mafter hath fo willed it," replied Judas, " for the practice all around is but an innovation j fmce this day is yet the fourteenth of Nifan : but, when paflbver is eaten, the fifteenth hath begun : and that furely is the time appointed of old for the eating, though not for the flaying thereof. In this, as in all things, our Mafter hath had no regard for the changes brought in by men. * * * * But now muft I haften away. Fail not to remember the ap pointed time and place the fourth hour, and at the Oilprefs^ nigh unto Gethfemane."* * Some learned controverfy has arifen, as to whether Chrift obferved his lalt paflbver at the fame time with the reft of the Jews or one day fooner : the latter feems to be the opinion of Cartaphilus ; but he elfewhere admits firft, that it was then, and always, celebrated by Jefus at the true time j fecondly, that the Jews had innovated upon the Mofaic inftitution, by prohibiting its obfervance on the i4th and i5th of Nifan, whenever the eating thereof fell upon what we now call Monday, Wednefday, or Friday ; in which cafe they flayed the facri- fice on the i5th inftead of the i^th, and ate it on the 1 6th inftead of the i5th the fourteenth and fifteenth of Nifan being the true time, according to Exodus xii. 13. As the Saviour came to fulfil all righteoufnefs, he faw no reafon for the cuf- tomary poftponement when the paflbver fell on either of thofe three days of the week. In the year of the Crucifixion, the paflbver occurred fo as to occafion the eating thereof to be on Friday. The Jewifh facred day began at funfet of one day, and ended at funfet of the following day; whereas the Egyptians, and moft of the moderns begin their day at 12 o Clock at night, whilft the Greeks, and nearly all of the Oriental nations, ancient and modern, commence at fun- rife, and the Arabians at all times, alfo the ancient Umbrians, and the aftro- nomers of all nations, at mid-day. The lambs were to bejlain by the Jews on the 14-th of the month Nifan, and were to be eaten after funfet of that day, and before morning. It is obvious, then, that on Wednefday at funfet began the i4th of Nifan or the firji of Unleavened Bread, which lafted till funfet of Thurfday. Sometime on Thurfday, probably between 12 and 3 o Clock in the day, Peter and John prepared the facrificial lamb, and other things for the paflbver, which were eaten foon after funfet of that day which was the be ginning of the 1 5th of Nifan: and then the Lord alfo eftablimed the EUCHA RIST : fo-that, in this Paflbver and Eucharift, the fymbolic facrifice on Thurfday after funfet, and Chrift s afiual fuffering on Friday upon the Crofs, between the hours of 9 and 3 o Clock, were upon the fame Jewifti ifth of Nifan, that day not ending until funfet of Friday. Hence we fee that the whole tranf- aftion was upon the i4th and i5th of Nifan, as the Mofaic Law required, viz. the preparation of paflbver during a part of Thurfday the i4th of Nifan and the eating thereof, after funfet, of the fame Thurfday, it being then the be ginning of the 1 5th of Nifan ; and the attual facrifice of the great Antitype on the Crofs, upon the fame 1 5th of Nifan, which ended only at funfet of Friday. The flaying of the typical lamb being on the i^-th, and the eating of it on the Cf)tonicic0 of Cartapfrilus, century His Meditation Unexpected appearance of Judas. SECTION XII. UDAS then left me, and I foon reached my home. All around me there was in dead filence. The fun had juft fet in fheets of golden light ; and the foft moon then fhed her beautiful rays over all nature, calming into fvveet repofe every thing, fave my own deeply awakened foul ! Thought thought thought ! in un controllable fucceffion, affailed me even unto frenzy. Fearfully did I await the coming hour of our meeting : oh, how I ftrived not to think but, as with the madman, all in vain : the varied lovelinefs of Eden, if then around me, could not have fhut out Judas and the Sanhedrim ! " Is that man fuftained by the Invifible Powers," thought I, " and if fo, are they of Sheol, or of Heaven ? Should this Judas be Beelzebul s minifter, what elfe can Cartaphilus be ? Is the matter wholly changed by his promptings being of avarice and difappointed ambition and mine revenge for a paltry lofs of property, and the hope of fitting high in the Sanhedrim s favour, or in the hearts of a rabble people ? And is there wifdom in that Scariot s notion, that, if the Nazarene be true, death cannot come to him and \ifalfe, his death will not harm us? But, if the pro- mifed kingdom may be fold for a few fhekels, what faith can this Judas have in him, or his kingdom ; and who mall truly know the Nazarene, if his long-trufted agent knows him not ? And again ; Judas will eat the pafTover with his mafter ! Is not that mailer, then, ignorant of his coming fate, and of Judas s foul treafon to wards him how, then, can he be a prophet ? tis therefore clear that SHILOH he cannot be; this Nazarene knows not how to efcape the defigned evil. Be quiet, then, oh my foul !" The fudden "mj^hilft thus deeply mufing, and with my eyes rivet- appearance ed upon vacancy, Judas rumed into my chamber, fome of Judas, hours before the appointed time for Gethfemane, with 1 5th, fo the pajjb uer of Jefus commenced on Thurfday the 14-th, and was per fected on Friday the i5th of Nifan and thefe two correfpond with our Thurf day the Z5th, and Friday a6th of March : and all this manifeftly harmonizes with the fpirit of the entire matter; for the commencement of the Lord s paffioti was on Thurfday the i4th of Nifan was perfected on the Crofs, on Friday the 1 5th, in the like manner as the fuffering of the typical lamb was on the i4-th, and perfected by the eating thereof on the i5th for the true facrijice confifts not of the flaying merely, but of the offering and eating thereof. The 8 days, from the i4th to the zift of Nifan, both inclufive, were the days of Unleavened Bread : the^/fr/? of Unleavened Bread began in that year at funfet of Wednefday, and ended at funfet of Thurfday : the next day, or Friday i5th of Nifan, was more emphatically the PalTbver-day. Seffion xn. C&0 WmtMiHQ Jefo), 7 1 The Revelations of Judas before the Betrayal. haggard looks, and fcarce the power of utterance ! " What brings thee here Judas, and in fuch a plight quick fpeak ! was it not 7 who was to meet thee, and at the Oilprefs two hours hence and comeft thou now to me, and with madnefs in thine eye ? " "O Cartaphilus !" exclaimed he, "a marvellous thing indeed hath juft come upon me ; which fo racks my inmoft foul, that I feel as if it were now impoflible to go further with thee in this fearful matter -- the Mafter feems to know all ! ! openly hath he accufed me before the Difciples, of my defigned betrayal of him ! Hath he Nicodemus feen or that Arimathean Jofeph ? and if even fo, it doth not unravel all he uttered ! But he furely faw them not that were impoflible ; time and opportunity were both wanting ; and, I repeat, O Cartaphilus, that, had the Mafter been with us at the Sanhedrim, and heard all there that was uttered, frill he told me of things beyond all that and as a prophet, or Shiloh would have done !" " f. P ra 7 thee, Judas," anxioufly faid I, " haften on with thy fpeech, and difclofe all thou haft feen and heard, that now fo keenly moves thee." * * * * " Peter and John," at length con tinued he, " had procured the facrificial lamb at the adjoining market, had it flain, and for the exact number, as the law requires. The wine alfo, and the unleavened bread, and the fauce of bitter herbs, as alfo the roafted lamb, were now all ready : and when I entered, they with Jefus were all reclining on their couches, ready for the holy fupper. John lay near the Mafter s bofom, and Peter next. The Lord then faid, Moft earneftly have I defired to eat this Pafcal fupper with you, before I fuffer / Oh, my Cartaphilus ! how congealed within me was my heart at thefe words ! Is he, then, certain that he is to be betrayed this night, and that he will fufFer ? faid I within myfelf. And, at that moment, there rufhed into my mind all that had been faid and done lajl night at fupper : the like words were then ufed ; yet I heeded them not ! But, at the pafTover of this night, and from which I have fo haftened unto thee, the eyes of my underftanding were forced open, when he further faid, " After this, I will eat no more, nor will I drink of this fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God fhall come !" I tell thee, Cartaphilus, it was only then that I faw fully, and remem bered all that was faid at fupper lajl night!"" Here Judas feemed dumb, and fpoke not further. " (ilJl n y> O Judas ! haft thou fpoken fo much of loft night ? I pray thee, now tell me feparately, what of the laft night and then, what of the paflbver this night ;" " I will I will, Cartaphilus," faid he. " Know, then, that laft night, fo foon as fupper was ended, Jefus arofe fuddenly, laid afide his robe, girded his loins with an ample napkin and, canft thou believe me, O Cartaphilus ? 72 CJjrOniCleS! Of Cartapi)ilU0, Century i. The Revelations of Judas before the Betrayal. he forthwith proceeded to wajh our feet, though Peter was unwil ling, and withftood him for a time : but the Mafter infifted on warning the feet of the whole twelve, and on drying them with the napkin, ah, even my moft unworthy feet, Cartaphilus, that were fo foon to haft en in fearch of him at Gethfemane ! This deeply moved me yet not to frenzy : but Jefus then faid, " Ye are now clean but not all!" Quickly the thought ftruck my heart, that he muft have meant me ; but {till I was not powerfully awakened thereby. The Lord then refumed his place at table ; and coun- felled us all as to humility, and as to his defigned exemplar, for us and all men, in having thus cleanfed our feet ! Soon after this, the chiefeft matter that fo doth now trouble me, came on : when Jefus faid, " 7 KNOW whom I have chofen : the Scripture muft be fulfilled, he hath lifted up his heel again/I me, who eateth bread with me. I tell ye this now,fo that when it comes to pafsye may believe." All were deeply amazed and forely pained ; for each doubted of whom the Mafter fpoke. John, whom Jefus fo much loves, was leaning on his bofom ; and Peter beckoned unto him that he ftiould afk the Lord whom it was that mould betray him : where upon John whifpered unto Jefus, u Who is it, Majler, tell us we pray thee?" The large dim of Charofeth* was next to him, and Jefus anfwered, " The 41 ft Pfalm doth declare : and I fay unto you, that he to whom I fhall now hand a fop of this charofeth, the fame fhall betray me the Son of Man goeth to his death ; but wo unto him by whom he is betrayed !" They then all eagerly afked (in which I joined my feeble voice) " Is it I, Lord?" and thereupon Jefus handed the fop unto me ! I fuddenly arofe, and haftened from the chamber ; and, as the door was clofing, thofe words of the Lord reached mine ears " That thou doejl, do quickly." I tarried not an inftanr, and haftened as one diftracled, to the City yea, to the Rulers, and unto thee, O Cartaphilus ! In the madnefs of that hour, I bargained more fpecially with Cai aphas, and counfelled with thee but mentioned not thefe fad things to them, or to thee. And now, O Cartaphilus, this night, was I again with the Mafter partaking of the Paflover. The Difciples received me ftill with fome kindnefs they not fully feeing the meaning of the words uttered by the Lord laft night. It was foon after funfet that we partook of the paflover ; and oh, moft terrific ! * The Charofeth mentioned by Judas was compofed of dates, figs, and other delicious fweets, fo reduced together as to form a fauce. In this, the morfel or fop of bread and bitter herbs was dipped, and then eaten. It is faid to have formed a part of every paflover fupper, that they might be reminded of the clay and mortar ufed by the Ifraelites in making bricks during their fore oppreflion in Egypt, and, from which they had been fo miraculoufly delivered through God s fele&cd inftrumcnt Mofes. xn. Cfje ftUantiermg; 3leto 73 The reply of Cartaphilus Their joint Refolution. the Mafter again warned us that one among us furely would betray him ! All, as before inquired, " Is it I, Lord ?" and to my queftion he openly declared " Thou haft faid." Then only was it that we all fully underftood that he had been prophefying ! The deed, then, O Cartaphilus, is nearly done ! Where is my refuge now what further have I to do ? for on thee alone muft I repofe Judas hath no other mafter now than Cartaphilus ?" " ^J^his furely is fome idle dream, fome crude vifion of thine own diftempered brain, oh Judas !" feebly muttered I u for, of late, thou haft been much given thus to magnify fmall and im pertinent things, into thofe of fore and pregnant meaning tis all but a (hrewd guefs in thy late mafter. We all do know there are now divers rumours afloat he hath doubtlefs heard them all, and, my Judas, doft thou not clearly fee, no Shiloh can he be, if that he fufpefts his death at thine or other hands. Remember the alabafter box of precious ointment, how he was with thee offended, and thou with him! Doth SHILOH come to die? And if he triumphs and lives, will he not furely pardon thee? but, if that he dieth, will he not die the death of an importer yea, of a blaf- phemer ? Fail not, then, O Judas ! to do " quickly , what thou doeft" this was his counfel follow thou it and make thou his cunning fufpicion a very truth ! " " X! w iM I will," was the Scariot s fhort reply : and haften- ing from me with trembling fteps, but a refolved eye, I foon loft him in the (hades of night .* * Although Judas was permitted to participate in the laft Paflbver Supper, it is highly probable he did not partake of the Eucharift, or Lord s Supper, then for the firft time celebrated. He, no doubt, left the room as abruptly on Thuriday night, as he had done on Wednefday night; and doubtlefs for the fame caufe a troubled confcience, and the then too awakening prophecy of his Mafter, to permit him longer to argue with that now greatly excited con fcience. The long difcourfe of Jefus, and the prayer, (as recorded in fuch clofe con nexion with the paffover) muft have taken place whilft the Eleven were on their way with Jefus towards the Mount of Olives, and foon thereafter to enter the Garden of Gethfemane, probably only a few hours before the betrayal. The events of thofe two momentous nights Wednefday and Thurfday the 14-th and i5th of Nifan, or the 25th and a6th of March, are too apt to be con founded, efpecially as to the fuppers and the marvellous doings of thofe nights refpeftively. The warning of the feet, and the firft accufation of Judas, doubt lefs, took place on Wednefday night preceding the Crucifixion. The prophecy of the betrayal on that night was quite as explicit, if not more fo, as on the Thurfday, or paffover night : but the eyes of Judas, as well as of the difciples, were not then fully opened : for, on Wednefday, the words of Jefus " that thou doeft, do quickly, 1 alluded altogether to his treafonable plans ; and yet the difciples, who had not yet been inftrucled to prepare the paflbver, feem to have fuppofed the Mafter alluded to Judas preparation of it, as it was he who had charge of the common purfe. And as to the yet more explicit declaration as to the " fop," and the " xli. Pfalm," even thefe feem not to have fully reached 74 Cfironiclcs of Cartapfrilus, Century \. JESUS is taken ! faithlefs to his Lord and Matter, Judas proved moft a-, D i true to the Sanhedrim and to Cartaphilus ; for. at The Betrayal in , , , , , , , Gethlemane. tne a PP in ted place and hour, 1 round him with the Spira, and fome chofen officers, all yielded to Cai aphas by the Roman authority : thefe were alfo accompanied by a motley affemblage, armed with rude fwords and ftaves, and fome bearing lanterns. The moon, though at its full, was often obfcured by dark clouds j and the deep and fhady recefles of the garden alfo required fuch provifion. "<(m.hen near the Oilprefs, at a fmall diftance without the gar den, Judas approached and faid, " We are met, Cartaphilus, on a bufmefs that muft not now fail. Through the affiftance of Cai aphas, I have this armed body, do thou follow that band, headed by myfelf, into the garden, and him that I Jhall falute with a kifs, is the one we feek ! " I felt, for the moment, as if I could have ftruck the traitor dead at my feet, for, though intent upon my purpofe, all that was within me recoiled from kijjtng him, whom I would Jlay ! Staring at him with furprife and loathing, I at length faid, " Thou, Judas, art our leader we will follow thee do as thou lifted"- and then to myfelf I muttered, " if a curfe do follow, it furely will light upon him" ***** What happened in the garden during that half hour of unutterable horror, I will not cannot now indite, further than to fay, that my eyes then witnefTed a miracle, and for the firft time, the ear of one Malchus being cut off by Peter, and inftantly cured by the wonderful Jefus ! Butftill the Nazarene was taken; which fhows that Belzebub from that moment left him, and would fuftain him no longer but that the God of Abraham doth deliver him into the hands of Cai aphas ! ^JjJ[e left the garden foon after, and the Holy City received us. The houfe of Annas, late the High Prieft, and father-in-law unto Cai aphas, being on our way to the Council, we tarried there a fhort time ; but Annas would not detain us, and then we pro ceeded with the prifoner in chains, to the other Hall of the San hedrim, where Cai aphas was impatiently waiting our coming.* their hearts ; they feem not to have underftood that Jefus meant to point out Judas as the fure and only traitor for they ftill afked, " Is it I, Lord ?" And at the moment the fop was handed to Judas, he haftened out of the chamber ; and then the Lord faid, " That thou doeft, do quickly" which again they con founded with fome miffion the Mafter may have entrufted to him. The Eleven were all innocent and guiltlefs men ; and became far more enlightened in all temporal, as well as fpiritual things, only after the awakening events that fol lowed in no long time after. The hiftory of all that concerns Judas Ifcariot is certainly inftincl with deep myftery : and its real nature is probable to remain utterly unknown, till the great day that (hall reveal all things ! * It would feem from this, that the Trial of Jefus did not take place in the xn. c&c (KBanDenng; 3[eto, 75 TRIAL of JESUS No final Decifion Referred to Pilate. e fpacious Hall of Cai aphas, where the Sanhe- jefus on trial drim was convened, was hung with numerous lamps ; before the which, as we entered, fried a light fo feeble and un- Sanhedrim. ufual, as ftruck terror into fome, whilft others were foon engaged in trimming and fupplying them with better oil. In the mean time, the heavens were ftrangely darkened threatening a heavy ftorm : and though the minds of many rnifgave them greatly, the proceedings went on, and the more rapidly as the Prifoner feemed little difpofed to anfwer any queftions but faid that, as he had lived and fpoken publicly, witneffes could be found to teftify whether, or no, he was guilty of death. ^-j t length came fome witnefles, who proved that the Naza- rene had faid " / am able to dejlroy the Temple of GW, and build it up in three days" which, together with his own declaration that he is the MeJJiah^ were readily adjudged fufficient to convict him of blafphemy which, by the law of our Matter Mofes, is death by Jloning. CD any, however, then urged that the prifoner had Reference of alfo been guilty of treafon, which, by the Roman law, the cafe to is death by crucifixion : and as ftrong doubts and even Pilate. aflurances were given that the Sanhedrim s power at this time extends not in any cafe to matters of life and death^ the whole accufation was referred to Pilate s jurifdi6t.ion and tribunal in the Praetorium. It then being the eighth hour of the night,* the Sanhedrim was then difmifted, to meet again at Pilate s houfe at dawn of day, as accufers, and with Jefus in chains, who in the mean while continues bound, and in charge of the foldiers. fame Hall, in which the Sanhedrin had fat on the occafion of Judas s exami nation. It is faid that a chamber, called Gazeth, within the bounds of the Temple, was the ufual place of the Sanhedrin s meeting, but that, on various occafions, this great Council convened in the High Prieft s houfe : and this feems to have been the cafe when Jefus was tried before the Sanhedrin, Matt. xxvi. 3. It alfo may be here noted that Cartaphilus calls that great Council, indifcrimi- nately, the Sanhedrim, or Sanhedrin : the latter, however, is probably the more correct. The ufual time of meeting was in the morning, but on occafions of urgency it could meet at any hour of day or night as fo alfo its place of meet ing was clofe by the gate of the Temple, in a hall named the Gazeth, border ing upon the Outer Court of the Women. The trial of Jefus, referred by the Sanhedrin to Pilate s jurifdiclion, transferred the Prifoner from the Hall of the High Prieft s Houfe, to Pilate s own dwelling ; fo that neither of the trials took place in the Sanhedrim s more ufual place or feffion the Gazeth. * 2 o clock of Thurfday night. 7 6 Cjromcies of Cartapinlus, century His deep vexation at the Sanhedrim s failure. SECTION XIll.Nifan, ifth day, 3rd watch, [March 26th. Friday morning, 3 o clock.] ESUS, though in chains and held guilty, is not con demned ! the Sanhedrim failed in ftrength they had the ftrong will, but not the power Judah and Benjamin are loft in Rome !" ****** " Judas is now worthlefs a frenzy hath feized on him and worfe ftill, Cartaphilus is compelled fomewhat to doubt our timid Procurator Pilate fears to do, and not His medita- to do | * * * * * The laft hour of tions on the . , , , . , , . . late events. ni g"t s third watch is now come ; and yet my eye lids cannot clofe : as a loathed thing fleep flies me. Oh that the broad day were all around me, that I might hear and fee the bufy ftir of life, and gaze upon the glorious fun fo pure and bright ! would that the garifh things of nature, yea, in their ftrongeft moulds, were now prefling on me, if but for a moment, that haply they might merge the ugly vifions of my raging and fevered brain, and filence the hideous voice that thun ders in mine ears, c Cartaphilus ! peace will rife to thee no more. 9 " ^)he Sanhedrim of yefterday Gethfemane that foon followed the Sanhedrim of the prefent night, and my now confuming thoughts, oh, how they have crufhed a foul that, only a few days ago, was upon the broad and verdant caufey of a happinefs, fuch as boundlefs love alone, and the gentle Rebecca would have for ever nourifhed !" " jfrjnd at that fecond meeting of the Sanhedrim, how wrapped in gloom were all things ! the lamps, for a time, refufed their wonted light, as if afhamed of that timid Sanhedrim or, poflibly of the murderous fcene that might follow Cartaphilus now refolves not which for, truly his foul is divined away /" * * * * " Deep, very deep, am I fteeped in forrow ; the Cyclops hammer of my griefs wears thin the anvil of my foul ; and my wavering confcience doth fo rack my heart and wits, that, like Judas, all is frenzied in me." " jfj rtemas I found in tears he fpoke not, and pafled me by. Strange ! at fo late an hour, as at my return from Gethfemane and the Sanhedrim and ftill here ! But why here at all in Pilate s palace, knowing, as he did, my long continued abfence this night ? and yet he departs not, though fb nigh to cockcrow !" u jffnd more wonderful ftill ! he now would queftion me as to my abfence, and likewife as to this Judas, and alfo as to the rumoured prefence of us both at the Sanhedrim of yefterday ! Were there traitors there alfo ? traitors to me ? doth Artemas xm. Cije bannering 3leto- 77 Artemas The Elements that Night-day dawns. know all, and watches he me thus, that he may report my doings the more faithfully to REBECCA ? Doth Artemas feelc to fupplant Cartaphilus ? He doth love Rebecca! and if .Ah no, dear Ar temas, I will not wrong thee fo perfidy hath never entered thy noble foul it could find no lodgement there : as refined gold is thy love towards me there can be no alloy." * * * " And yet, tis certain the meflenger Ananias he hath juft defpatched for Ramoth-Gilead, though at this untimely hour and on his letter, as methought, was c Eben Ezra as its fuperfcription ! ah, doth he indeed counfel with him refpeting me and this Judas ? hufh ! hum ! my foul Artemas cannot be falfe to Cartaphilus." " ^Ct is now the firft hour of Night s laft Watch [4 o clock^ Friday morning], and Artemas, in the adjoining cham ber, is retired, hoping to fnatch fome feeble reft, ere the ^ e fearful fun fhall awaken us to the Praetorium, that the fate of thatnisht^ this Jefus may then be wholly decided !" * * * " I ftill hear his deep fighs his mutterings to himfelf, mowing his racking agitations oh, even of his guiltlefs foul I" * * * " Oh, what an ugly and terrific night hath this been with all the elements and yet is ! as if compelled to fympathife with a hideous deed !"****** " jE-jrtemas {brinks and moans as doth the night ! for ftill the heavens are moft dreadful to behold in their foul blacknefs : full were they, an hour ago, with unnatural motions, like mine own belaboured heart, and charged with diftant and (mothered noifes, fuch as were never heard fince Eva firft finned ! What can mean all this ? bright was the moon ere I reached Gethfemane, but before the Sanhedrim ended, thofe throes of nature came quickly and thickly on ! No more will I heed them : that which is done cannot be undone : if dejlined, why lament it ? and that it was fo, the fkies, in anticipation, even whilft in that garden, gave the forebodings, for then Gethfemane s lovely walks and flowery borders, her retired and fweetly perfumed arbours, were all left in darknefs, fave from the fmall light yielded us by the torches ; and how noifome were the fmells of fulphurous fumes that followed foon after ; whilft paffing towards the Sanhedrim !" " ^jy^hen in the Sanhedrim s gorgeous hall, Caiaphas, and even Philo trembled, and feared worfe things ere the night mould end : and far worfe furely came the refufal of the lamps to fhed their wonted light being indeed but a feeble prefage of the horrors a few hours more mould bring us !" * * * " That treacherous kifs of Judas feemed to tarnifh even the fair moon ; for no cloud did Cartaphilus fee, until after that ! but, if the myfte- 73 CJjrOniCleS Of Cattap(rilU0, Century i. Prepares for the Pretorium of Pilate Death of JESUS ! ries of the natural world are paft men s rinding out, fhall not our wonder be far deeper at thofe in the great moral univerfe, and efpecially beyond the grave, both of which have God for their centre and circumference ? Man knoweth fomething of the vifi- ble former nothing of the invifible latter !" crowing of the cock for morn is now at hand ; and the wonderful Nazarene (whether of Tophet or of Heaven born) will then reveal himfelf. IfraeFs now fhadowy power yields to Imperial Rome, which muft, by Pilate s fentence, affirm or annul the paft night s doings." " r here, in the Pretorium, will Cartaphilus be, to complete the work fo timidly and poorly begun : there, muft he fee that no Gamaliel, nor Nicodemus, nor Arimathean Jofeph, fhall mar the work again ! oh, no the wavering Procurator doth fear Caefar and that muft prove the means ! Be mine then the tafk, forthwith, and ere the Nazarene comes forth, and after, in the people s pre- fence, to well aflure our Pilate how much and furely is Rome s fovereignty queftioned by this fon of Jofeph far more indeed than ever it was by Theudas, or by the Galilean Judas, who fo lately perifhed, and with his rebels. Pilate is a late comer among us, and knoweth not how much the mifchief is of thefe falfe Mefiiahs, who are ever hailed as kings by the inconfiderate multitude ! Let him, moreover, be urged to bear in mind how one of them dared to harangue his followers, and ftamp them cowards, c Should they yield the leaft of tribute unto Rome, or acknowledge mortal man as their ruler, fmce God fo long hath been their only King! this will not fail to win our unfteady procurator. *****" My tedious tafk of recording the wonders and miferies of the day and night juft paft, is now ended. Unto my couch, then, but only for an half hour, ere the rich tints of day fhall fmile upon Jerufalem s aflemblage at the Pretorium. " SECTION XlV.Nifan, iyth day. [Sunday, March 2 8th.] HE tremendous deed was done ! the CROSS is vic torious ! JESUS fleeps eternally in the fealed tomb of the rich man! but poor Judas, in frenzy flew himfelf and as a dog!" ***** "The following letters are juft received by me tis all as I feared Rebecca knoweth all ! fave as to the actual fate of the Nazarene ; and that fhe will quickly hear. My eyes refufe to weep ; oh that I could weep a Tingle tear ! oh that I could fleep my life away ! " Letter vi. Cjje W&xfovt\m> 3leto. 79 The Curfe ! The Refurreaion ! His Horrors ! * * * * " J^ORROR OF HORRORS ! a rumour a fearful rumour, hath but this inftant reached me, that the Nazarene, early on this morning, awoke from HE RESI] death fpurned the GRAVE, and hath been feen alive of feme/ /"*****" Oh, this furely is but the crazy tale of our maddened times tis a foul lie, and from Gehenna s depths; no word of it will I believe nor eyes nor ears nor touch ever can allure me of it ! * * * * * But alas ! fhould it indeed be fo, Cartaphilus muft incontinently perifti ! for, faid he not to me * / indeed am going, but thou Jhalt tarry till I come ? If verily the grave hath refufed to retain him, if he hath refumed life, and come again to us, then muft Cartaphilus no longer tarry! O days and nights of unmingled horror ! when ihall thy teeming wonders ceafe, and leave my mind at reft ? " * LETTER VI. RABBI EBEN-ZRA TO CARTAPHILUS. RAMOTH-GILEAD. Nifan, i6th. Seleucid<e, 347. [Saturday, March zyth, A.D. 35.] ELL me, doft thou, of thine own eyes and ears, O Cartaphilus ! confirm what Artemas re- i -i n -11 11 Reproof of lates in a letter juit received through the Cartaphilus mefTenger Ananias ? A copy of that letter (as it fo deeply concerns thee) I now fend earneftly hoping thou wilt explain the many wonders therein de tailed, and others we daily hear, reflecting the Nazarene and his difciples but more particularly, and faithfully, the terrific matters relating to thyfelf ! Of thee alone, Cartaphilus, I would know all ; and that, too, in thy calmeft moments, if fuch now can be thine and alfo with thy ftricleft candour : for, if Artemas be not fome- what frenzied, I grieve to learn the extremity of thy meafures againft thofe ftrange people, who for fome years paft have fo greatly * At this place, a hiatus occurs in the Polychronicon and of courfe in the Perfonal Chronicles, Cartaphilus having been too wretched to make any record of his thoughts, or doings. Some letters, however, written by his friends, are preferved ; and thefe fufficiently reveal the continuity of thofe deeply interesting events, that were daily and almoft hourly expanding the views of many, in re gard to that mod remarkable of all perfonages, JESUS ; who, as we have feen, had been fo much conneaed with the public thought ; and which thought had now been ftimulated to the higheft point of excitement by the RESURRECTION ! Cartaphilus does not refume his pen until after the PENTECOSTAL day, which then correfponded to our Sunday, May i6th, it being the yth of the Hebrew month Sivaa that is, ju& fifty days after Eafter Sunday, or the Refurreaion-day. 80 CfjtOniCleiS Of CattapinlUS, Century Artemas reveals all Mourning over Cartaphilus. agitated Jerufalem, and indeed all of Ifrael. And efpecially I would know the truth of what Artemas hath but conjectured, though ftrongly, that thou haft colleagued with one Judas, called the Scariot, to betray this Jefus ! Now, though Artemas (the nobleft youth of Galilee) befriends the Nazarene, and greatly more than thou, or I can do, as Sadducees ; yet would I not for much fine gold have had thee among his flayers. It ill becometh him who fecks the fair daughter of one of Judah s rulers, (though that father be now himfelf an exile in refuge) to league with a traitor and bafe violator of private faith for fuch this Judas furely is, however guilty of death this fan ofjofeph^ and no Mefliah, may have been. Prifcilla, who hath ever been thy advocate and warm friend, mourns forely over this ugly fufpicion ; and will the more if not difproved by thee and Rebecca, whom thou haft wooed with fo much devotion and tendernefs, would have hourly ftrengthened in her love towards thee, and, even as Jerufalem s daughters were wont to do in ancient days, me would have now brought to her Carta philus a heart as truly thine, as if created alone for thee, or, as if, with Adam, taken out of thee ! But now, alas ! her virgin love that hath dawned fo kindly upon thee, will depart for ever, unlefs thou art indeed fpotlefs of this charge ! Often have we feared thy hot and hafty humours would betray thee into fome fignal harm : and though thy zeal ever towards us, and efpecially while here in refuge, hath been that of a devoted fon, and our love towards thee very great: yet, mould thefe foul reports be confirmed, thou, Carta philus, haft lo/t that love ; for thou haft gone too far quite too far for thine, and for our honour ! ^JJhat hath been fo painfully announced to us by Artemas, was done by him more in friendfhip towards thee, than of anger and no way in rivalry for my daughter s love great as that is ; for the excellent youth would win her love by no fuch means ; and this is manifeft, as well from his known generofity in all things, as from the letter itfelf, in which he reveals only what is known, or vehemently fufpe&ed ; and all with deep grief for thee, and, moreover, with no intent that aught he had written fhould ever be difclofed to other eyes than mine. But, my Cartaphilus, a parent s and a hufband s duty alike forbade me to conceal any portion of this fad matter ; nay, even the public fufpicion thereof, however caufelefs or idle it may have been. And further, as thou doft fo fondly doat upon my pricelefs daughter, and me fo artleflly revealed to her mother the great preference for thee over thy more wealthy friend, I could not (merely in deference to the pure and honour able wimes of Artemas, who, to thee, is as Jonathan was to David) withhold from fpoufe and daughter what concerns us all fo much, and, for fo doing, I muft make my peace with him leaving unto Letter vi. c&e 2BantJ0ting 3[eto. s i Rabbi Eben-Ezra to Cartaphilus. thee the duteous tafk of removing from thy character the heavy ftain that refts on it from all the circumftances, and which, I mourn to fay, feem fo largely againft thee. Frankly, then, do I declare unto thee, it will demand on thy part cleareft proof of in nocence, wouldft thou win back what thy feeming guilt hath fo reckleffly caft away ! Remember, Cartaphilus, a woman s chafte and tender love her pure and fpotlefs foul, (brink with horror from bloodfhed for any caufe : what then, if willingly and caufe- leffly fpilled, efpecially, too, when done through private revenge, and with breach of holieft friendfhip ? and to this full extent doth the fufpicion run againft thee, and thy coadjutor : for, though thou didft owe the Nazarene no friendly allegiance, Judas truly did, and that thou muft have known. Remember, likewife, O Carta philus, that Rebecca hath not yet attained the full-blown excel lencies of womanhood, whether of mind, or of perfon {he, but fixteen and thou in ripened manhood. Hence was it (of the which thou (houldft have never been oblivious for a moment) that fhe looked upon thee, not with love alone, but with much con fidence ; and fuch love is ever the ftrongeft and moft abiding, as bafed on truft and high refpecl: ; and yet is it ever the eafieft blotted out, when, from any caufe, that refpect, or confidence, is once fhaken. Of v/hat avail would all thy knowledge prove thy many gifts of mind thy honourable birth ; nay, were even thy large eftates (fo unjuftly wrefted from thee, almoft at thy natal hour) now fully reftored unto thee ; of what avail, I fay, were all thefe, and more, if the young heart (brinks with involuntary dread from plotted murder, and unholy confort with fuch as Judas ? In perfon, my Cartaphilus, we all know thee as beautiful as was David, when repofing on the verdant banks of Bethlehem s limpid ftreams, and rejoicing in the Almighty s voice ! In human learn ing, alfo, I know thee, for thy years, to be juftly and much praifed : but alas ! what are all thefe, I afk again, to a young maiden who values alone the pure heart, the refined foul, and all the tender feelings fo like her own ? I therefore declare to thee in truth, again, that if the fufpeled things be confirmed, Rebecca will never be thine, were it even poflible for her parents to view thee more kindly. Look to it, then, Cartaphilus ! and relieve our anxious fufpenfe and withhold nothing, for thine, our, and Rebecca s fake. ^ muft alfo tell thee, in candour, that my daughter, fince thy alleged dealing with Judas, now ponders much, and with many tears, over the myjlery attendant on thy birth ; and likewife upon the ftrange words, faid to have been uttered in the Temple, by the unfortunate Nazarene ; as to the former of which, (he has often heard crude and filly rumours till now in no wife heeded. But, I. G 82 C&ronicles of Cartapfriltus, century i. Rabbi Eben-Ezra to Cartaphilus. when fufpicion once hath admiflion into the foul, things before un heeded become of moment : and now the maiden (though fuper- ftitious, as women moftly are) doth fo fhrewdly argue this matter with us, that I, no lefs than my Prifcilla, have naught wherewith to banifh fears, left thy parents marvellous dreams concerning thee, (but of which thou haft fpoken to us only in lightfome mood) may ftill have fame bearing upon thy now condition ! Can this be fo ? jM rtemas has not yet told us what became of this Jefus his letter being written late on the very night of his betrayal to the Sanhedrim. If not now too late, we all conjure thee, as thou wouldft hope for happinefs, haften to fave him^ and whether in aught thou haft contributed with Judas, or not. Remember that this domeftic treafon of that difciple and for money, as they fay, was fo foul in him, that it muft needs greatly foil thy honour, as well as confcience, if fo it be that thou haft fpurred on, or con- fented to the deed. Had the Sanhedrim, by fair means, gained the Nazarene s perfon, and thou (as every Jew of right may do) hadft merely feen that he were dealt with as our holy laws require, then wouldft thou have been but as one in a multitude, with none to condemn thy acl: none to point at tbee as a hated traitor, nor at the afl as odious treafon ! ^}ut, my Cartaphilus, I will no longer aggravate thy mifery ; for miferable muft thou be, if time thou haft had to remember any thing. ^ff thou haft been fo ram, and fo unfeeling to thyfelf and us, as to connect thy name and deftiny with that bafe and faithlefs Scariot, be fure that thou, as well as he, will deeply lament it : for, even I, (the unwilling inftrument of the death that placed me here in refuge) have not been happy fince. Prefs this matter, then, no further ; but ufe thy utmoft endeavour to undo, if poflible, what thou haft done : and fail not to refcue the Nazarene from his peril, if not already the Sanhedrim s viclim. ^H^rom Artemas I mail hear again anon, and truft from thee alfo, very foon ; and oh, if poflible, relieve our anxieties. Fare thee well. EfiEN-EzRA. The following is the letter of Artemas above alluded to. Edit. Letter vn. &e 22Jantienng 3[eto. 83 Arremas to Ehen-Ezra. LETTER VII. ARTEMAS TO RABBI EBEN-ZRA [now of Ramotb Gilead\ JERUSALEM. Seleu. 347. Nifan i5th, 8th hour. [Thurfday, z o clock at night, March z6th, A. D. 35] HANKS to the God of Jacob ! this night of un earthly horrors is nearly fpent, the fourth watch is nigh at hand ; and yet T . he J?^* f . , i-j L i n the Gethfemane my wearied eyelids have known no lleep. ^ rea r on O, Night of fearful prefages fuch as Ifrael never faw ! canft thou be followed by a Day of calm or will tired nature ceafe to breathe, and therewith thefons of men expire? The fkies are yet in pitchy mantles in folid and unnatural black- nefs, as if the glorious fun could never fhine again ! Forked lightnings, as if from the Throne of God, alone do pierce the heavy clouds, fo lightlefs, in themfelves, that they feem born of profoundeft Hell, and as if no beams of former days are now per mitted to remain within them ! Our Holy Salem alfo, like a troubled fea, is, even at this late hour, ftill in violent commotion ; and will find repofe, if ever, as flowly as the waters that raged around the Ark of Noe ! The wonderful Nazarene hath been violently taken, at a late hour this night, by the orders of our Great Sanhedrim, aided by the foul treachery of a difciple one Judas ! And it will deeply grieve thee (and hereafter thofe around thee) to hear that it is now much rumoured, and on good authority, that our deareft friend Carta- philus has rafhly leagued himfelf with this Judas in the treafon, fo foul and odious, as being againft all truft and facred friendfhip ! At my friend s entreaty, I had haftened from Csefaria here to Jeru- falem, on the very day after the Nazarene had made triumphal entry into the Holy City, amidft the loud " Hofannahs to the Son of David," that were proclaimed by thoufands ! ^]he caufe of rooted anger in our Cartaphilus is, that the Nazarene (I would fay with miraculous power, elfe why not re- fifted?) had expelled from the Temple s courts, all who fo long have defecrated them by mammon s traffics and Cartaphilus with the reft. From that moment, oh, my Rabbi, he made his terrible vow of vengeance ; and added his corban ! Thefe, in fpite of my moft urgent, nay weeping entreafties, he doth ftill perfift in ; and feems intent upon the fierce purpofe of facrificing the Nazarene, and, perhaps, his early followers ! Whether, or no, he hath fo confpired with Judas, or with any other, I cannot of a certainty C&romcles of Cartapfrilus, century \. The Night of the Gethfemane Treafon. tell thee, as I queftioned him not upon that point, but rumour is rife to that effecl: ; and his own words, together with the letter that fummoned me here, do greatly countenance the tale. He hath, moreover, admitted to me his urging of Pilate, (with whom he now refides!) alfo his defire to fee Herod thereon, who hath juft arrived, attendant upon the Paflbver and likewife, you will bear in mind that Cartaphilus was abfent from the palace moft of this night, having reached his apartment fatigued, and with hag gard looks, only after the Roman Cohort had returned from Geth femane with the captive Jefus ! j^Jll thefe matters, my Rabbi, have I clofely and painfully watched during all this night of fuch unnatural darknefs a night, fo full of disturbance in the elements, as feemed in harmony with nothing elfe than deeds of treachery and moral darknefs ! And now, oh my Eben-Ezra, I do pray thee to read for thyfelf the figns of thefe wonderful times : for, if nature hath been with thee at Ramoth, as it furely hath been all this night at Jerufalem, (and doubtlefs this was the cafe) what elfe could have caufed this frown ing of the elements, but the heavy (hock the world of morals nay the religion of our forefathers has received in this hideous, this loathing acT: of deftroying fo great a prophet ? one, moreover, who hath wrought (and none can deny it) more works of mercy, more palpable miracles, and taught us wifer precepts, than even the holieft prophets of all the olden times ! ^hou, my Rabbi, even during this night, mayeft have repofed in deep fleep, and have witnefled nought of the marvels feen and heard and felt of me : but I declare to thee that this night hath been a counterfeit of all that Gehenna can have within itfelf fo frequent with blacknefs, then fo pierced by unnatural lightnings and naufeating fmells, and anon with hoarfe and diftant founds, that, like the lamentings of the remoteft Tophet, they feem per mitted only feebly to break their bounds, and to reach our earth in fuch low and piteous moanings ! ^his, good Rabbi, can be no fancy of a feverifh brain no crude vifion of a fleeplefs night no emanation of a foul digeftion ; oh no, for my coming here from Caefaria was only on a fervice of kindnefs and of judgment; my health was perfect:, and no vifions by day, nor horrid dreams by night have difturbed me, but all hath been a fucceflion of terrific realities ! My eyelids, this night, could not be clofed, as nature during all the watches, and to the prefent hour, has been in the fame way tofTed : tis difeafed at heart, and fo out of its wonted courfe, that powers celeftial and terrene, as well as thofe of the wicked demons, feem all maken to their very depths : and yet, oh my Rabbi, all this with no violent and deftruclive abruptions, but with a mrinking and fhuddering, Letter vn. &e bantering 3leto, 85 The Night of the Gethfemane Treafon. equally dreadful, and far more loathing ! Had earthquakes come upon us, or flooding torrents poured unceafingly ; had raging clouds encompafTed us, and forked lightnings darted through them, or, had fheets of fire lighted up the fkies from horizon to horizon all this would have been as in courfe of nature, and fuch as our eyes have fometimes witneffed : but, in this mifshapen night, the elements, and man beafts and birds, yea all that breathes, and all mute natures, feem equally fick, and fo difeafed, that none have been moved in cuftomary ways ; and hence, good Rabbi, more exhaufted am I in heart, and worn out in ftrength, than if con tending for days with toils and perils through nature s known and ordinary convulfions ! But it demands even more than all this to roufe fome minds, who dread nothing but thofe loud, and imme diate ravages of nature, that muft foon exterminate ! and even this they may foon have, if the death of that wonderful man mall follow his now imprifonment : then may Jerufalem and the perfe- cutors of this Nazarene witnefs, not a fullen and bewildering gloom, and fuch other fearful though remote manifeftations, as of this night, but the fiery vengeance and deftru&ive power of an Almighty and much offended God ! Remember, oh my Rabbi, that the Nazarene be he God or his Angel or, even Beelze bub hath declared expreflly, that Ifrael s life is now nearly fpent ; that Jerufalem mall be trodden down of the Gentiles ; and that He is the only Shiloh that will ever come ! If fo, and all things feem to prove it, yet, how different is that coming, from the long-looked for " Emanuel" the "Expectation of Ages" the u Confola- tion of Ifrael !" And who is Emanuel ? It meaneth, GOD with us ! that is, God incarnated, and dwelling among us ! Now, my worthy Eben-Ezra, the Jews are much difappointed, and greatly troubled : but God fees not as we fee ; and hence, though fo full of difficulty, we muft not marvel unto total unbelief, if the Shiloh of our weak and finful imaginings doth fo greatly differ from the one he hath vouchfafed to fend if this Jefus be indeed that Ema nuel ! And yet I am free to confefs to thee, I do not now per ceive (if he to death fubmits) the caufe or ufe of his coming, except, that his doctrines and precepts and holy example were fuch, as man heretofore never imagined. All is truly a myftery, and quite too deep for me : a man, endued with the powers of a God, and yet marked by the feeblenefs and gentlenefs of a child ! a man, healing the difeafes of others, and faving them, and yet him- felf a victim of the bafeft treachery ! an Emanuel, hoped for through ages, and, when he cometh, dies as a malefaflor ! Thefe are indeed things hard to be underftood ! the future may, and alone can explain them ; and, though thefe forely prefs upon me, I declare unto thee, good Rabbi, that ftill the claims of JESU$ to 86 CfjrOniCle.S Of Cattapf)ilU0, Century i. Trial of JESUS oefore Pilate. the Meffiahfhip appear to me to be fuch, that their rejeftion is ftill harder;* *f pray thee to let no other eye than thine reft upon this letter. It is not meet that thy fpoufe or the gentle Rebecca, fhould fee it. ]J|inowing thy folicitude to be early informed of all that is paffing in thefe ftrange times, I have ftriven to banifh, for a time, the horrors that yet hang upon all nature without thefe palace walls, and thus to dedicate myfelf to thee. his epiftle is fent in all hafte, by the tabellarius Ananias ; who will fcarce be able to tarry for thy anfwer. FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. LETTER VIII. ARTEMAS TO PRISCILLA, OF RABBI EBEN-EZRA, AT SYCHAR. OU have often expreffed an ardent defire, my excellent Prifcilla, to know of me all that I have feen and heard refpe&ing the individual whofe crucifixion, near two months ago, has fo greatly agitated all, and deeply grieved the few, who place their faith in him as the true SHILOH, that was to come. ^ know not how to write to thee of fuch events, fo full of cruelty and of matchlefs wickednefs, as well as of un- before Pilate* natura ^ an< ^ perfevering blindnefs : nor doth heart or mind know how to deal with an event, which, till now never had a name, fince man never before conceived even the thought of DEICIDE ! My pen trembles as, for the firft time, it indites this word more hideous than letters before could fafhion ; and my foul recoils at the firft clear conception my troubled mind hath had of it, fince the fatal hour the more than diabolic crime was executed ! ^Jefore I commence my terrific and melancholy narrative, I would fay a word of Cartaphilus as alfo of thy late joyful releafe from the pains of refuge at Ramoth-Gilead. ^ mourn to tell thee that, fince the dread fcene upon Calvary, and the yet more aftounding events that followed, Cartaphilus hath been little feen of any, feems recklefs and nearly ftultified ; and, as I fear, will pafs either into a more confirmed wickednefs, or into * Thefe difficulties were removed from Artemas, when, at the Pentecoftal day, the meffiahihip was completed, by the coming of that Holy Spirit that had been promifed by Jefus. Such difficulties were then, and now are, natural to man ; and are never refolved, but by the influences of the fame Spirit, either gradually, or fomewhat fuddenly, as is doubtlefs fometimes the cafe, even at the prefent day. Letter vm. c&c fcOanBermg 3(eto. 87 Trial of JESUS before Pilate. hopelefs madnefs ! And yet, at times, he revives ; but only to manifeft an obftinate pride of opinion, a flimiy endeavour to fmother confcience, and to convince himfelf and others, that the Nazarene muft have been Satan s, and not God s meflenger : fo that I have little hope of any change in him for the better or, rather, that it can come foon. If, therefore, his courfe be perfifted in, I dread to fay, we muft be for ever feparate ! j was rejoiced to hear of thy releafe from the City of Refuge, which, as I learned, was fpeedily effected through the exertions of our (ftill in this refpecT:) dear Cartaphilus : who, whilft he was plotting ruin to himfelf, fo generoufly laboured for thee and thine, with wickednefs in high places^ and prevailed upon Caiaphas and Philo to amortife thy fentence. Would that the means of thy dif- charge had been more worthy than thefe two infamous men ; though one, the high-prieft, the other, a renowned fenator of our Sanhedrim ! But, thanks to Abraham ! thou, and thofe fo dear to thee, are now wholly free of them, fuch as they are. And greatly pleafed am I, alfo, to hear of thee all at Sychar a lovely fpot, as I well remember, near the foot of Mount Ebal a place that muft never fade from my memory ; as it was in its vicinity that 1 witneffed the ever-awakening at of grace, and of divine power, wrought by Jefus on the ten Lepers which firft caufed in me the will, and afterwards the ability, to inquire more concerning him. jHnd now to my mournful tafk, of informing thee of the events you fo earneftly feek to know, as happen- , cee ^" ss r i_ r -vr-r 5 rr 11 before Pilate. ing hnce the morning or Milan s fifteenth day. jFLt the dawn of that day (the terrors of the preceding night of which, were detailed by me in my then letter to the good Rabbi) I followed Cartaphilus into the balcony of the Praetorium. Caefaria, upon the coaft, is, as thou well knoweft, Pilate s ufual refidence : but, during the feftivals, in confequence of the great multitude then alTembled at Jerufalem, he vifits the palace of the Praetorium ; and there, in retired apartments, Cartaphilus, as Pilate s chamberlain, and I, as the gueft of my friend, had fpent the by-gone night of wretchednefs. JHn awful multitude had aiTembled at early dawn, in view of the balcony the Jews being very generally unwilling to enter within the domain of any heathen. They foon began to vociferate for Pilate s prefence, and for judgment upon the Nazarene. The Procurator early appeared, and ordered his moveable Tribunal to be placed on the mofaic pavement of the Praetorium s Court ; for that there he would make inquiry concerning the nature of the accufation. J^e then demanded from the Tribunal, to know of the Jews the extent of the charge they had againft Jefus ; and why they had 8 8 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \ . Tria of JESUS before Pilate Herod Antipas. called for his interference. Cartaphilus then ftepped forth, and faid, " Moft noble Pilate, the Jews have doubted in their San hedrim, as touching this matter, feeing that this Jefus is accufed, as well of blafphemy againft our holy religion, as of fedition and re bellion againft thee, Rome s Vicegerent ! We have alfo found this man perverting the nation with his doclrines, and, in effecl:, forbid ding to give tribute unto Caefar, in that he faith he is Chrift, a king ! " ^J3ilate, thereupon, retired into the palace, where Jefus was, and interrogated him. The Nazarene denied not that he was King of the Jews ! This greatly furprifed and troubled Pilate ; but the governor was foon relieved by Jefus himfelf, who plainly ftated that his kingdom was not of this world ; and, therefore, did not interfere with that of Caefar : and further, that the objec-t of his coming was to eftablifh TRUTH ! Pilate then returned to the Tribunal, and declared to the accufers that he had found in their prifoner nothing worthy of death. " Take ye him, therefore," faid he, " and judge him according to thine own laws." But the Jews grew very fierce, and faid that, perhaps, it was not now lawful for them to put a man to death ; and that Jefus had excited fedition among the people, even from Galilee unto Jerufalem. Pilate again retired into the palace, and afked Jefus whether the things whereof the Jews accufed him were true " Art thou, indeed, king of the Jews ? " The Nazarene anfwered, " Thou fayeft it and to that end was I born, and for that caufe came I into the world, that I might bear witnefs unto the TRUTH. Every one who is of this TRUTH heareth my voice. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my ferva.nts fight for me, and refcue me from the Jews but now my kingdom is peaceful^ and not from hence." Pilate, confounded by thefe fayings, and by the Nazarene s frequent allu- fion to ^Truth" and fuppofing it to be fome fubtile doctrine of the philofophers, or, poflibly, of the EfTenes, faid unto him, " WHAT is TRUTH ? " but, before he could receive a reply, he haftened once more to the Tribunal, and declared " I find in this man no fault at all." The multitude now became yet more enraged, often crying out that Jefus was "a feditious Galilean" well knowing that Pilate was much prejudiced againft thofe people. At length Pilate becoming defirous to free himfelf from pacing any fentence ; and being equally difpofed to render Herod fbme compliment (they having fo lately made up their quarrel) bethought himfelf of fending Jefus unto him ; who, as Tetrarch of Galilee, might well judge the caufe : the prifoner, therefore, was forthwith fent unto Herod, who then was refiding in another divifion of the Praetorium. J^erod, who had often heard of his father s dealing towards the infant Jefus, and likewife of the INNOCENTS whom he had Letter vm. &e Trial of" JESUS before Pilate Herod Antipas. deftroyed, in endeavouring to flay the fuppofed afpirant to the throne ; and remembering, moreover, that this very Jefus had been intimately affociated with the Baptift, JOHN, whom he himfelf had beheaded, readily accepted the Procurator s offer. It feems, how ever, that this was done of Herod, more with a view of tefting Jefus power of working miracles, and alfo of gratifying an idle curiofity by Herod s afking him many queftions, than from any defire to take efficient cognizance of the caufe. Jefus, without doubt, perceived this, and difappointed the weak and arrogant tetrarch, in both refpe&s ; for he neither wrought any miracle, nor would he condefcend even a reply to his many queftions ! Herod being greatly incenfed at this, and hearing him ftyled, in derifion, " King of the Jews" by the vile rabble that attended him, joined in that cruel fport ; and infulted his claims to royalty, by clothing him in tattered garments, as a mock king ! and, thus arrayed, he fent him back, in the midft of the taunting multitude, once more to Pilate ! ()n his return to the Prsetorium, the Procurator feemed yet the more anxious to be difcharged from the painful importunity of the Jews ; and efpecially now, as his wife had again renewed her en treaties that Pilate fhould " have nothing more to do with that jujt man; for that Jhe had dreamed concerning him, and had been much troubled thereat" Pilate thereupon propofed that his cujlomary releafe of a criminal at the Feaft-day, fhould now be extended by him as a boon to Jefus : but the chief priefts and the elders incon tinently intervened, and urged the people in no wife to confent to this ; and to infift upon the releafe of Bar abbas ^ who flood condemned for murder, and alfo for fedition ! whereupon they violently cried out, " Let Barabbas be free, and Jefus crucified!" Expoftulation with the infenfate multitude now feemed utterly vain, and, as a tumult was likely to enfue, Pilate s feeble refolu- tions gave way, and he yielded to their wifhes, though with inward reluctance. Now, to manifeft his own opinion of the Nazarene s purity, he openly warned his hands, declaring aloud, " I am Innocent of the blood of this JUST perfon" *^o this the Jews cried out, as with one voice, " HlS BLOOD BE UPON US, AND UPON OUR CHILDREN !" Terrific imprecation ! Who may not live to witnefs its beginning and what ages may not endure before its termination ? Jgftill, Pilate revived fomewhat ; and made one more effort to fave the lowly Nazarene. He then brought Jefus fully out, for the firft time, before them, loaded with chains exhaufted from want of fleep, and by the many cruelties pra6lifed on him during the paft miferable night. And, as Pilate approached the multitude, he exclaimed with a loud voice, " BEHOLD THE MAN !" 90 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \. The Condemnation of JESUS. hoping thereby to move them to pity ! But, as vain would be the hope to calm the voracious hyaena, by removing from its open jaws its favoury prey, as to extract pity from fuch a mafs of human depravity ! The more Pilate urged, the more did the air refound with the hideous fhouts, " CRUCIFY HIM CRUCIFY HIM !" But Pilate once more exclaimed, and with tremblings upon his lips, " I find no fault at all in him /" ^J^he Jews, to their furprife and great vexation, feeing their governor thus refolute, fell back once more upon their^r/? charge, and faid that, however it might be as to the matter 0$ f edition, the Jewifh law awarded death for blafphemy and that Jefus had declared himfelf to be the SON OF GOD ! This new turn given to the cafe feemed, however, for a time, as if it would have laved the now filent and fubmiflive Nazarene : for Pilate again communed with him in the palace ; and with great folicitude defired to be informed what the Jews meant by his claiming to be the Son of God? " Who art thou whence doft thou proceed?" To this, no reply being made, the governor admonifhed Jefus that life, or death, might depend upon his anfwer : but the Nazarene mildly faid, " Thou hajt thy power only by divine permijfion : and yet^ he who delivered me unto thee hath the greater fin." jFTgain Pilate returned to the people, apparently refolved to difcharge the wonderful prifoner ! But alas ! the people had ftill in referve one appeal more they knew their man^ and cried out, " If thou let this Nazarene go, THOU art no friend unto C^SAR !" ^|3ilar.e trembled greatly, and a crowd of fears feemed to have rufhed impetuoufly upon his mind. Unto the Jews the emperor Tiberius is well known they remembered his great jealoufy of power, and alfo how truly powerful he is : and Pilate equally well knew all this ; and likewife how wily and perfevering would be the multitude s complaints againft him, fhould he in the leaft counte nance any one even fufpe&ed of treafon againft Roman fupremacy. ^fefus then, for the fecond time, was fummoned into the pre- fence of his accufers, and before the tribunal on which Pilate flood ; who merely faid, "TAKE YE HIM AND CRUCIFY HIM." Thus did the fear of man greatly exceed man s fear of God ! ^ muft now, O Prifcilla, fay farewell unto thee but will foon continue my narrative to its melancholy conclufion and afterwards unto the prefent hour. ARTEMAS. Letter ix. c&c (D&anHeung; Jeto. 91 The Crucifixion Proceflicn. LETTER IX. ARTEMAS TO PRISCILLA, OF EBEN-EZRA. C/ESARIA, Sivaa, 3rd day. [Wednefday, izth May, A.D. 35.] N eye-witnefs of fuch a fcene as the Crucifixion of Jefus, muft ever have it prefent to his view no time can erafe it from his TheCructjix- r , r .... .. ion Proceffion. memory no events or bury lire, no toils, nor griefs, nor worldly pleafures can fubdue its ftern realities but it is ever deeply feated within his mind irrevocably engraved upon his heart ! And yet, my Prifcilla, thou haft im- poled upon me an arduous ta(k, one from which my pen convulfively recoils, and from which my foul would fain retire into thoughtful and weeping filence. r o a mind as pure as thine, and fo tender, I neither hope, nor defire to impart a lively picture of the odious fcene upon Calvary, one as unnatural, as it was truly hideous ; nor fhall I attempt it, left too much pain fhould follow. But all the ugly lineaments being fketched for thee, thy own innocent imagination, guided by thy generous and feeling heart, which revolts at all injuftice even to God s loweft creatures, muft fupply the reft, and temper that tragic picture to thy own endurance. Jj^ad the Nazarene been a wild and peftiferous fanatic, nay even a grofs impoftor, our countrymen were ftill, in his cafe, foul murderers : for the death was unutterably cruel their previous dealing towards him that of fiends, and the motives that actuated them anything but a vindication of our holy and juftly venerated laws. But, dear Prifcilla, if that myfterious Being were no fanatic were no impoftor ; if a juft and holy man if a prophet if the Meffiah ah, if an embodied God! who is the mortal that dare, with unveiled eyes, contemplate the thought, and whofe the pen that can attempt more than its moft feeble delineation ? Thou wilt, then, readily abfolve me from a larger undertaking for fuch belongs not to language^ but muft be left to that inward imagination and unem- bodied thought, found only in unfullied fouls, when fweetly muf- ing, and railed, for a time, by piety above all earthly diftrailions. My tafk, then, is briefly to ftate the extraordinary and melancholy events that have moved all Jerufalem with thrilling wonder, and filled an humble few with the deepeft grief a few, which, as I truly believe with the fage Gamaliel, can never be fupprefled, no, not even by Rome s fupremeft power, and Ifrael s boundlefs wick- ednefs, if fo it be, that the Nazarene is more than Mofes and the 92 C&tOttiCleS Of Cartapj)iiU0, Century i. Death by the Crofs defcribed. Prophets, yea, if more than mortal ! and that he claimed fo to be, who can doubt ? Now, though the feeble plant left by Him, and as fuftenance for his cholen difciples, hath yet fcarcely taken root, and for a time may caft no made ; ftill it may eventually become a foreft of goodly trees, under whofe umbrageous foliage genera tions yet unborn may feek repofe, and delight to nourim their new born faith, with the waters flowing from living fountains of Eter nal Truth ! This expectation, my excellent friend, comes over my mind from no gift of prophecy in me ; for it needs none, in any one, to foretel that this muft come to pafs, if Jefus unjuftly died ; fince no medium can exift in Him, whofe whole courfe hath been that of, either an arch-impoftor, and Satan s moft favoured agent or, (and what he profefled to be) God s own beloved Son the Expectation of many ages, and for whofe coming Ifrael hath fo long fighed ! ^f^ut Jefus, as you have heard, died by CRUCI- Deatk by the *-* I T i u u Vi r r u r r jf FIXION ! 1 know not how the gentleiiels of thy lex can fully conceive the uncompromifing difgrace^ and the unutterable agony of death by the Crofs a mode of execution at once the moft fhameful and cruel that could be devifed, even by Roman fagacity and fiercenefs ! ^3oflibly to thee, even the form of this inftrument of death may be wholly unknown. It is compofed of two parts, an upright beam called the tree^ fcarce twice the height of man, which is firmly planted in the earth, and of a tranfuerfe beam^ of nearly equal length, inferted into the tree, near its upper end the former, to receive the body the latter, for the extended arms. The body s entire weight is fufpended on the crofs by three fpikes, one driven through the palm of each hand, and the third through both feet, which are thus forced to lap over each other ! Can human, or even diabolic ingenuity have contrived a more artful mode of gradually extinguifhing life, in unmitigated torture, than this ? the blood of life fcarcely impeded in its flow the body unfuftained, except by the three fpikes, which agonize every nerve and mufcle of the four limbs the head without fupport ! and thus hangs the poor fufferer, until agonized and exhaufted nature flowly finks into death ! ! Jgfo gradually mortal, though with all its tortures, is this mode of death known to be, that intoxicating drinks are fometimes given to the wretched victim ; more, however, from the impatience of his executioners, than from any humane defire to deaden the feelings of the fufferer : for, if life endures more than a day, death is often haftened by fuffbcation ; but, if fignal and cruel revenge be upper- moft, fome hours are allowed to remain for the victim s convulfive and hideous ftruggles between life and death Letter ix. &e C^anUeting Jeto, 93 The Curfe of Cartaphilus. me, my valued friend, for this detail of man s ferocity towards man ! what beaft more favage what cruelty more re- lentlefs what fatanic devices more artful than thofe of man, in all his contrivances of hatred, when he hath not known, or regards not the God of Abraham ! Mind without a heart, dear Prifcilla, makes the artful and powerful demon, and becomes even more terrific than the enraged and famifhed beaft of the defert or than the poor maniac, who, though his heart be ever fo malignant, yet lacks the mind to digeft and fkilfully execute his cruelty. But, to proceed with my fad detail. ()n the inftant that Pilate uttered the fatal words, " Take ye him, and crucify him" execution was in preparation. No moment was permitted to intervene, that Jefus might fortify himfelf againft the miferies foon to follow no time given for an affectionate fare well to his mother, and to the few who fo greatly loved him ; but the tranfverfe beam^ as is cuftomary, was placed upon his moulders ; and he walked amidft the rude fcoffings of unfeeling foldiers from a foreign nation thofe whom the Jews call dogs and of the ftill more brutal and fiendim rabble of the Jewifli multitude, who more fpecially fought his life, whilft the motley, and in part gorgeous PROCESSION FOR CALVARY, marched flowly and circuitoufly through much of the City, pafling firft down the Millo then around the Hippodrome^ thence by the dwellings of the Nethemins, then paft the Afuppln Gates of our Holy Temple ! And here, in derifion, the proceffion halted for a moment, that the Nazarene might redeem his imputed word, by deftroying the goodly Houfe, and rebuilding it in three days ! From thence the proceflion marched round the Antonia; and finally reached the main ftreet that leads directly through the Great Weftern, or Valley Gate, to Calvary. ^3 ut > Shortly before this mixed multitude had reached the gate, an incident occurred, fo extraordinary and myfterious, _ . as greatly difturbed me then, and far more fince I have Cartaphilus had time to meditate upon it, as it fo deeply concerns our ftill beloved Cartaphilus ! As we entered the ftreet leading to the Valley Gate, the crowd of fpeclators became fo immenfe as to prefs forely upon the proceflion. The houfe-tops, moreover, were filled with people of all fexes, conditions, ages, and countries ; for it was well known the Victim muft pafs that way, and many of the thoufands who, only five days before, had fhouted Hofannahs to this very Jefus, as David s fon, were now venting their fierceft anathemas on the Nazarene, as a miferable impoftor ! ^fefus (who during the previous night at Gethfemane, and until his appearance before Pilate, and afterwards before the wily and mocking Herod) had endured every indignity which coarfe and cruel minds could inflict, was now feen groaning under the heavy 94 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu0> century r. The Curfe of Cartaphilus Vaftnefs of the multitude. burden of the Crofs he was obliged to bear : and nature being almoft exhaufted in him, he gradually flackened his pace, and then nearly flopped ! At that moment, my eye and ear caught Car taphilus. I haftened towards the fpot, and diftincT:ly heard him thus addrefs the unhappy Nazarene ! " Go FASTER JESUS, GO FASTER WHY DOST THOU LINGER ?" Jefus mildly anfwered, " I, INDEED, AM GOING BUT THOU SHALT TARRY TILL I COME !" (Cartaphilus uttered not a word ; but, as one fuddenly withered, his uplifted fword inftantly fank by his fide : he gazed wildly upon the crowd gave a loud and unnatural fhriek, and haftily difap- peared ! In a moment after, Jefus fank to the earth the beam fell from his moulder the proceffion flopped, and it then feemed as if the Crofs was to be inftantly robbed of its hated victim. ^jhe foldiers, however, feized upon one Simon^ a Cyrenian, fuppofing him (and perhaps with truth) to be one of the New Faith ; and hence placed the beam upon his moulders ; which, to my no fmall joy, he willingly received.* ^f_ then looked around for Cartaphilus ; but he was no where to be feen. The words that Jefus hath uttered were ftill ringing in my ears and deeply affecl: me, as they feem of no ordinary import, and as if they fhadow forth fomething momentous refpecl:- ing the already fufficiently myfterious life of our friend : and fo Cartaphilus would think, judging him, as I do, from his deport ment when thus fpoken to, and his mifery fince. I have not ven tured yet to fpeak to him on this portentous incident : he certainly was not on Calvary ; and where he was during the terrific fcenes that followed I wot not, but muft foon learn ; and mail not fail to make it known to thee. r ^he proceffion was once more in motion : and, as V multitude lt P 3 ^ tne g ate > another incident occurred, equally remarkable, but evidently of more extenfive applica tion, than the one we fo fpecially mourn. * This conjecture of Artemas proved correft. Simon had probably juft come from the country, as others or Cyrene had, who heard of the melancholy proceedings of the preceding night, and alfo at the Praetorium on that day ; and, though but little acquainted with the Nazarene and his difciples, his heart had been with them ; and hence he followed the proceffion, and probably with grief upon his countenance. Simon has been thought by fome to be the fame as Niger, mentioned in the ACTS, as a teacher at Antioch. He was certainly the father of Alexander and of Rufus, afterwards noted Chriftians : and it is faid that Simon became bifhop of Bofton, and fuffered martyrdom. It will fcarce be neceffary to add, that the incident here recorded, as to Cartaphilus, is to be found only in the well-known tradition relpe<5Hng the " Wandering Jew." Letter ix. Cfte WMtwtit\$ 3|eto. 95 Vaftnefs of the multitude. *lj"ou, my valued friend, have often witnefled the mifcellaneous, and almoft innumerable crowds, that annually vifit the Holy City during our great feftivals, efpecially that of the PafTover. Ifrael s fons and daughters, whitherfoever difperfed by the various accidents, or bufmefs of life, or, wherever carried, in times paft, by the judg ments of the King of Kings, as alfo the profelytes from whatever faith, or region, have always endeavoured, as you know, to refort to Zion s Temple, once, at leaft, during life there to pay their deep homage, and to fwell the proud and vaft procefiion in honour of the only true and revealed Jehovah. jjtt our late paffover, the very ends of the earth feemed to have poured forth their myriads ! Kings, princes, and rulers of every rank fages and foldiers rich and poor bond and free, the Jews of the icy North Ifhmael s fons from beyond Horeb thofe of Mifraim, beyond Nile s furtheft fources the fun-burnt Ethiopians many of our Babylonian countrymen, in fine, Scy thians and Idumeans, Mefopotamians and Greeks, Romans and Arabians, of the blefled faith of Abraham alfo learned Rabbins from India on this fide, and beyond the Ganges, nay thofe from even the remoteft Seres in the far Eaft, and of the Britons, in the far Weft, were all there afTembled ; and Jerufalem thus became, for the time, the moft populous of known cities !* CD oft of this aftoniming multitude were in fome way attendant * The number affembled has been eftimated, by fome, at more than three millions ! This is regarded by Cartaphilus as no great exaggeration ; but ftill, beyond the fa6l if it be meant that fuch was ever the population of Jerufalem at any one time. But that the City and its environs, during all the days of the pafTover, may have had even 3,000,000, is poffible, and even not improbable ; as doubtlefs, very many would depart after a fingle vifit to the Temple, as the crowd muft have been fo exceflive for fo fmall a city, as Jerufalem, within the walls, is well known to have been. The circumference of the city fcarcely ex ceeded one parafang, or about four and a half miles ; and its cuftomary popu lation perhaps did not exceed 150,000 : but fo attractive were the ceremonials of the Paffover, as to fummon Ifrael s faithful people from the furtheft regions, fo as to fwell the multitude to an aftoniming degree. We have, indeed, the means of knowing with confiderable accuracy the number ; as CejHus Callus, a procurator of Judea, clofe on thefe times, being defirous to afcertain the pro bable number of worfhippers at Jerufalem during their paffover, (in order to imprefs the Emperor Nero with jufter views of the ftrength of a people, whom that monarch was too much inclined to contemn) directed the High Prieft to keep a regifter of all the facrifices offered at the then enfuing feftival. As a lamb was appropriated to each family, or rather to a number not lefs than ten, nor more than twenty, the 255,000 lambs, offered that year, at an average of only ten perfons to the lamb, indicated the prefence of more than two millions and a half of fouls : fo that, upon fo extraordinary a paffover, as that which pre ceded the Crucifixion, the number then in attendance during its continuance, may have amounted to three millions ! As to the people called Seres, fome have regarded them as the Chinefe; but erroneoufly, as Cartaphilus (hows elfewhere. 96 Cfjronicles of Cartapfnlus, century \. Thofe who mourned for JESUS in the Proceflion. on the death of Jefus ! The ftreets were fuffbcated with the ftill increafmg mattes the doors, windows, and houfe-tops with their living burden ! r he proceflion itfelf was chiefly compofed of the difTolute and recklefs of our mifguided people ; whofe hifles and blafphemies and imprecations were more terrible than I would clothe with lan guage, or than even imagination can endure to portray; for Hades, yea even the Pandemonium of the Gentiles, could fcarce have vomited forth more fitting inftruments for the unholy purpofe then in hand ! And yet, my Prifcilla, the Nazarene went not to the Crofs unwept: a few faithful hearts attended him even there, but amidft foul mfult and peril. U^ere and there, in the mixed proceflion might be heard the deeply fupprefled figh, the irrepreflible groan, the convulfive fhud- der; and might be zlfofeen the tearful eye, the faddened counte nance, the difmayed looks of thofe, whofe faith furvived (though much maken) the fore difappointment of that wretched hour ; for, where was now the bright hope they had fo fondly cherifhed, of a triumphant Meflias where fuch a hope in a crucified Shiloh where the confidence of thofe who, as yet, had fcarce conceived the idea of a glorious refurrecJion of a victim of the Crofs ! Thefe filent tears, thefe inward and almoft fmothered lamentations at length burft forth ; and oh, my friend ! they came from gentler hearts than man s ; for we are caft in a far ruder mould than woman. ^fefus, who had no ear for the thoufand cries againft himfelf, that at every moment rent the air, had yet an overflowing heart towards the few, who fo much loved him. He turned to the women, and mournfully faid, " O Daughters of Jerusalem! Weep not for me but for yourfelves and your children. For /of the days will come when the barren, and thofe who give no fuck, will be the more blejfed. Then will the people fay to the mountains, Fall upon us; and to the hills, cover us ! For, if they do thefe things in a green tree, what Jhallbe done in the dry ?" by which latter words, as I fuppofe, He meant that, if the Romans are now permitted by Heaven to be to Him, who is wholly innocent, fo great a fcourge, how much more fo will they be to the Jews, when their cup of iniquity (now nearly full) (hall foon overflow ? So many words, prophetic of our nation s ruin, have been uttered at various times by this holy and wonder ful man, that thofe which then were fo plaintively addrefled to a few of the weeping daughters of Ifrael, in the name of them all, went deeply into my heart. ^JJJ^hilft the proceflion was making its flow and painful ap proach towards Calvary, my eye refted on Mary, wife of Cleophas, and near her was Salome, wife of Zebedee ; and alfo another Mary, formerly of Magdala, and hence called Magdalene. Then came Letter ix. c&e <H3an Bering 3(eto. 97 Proceflion to Calvary Prieftly Veftments. John, the moft beloved of the Lord s difciples a fifherman ot Bethfaida, and fon of Salome and Zebedee. On John s arm refted MARY, the holy and honoured mother of Him who was about to fuffer. On one fide of the Cyrenian, who carried the beam, was NICODEMUS, (the fame whofe renowned coufm Gamaliel, you well know ; and who, I am pleafed to fay, took no part againft Jefus) and, on the other fide of the crofs-bearer, was the Ari- mathean JOSEPH. Next in order were CAIAPHAS, the High Prieft and likewife the wicked and odious PHILO, both there, feemingly, as willing fentinels over the actions of the two preced ing, as they in the Sanhedrim had fo boldly efpoufed the caufe of the perfecuted Nazarene. ^Jut, my excellent friend, my heart fank within me, and my indignation had nigh got the better of all difcretion, when I beheld that notorious robber and Murderer, Bar abbas, juft then freed from his chains, marching triumphantly near the Crofs-beam, and vociferoufly echoing the hideous cries of the infenfate multitude ! Oh Juftice ! whither haft thou fled furely Jerufalem no longer knows thee, and our people regard not thy lovely mien, elfe would they, though releafing Barabbas, and condemning Jefus, have ftill forbidden this foul murderer s prefence : but no ! Cai aphas and Philo, and Barabbas, with a thoufand of their kind, were fitly afTociates there ; and if fo, then the holy women of Galilee, and the few other friends of the defpifed Bethlehemite, were there as unnatural ft ars, mining with dazzling brilliancy amidft clouds of terrific blacknefs ! ^]he High Prieft, by a long approved cuftom, may not wear his facred garments abroad in the city, fave when demanded by fome holy, and fitting occafion fuch as Jaddua efteemed it, when he went forth to meet the victorious Alexander of Macedonia, crav ing to impart and receive reciprocal teftimonials of refpedl: in regard to our holy religion and thefe to be manifefted in our long vene rated Temple. ^3 ut Caiaphas and others, (on this now fo different occafion one, of all others, the leaft fuited for fuch a difplay) appeared in the proceflion, clad in all the varied fplendour of their facerdotal veftments ! a bafe defecration, this, of habiliments peculiarly facred, not only from their moral and typical ufes, but chiefly from their having been fafhioned after God s own pattern, and given to our Mafter Mofes, not merely for " glory and for beauty" but as the Priefts had been ordained " to ferve unto the example and Jhadow of heavenly things" and hence alfo were the garments made for Aaron and his fucceflbrs by thofe alone who were " wife-hearted, and filled by God with the Spirit of Wifdom"* * Exodus xxviii. z. I. H Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. The Prieftly Veftments deicribed. s it may not have been your lot to have witneffed, my good Prifcilla, the High Prieft and all his attendants, fully arrayed in their pontificals, and various other attire ; I will now endeavour to defcribe them, as briefly as I well can, in order that you may the better comprehend how incongruous, nay, facrilegious it was, for our ecclefiaftics to be thus gorgeoufly decked, on fuch an oc- cafion. ^he veftments are of two kinds, and are eight in all. The firft four are the "plain veftments" common to all Peftmenfs t ^ le P r e ^ s : tne otner ^ our > ^ rom tne ^ r extr eme rich- nefs, are called the " golden veftments ;" and are peculiar to the High Prieft. The firft of the plain veftments is called the Micbnefe-badh^ or drawers ; which reach from the loins to more than midway above the knees. It is made of the fineft linen ; and was probably unknown as a garment prior to its divine inftitution for the Jewifh priefthood : nor has it to this been adopted, even by the refined and luxurious Romans, either for their people or their priefts.* r he fecond of thefe veftments has the name of Chethonetb ; and is a coat, alfo made of fine linen. It reaches from round the neck, to near the feet, with fleeves as far as the wrift. This garment, of courfe, entirely covers the Michnefe-badh. ^he third of thefe habiliments is called the Abnet ; and is a linen girdle, highly and curioufly wrought with many colours. It extends around the waift and breaft many times, giving fupport to the body, as alfo a more graceful form to the Chethoneth : and then being tied in a beautiful knot, the two ends hang down in a very ornamental way, almoft to the feet. This girdle is often quite eighty cubits in length ! is but a few inches wide, is wove double, or hollow, and always ferves as a purfe, or as a depofitory for other fmall articles, f * In confirmation of this opinion, vide Sueto. in Vita Jul. Caef. cap. 82, and Mart. Epig. lib. iii. 24 ; it is, indeed, probable that drawers trouiers breeches, or any covering for the thighs and legs, remained unknown to the Ketic and other barbarous nations, as well as to Greeks and Romans, and even to as late a period as the ninth or tenth centuiy. A fmall tunic about the loins, which fometimes reached to the knees, came to be much uled, however, by the Belgae and hence thefe people were often called Braccatte, as diftin- guifhed from thofe nations that had adopted the Roman toga ; and who hence were called Togatae. The brace* being the name of this tunic for the loins, gave rife to our modern name " breeches;" but the braccte was itfelf fo called only from its red and chequered colour, as the word brae in the Gaelic language has that fignification ; and not by any means either from the form, or the ule of the garment itfelf. f Eighty cubits are about 120 feet. It is probable the laft folds, only, were wrought double, to ferve as a purfe, &c. Hence among the Romans, who alfo ufed a fpecies of abnet, we find that the expreflion " Zonam pcrdidit" was equi valent to faying " he hath loft all " or " he is infolvcnt." Letter ix. C6e 2Bantieung 3(eto, 99 The Prieftly Veftments Plain Golden. e fourth, and laft of the plain veftments, is the Migbangnoth, or head-drefs, compofed of a long flip of the fineft linen, ingenioufly folded and plaited round a cap fuited to the head. It rifes into a fomewhat conical form ; and differs from the Mitre, which is not only broader, and more curioufly and beautifully folded, but is generally compofed of much richer materials, as being deftined folely for the high-prieft, which the Migbangnoth is never. *^he Golden Veftments, alfo four in number, are peculiar to the High-Prieft ; and being much more expenfively and cunningly devifed, than thofe already named, will require of me a little more detail, and alfo as being more pertinent to the object I now have, which is, to defcribe the inappropriate and too pompous difplay of the Sanhedrim, on an occafion fo melancholy as this truly was. ^J^he firft of thefe is the Mengnil, or blue robe, which fupplies the place of the Chethoneth, or coat, already defcribed as for the ufe of the inferior priefts. It is a garment of great magnificence, not only from its hyacinthine colour, but from the exquifite fine- nefs of the wool from which it is wove. It is without fleeves ; the arm-holes, and that through which the head paffes, are made to draw clofe, or wide as occafion requires ; and each has a firm bind ing round it, to guard againft its being rent, by the frequent putting on and off. The Mengnil is always worn with the Ephod ; which ferves to bind it, in like manner as the Abnet girdles the coat ; and hence it often is called the robe of the ephod. The Mengnil hangs from the neck to near the feet ; and around the hem of the bottom is a broad and fplendid fringe, formed of blue, fcarlet, and purple pomegranates, alternately ; and each of thefe three alfo alternates with fmall golden bells. Each bell, and each pomegranate is nearly the fize of an egg there being feventy-two bells, and the like number of pomegranates. Thefe with the neceffary fpaces between each, occafion the hem of the robe to be about eighteen cubits in circumference ; and the whole is feen hanging in numerous fmall and graceful folds, extending from the neck, around which it is finely plaited, down to a little above the ancle. ^he fecond of the golden veftments is the Ephod, or Aphad. It is by far the moft fuperb and graceful of all the facerdotal garments, and confifts of three parts two being fmall lappets, a cubit or more in length ; which hang down in front from the moulders, covering moft of the breaft. Thefe lappets are con nected with the third piece, which is rectangular, and nearly of the body s breadth, hanging down behind, from the fhoulders to the ancles. Each lappet is united to the main piece by a button, upon each moulder ; which is of confiderable fize, and of rare and ex quifite workmanmip. Thefe buttons confift each of a large onyx fet in gold ; and contain the names of the twelve tribes fix being engraved upon each ftone. Connected with the Ephod is a fmall ioo Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Their fuppoied typical import. and extremely rich girdle ; which, paffing under the arms, comes out from each in front ; and is tied in a peculiar bow upon the breaft. The materials of the Ephod and girdle are gold and fine linen, curioufly embroidered with rich jewels, and with devices in blue, fcarlet, and purple all of the beft Tyrian dyes. ^j^he third of thefe high-prieftly habiliments, is the Cojhen- Mijhpat, or Breaft-plate of j udgment, made of the fame rich mate rials as the ephod ; and is fufpended in front between the lappets, but yet connected with them. It is about a fpan, or nine inches fquare; the two upper corners of which are faftened to the lappets, by golden rings and chains ; and the two lower to the girdle of the ephod, by the like rings, and by blue ribbons, inftead of chains. This Breaft-plate contains twelve precious jewels, fecured in golden lockets, in four horizontal rows, of three jewels each. On thefe are engraved the names of the xu Tribes a name for each jewel : and how thefe twelve precious ftones were connected (during Ifrael s more profperous and virtuous days) with the oracle of URIM and THUMMIM (now loft to us) I muft not even ftrive to explain, fince all Ifrael muft at this time acknowledge, to her (hame, that her wifeft and moft pious fages know little, if any thing more, of this once ineftimable oracle, than you and I, O Prifcilla ! a clear proof of national degradation, and of depravity, even among the priefthood.* ^he fourth and laft of thefe pontifical veftments, is the MITRE, with its Tefits, or golden plate, fometimes called the Holy Crown of Gold. The plate worn in front of the Mitre is of an oval form, near a fpan in length ; and is faftened upon a richly embroidered blue ribband, which ties behind the Mitre. This tefits of the Mitre has engraved upon it the imprefiive words KODHESH LAIHOVAH HOLINESS TO THE LORD ! e can be no doubt, my valued friend, that the famion and ufe of all thefe feveral veftments, with their uppojt tjpi- ornaments were defigned to fhadow forth typically, cat import of .,,..& . J \ . the Veftments. i me holy and Ipintual meaning, but what the im port of each truly was cannot be clearly known, in this our much degenerate age : for, with our lofs of piety hath alfo gone much of our knowledge : ignorance and vice being natural * The manner in which Artemas pafles over this difficult and extremely de licate fubjecl of Urim and Thummim (Lights and Perfections) fhows clearly that the knowledge of its extraordinary nature was then as little known as at prefent : and evinces the idlenefs of the theories, or learned fancies, of fome modern authors, as well as of the Talmudifts ; and fully juftifies the ingenuous confeflion of Rabbi Kimchi that "he is on the fafeft fide who frankly acknow ledges his ignorance fo that we feem to need a Prieft to (land up with Urim and Thummim to teach us what they were." Letter ix. cfje (KKanlienng; 3leto, 101 The Proceffion reaches Mount Calvary. allies, and it now feems as if it is Ifrael s dreadful fate to fink yet deeper into mental darknefs, and in proportion to her declining faith in the promifes of old, and to her neglecl of Jehovah s fta- tutes. As to the poffible import, or typical fignification of the veftments, I have juft defcribed, and likewife as to the nature of Urim and Thummim, there have been various opinions on the foundnefs, or mere fancy of which, it becomes not one fo young as myfelf, O Prifcilla, to fpeak with any confidence. Some have imagined that the Eight garments dengte the like number of days that intervene between birth and circumcifion ! and that each veft- ment is defigned to admonifh us of fome particular fin, as the girdle, of theft the drawers, of uncleanl mefs the ephod, of idolatry the breaftplate, of wrong judgments the bells, of glanderous fpeaking the mitre and its motto, of pride and arrogance. If thefe be, indeed, their actual import, Cai aphas, as I much fear, hath not fufficiently ftudied them out, or laid them to heart. , dear Prifcilla, I have detained thee, I fear, unto great fatigue, with this long account of prieftly decorations ; which, how ever, I was the more willing to enter into, as I confefs my heart and mind involuntarily recoiled from then purfuing my narrative, when the eyes of my remembrance had refted upon Cai aphas and the gorgeous array upon Philo, and Barabbas and then upon the weeping friends of Jefus ! I then found that my pen craved a willing refuge in the defcription I have given thee of thefe veft ments, rather than, at once, to proceed with the narrative of the terrific events fo foon to follow. Excufe, then, I pray thee, this digreffion as to the prieftly robes ; and alfo, if I now fpeedily end this letter my own mind, and doubtlefs thy feeling heart, fhrink- ing from the fcenes that tranfpired on Calvary. ^he proceffion at length reached the Mount ; and I once more caft my eyes anxioufly around, ftill fuppofmg Cartaphilus might be fomewhere feen : but he appeared not. A ray of joy momentarily darted through my heart ; and I almoft audibly faid, " this looks well he may yet be faved his eyes are now opened, and he is weeping in fome lonely place, in the bitternefs of a deep repentance ! " But alas ! in an inftant after, the myfterious words " tarry tbou till I come" flamed acrofs my mind ; and, at the fame moment, I beheld upon Calvary, then clofe at hand, the murderous and loathing preparations ! Oh, how could I then, my Prifcilla, have a hope for Cartaphilus ? jf have now brought thee to the place, and to the hour, in which the mildeft, the pureft, and the moft wonderful of human beings (if it be proper fo to call him) was about to fuffer from un- 1 02 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century The Crucifixion. grateful man the crueleft of all deaths. My pen mufr, now pro ceed no further we both need refpite for a time. In my next letter, I mail endeavour to finifh my melancholy narrative for the prefent relieving us from the pain of fo continued a communion with fcenes, as novel and awakening, as they truly are loathing and terrific. FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. LETTER X. ARTEMAS TO PRISCILLA. C^SARIA. Sivan, 6th day. [Saturday, May 1 5th, A.D. 35.] THE CRUCIFIXION. ! HE fcene before me, my Prifcilla, was inexpreflibly grand and thrilling and various, as I flood, with fo many thoufands, upon the heights of Mount Gihon itfelf of no great elevation, with the narrow valley of Golgotha intervening between its bafe and the foot of the little mount called Golgotha, or Calvary, from its re- femblance to the top of a fkull. On my right was the teeming City, with myriads of people anxioufly prefling through its narrow ftreets from every direction, and haftening towards the Valley-Gate. The little towns of Ramah Eleph and Gibeah, on the north ; thofe of Chephar, of Nob, of Bahurim, Bethany, and of Bethphage, on the eaft, were then pouring into Jerufalem their living torrents; whilft the remaining population of Jehomaphat s lovely valley, who had not been in time for the procefiion, were making their way, with all hafte, along the three main avenues leading to the once Holy City, and crowding her gates with folid mafles of peo ple, eager to witnefs the unholy tragedy, then in fuch dread prepa ration more immediately before me ! The towers of Phafaelus and of Hippicus the Palace of Agrippa the ftately edifices of Eliakib, and of Azarius, alfo Herod s magnificent Temple the Hippodrome the forts of Antonia, and of Antiochus, were all inftincT: with vaft multitudes from regions far and near, of all con ditions and ages, and of both fexes, each cafting their anxious eyes over the tumultuous proceflion, as it flowly receded from their view, and advanced towards the Mount of Crucifixion for fo it mould be for ever hereafter called. ()n the fummit of that mount, now beneath our eye, were diftinclly vifible the trees of the three deftined crofTes ; and on the very fpot, too, where, as tis faid, ADAM, in whom all died, was Letter x. C6e OHanDering 3[efo>, 103 The Crucifixion Hinnom View from Mount Gihon. buried, and where now JESUS, in whom all (as fome affirm) fhall be made alive again, was about to be crucified by a moft rebellious and wicked nation and on the very fpot, too, where, as tis fur ther faid, our father Abraham, fo many ages ago, was about to facrifice his only fon, Ifaac ! Surely, my Prifcilla, thefe are mar vellous coincidences ! Jgftill, fomewhat towards the eaft, but more foutherly, lay before me the whole valley of Hinnom, with its eternal fmokes, and unfavoury fmells, rifmg towards ^fj ^ the heavensj from numerous fmouldering fires, that daily and nightly confume the Paffover s vaft mafs of animal and vegetable offals, together with all hated and rejected things of the Holy City, which, throughout the year are there depofited ! Gazing upon the commingled fcene in that loathfome valley, my mind rapidly and almoft involuntarily mufed upon the days, when in this terreftrial gehenna in this " Vale of Shrieking," were often heard alfo the mingled founds of many fhrill drums and hoarfe trumpets, raifed there to ftifle the mournful and hideous cries of Hebrew children, facrifices to Moloch ! and likewife upon thofe ancient days, when Jewifh idolatrous kings facrilegioufly dared to raife in that valley temples even to Afteroth and to Chemojh^ almoft within the verge of God s only dwelling upon earth the only fpot where he hath ever vouchfafed to place his ineffable Shekinah ! CDy mind was alfo for a moment brought back to thofe days, in our eventful hiftory, when, in this fame valley, myriads of the Affyrian hofts, through God s purpofe, were utterly deftroyed by a foul peftilence ! This confumed them like a raging fire; leaving their mixed bones and vile bodies to taint the air with hateful fmells, which, in long after times, remained in odious frefhnefs, and even yet, if but in imagination, linger there, in perpetual teftimony of Jehovah s unmitigated abhorrence of all idolatry ! I remembered, moreover, it was in this valley that king Jofiah, hoping to fupprefs the idolatrous practices there, fent into it every unclean and filthy carcafs every poifonous and vile thing repulfive to our fenfes, and forbidding, at the fame time, the burial of any of them ! "(jm.hen thus mufing, from Gihon s heights, upon the paft and prefent j and, whilft the ftone-blind Jews, and power-infatuated Romans were afcending Calvary, actively preparing for the cruel facrifice then in hand, methought they all mould inftantly have turned from the Mount, and haftened with their croffes into this Hinnom this ugly Tophet this long hated Gehenna the only Sheol upon earth s furface, and there perform their diabolic deed, as the beft fitted of all other fpots for an act of fuch unmingled darknefs. t, turning my eyes from Hinnom, and alfo from the towers io 4 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century The Crucifixion The three Croflls. and palaces of David s City, and likewife from the rich and varied plain of Jehofhaphat, and from the tops of Olivet, which, in their rear were fo verdant with lofty cedars and with palms, I looked towards the weft, and faw the like crowds pouring in torrents towards Calvary, from the cities of Gibeon and Taralah, and from the village of Gittaim. " O Jerufalem, Jerufalem !" whifpered I, " would that the deeds of this day had been fuch as Heaven and Earth might fmile on, inftead of thofe that muft caufe Angels to weep, and even devils to tremble ! Man, could he but fee the ap proaching act, in all its naked horrors, would fooner feek an ever- lafting refuge amidft Hinnom s congregated abominations, than lend a willing hand, or confenting eye, even for a moment, to the fiendifh deed now in hand." ome with me, then, my excellent Prifcilla, at once to Cal vary ! for I know that thou haft no confenting eye but wilt deeply contemplate this fcene with me, that we may weep together for the innocent and perfecuted Nazarene, and pour oil into all the wounded hearts, alas too few ! of thofe who, like us, do truly and grievoufly fympathife. ^ESUS, as thou haft heard, had been feverely fcourged, before the proceflion had left the Prastorium. His malignant foes had prefled upon his head a crown of thorns; and placed in his hands a reed for a fceptre ; and over hisjeamlefs coat, they had put a tat tered robe of Tyrian purple, all in cruel mockery of his kingly power, though he had ever expreffly declined the earthly title, and had declared that bis kingdom was not of this world! The Victim s head and forehead and temples were now reeking with blood his ftrength much exhaufted from lofs of fleep, and want of food, caufed his perfecutors, when flopping at Golgotha, to hand him for drink fome crude wine, mixed with gall ! On refufing this inhuman offering, he was ftripped of his clothing, leaving upon him little elfe than the bloody Crown of Thorns ! ^Qefcending from Gihon, I prefFed through the The three (J en f e crowd which filled the heights, and intervening valley ; and foon found myfelf clofe by the three crofies. The two malefactors (deftined to be crucified with the gentle Na zarene) feemed but little to occupy the attention of any one, for each ftill had upon his fhoulder the tranfverfe beam of their crofles of which Simon, however, had been relieved before I reached the mount. The trees of the three crofles had been previoufly planted firmly in the ground, at a diftance of about ten cubits from each other not on a line, but the two fomewhat at an angle with the centre one. This middle crofs, deftined for the Illuftrious Victim, had a tablet placed, immediately over the point of union between the tree and tranfverfe beam, whereon was an Infcription, in black letters on a white ground. This infcription was repeated Letter x. Cf)e OHanUeung; 3Ieto< 105 The Crucifixion The Infcriptions. in the Hebrew, Greek, and Roman languages, fo that all prefent, from every nation, might poflibly read one or the other of them. The words of that infcription were, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This had been placed there by order of the Procurator. jf-js Cai aphas, and thofe high in authority, approached the Crofs, and read the infcription, their vexation knew no bounds but to tear it down they dared not : and therefore they inftantly fent a meffenger to Pilate ; whilft others of more note foon followed ; who implored him that the hated tablet might be removed, or in fome way altered, as it feemed to imply that the Nazarene s Mejfiahjhip had been acknowledged by the Jews! whereas, if only four words were permitted to be added, all would be well : and thefe four words were, " Who fald he was ! " But the Pro curator, who, I doubt not, defigned his infcription as an affront to the Jews, for having fo forely urged him to pafs the final fentence, would in no wife liften to any change in the title fet up the Pro curator firmly faying, " What I have written, I have written : " and hence it there remained, to the great mortification of all thofe of Judea s now nominal rulers, whofe hearts were fo deeply poifoned againft the humble, and yet mod mighty victim. ^he dreadful moment at length arrived, when the rude fpikes were mercileffly ufed but oh, upon this I rnuft not^ cannot dwell ; my foul recoils, and all my heart fickens at the recollection nay, my eyes would clofe involuntarily upon the lines my pen fhould indite ; and oh ! would not the ink refufe to flow, and grow dry, ere the words could be famioned ? All, then, I can fay is, that JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CROSS ! Through what agonies he paffed in being there, and what he endured, from the third until the ninth hour, when, as a MAN, the Nazarene expired and, as a God, feemed to fhake all nature, muft now be left moftly to thine own juft imagination, and feeling heart.* ^JjJTjhilft this pureft of mortals, and the two fmners crucified with him, were enduring the tortures of a moft lingering death, which ceafeleflly kept my eyes upon the croffes, my inner loul was fuddenly chilled by a fight too revolting to be long endured, as it fhows the extremeir. depravity of man, and that the cruelties practifed on the unhappy fufferers fprang, not fo much from the excitement of hatred and deep anger, as from that utter indifference and diabolic calloufnefs, which the human heart can only manifeft, * Jefus was on the crofs about nine hours; but expired after a fufpenfion of fix hours viz. from 9 to 3, P.M. 106 Chronicles of <artapf)ilu0, century \. Game of Lots for Jefu s Habiliments. when the laft ray of divinity forfakes the foul. Canft thou credit it, my Prifcilla, I beheld the executioners careleffly repofmg upon the ground, at the very foot of the crofles, and under the foul- piercing groans of the two, who were mere finful mortals, and under the deep fighs of Him who was furely more than man ; and whofe moans were as if a world of agonized fouls had been poured into his and yet I faw thefe men amufing themfelves heedleflly on the grafs beneath their tortured victims, and there, by the cafting of lots, cheerfully dividing among their fellows the poor veftments that belonged to Jefus ! I declare unto thee, dear Prifcilla, that, for a moment, I craved the power of Omnipotence ; and felt, per haps with Peter s hafty zeal in Gethfemane, that inftant vengeance on them would have been mine but JESUS thought quite other- wife : and yet, thou wilt not condemn me, good friend, for this, if a finful thought : for furely their hearts were as the nether mill- ftone, and their alliance was with the powers of eternal darknefs, feeing that they could fport thus, unconfcious of piteous moanings that might have arrefted the roaming and half perifhing beafts of the defert ; and yet, thefe creatures, in human form, had not even an occafional eye of pity for them none even of curiofity as to the fufferers above them none for the long continued fighs and fobs of mother, relatives, and friends, watching the laft groans of an ex piring God ! I clofed my eyes with both my hands I was ftupid with horror and furprife and difguft ; and in the very agony of my exhaufted feelings, I rufhed involuntarily towards the Crofs but, happily ! my progrefs towards it was inftantly arrefted by the Hidden uprifing from the ground of thofe cruel men, for, it fo chanced, that their game of lots was ended ; and they ftood in folid mafs around the fatal inftruments of death. TVhe priefts, fcribes, and pharifees, the lawyers and fadducees yea, many clothed in fine linen, and who fare fumptuoufly every day, were near thofe foldiers, idly gazing upon this fcene of woe, and ft ill with anxiety for its ending, yet with no mind to minifter comfort, or to leflen in any way the racking pains of the miferable fufferers ! Thefe all, together with the common people, began at length to manifeft their own tiny fufFering ; which, however, was from nothing more than impatience at their long detention a reftivenefs which then broke out in many odious infults pracliifed towards the Nazarene, even in his dying moments ! " *Tjf>? thy God deliver tbee now ! If tbou be the King of the Jews^fave thyfelf. Come down from the Crofs, and we will believe in tbee" was the oft-repeated hypocritical cry of the infenfate multitude ! ... jH circumftance now occurred, which greatly ar- malefattors re ^ ec l tne attention of all ; and made fome impreflion in Jefus favour, even on the crude and maddened mafs. The two thieves had not, as yet, fpoken a word : but, on hearing Letter x. c&e (KHanUering 3leto, 107 The crucified Malefaftors The penitent Thief. thefe taunting words, and feeing the wagging heads of thoufands, who exclaimed " Thou that would/} deftroy the Temple, and build it in three days, fave thyfelf! he faved others; himfelf he cannot fave /" one of the malefactors, though in deep agony, railed againft Jefus, and faid, " Yes, if thou be indeed the Chr ift, fave thyfelf and us" But the other mildly rebuked his companion, and faid, " Dojt thou not fear God ? We, indeed, are jujlly condemned, and receive the re ward due to our deeds ; but HE hath done nothing amifs :" and then turning his eyes towards Jefus, he cried out, " LORD ! remember ME when thou comeft into THY kingdom." Oh, how great was my furprife, and ftill more, my delight, that, amidft the depths of his own deep deep fufferings, Jefus forgot not his mercy and forgive- nefs, and faithfulnefs to his promifed reward and that all thefe fhone out as brightly upon the Crofs, as when, a year before, at the foot of Mount Ebal, he cured the wretched Lepers ! for, though it now feemed as if the crofs was to be victorious over him, he was not difmayed ; but feized with alacrity this feemingly impof- fible occafion, to manifeft the riches of his love towards our be nighted world, by refponding to the hafty penitence, even of an expiring malefactor ! and moreover, by granting a requeft appa rently fo difproportioned, as that fo great a fmner mould be remem bered, and for ever, in a heavenly kingdom ; and now, too, for a forrow neceflarily fo momentary ! And yet Jefus was prompt ; and diftinclly replied, " Truly I fay unto thee, TO-DAY jhalt thou be with ME in Paradife!" ^he merciful and confident tone with which this promife was uttered, by HIM who, only the moment before had been fo in dignantly challenged to defcend from the crofs, and to fave himfelf, could not fail to raife, for the firft time, a fearful doubt, left the perfecuted and then dying Nazarene might not, after all, be fome- thing more than the powerlefs and poor and humble fon of Jofeph and Mary ! and, from that moment, there feemed to be an almoft vifible filence a fubdued and even cowed exprefiion in the many thoufands who, till then, had as little fear, as pity : but now they trembled, they knew not why ; and yet were they ftill without pity though with much fear ! ^J^he fudden alarm occafioned by the malefactor s penitence by his firm reliance on the expiring Nazarene and by the more than human authority with which Paradife was promifed, was foon thereafter further ftrengthened into deep terror : for new feelings had feized upon the multitude, in confequence of the miracles which then almoft inftantly enfued. An unnatural darknefs began at that time to haftily prevail throughout the heavens ; which con tinued from the Sixth to the Ninth hour !* In the midft of this * That is, from 12 to 3 o clock of the day. 108 CfjrOntCleS Of Cartapf)ilU.0, Century i. The miraculous Darknefs Jefus expires ! fympathetic gloom of nature, and the awe infpired by the forgive- nefs of the repentant thief, the multitude became ftill more agitated by the gum of human feeling which Jefus difplayed, in this his moft agonized moment, upon beholding his Virgin Mother, and the other two Marys, weeping at the foot of the crofs. In a voice, as fweetly gentle and tender as fpring s mellowed zephyr, Jefus confoled all who loved him, efpecially his difconfolate mother ; whom he con- figned to the fpecial protection of his dear and faithful difciple John, enjoining on them both to regard each other in the tender relation of parent and child : for the words to his mother were, " Woman, behold thy Son ! " and to the difciple, " Behold thy Mother ! " ^3 ut > if doubts and alarm had been caufed by the three circum- ftances I have juft mentioned, how withering and confuming did they foon become, when Jefus, on breathing his laft figh exclaimed, ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI ? then earth and heavens were violently moved nature groaned and fickened at the deed many rocks were burft afunder the Great Veil of our once Holy Temple was rent in twain from top to bottom, and even whilft the Priefts were then facrificing many tombs were fuddenly opened, and thofe who long had flept therein arofe, all thefe mighty wonders feeming to announce to Ifrael yea to the whole world, that the SHEKINAH now had wholly de parted, to give place to fome new Difpenfation, under the invifible, but fure guidance, of the crucified Shiloh ! Oh, it was an inde- fcribable unimaginable fight! the whole face of creation was fhrouded in a heavy and loathfome gloom ; the grounds fhook beneath us, as if to their very centre, and as if them/elves in agony ! terrific lightnings pierced the thick black clouds, revealing, at rapid intervals, the miraculous truth that the Sun s difk was ftill as effulgent as ever, and that all this blacknefs in him was but apparent, it being in the heavens , and by no means in the great Orb of day ! * r hefe prodigies could not fail to ftrike the keeneft terror into even the ftouteft hearts for the Centurion, and moft of the Roman foldiers, proftrated themfelves upon the earth j and the Centurion exclaimed " This man was righteous^ and truly was he the Son of God ! " * The moon at that time was at its full; and hence, the univerfal darknefs could not have been occafioned by an eclipfe of the fun. It was probably, therefore, a miraculous obfcuration, or definition of the folar rays, after they had reached our atmofphere ; and if fo, it harmonifes with a modern phyfical theory, that the Sun is neither a mafs of fire, nor of light ; but that his rays become calorific, and luminous, only by combination with our atmofphere ivhich, in the prefent cafe, was miraculoufly prevented. Letter x. Cfcc (bannering 3|eto. 109 Nature revives Embalmment and Burial. Others were beard and (through the occafional brightnefs) were feen, violently to fmite their breafts, wailing and piteoufly groan ing, and foon flying rapidly from their now inanimate victim ! fo that Calvary, and Gihon, and all the valley, were emptied of their myriads, as if by fome magic dijjipation, leaving few others there, than the Roman foldiers the pious and devoted Mother the faithful Galilean women and the ever conftant John of Bethfaida ! jgfoon after the ninth hour, the fun reappeared, and with more than ufual fplendour : all nature feemed refrefhed the valleys and the mountains fent forth their brighteft hues from emerald fields from compact groves and forefts from the flowery banks of the Kedron, and from the richly adorned gardens of the fuburban palaces ! But the CrofTes ftill retained their lifelefs burthen ; and continued fo to do during near three hours more. ^3 V law, however, fuch bodies are never permitted to remain on the crofs after fun-down ; and, moreover, the next day being Sabbath, Pilate then gave permifllon to the Jews to remove them all forthwith from their refpeclive crofles. This was done ; but not until after breaking the legs of the two malefaclors. But Jefus having been dead quite three hours, they faved themfelves that trouble ; and were about removing him, when one of the foldiers fuddenly thruft a fpear deep into his fide, and probably fo far as to reach the heart ; for there iffued thence water, as well as blood. jH nd here obferve, dear Prifcilla, that even in this fmall circum- ftance, amidft the many of this varied tragedy, we find a wonderful, and a feemingly accidental fulfilment of a very ancient prophecy ! for, are we not expreflly told that " a BONE of Him Jhall not be broken" and further, that " they Jhall look upon Him whom they pierced ! " ^37 the Procurator s permiflion, the body of Jefus was delivered to JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA ; but with the charge that D others fhould examine that body : which was then embalmed by his friends ; and depofited in Jofeph s new fepulchre of ftone : and this delivery of the body was about the Twelfth hour, the Nazarene having been on the crofs nearly nine hours.* ^he High-Prieft, and other unrelenting Jews, with power, ftill dreaded even the lifelefs and embalmed corfe ; for though they faw the body was thus prepared for eternal fleep in that tomb, and delivered into its cold and ftony chamber, all carefully fealed without; and, though upon each fide of the door an ample guard of Roman foldiers, taken from the fortrefs of Antonia was placed before that * That is, from nine in the morning, to about fix o clock in the evening. 10 Chronicles of Cartapjnlus, century \. How guarded Days in the Tomb Reiurredion ! fealed tomb ; and, moreover, though ftrift directions were given that, on peril of life, thofe foldiers fhould protect that fepulchre^ yet, did confcience admonifh thofe priefts to be fearful ! The tomb, as we know, was protected, and faithfully, too : but, my Prifcilla, doth not all Jerufalem, and millions more, alfo know how this matter ended and likewife what followed that RESUR RECTION from that tomb ? Now, though the eye-witnefTes of the refurretion from the dead, were not very numerous, yet the whole Jewifh world alfo well knows that the body miraculoufly difappeared none, no not one, fufpe&ed the faith of the Roman guard ; no motive exifted for the removal of the dead body to any other place ; the Jews are themfelves now deeply filent on the matter the foldiers have received no punifhment, or even cenfure; all are amazed none can gainfay it hundreds have feen the rifen Jefus his difciples, male and female, have converfed with him and millions have witnefled the wonders attendant upon the fa6r, and alfo thofe that followed ! Now, again, my good Prifcilla, a fimple and vifibleyQ?^?, fuch as the death of Jefus, or of his being feen andfpoften to afterwards in full life, would be as well fuftained by the teftimony of a few hundred credible witnefles, as by fo many thoufands, or millions : and this the Jews well know ; and hence, not a man among them, or among the Romans, dare fay to the contrary of the fa6t of his refurreclion. Thofe in power, or out of power, venture not to attempt the proof, or even the grave affertion that Jefus died not, or arofe not : fo that there is now around us unutterable aftonifhment and difmay : this difmay pierces through the whole land imprefling many with an unmixed and living faith; others (more removed from the fcene, and from thofe eyes and ears that witnefled it) have, indeed, a lefs vital and animating faith, but ftill leaving the great mafs of our people greatly troubled, and fome in a Hate of fuch judicial blindnefs, nay ferocity, as feems, of itfelf, to be quite miraculous ! But, doth it not verify to the very letter, thofe ancient prophecies which fpeak of the hardy incredulity that would afflit the Jews at this time, and for ages thereafter ? Truly did Ifaiah fay, (and nearly 800 years before the event) that " Their wifdom fhould perijb, and their underftanding be hid." ^fefus remained in the tomb of the " rich " man, and of the counfellor, a part of the fixth day, all of the feventh of that week, and part of the firft day of the enfuing week probably, in all, about thirty-fix hours : which, as thou doft well know, good Prifcilla, we Hebrews ordinarily fpeak of as three days fince parts of three days are embraced therein. And here, again, is the fulfil ment of an early prophecy where Ifaiah faith, " He made his grave with the rich in his death becaufe he had done no violence, Letter x. c&c (KHattDeting; 3[eto, 1 1 1 Proofs of Jefu s Divine Million Proofs of the Refurredion. neither was any deceit in his mouth." * And the fame prophet, not only thus alludes to his fepulchre being " with the rich," (as the Arimathean Jofeph furely is) but alfo that Emanuel s death fhould be "with the wicked^ and he be " numbered with the tranfgrejjbrs" as were the two malefactors, who were crucified with him ! mowing conclufively, how minutely the far-feeing eye of that holy prophet had before him each fcene of this varied and terrific drama ! ^JTJ have now finifhed the painful tafk your pious fympathy hath impofed on me feebly, from its nature, but veracioufly, and care fully done, as was my folemn duty. r he wonderful purity of the Nazarene s character is alike known to all his Crucifixion, therefore, was intenfely wicked. Never hath innocence been fo proved, and the injuftice of its punifh- ment been fo triumphantly attefted ! for in it, have we not at leaft feven diftinct teftimonies ? fome divine, others human ! ist. It is faid, a Voice from Heaven declared unto certain of his difciples, " This is my beloved fan, in whom I am well pleafed ; hear ye Him ! " 2nd. We know that all nature trembled and mourned over his Crucifixion, and that the grave gave up its victim ! 3rd. We know that his judges, Pilate and Herod, bear testimony to his perfect innocence. 4th. So was alfo the teftimony of the traitor, Judas; who, moreover, hanged himfelf. 5th. Alfo, the wife of Pilate warned her hufband, as to the righteoufnefs of Jefus. 6th. The Roman centurion declared the fame, and alfo held him divine, though he an executioner and guard, then at the foot of the crofs ! jth and laftly. One of the malefactors, perifhing at his fide, de clared his own guilt, and the purity of the Nazarene ! God Nature Man, all thus combined to eftablifh the innocence of this marvellous Being ! *1~ou have alfo defired to have my views as to the proofs of the Refurfection : this, dear lady, I will ftrive to perform, and accord ing to the laws of JlricJ evidence that is, without the leaft re ference to ancient prophecy or to the promifes of Jefus fhortly before his crucifixion equally without regard to the declaration of his Apoftles, at this time and finally, without refpect to the wonders that preceded, and followed the alleged triumph over the grave. For, if the direct and naked proofs of this mighty fact be not, in themfelves, irrefiftible, man s perverfe and incredulous nature would be fcarce better content with the argument that mould embrace all the reft, that I would now omit ! ^0 us who are now living^ and efpecially to thofe in Jerufalem at the time, fuch a ftatement would in no way be needed, for the miracles and wonders were all around us. But, where miraculous * Ifaiah liii. 9. 1 2 Cfjtomcles of Cartapfjilus, Century \. Further Proofs of the Refurreftion promiied. evidence terminates, faith muft begin ; and this can be produced only by clear proofs : the great event cannot endure for ever ; nor can there be eyes and ears for ever prefent to witnefs it ; and hence human teftimony muft fupply its place and faith muft fupply the want of ocular, and of auricular convictions. Thofe who have feen no fuch wonders and miracles, -or who, in after-ages, (hall have no miraculous proofs of the now alleged event, muft repofe their belief upon the ejjentlal nature of proofs be they intrinfic, or extrinfic, or both. This other taik, then, as to the RESURRECTION, fhall not remain untried of me : this I am bound to do ; not for thee, good Prifcilla, but chiefly for Cartaphilus, according to my promife heretofore given him ; and who will fend to thee thofe letters, after he fhall have carefully perufed them. ~j-\ nd now, I pray thee, fuffer the gentle Rebecca to read this letter, my former ones, and thofe alfo upon the Refurre&ion, when they fhall be fent to thee : for it is meet the lovely maiden fhould be a Nazarene in faith, as He was altogether lovely. In truth, it doth much grieve me to fee how unwilling Rebecca is, to expofe her mind and affections to full reliance upon the New Faith feeing that it prefles fo forely upon her Cartaphilus. I alfo crave of thee to (how thefe epiftles to my much honoured friend, thy hufband : for I likewife mourn that one, like him, mould be fo deeply imbued with unworthy prejudices againft all thofe who, for nearly four years paft, have laboured to reform and renovate the religion of our forefathers; and to engraft thereon doctrines which, though new, are yet in perfect harmony with thofe of all the prophets. FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, THE THE BOOK SECOND CHRONICLES OF Cartapi)iius, BOOK II. Cartaphilus refumes his Chronicles. SECTION XV. JERUSALEM. T/iamuz, 22. Seleudda, 34.7. [Wednefday, July i, A. D. 35.] NOW return to the Chronicles of my yet green life, (though fo wretched and varied) after an abfence from them of more than three moons. Thefe months have been, to others, only as a few fleeting days : but to me, they have been ages of torture, with no moment of repofe. Can the bufy fcenes of life ever blot out the remembrance of my interviews with Judas, and of his own miferable end ? But what oil can affuage the recollection of the fcene in Gethfemane s garden that which followed on the fame night in the Sanhedrim the horrid events, on the fol lowing morn, at the Prsetorium the hateful and fiend-like pro- ceflion towards Calvary the myfterious words, fo firmly yet mildly uttered againft me at the Valley Gate ? Oh, what rivers of holy water can warn out the picture from my mind, of that ftolen and diftant view I had of Calvary and its crofles, on that fatal day ! and what ftirring fcenes by day, or dread vifions of the night, mall fuffice to mitigate the remembrance of thofe prodigies that fignalized the day on which the Nazarene expired, and yet more, that, in which, as many fay, the fealed tomb gave up its dead ! Thefe all have fo crufhed the foul of Cartaphilus, that life is to him a black and angry cloud, more full of peftilence to his belaboured foul, than is fome ftagnant pool, feftering in the hot fun of the remoteft fouth ! To the diftracled and now benighted foul of him, who with Judas leagued, all of thofe pregnant events have brought agonies only, as the fweet folace of Conviction, whether 1 16 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \. His monologue on Love and Sin. for, or again/} the Nazarene, hath not yet been his ! Oh, that Cartaphilus could have, even the feeble confolation of tbofe who can believe, though they do not ! but he hath [een, and heard^ and felt no little of thofe marvels ; and yet is not convinced ! deny, he cannot, and yet his foul is in doubt ! Whence cometh that deep fpirit of mechanical, refiftlefs necejjary doubt ? DISBELIEF it is not ; oh, would it were that ! for doubt doth more rack the firmeft foul than incredulity, though againft all teftimony, and all reafon. Strange ! Cartaphilus hath prayed for belief for faith ; but it comes not ! he hath alfo prayed for utter unbelief; yet it comes not ! Nature is but a vaft feries of aenigmas, Man the greateft of them all, and leaft to be refolved ! * * * * u jg" ure l Vj as I have faid, Man is an aenigma doth he not to fome pofleflion cling as if part of his inner life, and then recldeffly forfeit it, as if it were a bauble ? and for a Meditations on baub j e , Qh deareft m of n Jf j, j , d , Love and Sin. _ . / t> ters thou, Rebecca, lovelielt or them all ! canlt thou, and wilt thou not minifter to a mind as fick with LOVE, as SIN ? Strange combination love and fin ! unnatural allies ever, and deftru&ive of each other : for is not Sin deformity and death but Love order and life ? and yet, in me, one foul doth furely contain them both ! yea, a foul, O Rebecca ! that would now, more than ever, quaff immortal life from the radiance of thine eyes a foul athirft and panting for the refreming dews of thy chafte love a foul that would revel in the fmiles of thy beaming countenance in the melody of thy rich and tender voice, hoping and believing they might drown the horrors that fo unceafmgly weigh down life s blifs, and poifon the very inner and intellectual being of thy once beloved Cartaphilus ! " ftlJL ou ^ tnat tne ^ e forces from the dear maiden were now mine, if but for an hour ! ah, even for one hour, to mitigate, though for fo brief a time, the many woes that aflail,fo conftantly,the fpiritual and even active entity within me, we do call the Soul ! Oh, that the joys of fuch an hour would then end in that foul s annihilation and in the body s too, fo that of me, CARTAPHILUS, nought mould remain, in this, or other world, lave his difhonoured name which is but breath ; for then, nor fin, nor love, would agitate him more ! " ^Qj,ow is it manifeft, oh, thou raven-locked daughter of many worthy fires, that Artemas thou wouldft not wed nor he with thee, the love he bears his friend forbidding it : and yet, deareft maiden, mine thou never, never canft be ! Oh no, brighteft of earthly beings ! thou fhalt not be mine ; for, though Cartaphilus be as a murderer, and fuborner of an arch-traitor, he would never harm thee, thou innocent one never wound thy peace, nor prove himfelf xv. Cfje OUanUeting; 3[eto. 1 1 7 Cartaphilus Rebecca Artemas. untrue to thy holy love ! and yet will Cartaphilus ever continue to adore thy angelic virtue, and thy matchlefs beauty the one, as perfect in the heart s purity, as the other truly is in the graces of thy outward felf ! And, now, Rebecca, for the boundlefs love I {hall ever bear thee, no other return would I crave, than thy con tinuing, generous pity. " ()h, would that thou couldft love Artemas ! but this, thou, and he, and thy honoured parents, fay muft not be hoped for. Then, deareft Rebecca, may we not yet be true friends, though my own deep unworthinefs, and deftiny, forbid a clofer tie and even though we mould never meet again ? And, at leaft, may we not once more meet, that I may then drink from thy ne&ared lips fweet accents, and have my ears ravifhed with the glowing words, that flow in gentle ftreams from thy rich and noble mind ? and may we not then together {tray on Kedron s foft funny banks, and in the meadows, gemmed with varied flowers, and in the cool fhades of thy father s rofeate bowers, yea, may we not there hold fweet converfe, and innocent remembrance of our happier days, until the moon grows pale in the morning dews ? Yes, much be loved Rebecca ! there might we wander, thou to pity me, thy firft and only love, and I {till, {till to love, as ever ! And though the fportive birds, whilft cheering thy generous and fpotlefs foul, could bring no peace to mine ; and though my tears mould fprinkle every flower, and the gentle winds, that play over verdant lawns, odorous with a thoufand violets, were but as murmuring and harm founds to my difcordant foul, yet would thy voice, thy gentlenefs, thy friendly counfels, footh my troubled fpirit, and ftifle, for the time, the ugly demon that fo long hath foully haunted me yea, from my natal hour ! " ^J^o win repofe, (ah, the repofe of even one brief hour of FORGETFULNESS) how often and ardently have I fought that obli vion, in the numerous rolls of Greek and Roman poets in the volumes of their hiftorians, of their philofophers, their moralifts ! and all was but vanity and vexation of fpirit they proved to me no draught of Lethe ; for the guilty part is ever prefent and the dark future feems as an endleis journey through waftes, and de- ferts, and ftagnant pools ! Gethfemane s dread realities the gor geous wickednefs of all I witnefTed in the hall of the Sanhedrim the howling multitude at the Praetorium thofe upon the way towards the Valley thofe upon Gihon and Calvary the terrific throes of nature in the then enraged elements, and the moanings of a fickened world, can never fade from memory s tablet ! and yet, whether thefe be all of Beel-zebul s vaft power, in mighty conflict with the God of Ifrael, Cartaphilus wots not. Fain would I fhun thefe meditations, but cannot ; for thought comes upon 1 1 8 Cfjronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. The two years Separation of thole Friends. thought as refiftleflly, as doth wave fucceed wave ! and now doth Philofophy bid that, if we would conquer evils, we fhould not mourn over them as without hope, nor wafte the foul s energies in vain endeavours to annihilate them but that we fhould fternly view them all ; and, concealing nothing, look upon them in their naked, and moft hideous forms ! Fear vanquifheth nothing ; but valorous contemplation leads to knowledge and hence to power which Satanas furely hath ! yea, poflibly, to conviction, perhaps to repentance, and finally, to forgivenefs, with its blefled offspring, Happinefs ! Can it fo be, ever, with Cartaphilus ?"* LETTER XI. ARTEMAS TO CARTAPHILUS. CJESARIA late Straton s Tower. Si<van, 13. Seleucida, 348. [May 22nd, A.D. 36.] Y heart prompts me to write kindly unto thee ; fmce, if rightly I know thee, thou muft now be, of all men, the moft wretched. O Cartaphilus ! what haft thou done and what thy remedy ? As to me it feems, no other refuge is left thee, but in that very Name thou fo much haft abufed : for, though he died upon Calvary, remember that he peri/hed not ! ^j^early twenty and fix moons have paffed fmce, at Golgotha, we parted, when, near the Valley Gate, I witneffed thy firft mifery, and the caufe of it. We have, indeed, fomewhat com muned by letter ; and my inquiries have been anxious and conftant in regard to thee : but thy face, and once delightful converfe, have been withheld, and hidden from us all, fave myfelf, and only once wouldft thou fee me, quite two years ago ! * This is one, among many, of the charafteriftic Mufmgs of this greatly agi tated Soul ; who thus ftrangely blends a chafte love with deep fin doubt with belief hope with defpair terror with daring candour with felf-deception the power of Satanas with that of the God of Jacob blafphemy with faith in repentance and who regards knowledge as power ! And here it may be remarked, as a very interefting fa<5t, that this great Baco nian maxim, that " knowledge is power " may be found not only in ibme Hebrew and Talmudical writers, but alib in Ibme Arabian authors; to none of which, is it probable, that Lord Bacon ever had accefs ! and how this fair., as regards Cartaphilus, will be found in entire harmony with his proceedings, in the feventh century of his eventful life, need not now be further alluded to. Letter xi. Cjje WmDttmQ 3ieto. 1 1 9 The Day of Pentecoft. three valued friends, now at Syckar, have heard with deepeft forrow, of thy maddening gloom ^Ae Day oj and alfo of thy inflexible unbelief, as I muft call it, though the fofter word "doubt" be thine each, however, in ftubborn difregard of the mighty wonders of the Crucifixion-day ; and of thofe yet more awakening events which, three days more produced, and again, in forty-feven days more, when, upon the Pentecoftal-day, fo many thoufands witnefled thofe wondrous gifts of tongues, that added great ftrength, even to the Crucifixion and Refurretion marvels ! Since that pentecoftal-day, two years have merged their hours in the great fea of time years to me, the hap- pieft of my life fave on thy account, oh, my Cartaphilus !* J^ince the aftounding event on the day of Pentecoft an event that obfcures all others on account of which the feftival was pre- vioufly eftablifhed, my mental eye has continually dwelt upon the bright fcene of that day, and with a keennefs, fecond only to that which happened upon Calvary : and I doubt not that, in all future ages, the Nazarenes will obferve that day, as dearer to them, than even to the Jews, for, on that day, the once crucified, but then glorified Shiloh, fent from Heaven, as promifed, the Com forter called THE HOLY GHOST : and all of that great miracle (witnefled by fo many thoufands) was fo mighty, and vifible, that none but the blindeft, and the moft perverfe refifted, or can refift, the great truth it feemed to teach, that, immediately thereafter, a New Difpenfation was ordained : which, whilft it retains the whole moral law, hath utterly abolifhed the ceremonial law hath brought Immortality more clearly to light and hath revealed new doffrines, * The Feaft of Pentecoft was the fecond great feftival of the Jews. It is called the " Feaft of Harveji " " Feaft of Weeks" " Feafl of the Firfl Fruits" " The Feajl of the Fiftieth j" and, by the Rabbins, the " Gnaforeth." It was celebrated on the day after the expiration of a week of weeks that is, on the fiftieth day after Paflbver day, or leven weeks from the i6th of the month Nilan. This feaft was originally inttituted by the Jews, to commemorate, i ft, their peaceful pofTeilion of Canaan ; 2nd, to render thanks for the in-gather ing of their harveft ; 3rd, as the anniverfary of the promulgation of the Law from Sinai : and afterwards by the Chriftians, as the day of the defcent of the Holy Ghoft upon the Apoftles, attended by the miraculous gift of tongues ! It is now popularly called W hitfuntide y or White-Sunday, becaufe, in the primitive Church, the newly-baptized were accuftomed, between Eafter and Pentecoft, to come to church clothed in white garments. Eafter being a move- able feaft, that of Pentecoft is neceffarily fo : for Eafter is always the firft Sunday after that full moon which happens upon, or next after the 21 ft of March : and, if that moon happen upon a Sunday, Eafter is the Sunday after. The 50 days are now reckoned from Eafter Sunday, inftead of Good Friday, which was the aftual Paflbver day. After the Refurreftion, it occurred on Sunday, the 7th day of the Jewiih month Si<van, then the i6th May. 20 Chronicles of Cartapjrilu.s, century \ . Reproof by Artemas of Cartaphilus. and _/##.$, in fulfilment of nearly all the remaining ancient prophe cies fince the Fall of Man ! ()f all IfraePs fons, thou^ Cartaphilus, hadft moft need to be prelent on that day of wonders ; for even thy ftubborn heart muft have been fubdued by the palpable and effulgent teftimonial of thofe holy truths, which thou haft refifted nay trampled on and with as little caufe as Caiaphas, and the reft. ^f failed to convince thee, by my letter concerning Urgent re- tne ten Lepers, though I, thy friend, was an eye-wit- <?{-i ar ~ nefs thereof : but the ear of Malchus was miraculoufly tapnuus. n i i r i i TI reitored in thy prejencej yet this, and likewife the tri umphal entry of Jefus into Jerufalem, (alfo feen of thee, and no fmall miracle) were all alike indifferent to thee ! The Purgation of the Temple, moreover, feen of thee, and more than that, expe rienced of thee, was ftill with no effecl: ! nay, it angered thee and to what dread extent, I would fhudder to recount ! Thine own eyes alfo beheld moft of the awful events that marked Calva ry s great day a day, black as Satan s abode ; yet muft it live in man s grateful remembrance in all time, and be juvenefcent through eternity ; for, on that day was Adam s Fall atoned and Emanci pation announced, and made of all true believers Gentiles, as well as Jews ! ^C^,ow, dear Cartaphilus, if thy unbelief, after all thou haft feen and heard, fhall ftill be cherifhed, great need wilt thou have to pray that the Nazarene may not quickly come^ and that thy " tarry" here may be prolonged for ages ! The words he uttered to thee at the Valley Gate, will never fade from thy memory : we cannot fay, of a furety, their exacl: import but they can have no ordinary meaning. Our mutual friend Aquila, as I learn, has lately placed before thee, in all fimplicity and truth, his argument upon that piercing and refiftlefs fat, the RESURRECTION. I call it piercing and re- fiftlefs : but that it is a faft^ neither he, nor I, afk of you to receive it as fuch, upon affertion only nor, though that affertion be made by myriads : for the Refurreilion, as a faft, is fuftained by far better proof than the affertion of any number of men whatever ! Marvel not at this ; becaufe, fo numerous are the incidents and circumftances fo inherent are the proofs, beyond the mere decla rations of thofe who faw him, and converfed with, and handled him, (after crucifixion, embalmment, and burial) that fuch circum ftances (like accidents} are of far greater weight than human tefti- mony. Admitted circumftances (and there are many touching the alleged refurre&ion) whilft they are beyond the wit and power of man to contrive^ afford to every one the means of arguing out, in his own mind, the truth of the afferted fac}, and in a way, too, fo c&e Wmntnn$ Jeto, Reproof by Artemas of Cartaphilus. refiftlefs as to need, in no degree whatever, the direct teftimony of thofe, who aflure us that their eyes, ears, and feeling witnefled him alive, after he was entombed ; and alfo witnefled his afcenfion, and final difappearance, in the heavens ! ^n this point of view, as I fear, thou haft not read the argu ment of Aquila ; and, therefore, is it my purpofe, at fome other time, to deal with the Refurredlion of Jefus, mainly in that way : for, that circumftances may be much ftronger, and more convincing than naked human teftimony, (affertive offacT:s &$> feen and heard^) I can in no wife doubt : men may be deceived, or be deceivers but admitted circumftances leave their inevitable impreflion, are above fufpicion, remain for ever and the world can judge of them throughout all time ! ^U^onderful blindnefs ftrange infatuation ! that fo wife a man as Cartapbilus cannot perceive, that moral demonftration may be juft as perfect as is mathematical ; and that, whilft Euclid and Pythagoras daily lie upon his table, and hourly receive the homage of his faith ; yet that the moral argument for the Refurre&ion fhould fall lifelefs upon his mind ! But, dear Cartaphilus, abandon thee I will not ; though well-nigh haft thou abandoned thyfelf. Hope as to thee is not quite gone ; the more fo, as I cannot forget a certain little word ufed towards thee by Jefus, when firft thine eye met his in the Temple ! Haft thou loft fight of that little word, O Cartaphilus ? If fo, I muft now remind thee : for, though few in letters^ it is large in meaning ! Doft not thou remember, upon an occafion in the Temple, thy harmnefs towards one of the Naza- rene s difciples ? He had told thee of a miracle, by the means of which Jefus had paid his tributes unto Caefar, and the Temple : but thou, in feverity, bade him begone that the idle tale might fuit thofe of Capernaum, but not the wifer ones of Jerufalem, whereupon Jefus mildly faid to his difciple, " Follow me that man is yet in the gall of bitternefs." Greatly offended wert thou at thefe words, but, O Cartaphilus ! fail not to rejoice at them ; and ponder well that emphatic, nay prophetic word " YET," for prophetic furely it muft be, as the Great Nazarene knew all things ; and hath never uttered an unmeaning word, fo that this fmall word, as it feems to me, imports that, though thou wert then in the "gall of bitternefs," the day will come when this, thy gall of unbelief, will be changed into the fweetnefs of faith, and into the delight of mental purity ! ^)oubtlefs, the wonderful change in thy friend, Saul of Tarfus, has in fome form reached thine ears. No longer is he thy friend and aflbciate in the perfecution of the af- Co " r fi n flided Nazarenes ! If, in thy retirement, the marvels Tar/fa J lately wrought upon him have not been heard of thee, 122 C&ronicle.s of Cartaptrito, Century i. Converfion of Saul of Tarfus Death of Stephen. know, then, that as he journeyed towards Damafcus, with the fierceft vengeance againft the Innovators, as then he called them, and with ample credentials from the High Prieft, to bring them bound in chains unto Jerufalem ; he was fuddenly arrefted in his way, by this very crucified Jefus, but then glorified and furrounded by an exceedingly dazzling light from Heaven ! In the hearing of all Saul s attendants, the Holy Voice bade him proceed forthwith on to Damafcus ; where he mould be inftruc-ted as to his future courfe ! Thither Saul went ; but wholly deprived of fight, by the intenfenefs of the heavenly brightnefs, and thus remained fome days ; during which time he neither ate nor drank. Another vifion, about that time, came to one Ananias, a difciple, then at Damafcus, com manding him to inftantly fee Saul reftore him to fight impart to him the influences of the Holy Spirit baptize him and then to fend him forth as an Apoftle to the Gentiles, to the kings and nations of the whole earth ; and, O Cartaphilus, even to the ungrateful and rebellious fons and daughters of Ifrael. *^his high and merciful miflion, Saul is now moft zealous in executing ; and he, who fpared neither age nor fex among the faith ful yes, he who, with thee and others, had flayed the holieft of the feven deacons, the youthful STEPHEN ; and that, too, in the very moment he was inftru&ing thofe around him in heavenly things, and invoking his Mafter mercifully to regard the enemies and mur derers who then fought his life and not to lay the fin of his death to their charge yet was this lovely herald of grace flain by thofe around him and thou, Cartaphilus, (as with grief we hear,) and Saul consenting not, indeed, by the cafting of any {tones, but by thy prefence, and otherwife I This, in Saul, wondered us not ; but, in thee, and after thy great troubles in Hinnom, feems to have been another fudden madnefs that hath caufed us great additional pain but, I am now to fpeak of Saul, and not of thee. Qh, Cartaphilus ! bear it ever in thy mind, that this Saul of Tarfus, whofe wonderful mind, and learning, and energy, had fo much won thee, as to feduce thee even from Hinnom, and for a moment to feek Jerufalem, and there again forget thy better feelings yea, this very Saul is now a faft convert to that faith, againft which he and thou were then fo active ! he now a meflenger fpecially charged with the fpread of the glad tidings of the Mefliah s kingdom and tkou, a gloomy looker-on, and poffibly, even yet, a brooding hater of tidings, in which, as I fear, no part or lot wilt thou ever have, until thy ftubborn foul be purged with the fires of many afflictions ! ^3ut ftill, my earlieft and once moft valued friend, I would afk, what is to fhut out all hope that Cartaphilus fhall follow Saul ? That little word " yet" is again recalled to my mind : and i. CFje ^anoering 3lettJ. 123 Conveifion of Prifciila Artemas and Rebecca. though I may not live to fee it effective in thee, and though delayed even for ages, yet do I charge thee never to forget it : and were Artemas and Cartaphilus to meet again at His final coming, equal faith would Artemas then have in that word, as now ! * * * * * * Thy friends at Sychar think of thee conftantly, and with grief and dread ; but ftill are they deeply memorative of thy devotion to them, when at Ramoth. The excellent Prifciila is now among the moft faithful and zealous of thofe who have received the name of Nazarenes ; (and whether in honour, or in difhonour, from the world, difturbs her not) but the innocent, fenfible, and lovely Rebecca, I mourn to fay, remains in her father s faith and, O Car taphilus ! I muft in candour fay, chiefly in regard for thee, and thy opinions, though fhe hath freely vowed to her parents never to wed thee ! This is to me a fource of great pain ; my hope and prayers having ftill been to fee thee, and all of that dear family, united by earthly ties, as well as by one faith : yes, Cartaphilus, to fee thee and Rebecca one, was the conftant theme of my foul s hope. ^t is only of late I heard of thy endeavour, nay firm refolve, no more to think of Rebecca ; and to wean thyfelf as much from the world, as from her ! Finding thee in Jerufa- lem, for a time, we hoped that, for ever, thou hadft not only abandoned the detefted Hinnom, but all other fuch gloomy abodes : and yet we now hear thou doft ftill bury thyfelf in fome unknown and folitary place, in Jehofhaphat s valley ; and, indeed, even among its tombs ! Why this ? and how different this, from thy generous letter to the lovely maiden, and to her parents, com municated to me this day, in which thou haft urged her and them as to my union with the damfel ! Oh, Cartaphilus ! this muft not be cannot be : for, though I have ever loved that pricelefs jewel fhe, who needs not, and would not, cover her flowing hair with gold duft I, who ever loved that faireft of Judah s daughters, and well know fhe hath a mind and heart of vifible ftrength, and of tranfparent purity, yea, a foul enfhrined in a form of matchlefs excellence in whofe face the rofes of Sharon, and the white blof- fomed jefTamines of Engeddi mingle their hues in fweeteft harmony, whofe lips, like rubies, or rofeate wines, fparkling in fun-beams, give forth a breath fragrant as the dews of Hermon ; whofe voice (patting through teeth as of pearls, or mow-drops) is foft as the whifpers of her kithera ; whofe downy bofom gently fwells as two pomegranates, whofe languifhing, and yet fiery eyes, are like thofe of the Zabi, when beaming through the palms of Carmel, and whofe ftature, ftraight as the javelin, fhadows forth the direclnefs and the power of her elevated foul ! all, all of thefe, my Cartaphilus, are well known unto thy friend Artemas : and yet, he now declares 24 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. The hope for Cartaphilus Names of the Evil One. to thee, that, mould Rebecca freely proffer all, and that, too, with thy, and with her parents earned wifhes, it cannot mud not be ; for fhe was thine, by thy firjl love thine, by mutual love and thine, by thine own eminent w orth, until Beel-zebul entered into thee, and fpoiled all ! Oh, deareft and moft beloved of friends ! though I greatly loved the maiden, even before I knew thy mind towards her ; yet thou well knoweft how clofely guarded, ever fince, hath been my heart and lips, and how deeply have I mourned over thy misfortunes, and ftriven to ward them off ; fo that thou, Cartaphilus, might have made her thine own for life. And yet Rebecca may ftill be thine never mine ! Her vow can no longer bind, than the caufe exifts, that gave it birth : and all that in thee is foul may yet be warned out, and thou be made as pure as violets, dripping with the morning dews, if thou wilt but invoke, with deep contrition, the Name of Jefus ! * ^f Saul has been purified, why may not Cartaphilus ? Saul was full of vengeance, and committed great havoc : who, then, fhall limit, who can limit, the grace of Him who cleanfed the lepers, and changed the foul of Saul, from a prowling lion, into a humble lamb ? This is the very nature, this the high excellence, of that religion alone, that now is revealed to us : and all that hath been faid and done by our forefathers, yea, even by our Matter, Mofes, (who, from his birth, is faid to have been "fair to God"} and all that fhone forth in Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, and alfo in the prophets of our holy and long venerated religion, are but feeble fhadows, compared with thofe divine truths, and faving graces that with SHILOH came, in this our day ! (ome then, O Cartaphilus! caft off the whole The EVIL fcc-cly of fin and of death ; be traitor to none but that man names MOLOCH, whofe mifchiefs are, as his names, fo diverfe : for this Moloch is alfo called Abadon, Beel-zebul, Ab-rl- man, Satanas, Typhon, Belial, Samael, Lucifer, Azrael, Pluto, Af- modai, Hecate, Baalath-Aub, and his foul deeds are ftill under other names and forms ! Retrace thy fleps, O Cartaphilus ; com mune no longer with thofe foul fpirits one, or many : but, under * This oriental and ornate language of Artemas, fo full of the frefhnefs of his own youth, and of the images and tropes derived to him from the lovely fcenery by which he was furrounded, alfo from the genial climate of Judea, and from the objefts fo familiar there to all the fenfes, is, when fo confidered, quite natural. And though, to the lefs Afiatic tafte of our own age, it may feem fomewhat novel, the Editor is bound to render it faithfully, according to the original chronicles, efpecially, as fuch language is often as charafteriftic of the times, as would be the thoughts, and even aftions, and vifible things around him. The Zabi, whofe eyes beaming through the pines of Carmel, are likened to Rebecca s eyes, is the fame animal known to us as the Gazal of the Arabians, and the Apd of the Turks. The kithera is the guitar. Cfje OEJantiermg; 31eto, 125 Hinnom s hideous Valley Stellar Influences. the broad white banner of the crucified Emanuel, win back to thy now tortured mind, earthly as well as heavenly blifs. Forfake the fecret places^ of Jehofhaphat s valley, as well as the more loathfome ones of Hinnom ; brood no more, in thy morbid way, over thy many juft caufes of anguifh ; and yet, attempt not to another re- morfe : for though the outward and viiible world thou mayeft no longer heed, yet will the mind (that ever alive and eternal entity) come forth, and in thy deepeft retirement from man, arife within its own clayey tenement, and torture thee with might, under a thoufand hideous and refiftlefs forms ! Oh, come, then, Cartaphi- lus, again I fay, {hake off this Moloch, and exclaim with the fub- lime Prophet, " Would that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears !" for WEEPING maketh the heart light : and, as the foft and cooling mowers, when med on the parched earth, fo would thofe tears caufe frefhnefs, and green hope and refolution to fpring up in thy withered foul ! FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. SECTION XVI. Sivaa, 28. Seleucid*?, 348. [June 6, A.D. 36.] HE foregoing letter from the noble-hearted Artemas, I have read till my eyes are fore with weeping my ears heed all things alike, HinnonfsVal- and until my fluggifh foul can no longer influences 2^11 be roufed or moved by the bitter pre- fent, nor by all that friends can fay as to the eventful future. For fome relief, I roam through pathlefs deferts, and through tangled groves : but Hinnom s fmoky vale the mingled bones of flaugh- tered victims there the birds of death and blood that hover therein, blending their fhrieking dirges with the crackling noifes of many fires the pale vapours that afcend from that foul valley into the heavens, mantling there, in the darknefs of the night and the re membrance of the thrilling horrors which there prevailed in former ages, when Moloch was fed with the blood of our children ! all, all of thefe, fo loathing to others, and once deeply fo to me, are now moft genial to the temper of my difeafed foul ! Oh, it is moft true, mifery doth make for us ftrange acquaintances ! things fo reign to our mind, and hateful to our nature, become, in forrow, our cherimed and moft abiding companions ! Xl AIL MAZZAROTH ! come quickly on, thou raging Star, that doft prefide for forty days and nights o er the fcorching heats of Summer, I love thy fury I love thy fultry influences, they fuit the diftempered habit of my foul ! From thee Chimah (brinks back, and Chefjl flowly advances to benumb thy potent rays 1 26 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, Century \. Apoftrophe to Mazzaroth, Orion, Chimah, &c. whilft Aijh, ftill later, lags on with his Wintry blafts, to cover the earth and waters with his too chajtening colds ! I love thy ardour, O Mazzaroth ! for thou doft come from the receifc of the far South, with peftilence and death upon thy wings refolving all things mixing all things; and, ever regardful of thy appointed time, at ORION S bidding ! Thy fultry days and putrifying heats are more in harmony with my burning heart, and troubled mind, than are the genial and foft winds of Spring, when fcarce they whifper through the waving palms or, than the frofry Hyper borean, when the winter s mows clothe all nature with an emblem of purity, fo foreign to my belaboured foul. Hail again, O Maz zaroth ! thy influences I love.* ***** jffnd yet I would not die, though death be indeed the perfe&eft of all corruptions, yea, a putrefaction more thorough than even Mazzaroth doth generate. * MU /Mand n * * * * But hold, Cartaphilus ! Hath Sin Immortality anc ^ Love, indeed crazed thee ; and have thefe, com bined, driven from its proud throne that haughty reafon^ of which thou haft fo long vaunted, and made of thee a poor and helplefs wanderer from humanity ? Much do I fear it is fo : for * MAZZAROTH (called alfo Sirius, or the Dog-Star) is the ftar of Auguft, and of peftilential heats. Chimah, known as Taurus, or the Bull, is the ftar of Spring ; Chejil, or Scorpio, prefides over Autumn ; and Aifli, alfo known as Urfa Major, or the Great Bear, has Winter for her charge. ORION was fuppofed to influence Sirius, drawing him forth from his Ant- arftic recefles, to refift Urfa Major, and reftridl her and her whelps, to their Arftic den ! How beautifully do the Hebrew names of" thefe conftellations ex- prefs their feveral ftations, and fuppofed offices ! Mazzaroth fignifies "raging-" and is equivalent to the " Rabiem Canis" the "Jam Procyon furit," and the " Infana Canicula" of the Romans, and is well applied to the Dog-Star. Aifli, the oppofmg conftellation of Winter, fignifies an " qffemblage and is appropriately fo named in Hebrew, as the ftars of Urfa Major are more ftrikingly grouped, than any others in all the heavens. Chimah, likewife, which imports " charming" prefides over lovely Spring ; and, under the name of Taurus, or the Bull, in our language, is hailed as the ftar of the opening month of April, when he has caft behind him the Northern Bear, but ftill (hrinks from the onward march of the furious Mazzaroth that ftar of heat and corruption, which we denominate the Dog-Star. Chefil comes laftly on ; and, by his name, the "benumbed" forcibly exprefles the withering influences of Autumn, when cold begins, as the fun enters into that conftellation. How greatly the mind of Cartaphilus was imbued with thefe images fo familiar to the Hebrews, the Syrians, the Arabians, Egyptians, and, indeed, to all other Oriental nations, is at once feen in this his welcoming apoftrophe to Mazzaroth, as the ftar of his then genius the ftar moft in unifon with the feverifh condition of his foul with the (fo to fpeak) fultry and cor rupting influences of the thoughts that fo conftantly aflailed him ! ection xvi. Cfte ^anneting; Jfeto* 127 Mufings upon Death and Immortality. now doth my foul burn with volcanic fires my heart loathe all nature and my foul rebel againft all that hath life ! Why, then, wouldft thou not die ? OH, DEATH ! why art thou fo much feared, when, in truth, Life is forced, and Thou alone art natural ? Whence, then, that inward dread, that ftrong recoil, that fhrinking from the inevitable with all ? Nothing that breathes doth efcape thy fummons ; for thou, O death ! foon, or late, muft ftrike us all and no medica ment can ward thee ofF few, if any, mitigate thy pangs ! It were wifdom, then, to fear thee nothing ; and, to tremble at thy approach, were naked cowardice. Medicines, though moft artfully com pounded, delay not Death : for, when his grim and grifly MelTenger doth truly fummon, the bidden one incontinently muft yield, fmce human fkill is then quite powerlefs to avert the mandate. Hence, O Death ! when the herbs, fo falutary and well contrived, feem to have driven from our door thine Angel, tis but when he hath not truly knocked, and only when he hath at a diftance ftood, fear fully looking on us, and hath but trifled with our terrors, or, that he thus vouchfafed to note his power ; then taking wing, leaves us, for a feafon, in repofe and forgetfulnefs, but to return with fatal certainty at laft ! ^j^ell me, oh my foul ! what is this great my fiery this thing called Death fo natural, fo common, and yet fo hated? Who (hall trace its fource, and whither it tends who mail fay whether it triumphs over foul, as well as body, or only feparates them, that the latter may perifh quite, the former live eternally ? And, if both be mortal, why mould man have ever lived, feeing that he fo often lives but a brief fpan, and almoft ever to fuch poor and ignoble purpofes ? j^f then, MAN, who breathes, be hence immortal, why are not the numerous beafts, and birds, and reptiles and yon gaily plumed infects, equally immortal, for they too breathe, and likewife obey laws, and violate them ! Doth foul truly differ from life, and from breath? What is this foul this life this breath? And if they differ not, then all things that breathe muft alfo be immortal, if man be fo ! But, if foul and breath do differ, how, and to what extent ? for the beafts, the birds, the reptiles yea, the almoft invifible living entities, often have more prudence, gratitude and love, than man ! And fome there be of brutes, whofe confcioufnefs of right and wrong and whofe patient ftudy of duty, might well teach their haughty mafters many rules of right, and ways of wifdom ! Dread myftery ! dark riddle! Life Death Eternity! all unfathomable alike ! who mail relieve my doubting, dreaming foul who, from this great body of perplexing wonders, mall lift up the filmy veil that (huts out the light, that muft be bright behind it, 128 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, century r. Mufings upon Death and Immortality. and thus give reft to the tortured mind of Cartaphilus and the multitude like him ? J^ow fickening are thefe contemplations to my foul ! but avoid them I cannot which, in itfelf is a racking myftery ! all life is loathed by me and yet I purfue it ! thought is odious to me, and ftill / live on thought ! Oh, that THOUGHT were for ever and for ever blotted out or, that fome meflenger, who patting from this world of care and doubt, had gazed upon the glory or the gloom, of that which lies beyond the grave, were now permitted again to tread thefe mores, and here to reveal fully to our longing ears, the hiftory of what Death truly is ! O, tis not death nor yet annihilation nor immortal life nor the filence and corruption of the grave, that thus difturbs me, and chills my heart into icy coldnefs : no ! no ! but tis the tofling doubt the exciting myftery the dread uncertainty, be it of weal, or of woe, that fo load my heart, and caft my troubled foul about, knowing not how or whither to feek a harbour or a more ! If, in the tomb, foul and body be quite extinct if both lay down in an eternal fleep, the lofs is nought the gain is certain : for, to fhrink from mere nonexlftence is meagre folly, and unmeaning cowardice. ^3 ut if> ( as our Pharifees, and yet more thefe Nazarenes, main tain) all death is but the body s ruin, and the foul s fecond birth ; if to die is to be born again and then to live eternally, Death is gain indeed ! for then would death be nought but parting with breath ; which, (in life, doth come and go mechanically) would, when dif- embodied, yield to the foul no forced exiftence, but an unaided and immortal one. jf-l vaunt then ! Avaunt ! all dread of death and the grave is not the pang of diflblution momentary ? let Cartaphilus leap into the abyfs let him court the grim phantom ! And though myriads do mun that monarch, as a confuming, hateful monfter, let me hail Him as altogether bright and lovely ! O, would not then the foul be free will it not then revel in immortal being luxuriate in endlefs, intoxicate glory and fly unfeen, unheard, intacl:, through all illimitable fpace ? Would it not then be freed of all corruptions that time and matter generate from the pains of mortal body and from all the agonizing thoughts of a clay-bound foul ? Truly, fo muft it be : for cares and pangs of foul and body fpring alone from their clofe alliance ! ()r if, (even as the Sadducees maintain) the untabernacled foul alfo dies, well, be it fo : in dreamlefs fleep eternal, there s no pain, as no thought can then exift ! Welcome, then, thrice welcome Death, in either view ; and hence muft it be the fureft refuge from the ills of time the ending of all our toils the portal of repofe, be it of Life unending, or of Annihilation ! Death, then, is Liberty c&c OHatttienng 3(eto. 129 Mufmgs upon Death and Immortality. but Life is Slavery ; yea, from the firft tears we med at birth, to the laft figh we breathe I************ But, hold, Cartaphilus ! hold ! If an after life there be, what then ? muft it needs be happy ? Haft thou juftly conned that queftion ? Is there no broken link in the chain of thy reafoning haft thou been in this a found logician, or, fomewhat, a felf-de- ceiver ? If the Baptift, whom Herod murdered, and the Nazarene^ who periftied, (I dare not utter how,) if they both, I fay, have truly prophefied, Man is indeed heir to immortality but likewife is he heir to weal, or to woe yea, to a dread refponfibility^ that may not end in happinefs ! If, then, when the foul is difembodied, and becomes immortal, there may be blifs immeafurable, fo may there alfo be woes unmitigable and if fo, Death is not fure liberty, is not the reaping a fu re harveft of never-ending blifs ! but greatly otherwife, fince man is as prone to fin, as is the fmoke to rife, or the ftone to fall ! H^ence was it, that John preached Repentance^ as well as Bap- tifm : and to this is now added Faith in the Atonement of the Nazarene ! and thefe three means, even Saul, once fo fierce a perfecutor, now holds efiential ! How wonderful to Cartaphilus are all thefe things ! -an infinitely wife juft and merciful God Man, a finite erring being punifhed, not finitely , but infinitely and for deeds done, but as of the moment ^ and prompted, moreover, notfpontefua, but by the artifices of a moft powerful Being alike the foe of Man and God ! Oh, thefe are, indeed, fathomlefs myf- teries ! and yet His difciples do manifeft a faith, as clear and im movable, as if thoroughly fkilled in all of Heaven s arcana ! Well do I remember how my good Artemas would argue that no mortal can of death be fearlefs, till repentance, baptifm > and faith are all united, as the only ftiield againft Belial. How often would he fay y " Wifdom and Virtue avail not Repentance and Baptifm avail not : but to all thefe muft be added Faith in Jofeph and Mary s fon as the fon of God as the Incarnate God ! ! And fo faid they all that loved me. Wonderful myftery ! and how ftrangely revealed ! ****** How full of fad mifgivings is thy foul, O Cartaphilus ! how much opprefTed thy mind with fitful and con tradictory notions ! A believer now an infidel then ! At morn, repentant and fearful in the duft at eve, as Lucifer, proud, as Moloch, wicked ! Oh ! for a ray one little ray, of Light Divine free from Belial s whifpers ! <m,hat fatality (if fate it were) caufed thee to league with Judas, whom thou didft defpife, and in a foul treafon againft fu- pernal innocence, fo bright that, be he of earth, or of heaven, Angels muft delight to do him reverence ! Oh Night, fupreme in horrors, when Judas and Cartaphilus in alliance met, to plot Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century \. Mufings upon Death and Immortality. unholy mifchief againft worth more pure than Eden s garden ever faw, when Adam firft wandered there in blifs ineffable ! O day of darknefs, fuch as Earth fhrank from, and to its centre (hook, when the meek Bethlehemite, through me, died the crueleft and moft ignominious of deaths ! O day and night moft foul, be ye in my remembrance as black for ever, as they then were ! be ye prefent to my foul, and rack it with all thy terrors ; fo that no beam of light may enter there ; but let my mind, cheerlefs and in deepeft gloom continue, for that, the moft detefted and inexpiable of fins ! Yea, more fearful and black, than thofe ftormy clouds, that on the fatal night hung over foft Gethfemane s lovely garden, muft be the foul of Cartaphilus ! for that namelefs deed, let it be vifited with fights as fearful as Jerufalem faw, when the crucified Naza- rene, in agony cried aloud, ELI, ELI, LAMAH AZABTANI and then expired ! Oh ! how the earth then quaked how the rocks were burft afunder the Temple s veil, from top to bottom, rent in twain the Orb of day obfcured and chilled ! yea, the graves of fome forced open, and in fome days thereafter, they yielded up their dead for a time !* Tell me, oh my foul ! was he king prophet, Immanuel, Shiloh ; oh ! tell me, was he GOD ? ^f the leaft of thefe yea, if a mere deluded man, ftill was the a6r, moft vile, moft wicked ; and fo condemned of Heaven, that all created things loathed, and fickened at the fight ! ^JjJ[ould that I had feen this much talked-of RESURRECTION ! for others eyes and ears bring not conviction, as do our own. Had I but feen the tomb difgorge its lifelefs and embalmed tenant ! and He uprifing with glory through the clouds, till loft in dif- tance ! That were fufficient conviction muft then have come ; and forrow, deep as the fea s abyfs, and enduring as the rocky hills. But how believe folely through the faith of others ? for, as lately I have heard, one Thomas-dydimus (though a difciple of the Na- zarene) believed not in this refurreftion, till, as others ftill fay, he obtained his faith, by feeing and feeling ! but how doth Cartaphi lus know that this Thomas ever did fo fee and feel? Were he known of me and could I as firmly rely on him, as upon mine own fenfes his conviction muft then be mine and yet thoufands do fay, and wholly believe, that Thomas gained his faith only by fight and feeling : and why fhall they believe through this Thomas, and I cannot? Oh, the myftery of unbelief! for, fometimes, my * Cartaphilus here feems manifeftly to fuftain the opinions, frJJ, that the faints did not arife until after the refurreftion of Jefus, although the rocks and graves were rent when the Saviour expired andfecond, that thefe faints re turned to their tombs, to await that future rifing to immortality fecured to them by their faith. This is the founder opinion, in after ages, of Origen, Chry- foftom, Jerom and others. xvi. c&e (Kftanuenng 3l0to, 13 1 Mufings upon Death and Immortality own unbelief doth wonder me and then, anon, my belief Teems to level me with the common herd the reafon of Cartaphilus rebels pride doth chide me and fome inner Spirit (of good, or of evil, I wot not which) then doth whifper in my ear fome difcourfe like this : " And art than, O wife Cartaphilus, confounded with the " reft ? tis folly Shiloh comes not to die, but to conquer not to " be crucified, but to crucify fin, and finners ! Jefus, //~all-power- " ful, would furely not have fuffered, and died and, z/"arifen, why " not with power openly to all and in majefty, that myriads " might thus gain faith without alloy ? If he the Mefliah be, how " faved he Ifrael how redeemed he his people and why is the " nation thus trodden down by Gentiles ?" ^uch, or the like doubts aflail me ever : and who (hall refolve them for me ? O, that I could, as If with hand, take up the whole mafs of belief, and place it folidly within my heart and mind! * * * * * * Judas and Cartaphilus, doubtlefs, did betray innocent blood : but oh, not the Lord of Life not the veritable Emanuel ! ****** And, though willingly I gave confent and alfo united in the pious STEPHEN S death, and the firft ftone did prompt and whilft the lovely youth was pouring bleflings on thofe around, yet was this foul of mine fo filled with zeal for Ifrael s Law and Privileges, that the wrong I urged efcaped me quite : blind I may have been ; but I was craving no revenge, nor fought I the fhedding of innocent blood caufeleflly, or in con tempt of life. And, in like manner was Saul confenting. Saul hath mercy found, and quick forgivenefs not fo can it be with the wretched Cartaphilus ! DESTINY, then, DESTINY it furely was ! be quiet, therefore, oh my foul ! be quiet : if crimes like fcarlet may become as wool, even Deftiny fhuts not out repent ance ; for, as Artemas declared, no deftiny is irrevocable none is ftronger than the law that gives it, which doth ever yield to the law of repentance, baptifm, and faith ! But, doth repentance come at our bidding ? and doth faith ever come at our fummons ? whence doth either fpring ? Outward baptifm brings them not nor do they come by wijhing; nor hath man always even the power to wifh ! for, if Cartaphilus doth wifh, oh how clogged is it ever by torturing doubts, by the foul s fuggeftions ; which, as troublous waves and winds, caft him far from the haven he would be in yea, upon fearful rocks, where darknefs reigns, where light nings flam around him, and where the terrors of recolle&ion ceafe not by day or night ! J^AUL is bleffed but CARTAPHILUS is curfed ! "ftlJL nence tn ^ s 5 if free-agents we be ? mercy for one, unending woes for another ! Why differ the Pharifees and Sadducees herein, and why do the faithful now fo earneftly bid me beware of Election ? 132 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century \. Mufings upon Death and Immortality. Oh, vexing confli&s, endlefs furmifes, tormenting queftions ! why thus poifon my foul, leaving it no moment of repofe ? ^Jhe words, which at the Valley-Gate I uttered, were thefe ; " Go f after Jefus go f after ^ why doft thou linger? His mild but firm reply was ; " /, indeed am going, but Thou Jh alt tarry till I come." U_yfterious words ! no blefling can they to me import but rather Curfe, if pregnant meaning they truly have. Many do ftill firmly believe he furely hath rifen from the tomb ! And fome de clare that thrice hath He afcended from earth to Heaven, fmce that Refurretion from the fealed tomb ! and, if fo, and fhould he come foon again, Cartaphilus may then no longer tarry, but would die, as Jefu s words would feem to fay ! And yet, if rifen, was it not in three days thereafter and, if thrice he afcended, thrice muft he have " come " fmce the day he perifhed on Calvary ! but now, more than fix-and-twenty moons have pafled fmce then, and ftill Cartaphilus lives ! Hence, " // // / come " doth import fome other mighty coming one that fliall be with power, and glory, and vengeance for the Temple ftandeth as ever and that was forely threatened, as alfo was Jerufalem I * * * * Truly is my mind weary unto difeafe and loathing : no more will I ponder on thefe killing doubts no light into my outcaft foul do fuch thoughts bring ; no balm to its raging action ! unto Ramoth will I incon tinently go ; the excellent matron Prifcilla, and her gentle confiding daughter will pour into my belaboured and maddened foul fome oil of confolation fome beam of hope ! ()h WOMAN ! ever man s beft, and often his only folace in time of deep affliction, thou, of all God s creatures, art alone a comforter, an angel miniftering good to all, with gentlenefs and without reproof! No words of bitter cenfure come from thee but all is fweet forgivenefs ! And, though fin and death were brought into the world by thee, thou, fince that time, hath been man s devoted, unforfaking friend ; and yet, far more true to Heaven haft thou been, than man ! Yes, lovely Woman ! and thou, Rebecca, the lovelieft of thy kind, Cartaphilus will not be fcorned of thee ; but thy fmiles will play around him ftill, and fhed their brighteft, holieft influences, to mitigate his forrows ! As thofe who would wed, we are indeed for ever feparate : but oh, never wilt thou deny me thy dear prefence that would more than kill. Freely unto Artemas would I refign thee ; his love would bring no curfe. ^Jut, on Death and Immortality, and on Sin and Love, no longer can I mufe : thefe thoughts are more than I now have mind that can endure them : much do I ftrive to fhut them out they will come ; and, as the gufhing fountain, they know no let ! More Letter . , 133 The three Afcenfions Letters on the Refurre&ion, why omitted. bitter are they than wormwood more exhaufting to the foul, than would be to the body ,all the fabled toils of Sifyphus ! Come genial SLEEP, if come thou canft, and with thy pitchy mantle cover me : oh, hide me, if but for an hour, from my hated forrows ; and let their odious hues be loft in imagination s bright creations left this dreariment of my waking hours quite upturn the mind, and leave it the triumphant prey of madnefs and of the demons ! * LETTER Xll.f ARTEMAS TO CARTAPHILUS. , (late Stratoris Tower). Creation, 3796. Sivan, zoth. [May 10, A.D. 36.] LETTER Xlll.f ARTEMAS TO CARTAPHILUS. CJESAREA (late Stratoris Tower). Creation, 3796. Si<va, [June 19, A. D. 36.] * Some apology may be due to Cartaphilus and his readers, for the profaic manner in which his curious, deep, and metaphyfical Apoftrophe to Death, and the other mufings that accompany it, have been rendered by his Editor. Blank-verfe, doubtlefs, would have been more rhythmical, and better fluted, to reveal the anomalous Hate of the Jew s thoughts at that time. But as the vein of meditation on Death and Immortality would have been impaired, in many of its fhades, by a lei s poetic genius than Cartaphilus poflefled, his Editor was com pelled to render it in the profe garb in which it now appears, and in which he flill hopes that the f pirit of the original may have been in the main preferved. It will be perceived that Cartaphilus has no doubt that the Faithful of his then day believed in three diftintt Afcenfions viz., invifibly early on the morn ing of the Refurreclion, and before Jefus was touched by human hands ! again, in the evening of the fame day, but viiibly, from Bethany, and in the prefence of his difciples only ; and laftly, from the Mount of Olives, on the fortieth day after his refurreftion it being on Thurfday, May 6, of that year. As, doubtlefs, there were three Afcenfions (and not one only, according to the popular idea) this fa<5l will be found to fatisfaftorily explain various texts, otherwife of no fmall difficulty, if not wholly inexplicable. Vide the eloquent Sermons of the Rev. E. Miller, of Bognor : Sec. xv. f Letters XII and XIII are thofe upon the Evidences of the Refurredion, to which fuch frequent allufions have been made. The force and earneftnefs with which Artemas fuftains his argument upon this intenfely interefting matter, (though with little effeft, at the time, upon Cartaphilus, but with great power upon him in fome after years) might give them a fpecial claim to in- fertion in our Selections : yet, for the prefent, they are omitted, not only on account of their great length, but chiefly as the Refurreftion has never been queftioned by any fort of Chriftians, and as the entire infidel mould com mence his researches elfewhere. 134 Chronicles of CartapJrilus, Century \. The Eben-Ezra family Aquila Apollos. LETTER XIV. REBECCA (OF EBEN-EZRA) TO CARTAPHILUS. PELLA. Creation 3804.. Month of Swan, 1 8th. [May 28, A.D. 44.] HERE this letter may reach thee, friend of my ear- lieft youth, and happier days ! I know not ; but Ana nias, the tabellarius, gives me hope of finding thee in thy folitude, fomewhere in the valley of Jehofhaphat, or of Hinnom or poffibly in fome almoft unknown fpot in the now unhappy Jerufalem ! The Eben- ^K^rom Sychar we removed with regret ; and now Ezra family we are fcarce a furlong from the lovely Pella, as being remove to t ne moft retired and fecure abode we could find, to Pella. fcreen us from the dreadful perfecutions, which conti nue even yet againll the afflicted and innocent Nazarenes, by Ro mans as well as by Jews ! ^f^early ten years, Cartaphilus, have elapfed fince we laft met ; though we have fometimes correfponded. The God of Abraham alone can tell whether we mall ever meet again. The open con- verfion of Artemas to the New Faith, immediately after the ex traordinary events of that Pentecoft which fucceeded the Cruci fixion and the like avowal of my fainted mother, nearly at the fame time, together with the fadt of my venerated father s ftern refufal, after his releafe from exile, to countenance in any way the great perfecution that arofe upon Stephens death, and upon Saul s dereliction of thofe in power (in which not lefs than two thou- fand of the believers, with Nicanor, one of the Seven Deacons, were cruelly flaughtered) fo jeoparded the lives of us all, as to caufe us to feek an early refuge in this beautiful and lecluded fpot for fuch PELLA truly is. Qur excellent friend ARTEMAS writes fometimes, Artemas, anc j k ee p s us inftru&ed in moft of the interefting lo] m &c events of thefe perilous times; but he is too zealous in this new and agitating faith to vifit us. He has been long abfent, and is now with Thaddeus in his journeys through Arabia and Perfia. jFlQUiLA of Pontus, afterwards of Caefarea, (whom you know as an early friend of Artemas) together with Prifca his wife, are now refiding at Rome, inculcating their faith, under the protection of the recent edicl: of Claudius in favour of the Jews; of which Letter xrv. c&c (KJantieting; 3[eto, 135 Rebecca s kind admonitions to Cartaphilus. edi6l, though it names not the religion of the Nazarenes, the Chriftian Jews of that city may well avail themfelves. Aquila and his wife, as I believe, joined the Faith on the pentecoftal day ; and being anxious to win over the Roman Jews, they went thither foon after, and have refided in the Imperial City fome years, often fuftaining themfelves by the making of leathern tents for the provincial troops. JJJJPOLLOS is now at Corinth : him you may not know nor do I ; but I learn from Artemas letters, that he is an Alexandrine Jew of extraordinary eloquence deeply verfed in the Scriptures, and of fmgularly winning manners. He is now ardent in the caufe, and will vifit divers lands, and ultimately Ephefus and Achaia, fuftaining the infant churches, whatever may be the peril. He was firft with the Baptift alone, and feemed to have fome doubts as to Jefus being the real Shiloh. ^]he few letters I have written to thee, Cartaphilus, have been cheerful, and upon all matters, fave our own deep forrows, and thy fpecial griefs : and even thefe would Rebecca" s kind not be (hunned of me, but that I find thou art ftill in cl^SS/ gloomy folitude, and hence in a mind not to be reafoned with. Much have I to fay to thee ; but dread left it ftiould further wafte and poifon thy mind : upon fuch matters, therefore, will I remain filent, until I have hope from thy abandonment of thofe tombs, and other loathfome places, which, as they tell me, are ftill thy daily and nightly reforts ! Oh no, Cartaphilus prayer, and the garifli light of day, and the whole mafs of human tranfaclions, are furer medicaments to the wounded foul, than folitude : for brooding in retirement over our cares is far more perilous ; it often (huts out all but Satanas, and his chofen ally defpair : bad as men often are as companions, the Tempter is far worfe ; for, believe me, dear Cartaphilus, it is only in the actual collifions of life, and in the comparifon of the fentiments and opinions of a bufy world, that we can either chaften the heart, or correct the judgment. Great is the error of him who thinks he cannot pray every where yea, in the open field in the ftreet in the midft of a tumultuous crowd ; and greater yet the error of him who fears the feduclions of fociety, more than thofe of an indolent and morbid feclufion. I call upon thee, therefore, oh Cartaphilus, forthwith to come out from thy odious hatred and fliunning of thy fpecies from thy caves, and the lonely dwellings of the dead ; and pray God and man and thy own heart to look upon thy terrific deed nothing concealing nothing extenuating but in all its naked and fearful wickednels ; then, Cartaphilus, and then only, will thy burthen be made gradually lighter, and until it wholly vanimeth ! And, though that deiperate action, and thy long-continued indifcretions, 136 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Rebecca s kind admonitions to Cartaphilus. and the fearful myftery that clung to thee even from thy earlieft hour, muft render it impoflible that Cartaphilus and Rebecca fhall ever be one, as promifed, yet doth my foul adhere to thee, as do light and heat to the Orb of day as doth moifture even to the verdure of Hermon, or of the valleys, after the ftars become vifible yea, O Cartaphilus, as do perfumes to the vines of Engeddi, or to the rofes of Sharon. If, then, it comfort thee to be allured Rebecca can never ceafe to love thee thou haft it : her fate goes with thine in all things, fave what flow from thy peculiar opinions, and thy recklefs actions thefe fhe never can approve, but muft ever mournfully chide thee for ; yet never, oh never can Rebecca hate thee ah, love thee^ the perpetrator fhe muft, though thy offences be for ever loathed. ^Jjn regard to the Faith now fo much noifed around us, my father s mind, like mine own, yet remains in afflicting doubt. The prodigies which in quick fucceffion have crowded the larger part of my ftill green years, and brought with them fuch numerous forrows ; alfo my father s exile forfeveral years, followed by diminifhed rank, influence, and fortune the many artful machinations of cruel, wicked, and ambitious perfons, ever jealous of power, and with whom he could in no way confort the miferies likewife, of thine own unhappy lot the deep love, moreover, that Artemas, at one time, cheriftied towards me ; he, whom of all mortals, next to thee, I moft value his prompt and delicate withdrawal, on hearing of our own early and mutual love my mother s wretchednefs, daily growing ftronger, at the feeblenefs of her hufband s faith, and her daughter s want of faith, thefe and many other fad, or greatly exciting things, have fo long opprefTed me, that I have been far very far from happy, even for an hour fince we parted : but Carta philus, they fhall never caufe defpair never fhall they feduce thy Rebecca into moody feclufion there to hate her fpecies, the world, or any little good that may be found therein. Oh no ! fuch with drawals from the paths of life are ftrong proof of an ill-arranged and fickly mind. Better far is it to ftem the torrent, than com pliantly to be borne off by its bitter waters, into the deep and angry ocean of mad defpondence. All this, again, O Cartaphilus, I defign mainly for thee. And though our caufes for grief are indeed very great, and fhould be keenly felt by both, I defire, more for thee than myfelf, that thou couldft fee with what horror my heart doth banifh every feeling that would prompt one to feek, even for a moment fuch an odious folitude as that of Hinnom, or of the caves and tombs of thofe lonely valleys and rocky heights, to which, as I hear, thou doft fo much refort. But I muft forbear; and now would to other matters, lefs perfonal to thee and myfelf and hence lefs painful to us both. Letter xiv. Cf)0 2nantJ0tmg; 3ieto 137 Death of Salome Retributive Juftice. " g ou have probably not heard of the lucklefs fate of the beautiful Salome (he of dancing memory, who fo wickedly danced off the head of the pious Baptift ! The rumour now is, and I doubt it not, (as the details are too cir- cumftantial to be unfounded) that Salome, having accompanied her wicked father Antipas, and her ftill more odious mother Herodias, into the exile of Lugdunum, provided for them a few years ago by Caligula, fhe lately met a fate fo truly retributive, and marvelloufly correfpondent to her crime, as (hows the hand of Providence, not accident, to have caufed it ! In truth, Cartaphilus, I cannot help remarking how numerous are the inftances of a like nature, as to all that have fiercely oppofed this new faith : for I have obferved that thofe concerned in the death, or perfecution of the humble Naza- rene, or any of his followers, have come to fome untimely or {hocking end ; or that, in a few inftances, they have been fnatched, as it were, from impending ruin, to be made fignal objects of providential mercy ! This wonderful facl: has fometimes more ferioufly impreffed me, than all others ; and hence that the Pharifees and Sadducees do greatly err, in attributing to Beel-zebul the ats and marvels that have attended the courfe of thefe Nazarenes ; and truly fo, even from the firfr. hour we ever heard of them ! Now, I put it to thee, Cartaphilus, to fay whether, if fatanic agency be out of the queftion, there be any other power than that of Abraham s God to which they can be afcribed ? The inquiry I now make of thee, doth, I confefs difturb me. And moreover, the letters written to thee by Artemas in proof of the alleged Refurreflion of this Jefus, (a copy of which I have) greatly roufed me then ; and doth more fo now : the fame I may fay of my excellent father : eight years have now gone by fince thefe letters were written : and, dear Cartaphilus, yet another matter adds trouble to my mind ; which is, that never have I yet feen the Jew or Gentile that could controvert thofe letters never one who could give a good reafon for their difbelief of that averred refurre&ion nay, never one in whom I could find a hearty and clear denial of the facl: fo powerfully urged by Artemas ! But, I muft not wholly forget the haplefs SALOME I have yet to fay how fhe perifhed. ^Ouring the laft extremely cold winter, efpecially in that inhof- pitable region that furrounds Lugdunum,* Salome, in fome excurfion of pleafure, was patting over a frozen lake. The vehicle that bore her and her attendants, fuddenly broke through the ice, and fhe was hurled, up to the neck, into the deep and chilling waters ; where, * Now called Lyons, a city on the Saone, in France. That region of Gaul was, at that time, a far more inclement one, than at prefent. 138 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. The Herodian Family. ftruggling to avoid finking, her head was incontinently parted from her body by the violence of the icy fragments, that rufhed in on all fides againft her ! Thus ended the life of that much flattered princefs furely one of Galilee s moft beauteous daughters the cherifhed pride of an accomplifhed, but moft wicked mother the glory of a doating uncle s once fplendid palace the moft winning, Iprightly, and embellimed among all the lovely women of Sepphoris, and yet a true Herodian : for, with all the genius, tafte, and worldly elegance of that remarkable family, Salome had her mare alfo of their vaulting ambition, of their fupreme wickednefs, and of their recklefs difregard of Abraham s God. She has confequently fhared the ufual fate of her race which has been that of marvellous prof- perity, followed by equally fignal adverfity ! jjjnd here, Cartaphilus, I would recall thy mind to the eventful hiftory of all the Herodian family fo vifibly marked Some account of by G o d s fevere reproof of profperity ungratefully and the Herodian n j i u /i r u- u /i u n family impioufly dealt with ; moft or which muft be well known of thee, but fome portions not, as being of late, and only fmce thy miferies came upon thee : but the remem brance of all may now be ufeful to thee ; for, as that wonderful Nazarene faid, no fparrow falls to the ground, but that the Father knoweth it ; and that the very hairs of our head are numbered ! and Salome s death, how retributive ! ^hou knoweft that Salome s grandfather Herod, the firft of that Idumean family, exceeded in regal magnificence, and in the fplendour of his public works, all that Ifrael hath known fmce the golden days of Solomon : and equally would I have thee remember that his life was marked by every difgufting crime, that even Moloch and his hofts might have envied ! witnefs his Slaughter of the Innocents, with the hope of flaying the infant Jefus ! witnefs his murder of Ariftobulus and Alexander, his fans by Mariamne an Afmonean princefs likewife the murder of his wife, another Mari amne, daughter of Simon the High Prieft alfo the murder of Antipater, his fon by Doris, his firft wife ! This was the laft act, fave one, of his truly Satanic life ; and it was done, too, when his breath only lingered in him, amidft his unutterable tortures ; and remained only fufficiently long for him to pronounce the fatal mandate ! And witnefs, laftly, his atrocious wijh (happily never executed) to force upon his opprefled people a general mourning after his death not indeed for bimfelf, for that were impoflible, but for themfeheS) by commanding many of our chiefeft families to be forthwith imprifoned in the Hippodrome ; and then fecretly in- ftru&ing his trufty and infamous fifter, another Salome, to have them all flain, fo foon as he mould expire ! and a hideous roll of others, from which the foul Letter xiv. c&e (KHanuering Jeto. 139 The Herodian Family. recoils, were not permitted by Providence to efcape without fignal punifhment, even in this world : for, as this Herod s crimes hath perhaps exceeded all that is known in humanity, fo the complicated horrors of his dying hours were terrific, and eminently unnatural !* (gjjjth that incarnate fiend began the now loudly threatened ruin of Ifrael s hopes : for though his numerous lineage (the ofF- fpring of no lefs than ten wives) are now, happily, almoft extinct ; yet the paft fuperlative wickednefs of this Herodian family hath contributed, more than any other caufe, to corrupt and degrade our people to rivet on them more firmly the Roman chains and to prepare the way for that total overthrow of our nation, which, whatever thou, O Cartaphilus, may think of it, feems to have been one of the moft remarkable among the denunciations of that won derful Being who died on Calvary ! ^ have (aid that the pofterity of this Herod, highly gifted as he and they certainly were, has now dwindled down to a fingle point, and he, as I believe, by no means a brilliant one I mean HEROD AGRIPPA II. his father Agrippa having died only a few days ago ; and in a very remarkable way, as will be prefently ftated. U^ will now, my Cartaphilus, as promifed, trace briefly the hirtory of thefe three Herods, who, fince the firft of that name, (fo famed for his greatnefs and wickednefs) have, in our own un happy times, figured fo largely, and with fo little advantage to themfelves, or to Ifrael. And this, as I have faid, I the more willingly do, as two of them have died fince the world to thee hath been fo hateful ; and alfo as their exemplary fates have fcarce reached thy folitudes ; and I would that thefe may awaken in thee deep attention, they being of no ordinary character, and feem largely to partake of that retributive juftice, that fo clearly marked the end of Herod the Idumean, and equally that of Salome, the dancer. ()f HEROD-ANTIPAS, fon of the Great Idumean, thou knoweft all ; and I need only remind thee how caufeleffly he divorced the lovely daughter of Aretas, King of the Stony Araby ; alfo of his fedu&ion of, or rather being feduced by, and his inceftuous marriage with Herodias, but after her hufband s death, Antipas being brother of Herod Philip (not the Tetrarch) ; likewife of his dealing towards the Baptift, whom he imprifoned, and then flew, utterly without caufe, or even accufation. And further would I remind thee of his cruel mockery, and unkind treatment of the Great Nazarene, whofe life he could have faved by a fingle word and which word was not given ; not becaufe Herod judged him guilty of death, * This firft of the family has always been called, by way of diftinftion, HEROD THE GREAT. 1 4 o Chronicles of Cartapfnius, century \. The Herodian Family Death of Herodias. but mainly as the Nazarene would not flatter him, by working fome miracle to fatisfy an idle curiofity ! and finally I may here note his bafe confpiracy againft his emperor Tiberius, and his friend, Caius Caligula, both being, indeed, his earlieft and kindeft patrons ! Thefe are fome of the many outrages committed by this bad man. They are all well known of thee, fave the laft, which caufed Caligula, fcarce two years ago, to banifh him to Lugdunum, and to confer upon his brother, Herod-Agrippa, the whole of his large pofleflions.* J^erodias voluntarily participated in her hufband s exile that being, probably, the only virtuous a6t of her whole infamous life ; and therein, her reply to Caligula (upon his tendering to her money and liberty, through the refpect he bore towards her brother Agrippa, whom he greatly liked) was a truly noble one, and worthy a far better woman than Herodias ; " Mojl noble Emperor" faid Herodias, " thou dealejl with me indeed after a magnificent fa/hion ; and as truly becomes tbyfelf : but the kindnefs I bear my hujband forbids me to partake thy gift of money , or thy exemption from banij})- ment -for it is not jujl that /, who have been made a partner in his profperity, Jhould now forfake him in his adverfity." ^he career of the third Herod, named AGRIPPA, fon of Arifto- bulus, and grandfon of Herod the firft, has been a ftill more varied and brilliant one, though far lefs wicked ; but its fatal termination, only a few days fmce, was fo evidently punitory, and therefore miraculous, as to afTure us that, if the God of Abraham doth fome- times arreft nations in their mad career, fo will he likewife fome- times fay to individuals " Fool ! know that thy foul is now required of thee." You, Cartaphilus, muft have heard much of this Herod- Agrippa in the times we firft knew each other he being only four years thy fenior : but during the paft ten years, his life has been that of an elegant and truly accomplimed worldling a man of high fafhion a moft fafcinating and bewildering ftar in all brilliant aflemblages the favourite alike of princes and princeffes the cherifhed friend of the moft powerful and defpotic of emperors a boundlefs fpendthrift, to whom, when his own coffers were often exhaufted, the purfes of diftinguifhed women, as well as of men, were freely thrown open a man of fome occafional humanity, but oftener of cruel and murderous tyranny : fuch, in a few words, was Herod-Agrippa ! When a very young man, though wedded, he vifited Rome ; where he much needed, and freely received the judicious counfels of Antonia, who had ever been greatly devoted * This took place about nine years after the crucifixion, A.D. 43. Herod- Antipas, and his wife Herodias, died in wretched exile, fhortly after Salome s miferable fate. Letter xiv. Cf)0 WiW&m^ JetO. 141 The Herodian Family. to his mother Berenice. Drufus the hufband of Antonia, and fon of the emperor Tiberius, as alfo the monarch himfelf, greatly be friended Agrippa ; who, during this vifit, conciliated all hearts by his youth, by the amenity of his manners, the fingular elegance of his perfon, and by the utmoft liberality, free of oftentatious extra vagance. But his mother Berenice died, as alfo his friend Drufus ; the Emperor likewife had become inacceflible from grief at the lofs of his fon : fo that Agrippa being now much left to himfelf, became fo thoughtlefs and diflblute, that his property was foon expended, and his health greatly impaired. In the midft of millions of human beings there in Rome, all of whom knew fomething of Agrippa ; and furrounded by thoufands who, in his profperity had greatly admired and courted him, he was aftonimed to find himfelf in abfolute want, and none to aid him ! f^n this condition, Agrippa haftened into Idumea, where he refolved to terminate his exiftence : but his wife Cypros prevailed upon him to live ; and his fifter, the infamous Herodias, during her profperity conferred upon him the government of Tiberias, with fome infignificant penfions ! Jgfuch a ftate of reftri&ed dependence, however, ill fuited fo ambitious a fpirit as Agrippa s ; and, though it was the refult of fevere neceffity, he could no longer brook the ridicule of his uncle ; who fometimes jeered him as to his tiny dominions, and hisjiipen- diary obligations to his fifter ! In fore difguft he forfook them all, recklefs as to what might follow : but he was kindly fuftained by the proconful Flaccus, of Syria, whom he had known at Rome when in profperity. With Flaccus he was foon at variance, occafioned, however, by the machinations of his half-brother Ariftobulus ; who whifpered in the ear of the Proconful fome idle tale refpecling Agrippa s perfidy in favouring the Damafcenes for money, when contending with the Sidonians in the matter of their boundaries little, if any, of which was true. jFJgrippa, now again deftitute, had recourfe to a freedman of his mother Berenice ; and from him obtained a loan of fome feventeen thoufand drachmas ; for which he freely gave him his bond! Haftening with this new fupply towards Rome, he was arrefted by the Procurator of Jamnia for a much larger fum, which that officer had formerly loaned him, under plaufible promifes of its certain and fpeedy return. Agrippa, upon this arreft, promptly aflured his creditor, in one of his moft winning and gracious ways, that payment fhould forthwith be made : but, gaining an hour thereby, and taking inftant advantage of the darknefs of the night, he efcaped in an Alexandrine veflel ; and, on his arrival there, he obtained a further loan from the Alabarch of the Egyptian Jews ! this frefh fupply, fo needful and unexpected, this Herodian 1 42 Ci)romcle0 of Cartapfjiluis, Century \. The Herodian Family. loft no time in making his way to the Imperial City ; where Tibe rius received him with kindnefs and distinction : but, unhappily for this patrician furcifer, a letter from the Procurator of Jamnia reached Tiberius only a few hours after ! and the Emperor, to his honour, inftantly withdrew all further intercourfe, until he mould wholly difcharge the debt due to that creditor, and thus remove the ftain his fudden flight from Jamnia had caft upon his name. Xi ere 5 once more, his kind friend Antonia aflifted him ; and the procurator s claim was paid. Agrippa then attached himfelf to Antonia s grandfon, Cams Caligula : and his pleafing ways having gained him many new friends, he obtained a loan from fome one elfe, to the amount of a million of denarii ; wherewith he difcharged without delay his obligation to Antonia ; and liberally ufed the refidue in continued diffipations with the young Caligula, and in various loans to him, that came at convenient times for the recklefs youth. It fo occurred however, not long after, that in one of his many rambles with his new friend, Agrippa unguardedly exprefled a hope to Caius, that TIBERIUS would foon leave the Empire to him, inftead of that Emperor s grandfon ! This bafe and injudi cious remark being overheard by their attendant, was early com municated to Tiberius ! Agrippa was then living in almoft royal fplendour : but his magnificent purple clothes were promptly co vered with heavy iron chains ; and he was thus conveyed to a prifon ; where he remained until that emperor s death. Antonia and others had often and earnestly petitioned Tiberius for his releafe ; but all in vain. And here, my Cartaphilus, wonderful as the tale furely is, it is not more fo than what befell others of this remarkable family nor is it lefs proved, or lefs credited j I pray thee, therefore, liften to it ; and, whilft aftonifhed, be ad- monifhed ! "mj^hen Agrippa had been in cuftody about half a year, a German foothfayer ftrangely obtained entrance into his prifon : and looking about him in all directions, he beheld an owl perched upon an adjoining tree. He bade Agrippa look at it, and then faid, 11 Thou, O Agrippa! wilt foon be as free as that bird and alfo raifed to the higheft honours, but, in five days after thou haft gazed upon that owl again, thou malt furely die ! " ^Q^ot long after this remarkable prediction, the emperor Tiberius was gathered to his fathers ; and CAIUS CALIGULA came to the throne.* jjtfgrippa was inftantly releafed ; and received from his friend Caius a diadem ; being likewife made king of Gaulanites, Batania, * Tiberius died March 16, A.D. 37, V^E. 43 true era; and in the 78th year of his age. Caius Caligula reigned ^y. iom. 8^. Letter xiv. Cfjc Wfitf&ziiwb 3ieto. 143 The Herodian Family. and Traconitis, and alfo Tetrarch of Lyfanias. Caius then pre- fented to him a magnificent golden chain, of equal weight with the iron one that fo long had bound him ! ^Jut the wicked rule of Caligula lafted fcarcely four years ; he was aflaflinated, and CLAUDIUS, fon of Drufus, and grandfon of Tiberius, fucceeded him. ^Q^ew honours and pofTefiions were lavifhed upon Herod- Agrippa. He was raifed by Claudius to the rank of Conful : and Samaria, JUDEA, Abila, and a part of Libanus were added to his other ample dominions, fo that, in extent they had become equal to thofe enjoyed by the firft Herod, his renowned, but odioufly wicked grandfather. {Caligula had forely opprefled our country ; but Claudius greatly mitigated our condition ; and only lately confirmed to the Alexan drian Jews the freedom of that city and now permits them every where the free ufe of their religion forbidding them, however, to hold afTemblies in the Imperial City.* jEIg r PP a ) king of Judea, vifited Jerufalem about eighteen months ago ; and after many thank-offerings in the Temple, fuf- pended there, in gratitude to Caligula, the golden chain he had received, when releafed from prifon ! This was among the firft of thofe facrilegious ats that brought on his ruin : truly, Cartaphilus, thefe formed a chain far more galling to him, than the iron one with which Tiberius had bound him, for the God of our forefathers fees through all of one s life ; and, if not early, yet at laft, brings the whole together ; and that golden chain, idolatroujly fufpended in the holy Temple, was, doubtlefs, not forgotten. Now, dear Cartaphilus, thus far, the German foothfayer is, no doubt, winning thy confidence ! From Jerufalem Agrippa went, for a time, to Berytus; where he built a theatre, a portico, and extenfive baths ; and ended not until he raifed alfo a fplendid amphitheatre, in which were praclifed all the Roman and other Heathen cuftoms fo little known of Jews, and to our holy religion fo abhorrent. In that amphitheatre, the gladiatorial games were on fo extenfive a fcale, that, as tis faid, no lefs than feven hundred criminals were thus engaged, all of whom were flain, or grievoufly wounded, by other gladiators, after the fafhion of thefe cruel and wicked gentiles ! And here again, dear Cartaphilus, thou wilt remember the footh fayer ! J^t is not to be wondered at that he, who had fo utterly for- faken the religion of our country, fave on public and formal occa- * About five years after, that is in A.D. 49 and in the early part of the ninth year of his reign, Claudius banifhed the Jews wholly from Rome; and, this no little prejudiced the condition of the Chrijiians. 144 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. The Herodian Family. fions, and who, to amufe an idle and unfeeling mafs, exhibited to them the gladiatorial fcenes at Berytus I have named, would not hefitate to perfecute the unhappy Nazarenes, whenever his popularity in any way demanded it. And fo was the fa6l, for, only a few weeks ago, he beheaded a moil beloved difciple of the great Naza- rene one JAMES, of Bethfaida : and foon, thereafter, he caufed the much-famed PETER to be imprifoned, and fet over him a guard of fixteen foldiers, intending that he fhould fhare the fate of James, if demanded by the Jews at the then approaching PafT- over ! But oh, my Cartaphilus, doubt it not, this Peter was mira- culoufly refcued by an Angel ; and on the very night before the intended execution ! Peter was then in a profound fleep ; when fuddenly the prifon was effulgent with a dazzling light the chains fell from his limbs the doors and maffive iron gate opened of their own accord ; and the Heavenly MefTenger left him in fafety in the open ftreet ! Such, at leaft, is the uncontradi6led account we have of this wonderful matter.* ( j?Jgrippa then went to Csefarea ; and there he celebrated games in honour of his beloved Emperor Claudius : and, if Peter s afto- nifhing refcue awakened him not, it feems that Jehovah faw that his cup of iniquity would contain no more ! for it happened that, on the occafion of thofe games, when entering the theatre in the early morning, the rays of the then rifmg fun fhone brightly and directly upon Agrippa s magnificently fpangled robes, reflecting myriads of dazzling beams into the eyes of a vaft and admiring audience. His flatterers inftantly cried out, " A prefent God ! Be thou merciful to us ; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, we henceforth JJjall own thee as beyond mortals /" ^j^he infatuated Agrippa repelled not this idolatrous falutation, but feemed pleafed with their impious flattery. At that inftant he lifted up his eyes, and faw an owl perched on a rope above his head ! He at once remembered the German foothfay er s words! * The James, here mentioned, was the elder of that name, who, with John, were fons of Zebedee, John being ufually called the Saviour s " beloved dif ciple," and is fuppofed to have been the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana, where Jefus wrought his firft miracle. The death of James the elder is recorded in Acts xii. and alfo the imprifonment and miraculous efcape of Peter. This James is the patron Saint of Spain. James, the younger, was fon of Cleophas, by Mary, the fifter of that Mary, who was mother of Jefus, lince called the BlefTed Virgin. James, the younger, alfo called the " Lefs" and likewife the " J u ft" was murdered by his countrymen about eighteen years after the death of James the elder; and, in the earlieft copies of Jofephus, the definition of Jenifalem is afcribed to God s anger againft that murder : this, from one who denied Chrift to be the MefTiah, is a marvellous proof not only of James 1 exalted reputation for piety, but alfo that Chrift was the true MefTiah, as James perimed for refufmg to deny that facT; ! 23anliering Jeto. 145 The Herodian Family. and knew that his releafe from chains, and his fubfequent prof- perity were all as that foothfayer had predicted why then, fhould the reft of the prophecy pro.ve untrue ? A fevere pain inftantly feized him ; and he exclaimed, " Ye Tyrians, Sidonians, Jews, and others, behold ! I, whom ye have juft called a GOD, am .fummoned by the true God to leave this world ! Providence thus reproves thy lying words : for, he who was your immortal is now hurried to almoft inftant death ! I have lived with fplendour, and in a profperous manner, but now muft yield to God s will." X) urm S five days, his agonies were unimaginable : the people fat in fackcloth, and with their wives and children, praying for their king s recovery ! but on the fifth day thereafter, he died ; being then in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and in the feventh of his entire reign, three whereof were over the dominions of Phi lip, the late Tetrarch one over thofe of Antipas alfo ; and thefe four were during the reign of Caius Caligula, the remaining three years were under Claudius ; during which period his revenues were great, amounting to no lefs than twelve millions of drachmae.* jjUgrippa left three daughters ; and a fon of his own name, on whom the hopes of this expiring family now alone repofe. He is about feventeen, and was educated at Rome, under the care of Claudius : but ftill, he gives us no bright promife either of ability or of inclination to better our condition. Claudius deems him too young to take his father s throne : Judea, therefore, is united, for the prefent, to Syria, under the Prefect Longinus. ^r^he Jews, ftrange to fay, have very generally mourned over the death of Herod-Agrippa ; the Greeks, and others, efpecially of Samaria are much rejoiced, and even celebrated the occafion with feafts, and other unbecoming expreffions of fatisfaclion : indeed they went fb far as to tear down the ftatues of his daughters Be renice, Mariamne, and Drufilla which ftood in the royal palace, and placed them on the roof of a notorious courtezan ! X^ow matters (hall proceed with this Herod Agrippa II. when his more mature years fhall prompt Claudius, if ever, to place him where his father was, thou, Cartaphilus, as I trufr, will clofely obferve, if Rebecca can but prevail on thee at once to abandon thy folitudes. ^ have not reminded thee of that Philip, who was tetrarch of Ituraea, and fon of the fame Herod the Great, by Cleopatra of Jerufalem, his feventh wife ! He died about a year after the Cru cifixion in the 37th year of his tretrarchate, and about the 2Oth year of the reign of Tiberius. I end what I have to fay of the * About 425,000 fterling or more than two millions of dollars a large fum in thofe countries, at that time. I. L 146 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, century i. The fecond marriage of Herodias Death of Pontius Pilate. Herodian Family with him the only one, of that numerous pro geny, who feems to have had the leaft regard for mercy, truth, and juftice : his death being a natural one, (fo uncommon in this fa mily) and without iflue, his pofleffions were added to the province of Syria.* f ^Jefore ending my long epiftle, you muft forgive Death of Pan- m e, if I add to your pain and wonder, another proof of tins Pilate. Q d s indignation againft thofe who perfecuted the mighty Nazarene and his difciples. The news, O Cartaphilus, hath juft reached us, that Pontius Pilate laid violent hands upon himfelf, and terminated his exiftence at Vienna, upon the Rhone, in the province of Narbonnenfis in Gaul ! This Pilate (after being our procurator about ten years, that is, about four years before, and fix years after the great event that fo poifoned his peace) was banimed by Caius Caligula, early in his reign ; and, after an exile of poverty and mifery of fcarce more than two years, he thus ended his wretched career. The fact however is, that nearly two years be fore the death of Tiberius, the Samaritans made complaint againft Pilate, to the proconful of Syria, Vitellius who fent Marcellus into Judea to take Pilate s office, and order him to Rome ; which * It may here be proper to remind the reader of a fomewhat popular error refpefting the brothers, Philip and Herod-Philip, both fons of Herod the Great the former by Cleopatra of Jerufalem the latter by Mariamne Philip being tetrarch of Ituraea and Herod-Philip being tetrarch of Galilee. Herod-Philip had married HERODIAS, by whom he had Salome; after which Herodias di vorced him, and married his brother Herod- Antipas but not until after the death of her divorced hufband Herod-Philip. When, therefore, the Baptift reproved Herodias and Antipas for that marriage, it was not for adultery in either, but in maintenance of the Mofaic Law, which prohibited a brother from marrying the wife of a deceafed brother, or the filter of a deceafed lifter. The error alluded to arofe from the faft that the two Philips, (fons of the fame father) are often not fufficiently diftinguimed, either by the patronymic name of Herod, or by the particular tetrarchy 5 alfo by not adverting to the faf. that Herod-Philip was certainly dead, when Herodias wedded Herod-Antipas. Now, as me then had Salome by Herod-Philip, me did not come within the excep tion to the law, which legalized a marriage with a deceafed brother s wife, where there are no children and that was the fole caufe of the Baptift s cenfure of Herodias and Antipas. It was incelluous, according to that law, but not adulterous ; although Cartaphilus, in one cafe, calls it adulterous alfo, pofTibly as he thought her intentions always fo, me having divorced herfelf perhaps caufeleffly. And, as to the univerfality of that Levitical prohibition, and its obligatory force at this time ; or, as to the policy of denouncing fuch marriages in the prefent ftate of fociety, the Editor prefers to exprefs no decided opinion. The lamas and decijions of different countries have entertained different views on the fubjecl ; but even, if not obligatory on us, under the Levitical law, it may not be too much to feel that a refined fentiment, and alfo a holy tender- nefs of refpeft for that which was once law, not only in Judea, but in other countries, ought to entitle (in the prefent day) the opponents to fuch marriages to a moft refpeftful confederation. -f See Appendix, Genealogy of this Family. Letter xiv. cfre cKBannering; 3leto, 147 The lovely folitudes of Pella Caiphas removed. was done. At the paflbver of the next year, Vitellius vifited Je- rufalem ; and there found Pilate ftill lingering. The complaint againft Pilate was his exceffive cruelty towards fome miferably deluded Samaritans ; who had aflembled under a falfe Mefliah - y armed themfelves, and proceeded to Mount Gerizim under the filly notion of finding fome facred veflels, faid to have been there depofited by our Matter Mofes ! Pilate intercepted their march thither, and flew the greater part of them. Pilate could not ven ture to continue longer in Jerufalem. Vitellius was all-powerful ; the Jews had received him with unufual kindnefs ; he granted them exemption from an odious tax alfo fome privileges, and efpecially the removal of CAIAPHAS from the high-priefthood ! thus, as thou wilt fee, O Cartaphilus, Pilate and Caiaphas fall from power together and through that very Imperial authority they had fo wickedly invoked, fix years before, for the cruel death of, furely, a wife and good man of, furely, a prophet of, furely, a worker of miracles let the Jews and others fay what they may, as to his being the long-expected Meflias ! Only one word more, ever beloved Cartaphilus, as to thine own fad condition and mine for if thou art wretched, can Rebecca be otherwife ! My mother s faith Jhould be mine ; my father s will foon be the fame as hers ; mine hath been too much that of thine, fave in all unkindnefs to the Nazarenes that I muft ever abhor. But, Cartaphilus, I know not how to gainfay one word uttered, either by my mother, or by Artemas, the brightnefs of proof, indeed, doth but grow the brighter every day ! And, O Cartaphilus, I charge thee to remember that little word of hope \ which the Great Nazarene uttered to thee in the Temple " Thou art yet in the gall of bitternefs !" doth not that word "yet" prophetically import that thou mayeft hereafter believe, and be faved ? What that falvation is what the extent of the faith and how obtained, I know not ; but Artemas and my Mother afTure me there is virtue in the death and refurrecl:ion of the Naza rene ! that falvation comes thereby that faith may become in the mind an affured certainty / and that it is obtained by prayer, often coming into the heart and fubduing it, like fome wind that bloweth from caufes and directions unlooked for and unknown, but with effects never to be forgotten ! jffnd now, Cartaphilus, here am I at PELLA, in perfect fecu- rity ; and furrounded by every beauty that nature, mo rals, religion, and domeftic love can lavifh upon me. The Nazarenes, and very many ftubborn, perhaps fierce, Jews in the new faith, but of exalted virtue and intelligence, are now eagerly feeking thefe mountains, and the repofe of their lovely (hades and valleys. Thefe good Nazarenes fpread over 148 Chronicles of Cattapfrilus, Century i. An Hebraic expreffion explained. their abodes an air of delightful tranquillity, fuch as we have no where enjoyed for fome years paft. Nature, in apparent fympathy with our feelings, is here moft lovely nearly in perpetual verdure ; the trees, alfo, are vocal with many birds, whofe fongs are as varied as their plumage the frefh-blown violets, and rofes, and lilies drink the fhining dews of the early morn, and, at the evening- dawn, give out their moft delicious fragrance ; the fpicy breezes of the valley embalm the very fkies ; and the curious infecls of every form and colour, revel in the fun, and hum their gratitude for the Creator s bounty, in a language I often earneftly defire to know.* (4H.e make frequent and delightful excurfions over the moun tains, to Jabefh-Gilead ; and fometimes down the placid furface of the little ftream that glides by Pella, until we almoft reach the Jordan ! f ^Jut what are all thefe, and much more, to a foul that hath loft its firft and only love ? they delight me not, fave for the moment ; and that aching void foon recalls our mutual forrows. FARE-THEE- WELL. REBECCA. * " The evening-dawn is an Hebraic expreffion that may need fome expla nation. The word dawn, with us, is confined to the firft approach of light in the morning ; and is ftriclly equivalent to diluculum-aurora, and not to crepuf- culum, or twilight. But, among the Jews, whofe day commenced at the evening twilight, when the ftars firtt become vifible, the phrafe " Evening-dawn," and other expremons ufed by the Evangelifts, as where they fay " it began to dawn towards the firft day of the week" and "the Sabbath was going to dawn" and efpecially, where Luke fays "the dawn of night," are all fully juftified, not only from the fail that their day began at twilight, but becaufe the moon, and, in her abfence, the ftars, and the milky-way, in that country, fliine with remarkable brightnefs, the luftre of Venus being fometimes in the evening fo great, as to caft a fhadow from furrounding objects ! The Jews, therefore, having had two dawns, were compelled to feek for language that mould obviate ambiguity ; and this was effected by the expremons " evening dawn" the "dawn of morning" and often by the context, or attendant fafts. Luke s exprefTion " While the dawn was deep," is beautifully fignificant of the " very early morning," (as it is otherwife rendered) that is, whilft the approaching fun was yet deep beneath the horizon. And it may be further noted, that Rebecca s allufion to the fragrance of all nature being more deli cious in the evening-dawn, is philofophically correct, as the fun s warmth has by that time elaborated the juices and odours, which are inftantly abforbed by the evening moifture, and thereby more powerfully affeft the fmell, than is ever the cafe in the morning. -f- The Nazarenes were very early, and prophetically, admonifhed to abandon Jerufalem, and flee to the mountains. It is well known that, when the pre dicted calamities approached, they fought in Pella, and other mountainous fitu- ations beyond the Jordan, an afylum ; and there they remained, for a time, in perfect fafety. But, as the conteft between the Holy Spirit and the Powers of Darknefs was then very great, no permanent fecurity was promifed to the Faithful any where : fo that, eventually, even Pella was dertroyed, and the Nazarenes were fo hunted after, that it became a proverb that the " blood of the Martyrs was the feed of the Church !" Letter xv. c&c QDtantienng 3[eto, i 49 An Admonition The three Converts. LETTER XV. RABBI-EfiEN-EzRA TO CARTAPHILUS. PELLA, Month of Cijleu, 16; A.M. 3805. [November 22, A.D. 45.] AM rejoiced to find, O Cartaphilus, from thy letter to Rebecca, juft received, that thou haft fo far caft off thy gloom, as to have Cotpverfan of , , ,, J . ,- i- i bben-Lzra ana abandoned the pernicious lohtudes in O f R e i, eccaf which, during eleven years, the world to thee has been wholly dead. And I have caufe further to greet thee that now thou art in Jerufalem ; and in quiet pofleffion, not only of thy own long withheld patrimony, but likewife of the ample eftates that have come to thee by the death of thy maiden aunt. "mj^ealth is indeed a blejjing when rightly gained, and rightly ufed when, in large part regarded as a facred truft, freely to be difpenfed in judicious charities but the greateft of curfes, if wafted in riotous living, or, if hoarded from an abftraft love of mammon. Thou art now in the prime of life, when youth hath wholly pafled, and age is no way upon thee ; and, withal, having health and worldly knowledge and wealth and yet, one thing is greatly want ing in thee ; without which all outward things are but as tinkling cymbals, yea, as light and air and food are to him who is in a fealed tomb ! I know, Cartaphilus, thou art fick with fin : of what avail, then, is the light of heaven to thine outward eyes, when the inner ones are in darknefs how will the air refrefh thee, when the next current is poifoned and how will food nouriih thee, when thy foul hath no digeftion for it ? all is turned to bitternefs at laft, when the inner man is unfound : the world, for a time, may ferve thee ; but thy days, nay hours, will be but a ceafelefs conflict between light and darknefs health and difeafe hope and defpair ! As God is one, fo is the human foul no divided loyalty no two fervices can it endure. I call upon thee, then, if happinefs be thy aim, to caft from thee all, fave the ftrife for, and hope of, Heaven. I rejoice, then, to tell thee that Rebecca and I have joined our dear Prifcilla in open adoration, unto death if need be, of Him who died on Calvary for the whole world truly, no lefs for the Gentiles, than for Abraham s feed ! We have great need of thee, my Carta philus, to make us wholly happy for thou haft ever been one of us in all things, fave in that ugly, hideous acl, that fo long hath feparated us : fuffer not defyalr to be thy ruin ; there is no fin fo black, that may not be warned out until the foul is as bright and 50 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century Artemas and Princefs Drufilla, white as fnow ! O that thou couldft rejoice with us in our fpiritual riches, a thoufand times more than we truly do with thee, in thy temporal wealth if thou doft but wifely ufe it. FARE-THEE-WELL. EfiEN-EzRA. LETTER XVI. PRISCILLA TO CARTAPHILUS. PELLA, Month of Tebeth, 5th day; A.M. 3805. [December 20, A. D. 45.] |HY generous letter to my daughter Rebecca hath filled us all with great joy but only, my Cartaphi- lus, as it gives us the brighteft hopes that thy heart is changing, and that foon thou wilt be one of us in the household of faith. rtemas (as doubtlefs will furprife thee to hear) is inftantly to wed the pious and lovely princefs Drufilla^ daughter Artemas ^weds of AcBARiis, prince of Edeffa. Who this prince of /> P f7l" Ce ^ EdefTa is, and how Artemas firft came fo worthily to beftow his affections on this faireft and moft excel lent of maidens, I will prefently relate. ^hy own refolution never to wed, after Rebecca s oft-repeated declarations to thee, by letter, that fhe never could be thine, but would ever continue faithfully to love thee, added to Artemas like aflurances in refpecl to Rebecca, many years ago, that aught of love he mould never whifper unto Rebecca, ought to have fettled thy mind as fully in regard to them, as in refpecl: to thyfelf and her. We were, therefore, furprifed at thy late entreaties that Rebecca mould accept the hand of Artemas repeated alfo in thy laft letter; and with urgent folicitation that fhe would yield to thy bounteous offer to beftow upon her in dowry, two-thirds of thy now ample poffeflions ! This, I fay, hath alfo much rejoiced us all, as it mows not only thy perfect love, but that thy heart is expanding to the moft generous influences ; and that the afliduous love of money in thy early life, which betrayed thee into mifery and crime, hath now paffed from thee, as the glowing morn diffolves the dews of night : but thy generous endowment is moft gratefully declined ; and Rebecca hath bid me take her place in this, and all things in reply to thy welcomed letter. Her heart is full of love and grati tude for thy proffered kindnefs and likewife in regard to Artemas, knowing well the caufe that made it fit for him to keep from thee, until now, all knowledge of his love towards Drufilla. Thus, O Cartaphilus, have all matters refpecting the happinefs of all, at Letter xvi. Cjjc Gftlantiering 3ieto, 1 5 1 Princ Agbarus of Edefla Thaddeus. length eventuated as, under all the circumftances, we all mould wifh : and our blifs would know of no alloy wert thou, as Artemas long hath been, and Drufilla and Rebecca and Eben-Ezra now are, zealous in that new and enlivening faith, which feems deftined to be noifed throughout the world ; and to awaken all mankind to the new lights (bed upon the only religion God ever revealed to man ! jF[nd now, as promifed, I will detail how Agbarus and Artemas firft met and how " Drufilla" who, as her name imports " watered by the dew *," firft became watered ^ by thofe of the new falvation, and then beftowed freely on Artemas her heart, he having been, under grace, her fpiritual guide to that wondrous change in her, and her princely father ! ]J|now, then, that in the life time of the mighty Nazarene, the fame of his miracles, and of his infallible cure of the worft difeafes, reached into far diftant countries, caufing many from even the remoteft parts of Paleftine to vifit the Holy City, with the hope of there meeting Jefus, and of being cured of fome grievous malady. But Prince Agbarus, who lived fomewhat too remote, and reigned in glory over nations near the Euphrates, was too much wafted by a foul difeafe, incurable by any known human means, to vifit Jeru- falem. He, therefore, defpatched a trufty meflenger to Jefus, with a fuppliant letter, imploring deliverance from the dreadful malady ! A copy of this Letter, and of the Reply vouchfafed by Jefus, I now enclofe they being handed to me by Artemas, who received them from Agbarus, as you will prefently find. ^^he Great Nazarene declined to cure the difeafe at that time ; but promifed to fend a difciple^ at fome future day, to heal his affliction, and to beftow Salvation on him and his family ! j{9L few years after the Refurredtion, Thomas Didymus, one of the Apoftles, was divinely actuated to fend into EdefTa Thaddeus^ alfo an Apoftle, and one of the Seventy, as a herald of Chrift s doctrines, and to that city Artemas journeyed with him. Imme diately on his arrival in the dominions of Agbarus, Thaddeus pro claimed the name of Jefus; and confirmed his authority by fome notable miracles. Agbarus fufpedled at once, that this Thaddeus might be the promifed difciple, who was to heal his foul difeafe, and bring happinefs alfo to all his family, by a falvation that reached far beyond the body ! He, therefore, promptly fent for the pious meflenger, whom he received in royal ftate, his family and nobles being around him. " jjBCrt thou truly the promifed one," faid Agbarus, " fent of Jefus the Son of God, to heal my ficknefs, and give life to all my family?" Thaddeus anfwered, " Seeing that thou haft faith in 152 Chronicles of Cartapf) lus, century \. Cure and Converiion of Prince Agbarus. Him who fent me, I declare unto thee I am that Meffenger and, if thou believeft with renewed faith, the petitions of thy heart {hall be granted unto thee." Agbarus replied, " My confidence in Him would have prompted me, forthwith, to have defpatched forces to deftroy thofe Jews who crucified him, had not the Roman power been too ftrong for me." Whereupon Thaddeus faid, " I place my hand upon thee, O Prince Agbarus ! be thou, in the Name of the Lord Jefus, healed of thine infirmity ! " ()n that and the day following, many others were cured in like manner, and the Gofpel was powerfully expounded to the afTembled multitude, many of whom, with the whole family of Agbarus, embraced the new faith. ^he Apoftle and his attendants were moft hofpitably enter tained by Agbarus in his princely palace ; who likewife com manded gold and filver to be given to them ; but they would none of it, faying, u What hath through us been given, hath been freely given." jff-\ rternas, ever zealous in the difcharge of all he undertakes, and deeply verfed, moreover, in the Scriptures, as well as in much other learning, foon eftablimed himfelf in the deepeft affections of the Prince, in whofe family he continued for a time. The excel lent Drufilla liftened to his holy counfels, they wandered together on the fhaded and flowery banks of the fmall clear ftream that borders upon EdefTa, and empties itfelf into the wide Euphrates : there he would often converfe much upon the glories of the new fpiritual kingdom : but, as it is natural with hearts deftined for each other, they likewife fpoke much of love. Drufilla was then fcarce eighteen ; Artemas, as you know, exceeded her by fully nine years, yet are their ages now well afforted ; for Artemas is highly gifted with extraordinary health and manly beauty, and he now thirty-feven fhe twenty-eight. EdefTa s Prince, with the livelieft approval, famftioned their mutual love and Artemas, after an efpoufal of ten years, now writes that they are foon to wed, and that, although their nuptials are to be celebrated with a becoming fplendour, yet all oftentatious extravagance will be avoided, as being unfuited to the changed views of Agbarus, and of all that princely family. ^j^he vaft wealth of Artemas, moreover, enables him to indulge his liberalities in a different way ; and his charitable propenfities will be manifefted by numerous fmall dowries for all fuch poor and meritorious perfons of Edefla, and the neighbourhood, as may honour his nuptial day with the celebration of their own. jrtemas, as I learn, has feldom written to thee fince his Let ters on the Refurre6r.ion thy feeming neglect of which fo much grieved him: but he will now inftantly write and fully fatisfy thee Letter xvn. c&e bannering Jeto. 1 53 JESUS and Agbarus. relpecling Drufilla, and the caufes of his filence thereon : and I muft alfo ftate that Rebecca was likewife ignorant, for many years, of his devotion to the maiden but oh, how great is her joy at hearing that he is now actually foon to wed ! r he following are the copies of thofe deeply interefting epiftles, fent to me by Artemas : the originals of which are depofited in the archives of EdefTa ; and from them he obtained, with princely per- miffion, what I now fend thee. LETTER XVII. FROM KING AGBARUS, OF EDESSA, TO JESUS, OF JERUSALEM. GBARUS, Prince of EdefTa, to JESUS, the excellent " SAVIOUR, who has appeared in the borders of Je- " rufalem, fends greeting. " r he reports refpe6ling thee, and thy cures, as " performed by thee without medicines, and without " the ufe of herbs, I have heard. " ^K^or, as it is faid, the blind are made to fee, the lame to u walk, by thee ; and thou doft cleanfe the lepers, caft out impure " Spirits and Demons ; and thou healeft thofe tormented by long " difeafe and thou raifeft the dead! " ]I^earing all thefe things of thee, I have concluded in my " own mind, one of two things either that thou art GOD, and " doft thefe things as having defcended from Heaven, or that, " doing them, thou art the SON OF GOD ! Therefore, have I now " written, and befeech thee to vifit me, and to heal the difeafe u with which I am afflicted. " ^ have alfo heard that the Jews^ murmur againft thee, and "are plotting to injure thee : I have, however, zfrnall but noble " State, which is fufficient for Thee and me." ANSWER OF JESUS TO THE LETTER OF KING AGBARUS. art thou, O Agbarus ! who, without feeing, haft " believed in me. For it is written concerning me, that they " who have feen me will not believe, that they who have not " feen may believe and live. " !l3 ut > n re g ar "d to what thou haft written, that I mould " come unto thee, it is neceflary that I mould fulfil all things here, " for which I have been fent. And after this fulfilment, thus to " be received again by Him that fent me. And after I have been 54 C&ronicle.s of Cartapfrilus, Century Artemas and Saul of Tarfus. " received up, I will fend to thee a certain one of my difciples, " that he may heal thy affliction, and give life to thee, and to thofe " who are with thee." ^ am curious to know the dates of thefe letters ; and mail requeft of Artemas to afcertain them for me : but, as they were both delivered by our well-known tabellarius, Ananias, who, though old, is ftill living in Jerufalem, near the Water-gate, you may probably obtain the information from him, fooner than I can from Artemas to whom I do not defire to write, feeing that he is now fo much engrofled with his approaching nuptials. FARE- THEE-WELL. PRISCILLA. LETTER XVIII. ARTEMAS TO SAUL OF TARSUS. EDESSA. Nifan, 8th day; A. M. 3808. [Friday, i9th March, A.D. 48.] I WELVE years have elapfed, my brother Saul, fince, with Thaddeus, I firft came to EdefTa ; and how ten of thofe years were fpent with that holy man, thou art, doubtlefs, fully informed by him ; and alfo that, on my return two years ago, my long-delayed nuptials were celebrated with the princefs Drufilla, the only daughter of thine admiring friend Agbarus.* ^ now am blefTed with a lovely fon, whom I have named Thaddeus^ in refpecl: for him, who, in our long journeyings, proved to me the kindeft advifer, fuftaining me in all things by his hea venly wifdom, when my own much feeble nature was fo often nigh exhaufted ; for, I confefs to thee, I fometimes fighed for Edefla, our abfence being very long, and our toils exceedingly great and inceflant, whilft paffing through Syria, Mefopotamia, Arabia, and moft of Perfia, where I left that zealous Apoftle, who will remain there, probably a year or two longer. ^JJJ^ith his approval, and I truft with thine, I haftened to my beloved Drufilla ; and am now a hufband and a father ! Thefe, my PAUL, for fo I muft now call thee,f are to me new, and deeply * It is probable that Saul, fliortly after his converfion, vifited Mefopotamia, and there became acquainted with Prince Agbarus. f- This alludes to the then recent change of Saul s name to Paul, which took place about four years before the date of this letter, when Artemas was in the Eaftern countries, and about twelve years after Saul s converfion. It is faid, that whilft Saul was at Paphos, in the ifland of Cyprus, the Roman proconful, Letter xvm. Cfje (KBan&ering Jeto. 155 The Apoftle Thaddeus, or Jude. refponfible relations; which, I devoutly pray, and firmly truft, may never conflict with thofe that are yet much higher : but, as I find in my Drufilla, and in her princely and pious father, all that can be looked for in mortals, and infinitely more than I merit, I feel as if I fhall be made a better Chriftian, from my being a hufband and father ; as I am likewife fure that we are all better hufbands and fathers, from being made Chriftians.* 2C have juft been informed, my Paul, and with grief, by a letter from Aquila, that thou haft been lately vifited by another calamity, in being ftoned at Lyjtra^ nearly unto death ! and that, too, by the very people who, only a little before, had witnefled thy reftor- ing one born a cripple, and had thereupon defired to worfliip thee, as Mercurius, and one Barnabas, as Jupiter ! Oh, who fhall fathom the infatuation and wonderful blindnefs of the natural man ! for, as I alfo hear, this fudden turn againft thee was produced by the coming unto Lyftra of a few ftraggling, wicked Jews from Antioch and Iconium ; who, proving themfelves more eloquent than even Mercurius, and more powerful than Jupiter, inftantly drew over the Lyftrans to murder their Gods thee and Barnabas ! But thou, O Paul, haft experienced enough of man s fickle and bafe nature, and haft alfo endured too many fevere labours, with perils of life and limb, to have much furprife at the conduct of the Lyftrans. ^ hope foon to hear from my good father Thaddeus ; who, no doubt, will give us great caufe to rejoice ; for, among the Gentiles he hath fhown himfelf a good hufbandman; one who plants deeply, and waters freely one who knows the various foils, and adopts accordingly his modes of cultivation. f Sergius Paulus, and many others, became converts to the new faith, not only through the great eloquence of Saul, but from their witnefling his infliftion of inftant blindnefs upon the magician Barjefus, for his wicked attempt to refift Saul s preaching, by exerting over Sergius Paulus the influence he had gained by pretended magical powers. The change, however, of the name of the great apoftle, is probable to have arifen, either from Paul being the equivalent Roman name for Saul, or, from Sergius Paulus and his family calling him Paul, through great deference and love for the apoftle, as their fpiritual parent, or, poffibly, from Saul s adopting the Proconful s latter name, in refpecl for one who had proved himfelf fo firm and ufeful a patron of the then infant church. * Thefe remarks of Artemas refpecling marriage, feem to have been drawn from him, as knowing Paul s fomewhat peculiar views on the fubjecl, and more efpecially as it regarded the earlieft propagators of the new religion. f Thaddeus feems to have been known by feveral other names as Libbeus, Judas, and Jude. He was fon of Cleophas brother of James the Lefs and coufm (according to humanity) of the SAVIOUR. He is the author of the Epiftle under the name of Jude ; and was probably a hujbandman j to which occupation Artemas has evident allufion. Jude lived to a very advanced age; 1 56 Chronicles of Cattapinlu.s, century i. Aquila Prifca Artemas. ^ have been pained to learn from Aquila, that he and Prifca have been recently compelled to leave Rome in confequence of the EdicT: of Claudius, which banimes all Jews from the Imperial City. It feems that the late troubles in Paleftine have greatly dif- pleafed Claudius ; and that he, who hath fo generally favoured our countrymen, is now lefs difpofed to be kind to them. Aquila, it feems, is now at Corinth, labouring in the great work of our Mafter, and fuftaining himfelf and family by his early occupation, that of making leathern tents for the fupply of Roman troops. JHs I further learn from Aquila, that thou wilt fhortly be at Antioch, after patting through Pifidia and Pamphilia, I mall not fail, Deo juvante, to meet thee there anon. Until then, my Paul, FARE-THEE-WELL. ARTEMAS. LETTER XIX. AQUILA TO ARTEMAS [now at Cezfarea^ late Strata?? s Tower }.* DERBE. Creation, 3814. Adar, i9th. [Saturday, Feb. 18, A. D. 54.] INCE thy departure from Antioch, where we united with Paul, about three years ago, I have heard little of thee, my excellent Artemas ; but I know thee to be, as thy name imports, " whole and foundj and doubt not that our little communion, of late, hath been only occafioned by our being both fo much tofled about ; and efpecially thou, in thy zealous exertions to advance the mighty caufe of the Chrijtians^ as we are now generally called at Antioch and other places. ^f\ muft be a great delight to thee, Artemas, to be once more at Caefarca, thy native city, there, to revifit the fpots remfnifcences of th X y outhful Primes to recall to thy faithful remembrance fo many places, now facred by their aflbciations to roam over others, where thy mind firft began to expand, and afterwards to drink in fo largely the elements of thy prefent ufefulnefs. often have we wandered together, my Artemas, amidft and is fuppofed by raoft writers to have died a natural death in Lybia : but others fay he fuffered martyrdom in Perfia. Two of his grandfons, more pro bably, were among the early martyrs. The Ihort Epiftle under his name, as to the genuineness of which there can be no doubt, was probably written about A.D. 66, or ibmewhat later. * They probably continued fo to direft, or to date from, in order to dif- tinguifli this Caefarea from Caefarea-Philippi. Letferxix. CJJC WmtMitlQ 3|0to, 157 Youthful reminifcences Csefarea. the wilds of the Chrysoras, chafing with boyifh temerity the Akkos from rock to rock, until, in defpair, they plunged into the river, and were foon loft to us ! Doft thou frill bear in mind our dangerous adventure with one of them, which, with her young, was defending herfelf and them, with favage fury againft the eagles ? We, as you remember, efpoufed her caufe, and truly defired to mow our regard for her maternal love : but me, witlefs of our fair intentions, became frantic with rage, in fuppofmg the eagles were re-enforced by us, and feeing that we had no wings, darted upon us with murderous fury ! Thou, being my fenior, and ever my^generous friend, obferved my more immediate peril ; and with the lightning s rapidity, levelled with unerring aim thy club, and flayed the beaft ! The young were then ours by conqueft, no lefs than by the humanity of our intentions and we mared the tender Akkolets, with the refolve, however, to make them our deareft pets, and to this we faithfully abided, as thou wilt remember. Thefe, and very many of the like, are to me, and doubtlefs to thee alfo, delightful recollections ; and now the more fo, as quite thirty years have mingled their varied hours in Eternity s deep fea, fince laft I parted from Caefarea. I figh for thofe fcenes of my childhood, though not of my birth ; and largely, alfo, that I may there embrace thee, dear Artemas, and likewife behold for the firft time, thy beloved Dru- filla, of whom I have heard fo much thy fweet boy Thaddeus, and thine infant daughter CORNELIA, fo named, as they tell me, from thy juft refpecT: for the memory of Cornelius, the faithful centurion, who, with his family, were the firft fruits, at Casfarea, of the faith in Chrift. I will, therefore, be with thee mortly ; and we will together vifitthe rocky banks of the Chrysoras and, poflibly, may find the very cavern, from whofe mouth the enraged Akko darted upon us.* ^ long alfo to wander with thee over our goodly city ; which the infamous Idumean Herod, more than feventy years ago, raifed from the fmall village of Straton s Tower, s * a r ccount 1 i i r n * i r ri J Cafarea. to be the chiereft among the cities or rhemcia nay even of all Palestine, fave Jerufalem ; and this, too, in fcarce^more than twelve years ! Well do I remember how unfeigned was my youthful aftonifhment at beholding the magnificent white palaces, then fo new to my eyes ; and alfo the great Temple, dedicated to the Roman Emperor and the maflive and graceful ftatue of Rome and of Caefar, which ftands in its Court, likewife the vaft Theatre, and the ftill more extenfive Amphitheatre, after the Grecian fafhion ! * The Akko is a fpecies of wild-goat, with extremely furrowed horns, more than 3. foot long, and which incline much towards the back. It is likewife known hv the name of Lerwee. 5 8 Chronicles of Cartapfjiius, century i. Cxfarea Primitive Organization of The Church. To my then youthful mind, thefe all were truly wonderful for they were fo unlike every thing Jewi/h. But, among all the great works of the fplendid and wicked Herod, none filled me with fuch unmingled furprife as the extenfive Haven, conftructed to {hut out the furious South winds, and the waves of fand that rolled impetu- oufly in from the fea ! Since then, I have vifited Athens, and find that Herod s vaft Haven may well compare with the much-famed Piraeus. My young fancy was particularly {truck with the daring enterprife of Herod, whom I then confidered almoft fuperhuman, in his firft finking deep into the waters, ftones more than thirty- three cubits in length, twelve in breadth, and fix in depth ; and then, upon this folid foundation, erecting a pier fully one hundred and thirty-three cubits wide, and defended on the inner-fide by a fuitable wall, and by lofty towers the outer-fide, moreover, being fo conftru&ed as to dam back the firft wave, and hence called the procymatia^ or firft-wave-breaker ! All of this mighty work, fo beautiful, and of fuch great coft (as well under ground and under the fea, too, as above them both) often occafioned me to think, even boy as I was, that the great Herod was permitted to achieve it by a much higher power, fo that, by his miserable and inglorious death, we might be inftru6led in the a final littlenefs of man, and the ever- enduring greatnefs of the real arckitefl^ GOD ; and that He often faith to us, in the very height and pride of our power, " Thus far {halt thou go in thy mini/try, and here mall thine arrogance be ftayed ! " ^Jut, my good Artemas, what I have now written performs not the main objecl: of my letter : fo far, have I dwelt Ors*" 1 *"? 10 ? upon on ly W orldly matters furely of fome intereft, and of the pntni- v .J. . > > . . . five Church, from which we may extract ulerul teachings. PNOW will I to matters of more abiding intereft to us both ; for greatly do I value thy keen defire to have fupplied to thee much, that during thy long abfence in the Eaft with Thaddeus, muft have efcaped thee, in all that refpe6ls the Church in the Weft. Our juftly beloved Prifcilla hath told thee very many things, Paul and Manaen* have likewife by their letters inftru<5ted thee fince thy return unto Edefta, leaving thereby to me a fmall tafk, efpecially as I hope to fee thy face fo foon. %)uring thy mort ftay with us at Antioch, we converfed, as I remember, fomewhat refpe&ing the organization of the Church, efpecially as to its government and rulers ; and, at our parting, you * Manaen was a perfon of rank and influence, who had been educated with Herod Antipas, (fome fay as fofter-brother) in the Court of the firft Herod. He early became a convert to the new faith ; and, from his ftation in fociety, it is probable he was ufeful to the infant church in an eminent degree. Afts xiii. i. Whether Manaen was one of the Seventy is not certain. Letters. Cf)C ft&mTMinQ 3|0fo, 159 Organization of The Church. defired to hear from me as to my poor opinion in regard to the diftinft duties and powers of thofe who prefide over it ; and whether they be folely of divine ordinance, and of perpetual duration ; or, in what refpe6l they may be under mere human control and expe diency ? Thefe, my Artemas, are queftions of great moment, which I (hould rather afk of thee ; but, as the comparifon of opinion, guided by a fincere defire for truth, tendeth to found know ledge, I cannot hefitate to ftate cautioufly, I hope, and as briefly as well may be, my views as to the conftitution of the Church, as it nowjtands thou receiving them as from one of far lefs experience and knowledge than thyfelf, and as from one not yet fpecially in- ftrufted by Paul. ^J3y THE CHURCH, I mean the entire body throughout the world, of true believers in Chrift : and, by A CHURCH, I mean fome particular aflemblage or congregation of fuch believers, united in fome city or place by fome organization or church government neceflarily, in the larger part, divine. ^he Church itfelf, and a form of government, were doubtlefs folely of divine origin ; and are defigned to be of perpetual duration but the eftablifhment of churches in various places, and the parti cular form of church government, are not neceflarily, and in all refpefts of divine appointment and formation. So likewife, fome matters clearly of divine appointment, are not neceflarily of perpetual duration, for the day muft fhortly come when we fhall have no Apoftles ; and the day may be, in after ages, when Evangelifts fhall be equally unknown in the Church. We now have Apoftles, Evangelifts, Bimops, Prefbyters, Deacons, &c. nearly all being of divine, fome, perhaps, of merely human appointment fome endued with peculiar powers, and bound to fpecial duties others having no powers, properly fo called, but difcharging duties not eflentially perfonal to themfelves. From all of thefe minifters of the Church, certain duties are now exacted ; but fome of thefe may not be needed in after times ; and, indeed, cannot be poflefled : the Apof- tolic power, for example, cannot be one of fucceflion, in they?r/^7- nefs of that word ; for, what is an apojlle ? He is one who hath received his commifllon immediately from Chrift one who hath feen Chrift after his refurreclion, that he may fpeak as an eye- witnefs one who is endued with the power, by impofition of hands, of conferring the gift of the Holy Spirit one whole full knowledge of the doctrines of the Saviour comes from infpiration, as well as from perfonal teaching and finally, one whofe duty is to propagate the Gofpel to Jews and Gentiles throughout the world ; and not merely to be charged with the care of Tome particular church or churches. X n proof of thefe infallible marks of apoftlefhip, I would remind 160 Chronicles of Cartaplnlus, Century Organization of The Church. thee, my Artemas,y?r/?, of the fact that none of the anolHes were truly fuch, until their Mafter had redeemed his promiie through the wonders of the Pentecoftal day, they being then baptized by the Holy Ghoft, and thereby became fully pofTefled of his doctrines by infpiration ; fecondly, of the fa6l that Paul s apoftlefhip is carefully made out by him, in his mowing that he has fo feen Chrift, and was fo baptized, that his commiffion muft be regarded as coming direttly from the Saviour ; and that Paul hath miraculous powers, we all have witnefTed : thirdly, I would remind thee of the fa<5t that, when Matthias was chofen to fupply the place of Judas, the lot fell, by Chrift s appointment, upon him, as one that had been an eye-witnefs ; and this, moreover, was done through the miniftry of the Eleven ; who, fully knowing their Matter s intention in this refpecT:, even before the day of pentecoft, completed the original defign of having twelve, from among thofe who had actually wit- nefled Chrift s miniftry ; and who alfo had had ocular proof of his triumph over the grave, and fuch an one was Matthias. Barnabas and Paul were fpecially and miraculoufly called by the Holy Spirit to the apoftlefhip and neither of them can be regarded -asfucceffors to any one, nor as coming in by any human appointment or agency whatever : fourthly, let me further remind thee of the well known fact that, after Herod Agrippa flayed our beloved James, his apoftle fhip remained vacant ; and that no one ever thought of any means to fill that vacancy and doubtleis, that fo it will continue for ever. In the like manner (as to me it feemeth) may I fpeak in regard to the Eva ngelijls ; for, my Artemas, they are alfo temporary their charge not being local, but like that of the Apoftles, univerfal. The Apoftles are, ex officio Evangelifts but thefe are by no means the former. The evangelifts attend the apoftles in their journeyings, and more particularly among people who are wholly in darknefs : they aid the apoftles in the eftablifhment of churches in bearing meftages into diftant lands ; they alfo affift in the ordination of pref- byters to the various churches, the refpe&ive congregations con- fenting and finally, in the reforming of all abufes, and in the tranfaclion of all things, which the extent of apoftolic engagements may prevent the portability of being done by them in perfon. Evan gelifts, therefore, do not eftablifh themfelves in any fixed place their occupations being efTentially ambulatory ; and, as they receive their commiffion from the Apoftles, they are in all things under their fupervifion ; and may wholly ceafe to exift, when the ftric"r. dpojlolic miffion ceafes. In every Church or Congregation we have an Elder, and Deacons, and fometimes Deaconeffes. Thefe elders are likewife called prefbyters, fometimes bifhops for Elder, Prefbyter, Bifhop are all one. In each church we have few, or many prefbyters and deacons according to the extent of the con- Letferxix. Cf)C WMbttin 3[0to, 161 Organization of The Church. gregation and, when the prefbyters of feveral congregations af- femble, to commune refpe&ing fome matter of general intereft, the body fo aflembled has the name of Prefbytery, or Senate. Now, as in thefe aflemblies, order doth require that fome one mould prefide, then, for convenience fake, he who does fo prefide takes a diftinclive name, and then is called The Bifhop Epifcopos or overfeer ; not that the word bifhop was then firft introduced for all prefbyters were equally called bifhops, or overfeers of their refpeclive flocks but that, in the Prefbytery, the one who fpecially prefides, is by way of eminence the Bifhop, or overfeer, of that prefbytery. jF-l prefiding prefbyter, or bifhop, is fo in refpecl: to that Prefbytery : but all prefbyters are otherwife coequal : the bijhop is ftill only prefbyter, he hath, indeed, official diftinclion and duties in the prefbytery : but out of it, and as to fpiritual matters, that prefiding prefbyter varies not from others, in being thus more fpecially called bijhop : they all preach, baptize, adminifter the Eucharifteia, and, with the fanction of the Congregation, they alfo reprove and admonifh all who are within their church. But the name and duty of the head-prefbyter betoken no fpiritual fuperiority over his affbciate prefbyters all of them, with their bifhop, being entirely co-ordinate, fave in the bifhop s dire6ling-powers in the aflembled prefbytery : for fo, at leaft, do I now regard this matter : and a bifhop (fo called in refpecl: of a prefbytery) hath charge of only one prefbytery ; and, however numerous that may be, it varies his fpiritual powers, duties, and dignity, in no degree. ^he DEACONS were introduced into the Church, as you well remember, foon after the pentecoftal day which was the beginning of the true AporHefhip ; for, confequent upon the great increafe of believers on, and foon after that illuftrious day, the duties of the XII became fo arduous and various, that there arofe fome murmur ing of the Greek againft the Hebrew converts, touching the poor of each the Greeks believing that theirs had fomewhat been neglected. This induced the Apoftles, to require their difciples to felecl: for themfelves feven perfons ; whofe duty it fhould be to protect the indigent, and to diftribute all charitable collections : fo that their office, as you perceive, was wholly fecular. At the head of thofe feven deacons, was the youthful and pious Stephen^ and yet he was not merely a deacon ; for, as fuch, he would have had no lot in the miniftry : nor could he have wrought the wonders and miracles which he did. The deacon, then, is merely an afliftant in fecular matters ; and now each church has its deacon, and fometimes deaconefs : but, of late, the deacon has been per mitted to participate in a fmall degree in facred matters fo that the deaconfhip may ferve as a kind of noviciate to the miniftry : and I. M 1 62 Chronicles: of Cartapjrilus, Century \. Organization of The Church. though chofen, at firft, by the congregation, they are now more generally felected by the Prefbytery, to be approved by the congre gation. H^ence, my Artemas, you fee that the organization of our churches is very fimple the Church at large having, fan fpiritual matters, its Apoftles and Evangelifts the particular churches only their prefbyters, (or Elders, Paftors, Bifhops) all of which words import the fame thing, fave that the prefiding one, by way of defignation, is now fomewhat more exclufively called Bifhop : and to thefe are added the deacons, chiefly for fecular purpofes, regard ing the poor, and the comfort of each congregation. J^uch, then, being now the firriple organization of our church government, well adapted to our prefent wants, and furely of divine origin mainly, and likewife of perpetual duration in effence ; yet, can I fee no reafon why it may not, in after times, undergo fuch changes, as the then exifting ftate of fpiritual and fecular things may demand but preferving, for ever, what God hath ordained, and defigned to be perpetual. The Church, hereafter, may be without Apoftles without Evangelifts ; and prefbyters, more than one in particular churches, may alfo ceafe : but prefbyters, or bijhops, in the primitive meaning of that word, the Church muft, of courfe, for ever have ; and yet thefe, or fome of them, may prefide over more than one church or congregation or, there may be more than one prefbyter or bifhop in each church ; and others, again, may poflibly prefide over all the congregations that may be within fome prefcribed diftricSl or province. ^n the like manner, at fome future time, the now very limited facred functions of the deacons, may poflibly be fomewhat enlarged, and their fecular duties be curtailed, or wholly transferred to others. All fuch matters, as to me it feemeth, are wholly within the control of the Church ; and poflibly, of a congregation, or congregations. But, my worthy Artemas, whatever the changes may be, that after-times may require, no church can ever be left deftitute of the power of perpetuating its own exiftence, and even of giving fhape to its formal being : for new churches may arife, derived in no way from any exifting church but folely from that great fountain of fpiritual power, whence all originally fprang nor will any bifhop or other fpiritual minifter, on the ceafmgof the Apoftles and of the Evangelifts, be neceflarily and truly their fuccej/ars, or be fully endued with their powers ; but will be for ever prefbyters : for, whether they prefide over one, or many churches whether many prefide in only one city, or even church, or, if poflible, whether one, or many, prefide over all churches, yet would each and all ftill be but prefbyters, and not Apoftles, or Evangelifts, whatever name, or dignity, or rule may be conferred on fuch, by ufage, con- fent, convenience, or otherwife. Letter xix. c&c Wftrtiwins 3[eto. 163 Organization of The Church. ^n fine, my excellent Artemas, the neceflity of a church govern ment, and alfo the organic form thereof, are furely of divine origin and institution, and as unalterable in fubftance, as is any matter of doftrinal faith whatever : for there muft be a regular and duly authorifcd appointment and fucceflion of minifters whenever poflible but, whether there muft be for ever four orders, or three, or two, we, at this moment, have no fure means of pronouncing definitively. If at this time, there be Apoftles, Bifhops, Prefbyters, and Deacons, and if thefe four be regarded as diftinft orders of divine inftitution, we alfo know, of a furety, that immediately after Chrift s departure, there was but one order, viz., the Apoftles foon after two, and then three viz., Apoftle, Prefbyter, Deacon. Now, if Titus, under Paul s recent letter, be of a new order, or with power to create one, that ftiall take the exclufive name of Biftiop, and with any powers unknown to the prefbyter, then muft there be, at this time, four orders, as I have faid, viz., three fpiritual, one fecular : and, if the Apoftolic order ftiall hereafter ceafe ; and if, to the now prefbyter, there be added other powers, exercifed at this time by the Apoftles, then would the organic con- ftitution aflume ftill another form : whereas, good Artemas, my humble opinion was, (and fo muft remain, until more fpecially and clearly advifed of Paul) that Chrift ordained his APOSTLES as a tem porary body, and merely for the full organization of his Church alfo to diffufe the Glad Tidings authoritatively to the whole world, then fo utterly benighted, and finally, to appoint teachers, or pref- byters, to aid them, and for ever to continue in all the ages fo to teach. Now, the queftion that at this time difturbs me, is, whether after the Apoftles ftiall ceafe to exift, there ftiall remain only Prefbyters and Deacons ? Who ftiall appoint the prefbyters ? Not the Deacons, furely, for they are chiefly fecular : not the Congregation, furely, for they are wholly lay, and without any fpiritual vocation : who, then, but the prefbyters themfehes^ per haps, with the advifement of their flock ? And yet, my Artemas, if Paul now really doth mean to conftitute a new order, under the fole name of Bifhops, with power to ordain all future prefbyters, and having rule over that order, it well may be fo ; and then fuch Bifhops would alfo furely be of divine appointment for Paul, queftionlefs, hath authority and the only queftions now with me, are whether Paulfe hath done and if done, whether he hath made that appointment by Apoftolic infpiration or only as of Paul ; for Paul hath fometimes faid this is of infpiration that is of Paul : and, whether the one or the other, we fhould now have Bifhops Prefbyters Deacons, as the three orders of the Church. In this view of the matter, there are at this time, clearly four orders in the Church. But, that Bifhops fhall hereafter be quafi SuccefTors, or 1 6 4 C&romcles of Cartapfrilus, Century \ . Organization of The Church. in loco Apojlolorum, is yet to me doubtful, though free am I to confefs its beautiful harmony, its utility, and alfo the feeming idea of Paul that fo it mould be : and yet, were this his fixed Apojlolic defign, marvellous doth it feem to me, that fuch intention is not more expreffly revealed.* ^d,or, my Artemas,, can I regard any of the perfons, on whom fpiritual powers were conferred by Chrift, or by the N f a( ; r ifi ces > apoftles, as PRIESTS, or as belonging to any Priejib ood; fice tivw as a ^ ^ t ^ at mu ^ nave wholly ceafed with the laft and great facrifice made upon Calvary, by him who will re main for ever, not only the Supreme Head over all but the only facrifice that (hall ever be made, or needed : and, therefore, all Apoftles, Bifhops and Prefbyters are but teachers and not priefts, ftriftly fo called. ^JjJ^ell do I know the tendency of our people, as alfo of the Gentiles, to cleave to the idea of the continuance of a Priefthood ; and to aflimilate the government of our new Church, in fubftance as well as in form, to that of the Jewifh hierarchy ; which, as I believe, has utterly pafTed away. <d||.e now have Apoftles and Evangelifts we alfo have Pref byters, or bifhops, they being furely different from the two firft and we have alfo deacons which greatly differ from all : but none of thefe claffes are ftriclly priefts ; nor do any or all conftitute a priefthood. All that exifted of the prieftly nature under the Law, centred wholly, and at once, in the crucified Victim of the Crofs ; for we hear, or read, of no one that is now authorifed to offer any facrifice, or other offering to take away fin and hence all prieftly office hath entirely ceafed Chrift s one facrifice of Himfelf being in no way imperfect, and therefore needing neither High-Prieft, Prieft, nor Levite but only teachers, and minifters of the ordi nances. Doubtlcfs, now, and in all after-ages, Church Govern ment will be efTential ; and its effence is truly immutable ; but its form and fub/lance no longer need Sacrifices, or a Priefthood of any kind. * The reader will bear in mind, that thefe views of Aquila were written about the time that epifcopal power was in its infancy, and iimpleft form if, indeed, it then exifted. Paul s Letter to Titus was probably in A.D. 53 fo think Dr. Hales and Michaelis, though others place it much later; and the one to Timothy was probably written in A.D. 58. The letter of Aquila to Ar temas, therefore, bears date only a few months after Paul s Epiftle to Titus, and feveral years prior to the Epiftle to Timothy. The fagacity of Aquila, at that early period, his difficulties and doubts, though, perhaps, furprifing, (how us clearly the reafon why fuch doubts and difficulties ftill continue, to the prefent hour, in the minds of fome, notwithftanding the volumes that have been written on Epifcopacy, Apoftolic Succeffion, Prelacy, &c., iince the letters to Titus and to Timothy. Letter xix. Cfje (KHantiering; 3(eto 165 Organization of The Church. ]t-^ormerly, none had immediate accefs to God but the prieft- hood; and all others were to make known their wants, only through the facrificial miniftrations of that clafs. But now, nei ther prieft, nor facrifice is needed : and thofe called to evangelize and to minifter, be they apoftles, elders, evangelifts, deacons, are all teachers only, and no priefthood. No Jin-offering, nor thank- offering being now required, becaufe the final Sin-OfFering was made, once for all, free and perfect, by the Chriftus he being the only poflible MAN-GoD and hence the only poflible full Atone ment ! By that fole facrifice, every individual who is of the Faith, is now enabled freely to make his own thank- offer Ing unto God im mediately or rather, through the Meflias, and not through any earthly prieft fo that, thus far, all may be regarded as raifed to the dignity of prieft, under the only One in Heaven ! ^Q>or can there, any more for ever, be the leaft need of further facrifice, either actually, or typically, or memoratively : and, when thofe of the Faith, partake of the Eucharifteia, this is neither fin- offering, nor thank-offering : nor is it even memorative of Chrift s facrifice alone but of all that he hath done for man, and alfo as a means of ftrengthening our faith, and for obtaining further grace thereby. And, though the holy feaft be in the prefence of, or be miniftered by fome one of the appointed teachers, that prefence, even if an apoftle, is proper or neceffary only as a witnefs of the worthinefs of thofe to whom he thus adminifters the facrament and not as making thereby for them any offering, or facrifice through a prieft unto God. And hence is it that all of the True Faith throughout the world, and to whatever communion belong ing, do of themfelves make the Church Militant Univerfal, and thofe who more fpecially and locally are united in faith, constitute A Church, or Congregation differing, poflibly, only as men do in form, complexion, or in ftature, but ftill the one clafs are true Chriftians the other clafs are equally men, whatever be their form or complexion. ^Q> or, as to me it feemeth, is there any power ordained of God, in any clafs of men, to do more than evangelize, ordain, baptize, adminifter the bread and wine, preferve the faith, and in doing all of which, they adt not as priejts^ but only as appointed minifters and teachers : nor, in this, as infallible expounders and judges nor as media between God and Man, but leaving unto Jehovah all judgment, all controul of belief and confcience, fince thofe alone will, and ought to commune and harmonioufly affemble, who think alike : and fince thofe who differ muft not dare do more than ftren- uoufly admonifh, they fhould leave unto God s future and gra dual action, the bringing of all into one fold of perfect faith. Doubtlefs, from out of all of the congregations, omnifcient juftice 1 66 Cbronicleg of Cartapfrilu0, Century \. Univerfity and Diverfity of Faith The Miniftrations. will felect thofe who are. his, and who constitute the entire Church : and though, in the vifible, or church militant, there be myriads of every degree of godlinefs and in the Church Triumphant many manfions in " His Father s Houfe," yet is it through God s mercy alone that falvation comes to any : and therefore, my Artemas, it feemeth to me very daring that men fhould quarrel fo fiercely con cerning points of faith ; or hope that the mind of godlinefs mould be of the fame imprefs in all. On the very fame tree nearly every leaf may fomewhat differ and, even the fame faith mani fails not itfelf exactly alike in all : therefore, to preach the Faith in all fim- plicity, purity, and perfuafion is the teacher s chief duty allowing unto all the freedom of judgment we claim for ourfelves ; and only withholding from them our own communion, when any efTential of faith is wanting. In this way alone can the great human family be brought to underftand and value the exhauftlefs riches of the prof fered kingdom : for I am well perfuaded there may be a faving faith in Chrift, though we mould find the taint of fome furprifing folly in the pureft human creed. even in refpect to Faith, how mournful is it to behold what we fee at this time yea, in the tendered infancy of our Church ? and how dreadful to contemplate what hereafter may come ! Already do we find that unity of faith is much impaired by man s vain conjectures, fanciful interpretations, and by the cleaving to his gentile recollections : but, dear Artemas, what is there that man will not pervert, however fimple and manifeft it be ? furely, the underftanding and heart ought to perceive that the doffrines of our Mafter are fimple, practical, and beautiful ; and that our Church government, the vifible temples that mall arife, and all the ob- fervances therein, ought for ever to be regarded as defigned to be fo pure and fimple, that they may fymbolize the New Difpenfation itfelf fo brightly clear, when compared with the fhadowy one that hath paHed away. The Church, lato fenfu, (by which I mean the whole body of Chriftiansin all the lands,) ought to be as nearly one, in form, as one, in faith ; and all mould itrive for the prefervation of that lovely fimpli city, that marked the life and chara6ter of Him who gave it. But, O Artemas ! the Powers of Darknefs are leagued againft thofe of Light and, doubt it not, the conflict will be long and mighty ! ^Jut I have confolation in the firm belief that, however defective the Paftor of any church may be, either as to the fource, or nature of his appointment, or as to the motives that perfonally actuate him, that is, be it from love, or from contention, that he labours in his office, ftill the minijlration thereof is not necefTarily ineffectual ; for, Letter xix. c&e (KJantfeung 3(eto* 167 What, when Jurifdiftion ceafes in faft ? even Satanas might make converts to our faith ! And this example I put thus ftrongly, only to mow you, in a word, my own decided conviction, that grace may flow through a corrupt channel, though to preferve it pure is the higheft duty of the chriftian. Herein am I fully fuftained, as I think, by Paul ; who declares that " notwith- ftanding every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, if Chrift be preached, I therein do rejoice and will rejoice." This he could not have uttered, if I be wrong in the cafe now put by me. "<dU^e have as yet no temples, or churches for our worfhip : but, very generally, all worfhip is in private houfes ; fometimes in the open fields, and occafionally, in caves and caverns. Alfo, as I have ftated, our church government, in officers, powers, and duties, is defined ; and adherence to it is a folemn duty : but ftill, I can fee no reafon why a mere private chriftian may not, under very fpecial circumftances, exercife them all, and with as much efficacy, too, as by any bifhop yea, even any apoftle ! Suppofe, my Artemas, fome Chriftians mould be caft upon fome defert Ifland, or be loft among the almoft inacceflible wilds of Parthia, or in the icy and fnowy regions of the remote Hyperborean : may not thefe men form a chriftian church, perfect: in all refpects ? With humility, am I obliged fo to think, though there mould be among them no apoftle, evangelift, bifhop, or even prefbyter, or deacon. And, as it feems to me, I may yet go further, and fay, that whenever and wherever fpiritual aid ceafes in faff, fpiritual powers would arife of right, in any chriftian whatever. Such a perfon, then, might bap tize, preach, ordain, adminifter the eucharift and do all other things needed by a perfect chriftian church : but, whenever the power to be ordained mall come, then the duty muft as furely arife. ^]he Saviour feems to have baptized none Peter feldorn did ; and, even when fpecially commiffioned to vifit Cornelius and his family at Crefarea, he ftill did not baptize them, but left it to the brethren who were with him. So, alfo, Paul was baptized by Ananias, probably one of the Seventy ; and Paul regarded preaching as his more fpecial calling : and yet the commiffion to the apoftles is to teach, convert and baptize : but every chriftian, prefuming to do either, muft furely feek (if happily it may be found) an ordination ; for the rule is non dat, qui nan habet : but, where that is not poffible to be had, a church may ftill arife in beauty and perfection, though the earthly link that unites it with the apoftles, be wholly fevered.* * Dr. Campbell, however, has probably erred, in citing Philip s Baptifm of the Ethiopian Eunuch, as an inftance of that holy facrament being adminiftered, under an exigency, by a private perfon. He ftates that Philip was no apoftle, no prefbyter, and probably, at that time, only a (fecular) deacon ; and yet that he preached to, converted, and baptized the Eunuch ! That this learned writer 68 Chronicles of Cartapi)ilu0, Century \. Community of Property The Baptifm by Philip. > dear Artemas, all thefe things are written to thee, with a fearfully tender, and unfhaken regard for order and difctpline in the Church : but, may we not lofe much of the fubftance^ through a frivolous and pertinacious adherence to forms and notions , which are fometimes but as fhadows ? The SAVIOUR was the brighteft ex emplar the world hath ever known, as well of fimplicity, as of unmixed truth : the inner fubftance and practical utility of every thing were always fought by him, and fo mould his followers ever ftrive to do : and that fimplicity and truth mould always be reflected from our actions, ceremonials, temples, and throughout all of the vifible Church, in all the lands.* ^ mall end this long epiftle, with an equally candid ftatement of my views, as to the Community of Property among Community c hriftians ; as to which, I grieve to find that fome weak- of property. . . . . . . ,. . , , , - . minded, but pious individuals, do lo greatly and perni- cioufly err.f mould fo entirely have miftaken the true charafter of that holy man, is lur- prifing. Philip, like Stephen, though a deacon, was evidently much more : and, if not an Evangelift, was fpecially endowed with the Holy Ghoft, for preaching the gofpel. He had not only wrought miracles and preached, before his interview with the Ethiopian, but that very meeting of him was by no means accidental, but obvioully commanded from on high : for Philip was not only fent by an angel into the very road where he would encounter the Eunuch, but after he faw him, he was divinely urged to join him ; and, doubtlefs, to teach, convert, and baptize him. The example of Philip, then, falls wholly to the ground ; and is far fhort of the views taken by Aquila, in the above letter to Artemas. I doubt much whether Dr. Campbell could have produced a fingle inftance in the primitive church, of mere private baptifm, under any exigency whatever : though I cannot but concur fully in the opinion expreffed by Aquila, that cafes may arife, in which this, and other Chriftian offices, would be lawfully and efFe&ually adminiftered by a mere private Chriftian nay, even by one who himfelf is a mere infidel ! Such extreme cafes can be put ; but they become requifite only to teft the validity of an ultra oppofite opinion; and, to this extent only is it, that Aquila feems to advance this do6lrine ; for, whilft he evidently defires to adhere to the founded faith as to church government, he is equally ftudious to avoid all impradicable, unmeaning, and fuperltitious excefles. * The account here given by Aquila of the condition of the Church, during its earlieft period, forms a wonderful contraft with that which might be ftated of its progrei s through the many centuries that fmce have pa/Ted ! He feems to have anticipated, and to have liberally admitted, that great formal changes might properly arife in after times ; and that in matters of ej/ence, there pro bably would alfo arife great and improper changes ; but all of his peripicuity, unlefs truly prophetic, could fcarce have prefented to him the leaft idea of the extremely wide departures, no lefs in fubftance than in forms, which the aftual hiftory of the Church fo lamentably furnimes. But as to all this, it muft be left mainly to Cartaphilus, or thofe with whom he communed, to fpeak here after. f The detailed examination of the queftion concerning community of pro perty, as given by Aquila, the Editor wholly omits, fmce the true doftrine on x. 60 ftOantienng 3(eto, 169 The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. ^n return for what I have written thee, fo much in detail, give me, I pray thee, fome further account refpecling that moft fmgular and interefting man,*CARTAPHiLUS, who hath fo long abandoned Jerufalem for Rome. Much have I heard concerning him, but all vaguely ; and I feel the more for his fad condition, knowing how greatly thy heart is entwined with his ; and alfo how much the now pious family of Eben Ezra ftill love him. FARE-THEE-WELL. AQUILA. LETTER XX. PAUL OF TARSUS TO ARTEMAS [now in Edejfa\. CORINTH. Month of 77/H, 8th; Creation, 3816. [September 13, A. D. 56.] HAVE heard of thee, Artemas, and of thy deeds at Caefarea, where I rejoiced to hear thou didft tarry fo long, as being the place of Pa f, sa< : c unt , . . j i_ -11 of his life. thy nativity ; and where, with thy pa rents, thou wert ever by them and the people fo juftly beloved, giving now to me ftrong hope, in which thus far I in no wife am difappointed, that thou wouldft there accomplim a good work. ^]hy friend, and truly mine, our dear Aquila, was with thee, as I learn, for a time ; which likewife gave joy to all the brethren here, feeing that his pious zeal is fo mining ; and as thy greater knowledge of worldly matters, and of human learning would prove unto him ufeful : for fuch pofTeflions are by no means to be con cealed by him who preacheth but only the vanities and fancies thereof: for there is true learning, and there is falfe learning like wife ; but to be puffed up, and boaftful of knowledge, even truly fo called, is itfelf a vanity, and offendeth much in a preacher, whofe that fubjeft is, at this time, fo well underftood. But it may be well to ftate, that the views of Aquila prove fufficiently that, whilft in the primitive church there were fome, whole intemperate zeal would have brought all the property of converts into communion, and thereby deftroyed, rather than mitigated the motives for any acquifitions; yet that the much larger portion of Chriltians, even then entertained far julter ideas upon this fubjeil ; and merely defired to provide amply for the poor converts, a fund, voluntarily contributed out of their fuperabundance : and this probably is all that is inculcated in Aits ii. 44; Afts iv. 32, 34, 35; 2 Corin. viii. 13, 15 although, in the fourth, and in lome later centuries, the monks and their fupporters evinced a ftrong defire to extraft from thefe Scriptures, fome countenance for an unbounded liberality to the Church, and for a communion of goods, at leaft among a part of the clergy. 1 70 Chronicles of Cartaplrilus, century i. The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. learning mould be ufeful, for example ftimulating, for encourage ment and threatening, for reproof ; and thefe all (growing out of the very foil he hath then in hand, and not forced out by pride, and in untimely ways) not that he may exalt himfelf by the idle ap- plaufes, of thofe itching for worldly, rather than for heavenly wifdom. For we know that heavenly wifdom fpurns not earthly wifdom, rightly ufed ; and in this, my beloved Artemas, I have great confidence in thee ; and, by my now words, mean no reproof of thee. ^)leafed am I, moreover, that once more thou art communing with thy valued friends at Edefla ; where, as thou haft for fome time refided, and wilt yet tarry longer, the detail I now give thee of my journeyings during thy long abfence from us, may prove ufeful to thee and thofe of the Faith ; as it will embrace the time fince, at Antioch, I left thee, now fix years, and unto the prefent hour ; it being now my defire forthwith to depart from Corinth (where I have been nigh unto eighteen months) for Ephefus thence to Casfarea, afterwards to Jerufalem ; and then, once more, to Antioch; which I hope to reach a year hence. ^JJhilft at Antioch thou wert with us, a (hort time ; and there I abode with many difciples, a long time : thou wilt remember how, on the eve of thy departure, a great debate arofe between certain of the converted Jews and us, touching the neceffity of circumcifion ; and likewife of other matters under the Law ; and efpecially that the Gentiles could not be faved without full obferv- ance of the things taught of Mofes ! This debate grew fo ftrong, after thy departure, that I, with Barnabas and others, were fent to Jerufalem, there to hold council with the Apoftles and Elders, concerning the matter. [A. D. 52.] jjjjjnd, as we journeyed through Phoenicia and Samaria, onward towards Jerufalem, we were joyoufly received on this matter ; as they much defired that it fpeedily mould be determined. At Jeru falem, we loft no time in holding the council ; when certain of the chriftian Pharifees arofe ; and, heartily approving the converfion of the Gentiles, ftill infifted that they mould be held to ftricT: obferv- ance of the Mofaic Law. Peter, who, though early fent to the Gentiles, but more fpecially to thofe of the Circumcifion, warmly oppofed this doctrine ; and urged the cafe of Cornelius, as proof of there being no distinction, in this refpecl, between Jew and Gentile and that for neither was circumcifion required. Thefe views were alfo held by Barnabas and myfelf ; and truly we relied on our own experience, happily bringing over by teachings and miracles many Gentiles, and with but fmall reference to the paft difpenfa- tion, efpecially thofe matters therein that are ceremonial and typical of things now ended. The apoftle James then fpoke, and with Letter xx. c&e (EOanBetmg; 3leto, 1 7 The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. power, urging the words of the prophet Amos ; which conclude with the declaration that all the Gentiles that call upon the name of the Lord, fhould be faved, and further, that the gentile pro- felytes, as do the Jews of our faith, ftill venerate, as ever, the Books of Mofes, but ufmg them only as far as they be now a law unto us and reading them on every fabbath day, and teaching the people therefrom. ^his matter being at length foundly determined, and with harmony, we were fent back to Antioch, accompanied by Judas and Silas, as additional witnefles of the Council s decifion thereon ; and alfo with letters of credence as to our proceedings. j^Tfter fome ftay at Antioch, Barnabas united with me in the defire to vifit thofe cities in which formerly we had been ; that we might truly learn of their progrefs in fpiritual things. But he would have Mark to join us ; and, as we differed in this, he, with Mark, went to Cyprus and I, with Silas, departed for Syria and Cilicia. jf-jt Derbe, we encountered Timothy, whofe mother only was a Hebrew ; and he being pious and ufeful in the miniftry, I yielded to the wifhes of the Jewifh converts, and had him circum- cifed, notwithstanding the late decifion of the Council at Jerufalem, for the averfion of thefe Jews to the profelytes of the gate, even after they become chriftians, is often fo great as to render circum- cifion advifable : and yet, when Timothy accompanied me, in tra velling from place to place, we failed not to exhibit the decree, fo that this averfion might be gradually overcome and thus, my Artemas, is it that fometimes, we may be all things unto all men. [A. D. 54.] %)affing by Myfia, we came to Troas^ through Samothrafia, and Neapolis, unto Phllippi of Macedonia, where, Luke, who had been with us, departed from us, for I had there a fpecial call.* This Philippi was formerly called Datos ; and is diftant fromThef- falonica fomewhat more than two days journey. f ^fj\ our wanderings on a certain fabbath day, from city to city, * That St. Luke accompanied St. Paul in this firft voyage to Macedonia, a.nd left him at Philippi, is no where elfe expreffly recorded : but it may be remarked that in his narrative of this voyage in the Ats of the Apoftles, of which he is the author, St. Luke fays, " We came to Samothracia, &c :" but, in continuing the narrative, after leaving Philippi, the language is, " Now when they had palled," &c. and fo, in various other places, the like words in dicate Luke s prefence with, or abfence from St. Paul. Ars xiii. 2 ; xvii. i 5 alfo, 2 Tim. iv. 2 ; Col. iv. 14.; Phil. xxiv. t The Hebrews made but little ufe, if any, of miles, furlongs, feet, &c.; but ufually afcertained long and itinerary diftances by a day s journey 20 miles ; or by a Sabbath-day s journey 730 paces, or by the parafang, equal to about four of our miles : and their mort diftances were meafured by ftadia, reeds, cubits, &c. 1 7 2 C&ronicles of Cartapfrite, Century The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. we ftrayed on the banks of a river that empties into the ^Egean Tea; and there entered into an Oratory, whofe many women had then aflembled for worfhip : and we fpake to them of the Faith. Among thefe was LYDIA, formerly of Thyatira, a Jewifh profelyte of the gate ; and fhe, with her family, being converted by our preaching, they were baptized. Now, as fhe very gratefully im portuned that we fhould tarry a while at her houfe, we confented. ^jJJJ^hilft at Philippi, a certain damfel (a Have, who brought to her mafter much gains by footh-faying, a&ing under, what the Greeks call, a pythonlc fpirit, as fuppofed to be from their god Apollo) often and vehemently cried out after us, that we were the " Servants of the Moft High God, having the way of falvation." This damfel being cured by me of her infirmity, her mafter was greatly angered thereat, as his gains would ceafe thereby ! He united therefore with fome others, violently feized upon us, and carried us into the forum, accufmg us before their rulers of being moft troublefome Jews, that teach cuftoms and a religion contrary to their gods, and to Roman laws ! The multitude fpeedily in- creafed againft us ; and the magiftrates, regardlefs of even the forms of juftice, gave us up to be fcourged. Our hands were then tied to a pillar ; and the liftor, after violently tearing from us our garments, beat us with many {tripes and then committed us to prifon. TVhe jailor, who had been fpecially cautioned to guard us well, thrult us into an inner prifon ; and placed our feet firmly in the ftocks. But God was with us We were fo cheerful, and prayed and fang with fo loud a voice, that the other prifoners and the jailors could not but hear us : and then we fought for reft in fleep. ^uddenly, at midnight, the foundations of our prifon were vio lently fhaken the doors were all forced open, and every one s hands were loofed ! The jailor haftened to us, fearing for his life, fhould any of the prifoners efcape : and, in great defpair, moved as if he would madly flay himfelf! But I arrefted his rafh hand; and aflured him we were all in the houfe, and that none fhould efcape. jFJs foon as lights were brought, the jailor fell at our feet, in great confternation, and was filent : then raifing himfelf, he con ducted us with refpecl: out of that inner room, and inftantly cried out, "Oh, Sirs ! what muft I do to be faved ?" Soon was he re lieved by that Spirit, which alone can fave : he then gratefully warned our ftripes brought us into his own apartments, and kindly entreated us with food : after which, he and his family were baptized, to the great joy of us all. ()n the following day, the magiftrates of Philippi having confi- Letter. Cfte (HJanti ering 3|etu. 173 The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. dered better of the matter, and that they could not juftify them- felves to the governor for their cruel treatment of us, (we being Romans by privilege) fent an order to the jailor for our immediate difcharge. This the jailor fuppofed would be joyoufly received by us ; but, as we had been openly and difgracefully caft into the pri- fon, we refufed to be thus releafed ; and fent them word by their fergeant, that the magiflrates muft come themfelves, and bring us openly out : whereupon they came, and earneftly befought us to depart : fo we left the prifon, and returned to the houfe of Lydia ; and ihortly after departed for Theffalonica, where there is a fyna- gogue. In this we openly preached our faith upon three fucceflive fabbaths. ^Jut the Jews, at length, could not withhold their anger ; and procured certain inferior officers of the courts of judicature* to fearch for us in the houfe of one Jafon, but finding us not, they then rudely feized upon Jafon himfelf, and likewife upon fome of our friends, and hurried them all before the city magiflrates, com plaining that this Jafon had protected men who brought confufion into the world ; and who preached doctrines fubverfive of Caefar s authority in ftating that one JESUS was their king ! Jafon was thereupon ordered to give fecurity for himfelf and his companions ; and our brethren, alarmed for me, infifted that we fhould all in- ftantly depart, by night, for Bercea. Arrived at Beroea, we found much encouragement, and a kindnefs greatly different from the rudenefs we had experienced at Theffalonica ; for all liftened unto us, and many of note, both men and women, believed and were baptized. But the Jews of Theffalonica, hearing with rage of our fuccefs at Beroea, early purfued us thither, fo that our friends fent me from thence to the fea fide, that the people might fuppofe fome veffel had there received me : but I ftill journeyed on by land, with a few of the brethren, and reached Athens, whilft Silas and Timothy remained at Beroea, with directions foon to be with us in that famed Grecian city. [Early in A. D. 55.] ^JJJ^hilft we furveyed the goodly and renowned Athens, much was I (truck by the number and variety of their idols ; there being more in this one city than in all others of Greece ! Here the Jews have fynagogues, in which I preached, as alfo in other places of that city, where the people were moft ufed to affemble. ^hey liftened with curiofity and refpecl:, rather than with a difturbed heart and willing ear, giving me little hope of their for- faking vain fuperflitions, and their idle philofophy, with much {how * The cuftomary verfion is, "certain lewd fellows of the bafer fort" fee Afts xvii. 5, but the Editor gives it as Cartaphilus ftates it ; which probably may be a more correft rendering of the meaning of that verfe. 1 74 C&ronicles of Cartapinlug, century The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. of falfe learning. But fome of their Epicurean fages, who deny all providential intereft by the gods in the concerns of men ; and fay that, as the world came by chance, fo is it ruled thereby, and allb fome of their Stoics, who hold that the world was only fajhioned not created, by God, whom they admit to be eternal, but a fubjtance, though of a very ethereal nature, and that he is bound by an unchangeable fate ; and that, in order to be virtuous, we muft ftudy Nature in all things thefe fo called philofophers of both clafles, perceiving how ready I was to engage in the fup- port of my dodhrines, to them fo novel, undertook to difpute with me ; and that I fhould go with them to the Areopagus, there fully to explain who this Jefus was, and the other ftrange matters, of which vague rumours had gone abroad. ^Q>ow this Areopagus, fituate near the citadel on Mars-Hill, is the Athenian Senate, or high Court of Judicature ; and is holden by men of great renown in morals, men who have been Archons, and who, being once appointed, retain their feats during life. Their care is over religion, morals, the criminal laws, orphans, and over all difputes among the various Grecian States. Their fentences are fubmitted to, as thofe of unqueftionable truth ; and their meetings are holden at night, and in the open air ! ^o argue the caufe of JESUS before this, perhaps the moil auguil of all earthly tribunals, was an occafion to be willingly accepted not indeed, for him who was called to fpeak, but for the value and power of the caufe. And, moreover, as by their laws and cuftom, new Gods are received among them, their bidding of me to fpeak before the multitude, as the promulgator of an un known deity, failed not to infpire me with a ftrong defire, and fome hope, though with anxiety, to plead before them. I likewife was the more willing to appear on Mars-Hill, as I had juft feen an altar, having thereon fo remarkable an infcription ! " To the Gods of Europe, of Afia, and of Africa ; and TO THE UNKNOWN GOD !" liberality of the Athenians towards the gods of other nations is as great as is their hofpitality towards all ftrangers fo that no caufe of fear had need difturb me. J^tanding therefore by their appointment in the midfr. of that Hill, and of all its earthly grandeur, I fpoke to them concerning the God who, not only created but fafhioned the world, and all things therein who is the Lord of the Univerfe, as well as of Heaven, and who dwelleth therein a Temple, not made with hands the God, not wormipped and appeafed, even through men s beft offerings upon altars, but with the heart ; as He needeth no thing, but giveth life and fupport to all the God who hath made Cf)0 223anDetmg: 3[eto. 175 The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. of one blood all the nations of men that dwell upon earth, and who hath determined their times, and the boundaries of their habitations the God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being yea, " THE UNKNOWN GOD," whom they ignorantly worfhip, HIM did I declare unto them ftrenuoufly exhorting them to feek that very Lord alone : who, if fincerely called upon, would be found clofe around, and nigh unto each of them! admoniming them, moreover, that, as we are furely His offspring, it were folly to look on the Godhead as, in any way like unto man s moft fkilful devices, be the fame in graven ftone in filver or in gold : that this UNKNOWN GOD, in times paft, winked at thefe things, for their ignorance : but now, he commandeth all men, every where, to repent, and, having appointed a day in which, with righteouf- nefs, he will judge the whole earth ; it furely will be by that Man, JESUS, whom he ordained, and hath rai fed from the dead! Jj^aving, in fubftance, thus fpoken, I there ended. Now, when they heard of the Refurreclion, fome mocked others faid with kindnefs, " We will hear thee again concerning this matter." And yet, my Artemas, fome believed ; alas ! but very few ; among whom were DIONYSIUS, the Areopagite and his wife, named Damaris.* ^ departed from thence for Corinth, pleafed with the gentle- nefs of the Athenians, but grieved at their vain learning, their worldly-mindednefs, and refined fuperftitions ; which had fo ob- fcured their underflanding, and enclofed their heart, as to caufe them thus to rejet the aflured refurreclion of the only Emanuel ! jH rrived at Corinth, we early found how great the need was there for the chaftening influences of our faith. It is a city abound ing in vaft worldly riches, in the elegancies and fuperfluities of life ; but is far more abundant in all lewdnefs, and in every manner of vice, fo as to become even a proverb ! (Corinth has two harbours that of Schoenos, with its extenfive quay on the North and of Cenchrea^ on the Eaft, fo that its fituation between the two bays formed by the ifthmus, makes it a place of great commerce, and therefore of equal luxury and wickednefs. * Dionyfius is faid to have been highly educated in all the learning of his day, and that, foon after his converfion by Paul, he departed for the Eaft, and acquired in Egypt a knowledge of aftronomy ; which he applied with great earneftnefs to explain, by way of eclipfe, the wonderful darknefs that oer- fhadowed the land at the Saviour s crucifixion. In this, however, he necef- farily failed ; for that not being the effeft of an eclipfe, or any other derange ment of the kind, could not be folved by any aftronomical refearches what ever. It is neverthelefs faid that the aftronomer Phlegon, of Hadrian s time, fpeaks of that miraculous obfcuration, as being the " greateft eclipfe of the fun that ever happened the day being fo turned into night, that the ftars in the heaven were feen !" 76 Chronicles of Cattapfriluis, Century The Adventures of Paul of Tarfus. is the goddefs of this city; and upon the fummit of the Acrocorynthus, fhe hath her temple, where her priefteffes are im plored in times of public danger ; and, though no one hath ever feen this VENUS, yet hath fhe as many names, as hath the Evil One!* J^uch a place as Corinth, my Artemas, demands our fpecial care ; and though the Powers of Darknefs have proved very obfti- nate, we are not without fruits, and muft rely upon the inevitable future. arly after my arrival here, much was I pleafed to fee our Aquila, and his wife Prifca : who, fmce their expulfion from Rome under the Claudian decree, have moflly refided in thefe parts. And, as I found them occupied with the trade of tent-making, (in the which, when young, I likewife was inftru6ted) I fojourned with them for a while, aflifting them therein. f jMt this time, Silas and Timothy, whom we had left at Beroea in Macedonia, arrived at Corinth, and to our great joy ; for we much needed them, as the Jews there forely vexed our fpirits, not by contumelious treatment only, but even by open blafphemy of the Saviour s name ! whereupon, I (hook my raiment and the duft from off my fandals, in their reproach ; and declared unto them that I was free of their blood, having warned them fully; and that now muft I go over unto the Gentiles. "^ then took up my abode with one Juftus by birth a Gentile, but then a profelyte of the gate : and being there admonifhed in a vifion, " to fear not, for that the Lord was with me that I Jhould receive no injury, for, in Corinth are much people, with whom the Word Jhall be effectual" I willingly continued, and was earned both there and in all Achaia. j^i nd now, before I refolved to quit Corinth, the Jew Crifpus, chief of their fynagogue, was ours ; as alfo were a few of the Corinthians, and thefe were baptized. ^Ci,ow, having remained in Corinth eighteen months, ready am I to depart for Ephefus, taking with us Aquila and Prifcilla, who falute thee and thine. FARE-THEE-WELL. * How extenfive Paul s learning was, and his modefty in but only inci dentally mowing it, appear on various occafions. He might alfo even here have ftated, that Venus is known by the names of Hera Ajiarte Affitaroth Beltis Mylitta Alitta- -Aphrodite Anaitis, &c. ; for the very many names of Venus would not have been thus alluded to, if not well known by him. f- Among the Jews, fome trade or other was univerfal. The wifeft and moft learned of their Rabbins failed not to be fo inftrudted, in order that if, from any caufe, they mould fall into poverty, they might be enabled to main tain them felveshoneftly. Hence it was a Hebrew faying, " He who teacheth not his fan a trade, teacheth him to jleal!" CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, ZKHanDmng 3Jeto, THE BOOK THIRD CHRONICLES OF Cartapijttufi, tyt ZKHanDering BOOK III. A Glance at Roman Life. SECTION XVII. ROME. xv. Kal. Mar. u.c. 817. [February 15, A. D. 64..] ERE have I refided fomewhat more than eighteen years, and ever fince the time my face was turned from Judea for Cartaphilus re- Rome molefted by no one, fince fum f s *" C , hr0 .J nicies: a glance they all here found me relolved to at R oman Life. live with them, not only harmo- nioufly, but as joyoufly and expenfively as they lifted : and the more able fo to do, as I had wholly caft off the ways of my too fuperftitious countrymen, fo offenfive to thefe Gentiles and like- wife, as my crumena was now moft abundantly filled. Hence the decree of Claudius, which feveral years after my arrival here, had banimed the Jews from the Imperial City, troubled me not, know ing moreover, as I did, full well, how it was that the firft Agrippa made himfelf fo agreeable and ufeful to the emperor Tiberius, and afterwards to Claudius, who, only from fome fpecial caufes had banimed the Jews from Rome ; and from no particular hatred againft them, as his previous general decrees in their favour clearly mow, which is alfo confirmed by his many fubfequent kindneffes to both of the Agrippas. ^rMiefe matters I had pondered well, ufing them all with fkill as they arofe, and thus found great favour, in the eyes of Claudius, during all the nine years I lived under his protection ; for, being no Nazarene, and alfo no longer a (hekellefs Jew, but poflefled of the accumulated wealth of three of my deceafed relatives, added to mine own gatherings, I could well play the part even of an Agrippa \ and fo have I done to all around me ; which Claudius 1 80 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century \. Commencement of his NERONIANA A Meditation. noting, and after him Nero, during now nearly ten years more, my days here in Rome have been fo very unlike all that went before (efpecially thofe fo foolifhly and madly fpent by me in Hin- nom and in Jehofhaphat) that fcarce can I now hold myfelf the fame Cartaphilus, of Meriamne and Seraiah born ! ^JjJ^onderful are the bleffings of having, and of ufmg MONEY ! It hath ftirred up the vis infita that truly was in me, He commences his tnou gh fo long and deeply buried before Imperial NERONIANA. ^ j r u jv ^u ^u rj Rome received me: for, had it not been thus roufed, my NERO would have found no worth in Cartaphilus ; but, doubt- lefs, would have made him far more worthlefs lave to the worms ! But money preferveth one for ever even from the worms, if em balmed ; and if not, Cartaphilus muft furely have been in his grave long ere this, had not mammon gained unto him numerous friends, that fcreened him from the accufations, always fo rife againft the Jews, and fpecially fo now, as having made the great Conflagra tion yet fcarce extinguimed ! ^Qtow, my Nero availed himfelf, in this, of the people s folly in fuppofing that Jews were neceflarily Chriftians and Chriftians neceflarily incendiaries ! Ah, Nero ! thou haft in this, more than in all thy other deeds, immortalized thyfelf ; for thou alone haft the merit of that vaft conception unimaginable otherwife, neither Chriftian, nor Jew having any lot or part therein, as Cartaphilus doth well know. ****** ^Qow, Cartaphilus ! though life to thee be fweet, and all good cheer thou loveft ; and C tth l tnou gh t ^ lou na ftj indeed, enjoyed in Rome a glorious life, and during quite eighteen years haft to a far better purpofe lived (as being pleafure s votary) than in all thy forty and three years fpent in Judea yet, fuch an incarnate Beel-zebul, as thy friend NERO truly is, doth ftill (hock thee much ; and is as abhorrent to thy inner foul, as is impurity to a veftal s he being no lefs beaft and madman, than a devil ! Shame upon thee, then, Cartaphilus, that thou haft fo often miniftered to the volcanic lufts of fuch an infatiate monfter ! but this laft at of his, in burning Rome, and then burning Chriftians for it, hath torn away the veil that fo much obfcured thy vifion : for all confcience hath not yet quite forfaken thee, oh, thou fon of the excellent Mariamne ! Abraham s faith is ftill, if feebly, at thy heart s core ! Do the pre cepts and influences of early religion (thofe of the mere child) ever wholly forfake the foul ? Doth the fountain, as well as all the ftreams, become utterly corrupt, fo that no veftige of purity re mains ? this is a queftion hard to be refolved. Beel-zebul, as I know, labours cunningly and constantly and, as if his empire depends upon that one foul, whofoever it may be ! but Jehovah s xvn. c&e flxBanUenng 3|eto, Confcience Nero s green Life The Matricide. image (imprefled upon the youthful mind) is difficult to be quite erafed : mountains of fin may gradually cover it but the image is ftill there, and its fickly voice will fometimes be heard ! Much have I enjoyed life here; Roman fafhions were new to me money had often been a rare commodity to me in Judea, when under the yoke of my mother s fifter my whole exiftence had been poifoned by what went before : but genius and learning were mine ; and money likewife ere Rome was fought of me : and when here, Claudius, and the young Nero, and the fplendid Agrippa lavifhed honours and kindnefles in abundance on me, all being as frefh to the foul of Cartaphilus, as are the morning dews upon the parched earth yea, as the (bowers of Sivan upon a bed of drooping violets! I lived with the joyous, and with them was joyous : but oh ! Confcience would fometimes come, that indwelling voice would whifper ; and fometimes, as if gaining ftrength by fuppreffion, it would, for a moment, burft forth in terrific thunders I * * * * [J^inding me fo well inftruited in all jfewijh matters, the young Nero had me often near his perfon, as Claudius before him had : but yet they both feemed to court me far more for my wit, and charms of converfation, than for things of State. ^f^ero had come to his power like a lamb ! and well do I re member that, fhortly after the imperial robe was upon him, on being required to fign his name for the execution of fome foul malefactor, he exclaimed, " 0, would to heaven I had not been taught to write!" I did not then like this fhow of deep huma nity in Nero ; to me it was but the prefage of an end that would be as a roaring lion and fo hath it fallen out the youth in tender- nefs foon became the veteran in cruelty ! jjE-Tnd, moreover, the green Nero hated flattery ! for, when the Senate would beftow upon him liberal commendation for his earlieft a&s, he mildly urged them to referve their praifes until he deferved them better ! and hence, as Cartaphilus opines, Ad Gnecas Ka- lendas. ^Q>ow, as nature doth fometimes congregate within her dark and hidden recefles, the direft mifchiefs, that without admonifhment burft forth with fudden and refiftlefs fury, fpreading mifery and defolation around, fo with Agrippin my Nero ! and finally, to give afiurance to all perfons that imperial anger would endure no reftraint, he ordered the aflaflination of his mother Agrippina ! which done, he gazed on her lifelefs body with high admiration, and with a fmile exclaiming, " O truly, never did I believe my mother was fo beautiful a woman !" [A. D. 59.] jElU who actually, or in the emperor s difeafed imagination, in any way mar his pleafures, are promptly and cruelly facrificed. All 1 82 Cfironicles of Cartapirilus, century i. Neronian revels The Senator Montanus. of the debauchery that Rome contains is now familiar to him, young as he is ; and to me alas ! his cherimed companion, almoit equally fo, aged as I am ! Often, at night, would Nero fay, " My pleafant Jew, thee muft I have with me, when the clepfydra is at ten and mark that thou keep clofe in thy bofom all thou malt fee or hear : " and then would we fally forth, both in moft impenetrable guife and vifit places that courtly eyes have feldom feen before ! ^n thofe nocturnal rambles, his excefles and cruelties might fhame the very demons : but, I remember me, that, in Mo\a us one ^ tnem > ne na d well-nigh been made a corpfe, when attempting a great rudenefs towards the wife of Montanus, a Roman fenator. This dignitary had ufed the Em peror fo feverely for it, that he was confined to his chamber fome weeks the marks of which upon his head and face can never forfake him ! Nero made no inquiry after the author of this mif- chief to him, dealing with the matter as belonging to his own madnefs, and hence no fit fubjec~t for voluntary revenge. Mon tanus was equally ignorant at the time, that it was the emperor whom he thus had belaboured : but afterwards, though, learning it was the powerful Nero who had offered the infult to his wife, and whom he had fo feverely handled, he fuppliantly craved pardon by a formal epiftle thereby revealing the fatal fecret ! to which Montanus received only the following laconic, but truly alarming reply " How ! is the man who beat Nero flill alive ?" And the unfortunate hufband was inftantly thereafter compelled to fall upon his fword, and expired ! J^uch was the ardent temper of this light-haired youth, that he facrificed to all the Mufes with nearly an equal fervour : and fancy ing himfelf deeply fkilled in the hiftrionic art, he appeared as a6lor and mufician at a private theatre, perfonating even the vileft and moft loathfome characters : and fhortly after, this Emperor appeared publicly upon the ftage at Neapolis ! ^he contagion of his example was fo great, that even thofe of confular dignity fang with him lewd and amorous airs : and Catulla, a lady of noble family, and four-fcore years of age, united in thefe public exhibitions, by appearing among the dancers ! jH burning paflion for mufic fo pofleffed my Nero, that, to refine his voice, he fo moderated his daily nouriture, as fcarce a pbarifee would have done yea, a pharifee even in the holy Jerufa- lem, in the months of Ab, and of Thammuz ! Next came the Olympic Games, which would have inftantly carried him to Greece, a zealous competitor for the higheft honours ! but this, for the prefent, the Senators prevailed on him to abandon or, at leaft to poftpone. next aflumed the female drefs and character ; and even on xvn. c&e 2Jantierin0 3[eto. 1 83 The Great Conflagration. went through the forms of celebrating his nuptials with fome of the moft abandoned ! jPJll this, however, was fnowy innocence, compared with his reckleflly jeoparding at once, the lives and property of feveral millions of his fubiefts ! for, out of a filly fancy Con fl a ^ rat lon , - . . . , J ,. .. . ., > . > of Rome. gleaned from his poetical readings, he cauled fire to be fet to Rome in numerous places, that he might thus realize his imaginings of a TROY in flames ! [July 10, A. D. 64.] ^Ouring one of thofe nights of matchlefs horror (greater than was that a year ago, near Neapolis *) when the flames of Rome were raging with terrific force, as if ^Etna and Vefuvius combined, had fuddenly broken over the City of Ages, my Nero turned haftily round to me and faid, " Cartaphilus ! quick to my mufeum bring me hither my lyre, we will inftantly to the Mecaenas Tower, and there, with appropriate and fweet mufic, celebrate this fcene ! " " Apollo and all the Mufes ! " exclaimed I, involuntarily, " can the lyre difcourfe fweet mufic to thee now ? will it drown the la mentations of thofe mothers, whofe children are periming in the flames the groans of hundreds, now dying around us the cram of falling palaces, and the roar of the fiery billows that envelope the humble dwellings of thofe thoufands ? "- Nero furveyed me with an undifturbed and placid countenance, in no way angered by me, but rather pleafed at the ftriking contrajl between us, and faid, " Thou art nervous to-night, my Carta : but go ! fetch me the lyre." I obeyed in filence ; and placing the instrument in his hands, we foon were feated on the fummit of the lofty tower, fur- veying the wide-fpread devaluation before us ! Occupied in this but a few minutes, Nero repofed upon his couch ; and to his lyre he fang of Troy s deftru&ion, ever, and anon, faying to me, " furely, my Cartaphilus, Troy was not fo goodly a city as this !" " My Emperor ! " at laft replied I, " this rnuft, indeed, have been a vaft city ; for, as I think, this is now the feventh day and night the fires have been thus raging ! truly, it is a difmal fcene." " Yes, my Cartaphilus," faid the Emperor, " fire and air, and earth and water are well commingled here and, even the fon of * Cartaphilus evidently here alludes to the firft recorded eruption of Vefu vius, in A.D. 63. Diodorus Siculus, B.C. 25, merely ftates that this mountain, like _#tna, had in former times thrown out fire: Strabo, B.C. 17, fpeaks of Vefuvius as being very barren at its fummit with earth-like afties, abounding alfo in holes and caverns, and with ftones, as if burnt with fire : and he re gards the whole as a then extinft volcano ! and finally, Vitruvius, two years after, fays, " Long ago, fire greatly increafed under Vefuvius, from whence it iffued in flames over the country around." No further allufion is made to this mountain, than in A.D. 63, and A.D. 79 when Herculaneum and Pompeii were deftroyed. 1 84 C&ronicles of Cartapfcilus, century i. The Introdu&ion to his Retrofpe6l of Twenty Years. Saturn and Ops could do no more yea, this would, even in Hades, be called an uproar : but come, good Carta : it doth difturb thy gentle frame we will to fupper ! "* "mj^hen the conflagration had nearly ceafed, after many days, Nero endeavoured to avert the public odium, by feigning great pity for the miferies of his fubje&s ; but ftill more, by cafting all blame from himfelf, upon the poor and humble Chriftians a tale of no difficult belief among the ruder fort ! ^Jnfortunate for me, however, thefe people could ill difcrimi- nate between Jew and Chriftian ; fo that I Ihould have been in conftant peril of life or limb, had it not been for my ftill good friend Nero ! who, though black as Pluto himfelf, was to me inef- timable then, if fafety or repofe I valued. SECTION XVIII. ROME, Idus luni*, u.c. 819. [June 1 3th, A.D. 66.] ELL do thefe Romans fay, u Dum vivimus vivamus" and being myfelf an apt fcholar in the ars vivendi, my motto hath been the fame, and with its fellow " dum bibimus bibamus" for the Italian wines are furely as pure and beautiful, as are their fkies ! ^erufalem, doubtlefs, is a great city : but, to Abraham s children, the boundlefs riches and luxuries of Rome are wonder- Introdufiion f u j an( ] j w hen partaken of with no gall of Hebrew leftoflwen- con f c lence -> tne fafcinations of the Imperial City are ty years. thofe of the Immortal Gods, as revealed to them by their poets ! ^m^ell do I remember the impreflions made on me by the firft magnificent prandium or rather ccena, to which I had been bid den : there Cartaphilus was feated with eight others, fanned by many flaves : we repofed on foft couches, more gorgeous in various hues than the bow of heaven ; and, as we lifted golden goblets filled with the wines of Falernus, of Chios, or of Calenus, each fome centuries old, and each draught burying at leaft a mina, I thought not of Paleftine : then were we crowned with garlands, and our fouls calmed by the enrapturing mufic of many flutes and lyres and hautboys in fweeteft harmony ! beneath, and over the whole teflelated pavements, were ftrewn frefh and odorous blofToms ; the furrounding apartments were each named after fome god, or hero ! Language is poor, and Cartaphilus, then, and now * The fire having been fupprcfled, broke out again ; and raged with equal fury during feveral days more. xvm. Cjjc 2xUantienng 3[efo, 1 85 Reminifcences of his early Life. knows not where to gain words that may defcribe the variety of difhes from the gujtatio to the bellaria they came in fucceffion, and with a defigned order were fet before us, that mowed fcience as well as art, and moreover, perfect experience in the Apician, by whom all had been concocted and garnimed ! Never before had my mind conceived the thought of fuch a union of fcience with art in fuch a matter ! and, when I gazed upon the nine ponderous pieces of filver that refted upon the maflive ivory menfa, (encom- paffed on three fides by couches, on each of which three guefts re clined) my furprife was boundlefs, at the information given to my inexperience by that gueft, who was fummus in leffo fummo, that the centre piece weighed quite five hundred pounds of filver and that the eight others weighed each fifty pounds ! But, even this wonder foon paffed off, when my fimplicity was further inftrucled, by a whifper from the fame gueft, as to the probable coft of feveral dimes ! All fuch things, however, are now more familiar to me, than are the Penates to any Roman ! and, at length became, either indifferent, or loathing, according as I had furfeited, at times, more or lefs. And yet, greatly did I enjoy life : but ftill, in the midft of all my Claudian and Neronian diflipations, the impreffions of my Jewifh youthful days never wholly forfook me : the habit of my mind had ever been thoughtful my hours had never been wafted in idlenefs, fo that now, in Rome s midft, I neglected not learn ing books were my conftant companions my imaginary lares much engaged me but the bibllotbeca became my moft cherifhed lararium. ^Oo&rina fed vim promovet infitam, as their juftly admired Horace faith, fo that, (when Claudius at firft, and then Nero per mitted) no little time was fpent by me among the Greek and Ro man hiftorians, poets, and moralifts. Thefe Romans, therefore, have become far more dear to my mind, than the facrificing Jews, whether of the Holy City, or elfewhere. Now I live in every mo ment of the day years have been as a century of delight, fo various and continued are my thoughts, and hence thofe years, fince my departure from Paleftine, have been nearly oblivious of all that went before ! ******* ^Jut, Cartaphilus, thy idlenefs hath been without alloy in one thing thy CHRONICLES have been wholly unthought of! Nearly twenty years have now been paffed at Rome, and but few pages of thy diary blotted ! Canft thou not chronicle thy chief doings, feeings, and mufings during all of thofe fleeting and now irrevocable years ? or, doft thou fhrink from retrofpeffion ? Canft thou turn back thine eye of remembrance, and wander over thofe years, fince Rebecca and Prifcilla and Artemas were wholly thine 1 86 Chronicles of CartapFjilus, Century i. The long negleft of his Chronicles A Resolution. and, with thy Roman heart, canft thou think of them, and of thy own doings juftly ? Ah, no ! thefe would require, at leaft, a Jewifh, if not a Chriftian mind (fo full of tendernels) that I might, even whilft writing, cherifh their dear and greatly honoured me mory : for, though they ftill live, and are happy, they are dead to me ! I now fear to open that roll of my Chronicles, which records their brilliant virtues, and their devoted love towards me. Caufelefsly was I angered at the letters received by me from the excellent Prifcilla, alfo from the worthy Rabbi, and even from the beloved Rebecca : their well intended counfels gave me offence ; their re jection of my propofed dowry for my betrothed enraged me, and the long concealed love of Artemas for the Princefs Drufilla, fo natural and proper, likewife vexed my morbid fpirit : and finally, their full adoption of the New Faith, feemed to eftrange me from them wholly ! Hence was it that I battened here to Rome be came an alien to my country, its laws, and its inftitutions ; and, fince the death of Claudius, now quite eleven years, I have been conforted with a man-demon, and fcarce able to look at the only letter fince that time received by me, from my only real friends, thofe of Pella and of Ramoth ! But, as the poet truly faith, " We choofe our fellows" and this is according to nature; hence muft I not complain ; myfelf have I made unlike them, and they have fafhioned themfelves unlike to me ; therefore, Cartaphilus lives in Rome they in Jewry bethinks of the pleafures of this they of the life to come ; and herein are we both confiftent, they, more over, are full believers I am not. ******* And yet, were Ophir mine, it would be given for the blotting out of all memory of my life, fince firft I faw the Nazarene ! Oh, that was a hideous act it will come forth in fpite of Imperial pleafures, and of all ingenious dialectics in my folitary mufings : no Protean forms are as varied and vexatious, as thofe forced on me by confcience, when in ftrife with argument. Oh that, in one folid mafs, the full belief of Artemas were mechanically poured into my mind, there to have perpetual lodgment, and without the conteft that our philofo- phy doth bring ! for, unlefs that Faith be fo placed by fome refift- lefs Power wholly foreign to myfelf, where the hope that the per fect belief of Artemas mall ever be mine ? Doubtlefs, faith, of fome kind is mine but not like their s. My eyes and ears have feen and heard too much for unbelief but not enough for the be lief that fecures us peace ! To them, their faith is indeed pricelefs welling from within them, as from exhauftlefs fountains. CDuch do I deplore that league with Judas and, though life in Rome hath been unto me as a fummer s day, it hath not been wholly freed from the mind s ftorms : that inner entity will revert to former days and deeds ; nor can all of Rome s luxurious living, xvm. Cfje ftOan&ering 3(eto, 187 Love of our native land never dies. her gorgeous palaces, her bewitching theatres, circufes, and baths, her dramatifts and poets and philofophers her triumphs and games, and the other thoufand amufements of her daily exiftence, ever banifti Jerufalem utterly from my mind. Horace, then, rightly afks, P atria quis exul fe quoque fugit ? Oh ! it is indeed true, that no exile from his country can efcape himfelf ! feebly, per haps, may his remembrance reft upon his native foil, and on his once dear friends ; but the crimes and even follies there committed are not wafhed out in foreign lands, and by other fcenes ; the caufes of his exile will force his thoughts back to his natale folum D to his friends forfaken, and his country difhonoured. ^Jjhen thus mufmg upon my younger days, and early miferies, I fometimes almoft hate Jerufalem : but yet, at other times, Heaven feems to fhine into the very depths of my benighted foul ; and then Rome, in return, is almoft loathed ; and then I feel the whole force of the remark, patrite fumus igne alieno luculentlor for, even thefmoke of our own country feems brighter than the fire of any foreign land ! J^n the following Retrofpe<5t, then, of the twenty years I have pafled in a ftranger-land, I feel as if I muft avoid thinking much of my own greatly beloved Judea ; and that the reminifcences of my Jewifti life fhould in no way be blended with thofe of my Roman. To-morrow will I begin my tafk : but alas ! on the following day, it muft be interrupted by the cruel order of Nero for PAUL S death ! This doth greatly move me : and why doth the emperor fo firmly infift upon my prefence ? This Saul of Tarfus, now called Paul, he will have beheaded as privileged and that I, of all in Rome, muft witnefs it ! Oh, how like a band of iron is the will of tyrants ! Entreaty by me were vain, as tis his humour and re- fufal might be certain death.* * St. Paul was executed at Rome, perhaps, in the thirteenth year of Nero s reign, and in the fummer of A. D. 66 but the exaft time has been confidered doubtful. The Roman Martyrology gives the zgth June as the true date in A. D. 66. Paul was imprifoned by Felix in A. D. 61, during two years; and in A. D. 63 was fent to Rome by that Procurator, where he lived feveral years in his own " hired houfe." Probably, late in A. D. 65, he vilited Timothy at Ephefus, and returning to Rome, not long after, was caft into prifon by Nero, that tyrant having taken offence at the converlion of his favourite concubine. Paul then addrefled his and Epiftle to Timothy, evidently making allufion to his approaching death; vide chap. iv. 6, 7. It is alfo probable that St. Peter, and Lifius, the bifhop of Rome, were prifoners at the fame time; but the times of their martyrdom are not definitely known. See the Editor s further Note on the death of Paul, poft. C&ronicles of Cartapftilus, century Roman Life continued. THE RETROSPECT.* SECTION XIX. ROME, Anno Mundi, 3826. EM, 18. [Auguft zoth, A. M. 4066, A. D. 66.] OW will I faithfully recount what hath befallen me, from the hour of my departure from Jerufalem, on the twelfth of the month Irar, until the prefent day, (fave what hath been already nattily, and out of time ftated, in the two preceding feclions) the period now being fomewhat lefs than twenty years. |J^ arrived within fight of the Imperial City, on the Roman Life twentieth day after a veflel at Joppa had received me. continued. ^^, r , j f ,. , j c , I he fun s declining rays gave to the verdure or the fields an unufual brilliancy, reflected from a thoufand objects of furprifmg beauty, and to me of entire novelty : thefe fo ravifhed my then excited mind, that all my paft days feemed as mifpent or, if deeper and founder thoughts obtruded, I ftrived to forget them. ^JjJ^e entered the Walls by the double gate, called Capena ; at which was placed a brazen ftatue, reprefenting fome tutelar god. I was much furprifed and greatly (hocked to find, that all who jour neyed with me defcended from the vehicle, and kitted the right hand of this ftatue : which was done, as they faid to me, boni omi- nis caufa ! From this ceremony, I, of courfe, was exempt. f My * The reader will perceive that the two preceding Sections contain various matters out of chronological order, having lome details refpecling the emperor Nero, before any fpecial mention is made of his predeceflbr Claudius. It is therefore probable that Cartaphilus, in thofe feftions, contemplated nothing more than a hafty glance at his then courtly life, being then two months en gaged in his Neronian diffipation in the twelfth of that emperor s reign : but in two years after, A. D. 66, he refolved, with a better fpirit, to give a faithful retrofyeflive chronicle, from the time of his departure from Judea : and this is done, with but brief allufion to the matters contained in the preceding fec- tions. The narrative, as it ftands in thofe feftions, and in the Retrofpeft, is given with no material variation from the original Polychronicon, as the Editor preferred this, to a more orderly and hiftorical detail from the materials furnifhed by the chronicles. f In this cuftom we doubtlefs find the origin of the practice of kiffing the foot, and rubbing the forehead of the ftatues of Chrift, of the Virgin, and of St. Peter ! The bronze ftatue of that Apoftle, in St. Peter s church at Rome, as alfo the marble one of the Saviour, in the church of Santa Maria fopra Minerva, in the fame city, the work of M. Angelo, have their feet fo much worn by this aft of the devotees, as to occafionally demand new ones ! The Porta Capena, at which Cartaphilus firft entered Rome, was the ancient one of Cjje (bannering; 3feto. The Emperor Claudius. courfe foon brought me near the bafe of the Palatine, clofe by the magnificent Circus, and pafling through the Forum Boarium, I found a home in the Vlcus Tufcus. jfjs I had obtained letters of fafe-conduct from Cufpius Fadus, the procurator, and a more fpecial one from the young Agrippa, to the emperor Claudius (which letter I Mj firft utter- much valued, as Agrippa had been educated under Q att( n us Claudius, and then was upon a vifit to Judea, but in tending foon to return to Rome) I loft no time in prefenting myfelf at the feet of the Emperor ; who received me with marked kind- nefs. After fome queftions as to my country and family, greatly was I aftonifhed and difturbed, for a time, at a remark of Claudius, accompanied, as I thought, with a fearching eye. " Thou, my Cartaphilus, art a Jew but, as I am fpecially informed, not of the Seel: of the Nazarenes, but contrariwife, being, in thy younger days, a hot enemy of that man Chrljlus, as alfo called Jefus who would be both a king and a God !" and then regarding me more intently, the Emperor proceeded, " but, as fuch kingly and celef- tial pretence was not to thy mind, thou didft largely aid in further ing his crucifixion." This, fo unexpected a fpeech feemed inftantly to congeal my foul no word of utterance had I : to confefs my felf a hot enemy now, to one fo innocent as Jefus furely was, I felt moft unwilling, and yet the truth was much as Claudius had ftated the matter ; I had been active in that bloody deed ! How, then, to reply was the queftion that demanded fome promptnefs : to admit my former, and deny my prefent hoftility, might rank me among the Nazarenes an admiflion to Claudius by no means then to be made : time and ability feemed both now to fail me, fo that policy triumphed over confcience ; and bowing lowly, my trembling anfwer was, " O, Emperor ! thou haft truly laid." My cheeks were as burning coals, and my heart beat violently, fo that, Claudius perceiving my confufion, permitted me, after fome trivial remarks of courtefy, to retire from his prefence. ()n my way homeward, I was ill at eafe with myfelf; for con fcience whifpered that my implied confeflion of hoftility was againft one, who, if not the Shiloh, was yet furely guiltlefs of death and who, if rifen, was the greateft among all the prophets ! CDy agitation increafed, as thus I mufed on my way, when I remembered that the words of Claudius mowed how greatly my that name. The walls having been extended by Aurelian, about two hundred years after; the new and correfponding gate retained the fame name during feveral centuries; but now bears that of San Sebaftiano. It enters the City along the Via Appia, on the fouth which proceeds through the twelfth region, and along the valley between the Aventine and Caelian Hills. 1 9 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Confcience His firft vifit to a. Theatre. agency in that dread a6l had been noted by the people, and pro bably alfo the marvellous words that fo cut me down at the Valley gate ! Agrippa, and alfo Fadus, muft have known all, and hence the Emperor s knowledge of me ! *^]hefe thoughts vexed my fpirit grievoufly ; my path homeward was forfaken all was bewilderment ; and foon my feelings muft have overcome me, had not a vaft crowd encountered me in their eagernefs to prefs through the gate leading into the Campus Martins, in purfuit of pleafure. There my attention was at once drawn to the fplendid appearance of the Flaminian Circus, into which the people were pouring, as faft as every avenue of that vaft ftrudture would admit them. ^J^he Circus is fituate at a fhort diftance beyond the walls, in order that the Roman Generals may affift at its games, becaufe thofe with aftual military command, are not permitted to appear within the city walls ! JHt that moment, I was ill-difpofed for enjoyment of any kind j and thought not of following the multitude into the circus. But fome change had come over my thoughts, by what had been forced upon my fight, and wandering over the Campus, I found myfelf clofe by Pompey s magnificent Theatre ; which is not far fouth of the Flaminian Circus.* *^his maflive ftone theatre was erected by Pompey at a vaft expenfe, on his return from the Mithridatic war, it being after the model of one feen by him at Mitylene ; but which it greatly exceeds in fplendour, as well as in extent, accommodating about 40,000 fpeciators ! f Xl. avm g never been at any theatre or amphitheatre, though there are both at Casfarea, at which fplendid city of the . y^A cu . t - lt firft Herod I had fometimes been, when in communion to a theatre. . . r . / n > with Artemas, my cunolity,when lurveying rompey s great ftruclure, obtained the maftery over education, and even over my then gloomy fpirits ; and I entered it, as if by a refiftlefs impulfe, and hefitated not a moment in fele&ing my feat ! My attention early was attracted towards the crowd of Senators of diftinguiftied * The Campus Martius contained fome of the moft magnificent public and private buildings of Rome, all of which were without the walls; and fo con tinued until Aurelian embraced the Campus within his mural extenfion ; that he might fecure from hoftile incurfions a portion of the city, then fo much in- creafing. j- There are now but poor remains of this theatre, in that part of modern Rome, known as the Campo di Fiore. CarTiodorus mentions that it much needed repair in his time ; and its furprifing ftrength caufed it, in the mediaeval acres, to be ufed as a fortification : and in a few centuries more, it almoft wholly jr J diiappeared. Cftc SBantienng 3[eto, 191 The Building defcribed. magiftrates and of eminent citizens ; who had feats fpecially appropriated to them, in the orcheftra, which adjoins the pulpitum or ftage. Here I faw afiembled before me, on the fourth day after my arrival, Rome s proudeft citizens, many of whofe names I collected, as well as I could, from thofe around me. ^J^he profcenium is a richly decorated Hall, encompafTed by numerous fplendid columns, in the depth of which , are two femicircular recefles with ftatues. The actors tre described foon appeared, each attired to reprefent their refpective characters, but all in mafks, varied to fuit the feveral perfonages. The mouth of the mafk is fo formed as to caft the voice (by fome cunning contrivance) to an extraordinary diftance, which is dif- tindtly audible in every part of the extenfive building : and this is the more neceflary, as the theatre is rooflefs though with an awning fufficient to refift the fun, and alfo in a degree the rain. ^he fplendour and novelty of all things there, were too exciting to permit me to attend much to what was tranfpiring on the ftage : but the little I heard, even then, imprefled me with no favourable opinion of the intelligence of a Roman aflemblage, in their being fb greatly pleafed with what I could not but regard as a very meagre dialogue. ^J^he building is femicircular in the part occupied by the audience, and fquare in that embraced by the profcenium and the poftfcenium^ the latter being a covered portico in the rear ; to which the actors retire when they change their habiliments, or, when the furniture and decorations of the profcenium are to be varied. In cafe of a heavy rain, the audience likewife have permiflion to take melter in the poftfcenium, as alfo in the vomitarii^ or thofe entrances which gave admiflion into the theatre ; all of which are covered ways, or corridors, and which terminate in fmall ftaircafes leading to the feats in the aria. ^n the front of the orcheftra, and projecting a fhort diftance into the femicircle, where the audience are mainly feated, I obferved a fmall Temple, dedicated to Venus Vittrix ; which thofe around me laughingly informed my provincial ignorance, had been placed there by Pompey to make his theatre a temple ! As this fact fome- what fhocked, and no little aftonifhed me, I fought fome further explanation ; and was told that this fplendid and folid ftructure was the firft permanent theatre ever erected in Rome ! and that pre- vioufly, all the theatres were by law merely temporary, forming no part of the permanent fcheme of improvement in this vaft city ; but ftill, that fome of them had been and now were extremely magni ficent and coftly ; and that Pompey had been obliged to refort to this poor device, in order to fatisfy the compliant Cenfor ; whofe duty would otherwife have required its removal ! But, at that 192 C&ronicies of Cartapfnius, Century \, Monotony of a Senfuous Life. time, Pompey was very powerful, and a great favourite with the people ; fo that the Cenfor was blind to the harmlefs fubterfuge, and thus the matter has refted ever fince ! * It was further re lated to me that, when the theatre was dedicated, the people were amufed with bloody combats between lions ; in which no lefs than five hundred were flain ! and that to this fucceeded one of more grandeur, though lefs in number, the like furious wars between numerous elephants. ^ had previously read, fomewhat, concerning thefe matters : but feeing is far more impreffive than even much reading. *JT am the more particular in my account of Pompey s theatre, as the exhibition I then witneffed, though fo accidental, forms the firft link in that long chain of diflipation which enfued, by its giving to my mind the firft fweet tafte of fplendid pleafure ; and on a fcale of grandeur, and of fafcinating variety, fuch as my previous thoughts had never in any degree realized. But age waits for no man and now is faft creeping upon me. I have gone through every variation of fenfual delights ; and, after twenty years of almoft daily experience therein, begin to think with Solomon, that ex- hauftion muft come at laft ; and that heart, mind, and body will foon confefs that nothing is enduring under the fun ; but that all muft end in vanity and in fore vexation of fpirit I ***** But, I muft not now fpeak of theprefent ; for, whatever my age and infirmity may now be, and however growing my defire to behold Jerufalem at prefent is things were far different from the time I vifited Pompey s theatre, and for very many years after. I have promifed myfelf, moreover, in this Retrofpecl:, to detail my career, fince home and friends were abandoned, with exacl: truth ; and to do this, I muft now ftrive to feel as I felt during all thofe interven ing years. ^hus ended the firft few days of my Roman life : and I may here remark that, even in this Imperial City, the whole circle of life would be fufficiently portrayed, by a careful defcription of a much (horter period than that of my refidence here yea, even of the one tenth thereof: for, even the world of amufements, of fenfuous * The temporary theatres of Caius Curio, and of Marcus Scaurus were very extenfive ; and muft have been inconceivably fplendid. The former was of wood ; and, as it turned upon an axis, with the fpe&ators in their feats, the per formance was readily changed from the drama, to that of an amphitheatre ! Scaurus theatre would contain 80,000 fpeftators : its fcena was three ftories high, and embellifhed with three hundred and fixty columns, the foundations of the fcene being of marble ! Its firft divifion was of glafs ; and the third one was formed of golden pictures ! But the whole was rendered yet more luxu rious, by no lefs than 3000 brazen ftatues, which intervened between the columns ! on xix. c&c 221anti0ung Jeto, 193 Interviews with Claudius His opinion of the Jews. diffipation, of daring fin, and of innocent occupation, has its boun daries, and its tedious repetitions ! CDy earlieft care was to make myfelf familiar with the City the inftitutions and habits of the people, and, in fome degree, even with its laws, written and cuftomary. The language of Rome, as alfo that of Greece, had been fomewhat familiar to me before I left Judea ; and, indeed, formed there my chief ftudy ; both of which proved almoft equally ufeful to me here, fmce the Romans now have even a paflion for the language of the Athenians.* CDy intercourfe with the powerful and diftinguifhed was becom ing daily more general ; and Claudius often complimented me with questions refpe6ting the policy he fhould obferve towards my own wayward countrymen, frequently complaining of them as the moft tumultuous and rebellious of all his fubjecls. Still, the em peror fpoke highly of their bravery, and even defperation when prefled : which encomium greatly pleafed me, but, he then added, with fome vexation, " thefe descendants of Abraham feem to be now as regardlefs of their Divine, as they evidently are of the Ro man laws, for neither the ordinances, nor cuftoms of their own land, nor the regulations of Rome, can bind them." jFll this, alas ! was but too true ; and I had not wherewith to make any defence for Ifrael : my filence, therefore, feemed to win the Emperor s confidence ; for he proceeded with many inquiries refpecling the numerous bands of robbers that infeft our country ; alfo, as to the diflenfions among ourfelves, and as to the peculiari ties of our religion ; which he frankly admitted were, at leaft, ancient and felf-denying. ^fj\ one of thofe interviews with Claudius, he thus addrefled me. " Ihave fent for thee, good Cartaphilus, in confe- quence of fad news from Judea. Thy people are The Emperor hard to govern they are againft Earth and Heaven, Q^ l - lu ~ r <- , and, therefore, no marvel would it be if the Gods, and j g:w s. the minifters of man s laws, were to crujh them." " Mighty Emperor ! have patience with them," faid I, " they are unlike other people, as knowing little at any time of Man s law : and, as Ifrael hath much forfaken her heavenly Lawgiver, {he is the more reftive under human control." " Thy words, Cartaphi lus, are no riddle to me," replied the emperor, " I have long heard * This acquaintance with Greek, in Cartaphilus, was, no doubt, unufual among the Paleftinian Jews : for even Jofephus, who valued himfelf on ex- tenfive learning, confeffes his limited knowledge of Greek ; and fays that his countrymen do not much efteem the acquisition of languages ; which, as he thinks, may be eafily cultivated by (laves, as well as by freemen, but adds, that a thorough acquaintance with divine and human laws and inftitutions, is a far ftronger teftimonial of a wife man. I. O 1 94 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century i. The Procurators in Judea. of thy nation s ftrange fuperftitions but, that matter of a fole heavenly legiflator, I will not argue with thee, for thou haft now in thy nationy/* galling evils to contend with ; and thefe fix would {how that, not only Heaven hath forfaken thy people, but that even Roman power is too weak to do aught but to ruin for de- ftrudtion is fometimes eafier than regulation /" " ^J^hy fpeech,O mighty Claudius ! alarms me much ; and I pray thee, tell me what are thefe fix galling evils, that I may the better know thy mind, if poffibly, I can render thee fome ufeful counfel refpe6ling any of them ?" Claudius promptly replied, " Thou art a divided people, and racked with more civil difTenfions than fall to the lot of any other nation thou art overrun with robbers a fore famine rages in thy land thou art mad with thy peculiar fuperftitions thou art often opprefTed by petty Roman tyrants and laftly, Samaria, in the very heart of thy foil, hath hated thee during full fix centuries ! thefe are the gangrenes that eat up the vitals of thy people ; which, if not fpeedily remedied, muft furely end in thy nation s total ruin. Thou doft remember that only lately, the procurator Fadus fubdued that wild magician Theudas^ and his crazy followers, with lofs of many lives, and of his own head : for that filly man would be prophet, and a worker of mira cles, promifmg his deluded profelytes an eafy paflage over thy Jor dan, on dry land, too, and yet could not fave his own head from feparation !"* " j^| s fucceflbr to Fadus," continued Claudius, " I appointed Tiberius Alexander, [A. D. 46,! who had great difficulty Procurators with two of the fons, James and Simon, of that rebel in Judea ap- J u j as o f Galilee ; who is dead fome time. Thefe two cT e <l ^ fons, my procurator hath lately crucified. And now Ventidius Cumanus is appointed procurator, inftead of Alexander [A. D. 47] ; and I am this day informed through a fpe- cial meflenger, that under the maladminiftration, as I fear, of this Cumanus, a violent tumult hath happened in your Holy City, as ye call it, at the PafTover ; in which no lefs than 30,000 Jews have perifhed !f The daily increafing animofity of thy people againft our Roman foldiery, compelled the procurator as matter of precau tion, to ftation a regiment during the Paflover, in one of the cloif- ters of the Temple. Unfortunately, one of thofe beaftly foldiers, fometimes found among the beft difciplined troops, indecently ex- pofed his perfon in the prefence of afTembled thoufands, to mow thereby his contempt for thy religion and people. The Jews, ever * This Theuclas feems to be a different perfon from him of the fame name, who, under Cyrenius, created a like difturbance. f Eufebius gives the fame number ; but Jofephus fays twenty thoufand. Seffion xix. Cf)0 Wmftttin$ JjettJ. 195 Cumanus The Antonia. too alert to make ferious difficulties out of trifles, became furious with rage ; and not content with regarding it as the coarfe and intem perate acT: of a bafe individual, whom they inftantly flew, they charged the whole matter as of the contrivance of Cumanus, and refufed to be appeafed by his utmoft endeavours to allure them of their miftake, and of his own deep indignation at the a<St. Seeing that a tumult was inevitable, Cumanus immediately fummoned his entire forces into the Antonia, and equipped them in full ar mour.* The alarmed multitude, afTembled for the great feftival, fled in all directions ; they crufhed one another in the narrow ftreets, and the panic became fo general and uncontrollable, as to occafion the great deftru&ion of life mentioned, which, no doubt, was an hundred-fold greater than were likely to have fallen by the fword of Cumanus ! Thus, my Cartaphilus, by the low obfcenity of one Roman foldier, and the mad fuperftition of thy recklefs peo ple, all Jerufalem is now in tears and deep lamentation!" " X3 U *- Cartaphilus," continued the Emperor, " thy country men, as well as mine own, feem incapable of profiting by the lefTons of experience : for, immediately thereafter, another outrage was committed. Near Beth-horon, a few miles north of Jerufalem, fome rebel-robbers attacked and plundered a favourite flave of mine, and when engaged upon my fpecial meflage, whereupon Cumanus defpatched his troops in fearch of the offenders : and one of his foldiers having furtively gained pofleflion of a copy of the Law of thy famed legiflator Mofes, he tore it into pieces, and, with much abufive language, caft them upon the ground. The people, again, looking on this as the aft of our people, inftead of the rafh deed of one man, became fo furious, that Cumanus, fear ing another fanguinary outbreak, promptly beheaded the perpetrator, but with little efFe6t, as further violences followed. The Gali leans, as you may know, were ever ufed to come to the Temple, on thy feftival days, through the country of the Samaritans. When attending upon the laft paflbver, the Samaritans oppofed this paflage; and encountering them near a fmall Samaritan village, many of the Galileans were flaughtered by them. Cumanus was appealed to, that he fhould avenge this murder which he declined to do ; * The Antonia was a caftle that overlooked the cloifters of the Temple. It was built by Hircanus I. about a century before Chrift ; and then was called Caftle Baris ; and became the palace of the Afmonean princes, during their pre- fidence in Jerufalem. It was highly adorned and enlarged by Herod the Great, who made it a ftrong fortrefs; and, in compliment to Mark Antony, called it the ANTONIA. It was a quadrangular building, of 1200 feet in circum ference, fituate upon a rock, which on the Eaft was nearly on a level with the Temple s foundation, but, on the other fide the rock was more than feventy feet above the level of the ftreet. 96 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Cumanus and Celer fent to Rome. whereupon the incenfed Galileans accufed him of receiving a bribe from the Samaritans, or others, and inftantly reforted to arms, gaining to their fide the notorious robber Eliazar whofe habitation, with his lawlefs band, is fomewhere in the mountain faftnefles. Cumanus then armed the Samaritans, flayed many of the Galileans and their allies, and made numerous prifoners." " ^erufalem foon became feized with the contagion, and all gave promife of a general infurre&ion ! This, however, was happily prevented, but only by the urgent entreaties of the more confi- derate citizens ; who, clad in faclccloth, and heaping ames upon their heads, (as is the ftrange cuftom, I learn, of thy people) at length prevailed on the infurgents to lay afide their arms, and the robbers to retire to their mountains." " ^J^he whole matter," continued the Emperor," was then referred, on the complaint of the Samaritans, to my Pnefeft of Syria. The Jews urged on Quodratus that the Samaritans were furely the aggreflbrs ; and that Cumanus had, without doubt, been bribed by them. The PraefecT: decided that the Samaritans were in the wrong that Cumanus and Celer fhould be fent to Rome for trial. The procurator Cumanus, and his military tribune, Celer, are now here ; and, good Cartaphilus, what I have ftated to thee of the proceedings of thy countrymen, as well as of my procu rator, and tribune, have been thus detailed, that I may incontinently have thy aid in doing full juftice : for, fince thy flay here in Rome, we have had many proofs of thy wifdom and candour : thou well knoweft the faults of thy countrymen Samaritans, Galileans, and thofe of Jerufalem no enthufiaft art thou in thy religion and wonderfully free art thou of the wild fuperftitions and rabid pre judices that abound in thy native land and yet, I find thee no traitor to Judea s interefts." ^he fober fenfe and beautiful franknefs, with which Claudius had exprefled himfelf, greatly charmed me, and the more fo, as I had confidered him rather a weak and timorous prince, more given to exceflive eating and drinking, than to clofe thought and accurate obfervation. And this impreffion of his character had been ftrengthened by the fact, that he who utterly fails to govern his own houfehold, can fcarce govern well a nation. The con tinual and abominable diforders in his family, and efpecially of his wives, Meffalma and Agrippina^ had often furprifed and difgufted me. The wifdom, therefore, now manifested by the Emperor s exprefled views, and ftrong defire to feek counfel in his prefent difficulties with the Jews, greatly won my confidence and refpecT:. jM fter exprefling to Claudius my utmoft gratification at the confidence he would repofe in me, and my perfect willingnefs to impart my frankefr. counfel, he further faid, " I have appointed two c&e (KHanBeung; Jeto, 197 Exile of Cumanus Death of Celer Felix. days hence to hear Cumanus and Celer, as alfo thofe who prefer complaints againft them : and be thou, Cartaphilus, prefent to note carefully all that {hall be teftified on either fide. I will then com mune with thee again, and hear thine opinion of the matters. ^jhe trial came on : and, at firft, I much feared the refult ; for Celer s freedmen, and the numerous friends of Cumanus, hotly efpoufed his caufe, and that of the bafe Samaritans. But, happily for juftice, and for my countrymen, I was powerfully fuftained by the young Agrippa, then king of Calcis, who recently had arrived. He, well knowing the fairnefs of the Jewifh caufe, had earneftly entreated the Emprefs Agrippina to lend her aid againft Cumanus fo that, what with princely and womanly influences, added to mine own, I foon found reafon to fufpecl: the caufe had already been decided as I wifhed : and fo, in truth, it was ; for Claudius laughingly faid, I perceive, my Cartaphilus, the drift of thy mind is as mine own Cumanus is banifhed Celer fhall be returned to Jerufalem, there to be drawn through the city, in fight of all thy people, and then (lain : and, as for thofe headmen among the Samaritans, order fhall inftantly be given to make them each a head fhorter ! " and thus ended this matter the firft one of actual bufmefs during my long intimacy with the emperor Claudius. i^_ELix was then fent by Claudius, as procurator over Judea.* But change is not neceflarily improvement ; for Cumanus, though banimed, ever had more worth than Felix, foon fo high in power, and eminent in wickednefs. On his arrival, that procurator found Judea overrun with the robbers called Sicarii, (from their conftant ufe of they/ftf, or Roman fickle) and alfo with many prophets, and even with fome falfe Mefliahs ! Xi ere muft I leave Jewifh affairs, for the prefent, with merely noting that Herod-Agrippa II. after being made king of Calcis by Claudius, and alfo receiving from him the fuperintendency of our Holy Temple, and the nomination of our High Priefts ! refided moftly at Jerufalem. And as his fubfequent hiftory feemed fo likely to become intimately connected with that of my countrymen, I noted its progrefs ; and it may hereafter caufe me to chronicle no lefs of him, than of Felix whofe procuratorfhip of feven years, ending about the fixth year of Nero, is likewife too full of ftirring events to be patted. * Felix was probably appointed early in A.D. 52, V. ./"ERA eighteen or twenty months before that emperor s death. It was before this procurator that St. Paul made his memorable defence at Casfarea, which caufed Felix to trem ble as is recorded in Afts xxiv. 25. 198 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century \. Death of Claudius Agrippina. ^ muft now recur to Roman matters. Claudius, my valued mafter, and kind friend, died in the ninth year of my eat of au- com | n g nere ^ having reigned lefs than fourteen years, by three months and ten days.* jf grieve to record that, during the laft eighteen months of his life, he had become very imbecile, and almoit childim ; probably from excefiive indulgence of his palate. jFs to the rumours, alfo, which are yet afloat, that Claudius met his death from poifon adminiftered by Agrippina, I can record nothing pofitive, fave that fhe was wicked enough to do the aft, and that, as her fon Domitius (by her former hufband ./Enobarbus, whom Claudius had adopted, and then named him NERO) might have been deprived of the throne by Claudius own fon Britan- nicas ; and likewife that, as the Emprefs Agrippina had often fhown no little jealoufy of that youth, her guilt is ftrongly believed, at leaft by fome. And yet, I am free to admit that thefe are not proofs but only the elements of an ugly fttjpicion. I cannot help re membering, alfo, that Agrippina was extremely prompt in fummon- ing her fon Nero from the camp, and proclaiming him emperor, on the death of Claudius : and finally, that Britannicus, foon after, was made away with, alfo by poifon ! but many fay that this was Nero s own doing, (young as he was,) and not his mother s : and this is even the more probable, as Agrippina herfelf was, at that time, greatly difpleafed with her ungrateful fon. Such black deeds are ever done in their congenial darknefs ; and are fcarce likely to be revealed in " Agrippina s Memoirs ! " new emperor was prompt in admitting me to his prefence, . and even confidence ; for he often had remarked the na continued ^e^ 00 an d refpect which Claudius bore me. Nero early fent to inform me he had much enlarged the power of my friend Herod-Agrippa, by conferring upon him a part of Galilee, alfo Tiberias, and fourteen villages in Perea;f and at the fame time bidding me to be often with him ; which I well knew he defired, no lefs from my focial qualities, than my well known familiarity with all Jewifh affairs. But, in truth, this flat tering meflage occafioned me fome mixed feelings ; for my mind had become no little chafed in Claudius time, by the continual * Claudius died on the i3th of Oftober, A.D. 54, having reigned \^y. %m. 20 days. f All thefe pofTeffions of Agrippa, with thofe conferred by Claudius, re mained with the favourite, until feized upon by the Jews, early in the war that enfued, which ended in JerufalenVs deftruftion, about fixteen years after. Cfje OUanliering; Jeto* 199 The NERONIANA continued. accounts of favage wars, of rebellions, and of the many defpotic cruelties practifed on both fides, and likewife by the robberies, murders, fuperftitions, and factions throughout Judea. And now yet more annoyed by the budding enormities of Nero, which began to mow themfelves foon after he came to power, (though then with much deceit and careful artifice,) and which in a year or two more, became fo truly terrific. I therefore, at firft, fought to amufe myfelf with books with the feftivities of the Imperial City with her magnificent and various inftitutions with the progrefs of her unexampled luxury, and with the fplendour of her fuburban palaces and villas. Hence, when Nero, as emperor, firft befet me with his civil biddings, I attended on him with reludlance, and even apprehenfion : but thefe foon vanifhed ; as I gradually found that his follies, more than his vices his private, rather than his public intereft, were fo often the fubjects of our interviews ; and that eventually my prefence was demanded more to ftimulate his diffi- pations, than to confult me, either as to his cruelties, or his ftate policy. Hence, before a year had parted, I learned to regard my aflociation with the Emperor as perfectly fafe ; and to welcome it the more, as it harmoniied fo well with my own fupreme love of pleafure, and of all that might drown the ugly inward thoughts, that would fometimes bring me into the midft of my moft hated Jewifh recollections. * * * * "^m^ e m uft go to the Milvian to-night, Carta- philus," faid the jovial monarch, " rare fport (hall we there find : and do, my good Carta, fee that our mafks and other guifes be per fect." The Milvian Bridge is a place of great refort, a few miles from the city, for the gay and moft diflblute youths of Rome. They often aflemble there in crowds, fpending the whole night in revelry, debaucheries, and excefftve gambols. We went, and the night pailed on there as ufual in that refort, and yet in a way quite unknown to all my ten years of previous diffipations ! But, on our return, at the earlieft dawn, Nero faid, " Come, we muft leave the road, and vifit the Salluftian Gardens." Moft of the emperor s attendants, however, purfuing their ufual route to the City, were encountered by fome of the licentious youths then upon their return from the Milvian ; and were fomewhat maltreated, but more through a frolicfome defire to excite the fears of the emperor s friends, than any wifh to do them harm.* * The Pans Milvius (erected by M. Emilius Scaurus, only a few years before Nero s vilits there) now bears the name of Ponte Molle, and ftretches over the Tiber, at about two miles from the Porta del Popolo. It was at this bridge that the Catiline confpiracy was detected, by the feizure of the papers, and the arreft 200 C!)tonicle0 of Cartapftilu.s, Century \. Graptus The Emprefs Poppoea Oflavia. J^hortly, however, after this trivial event, the infamous Graptus, whom I always abhorred, whifpered in the ear of my Nero, that this dealing with the emperor s attendants was, in truth, a con certed ambufcade, to feek the Imperial life ! and that his turning off, with a few friends, for the gardens of Salluft, was indeed a fpecial protection of him, vouchfafed by the gods ! The emperor, moreover, was affured by this Graptus that the treafon was contrived by Sylla, fon-in-law of Claudius : and, as this idle tale harmonized with Nero s previous diflike, and with his actual, or pretended fufpicion of Sylla s hatred towards him, no time or ceremony was loft in baniming him, for life, to Maflilia ! jH mort time after this, and towards the clofe of his fifth year, _-, ,, . Nero firft encountered that fupremely beautiful, but Poppcea e< 3 ua lly wicked woman, POPPCEA. She had been wife to Crifpinus ; who, though a Roman knight, was de prived of her by Otho, one of the Imperial favourites. Her charms foon became too highly extolled for Nero s peace he faw, and loved her ! and Otho, in a mort time, was kindly commiffioned to one of the Provinces ; when the monarch openly received Poppcea as his miftrefs ; and cruelly abufed his wife, the young and lovely O6r.avia ! But the foul matter ended not here : two brilliant Jfars may mine in the fame firmament, and with undiminifhed luftre not two women ; for, at the inftigation of the beautiful and vicious Poppoea, the virtuous and lovely O&avia was firft exiled, and then murdered with unexampled cruelty ! * The head of this young creature, then only in her twentieth year, was brought to Poppcea; who feafted her eyes with the horrid fight, for the diadem had fparkled too brightly before her, and me faw it in her imagination too firmly within her grafp, to permit Otavia to live ! To this alliance with Poppcea, we muft refer moft of the Emperor s crimes ; which followed in fearful fucceflion. ^Jut even the beautiful Poppcea, could be endured by Nero, only about five years ; and, though me preferved her perfonal charms with extraordinary care, (me having at her command no lefs than five hundred afTes, in whofe milk fhe daily bathed) and though me invented a pomatum for her complexion, with which all Rome was and now is mad, (the male, as well as female beauties of Rome being ever on the alert to procure this famed Poppceanum!} yet its renowned inventrefs received from the foot of her ungrateful of the Allobrogean ambaffadors. Annually there was caft from it into the Tiber a living man, as a iacrifice to Saturn ! Tacitus confirms Cartaphilus refpe&ing Nero s frequent refort to the houfes and gardens adjoining that bridge; which were receptacles for the vileft nofturnal revels. The Ponte Molle, railed on the ancient foundations of the Milvius, was erefted by Pope Nicholas V. about A. D. 1450. * A.D. 6a, nearly three years after he firft beheld Poppcea. xix. Cfjc ftHanDenng; 3[eto. 201 Character of Agrippina Seneca Thrafeus. paramour her death wound ; and that, too, when likely foon to be a mother. Thus terminated retributatively^ the life of the emprefs Poppoea ; who, during the firft year of her brief fway, had infti- gated Nero to attempt the drowning of his mother Agrippina, by an artfully contrived Jhlpwreck which failing, he fhortly after, by a deeper laid plot, had her murdered in her bed ! But this mat ricide hath previoufly been fomewhat chronicled. [A.D. 59.] jjfjgrippina was as fuperlatively wicked, as is her fon ; but her genius greatly exceeded his and her acquirements were worthy of Rome s beft days. Thefe would have graced the annals of the moft diftinguifhed matrons of the empire ; but her crimes muft be remembered, when her genius fhall be forgotten. The " Memoirs " of her Life, of which {he is the fole author, are at this time much read; and, I confefs, they yield me no little amufement as well as information, often, indeed, feafoned with revolting regrets that a woman, fo highly gifted, was herfelf a Hecate, and the mother of a fecond Moloch ! * JHs for Annseus Seneca, the great moralift and philofopher, I know not what to think or to record of him ! my defire is great to cherim his apparently truthful fame ; but I like not his apologetic letter, (if his it be,) in refpe<t to the factitious fhipwreck, that was to drown his em peror s mother and the matricide that foon followed ! Nero affixed his own fignature to that letter, and addrefled it to the Senate ; but none regard it as his : and if Seneca be indeed its author, as is the more general opinion, it furely contradicts the tenor of his ufually correit life, and yet more the doctrines of his moral writings and exemplary converfation. It is to be fomewhat remembered, how ever, that Seneca had been Nero s preceptor, and yet retains fome lingerings of that paternal affection : he is, moreover, by no means infenfible to the dread that Nero s great vices involuntarily infpire in all ; and, as far as prudence for life and property demands, would carefully avoid a rupture with him. Still, all this is a poor apology, perhaps none, for the inditing of fuch a letter ! But the venal and bafe and timorous Senate that received the apology, and had no word of reproof as to the foul a<5t, ( fa ve alone the noble exception of Tbrafeus ! ) how can language compafs the full meafure of that deep indignation I feel towards them all ! Thrafeus bravely rated * Julia Agrippina was daughter of Germanicus ; and after the death of her hu(band, Domitius ./Enobarbus, by whom (he had Nero, (he married her uncle, the emperor Claudius ! When, by Nero s order, the aiFalTm approached her bed, (he exclaimed, " Come, ftrike the body that could give birth to (uch a monfter!" It is faid that her " Memoirs" greatly aflifted Tacitus in the exe cution of his immortal Annals! 202 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. A Monologue, Self-reproof The Praifes of Wit. thofe vile fenatorial fycophants entered his intrepid proteft, and openly declared " Nero may flay, but he cannot hurt me" * * * * ^Jut hold, oh thou fevere moralizer on the faults of others ! Touching thy friend Seneca, and the reft, thou C t -bt l canft feel a virtuous indignation ; even their lurking proves himfelf. an ^ peccant humours of venial immorality are alfo feen His Medita- of thee ! and thy foundly judging eyes can fcan the ttons - conduct and motives of each vile fenator, and give due praife to the noble Thrafeus ! Why, then, art thou, O Cartaphilus, yet here in Rome, inftead of Jerufalern, and almoft hourly in con- fort with this bafe Emperor, thy country s oppreflbr ? *****" rjrue, moft true, O CONSCIENCE ! and no other refponfe can I make thee, than that Jerufalern hath been moft hateful to me that dejtiny, perhaps, firft brought me hither, rather than elfewhere that love of pleafure, more than of vice, hath long aflbciated me with this Nero, and that habit hath raifed a new man in Cartaphilus. But ftill, thanks to that lovely monitor, Confcience ! an inward whifperer which hath feldom wholly left thee I may juftly fay that in all my intercourfe with the Tyrant, never hath the Jew, in one \i\ft.-<mce flattered the Roman, or fmiled upon any of his favage cruelties ! " ^hy life, O Cartaphilus ! hath been indeed deeply ftained with one foul and damning at, of which remembrance can never lofe aflurance of its terrific guilt : and though thy more than follies here in Rome have often won thee from its vivid recollection Judaea would fometimes thunder in thy foul all the terrors of the Abrahamic law ! and here my monologue muft end." , though the horror infpired in me by Nero s cruelties, would fometimes be manifefted even unto him, not C f Jpv l n g wou ld it vex the gay Emperor, for all was foon loft in the magic of my witty fpeeches ! O, how in finitely potent is the GOD OF WIT ! what is there in all life that, before his indomitable might, may hope to ftand competitor ? things moft fober, yea divine, are made fubmiffive to the fway of that potential God : for who dare raife around that fparkling throne, even for a moment, the murky atmofphere of dulnefs ? The drooping foul the angered brow the firm refolve, do all vanifh before the flam of Wit s diflolving influences ! As breaks the Sun fuddenly through the fleecy clouds, fo doth Wit inftantly difpel all gloom from the mind all vexation from the heart, yea, all ob- ftinacy, even in the unjufteft of man s purpofes fhedding o er his entire foul, and of thofe around him, its myftic mantle converting the uglieft goblins of a diftempered brain into the fprightlieft and moft beauteous of angelic forms ! xix. c&e bannering 3feto* 203 The Praifes of Wit. " O wnc S from the dazzling throne of Wit (when encompafled by the fons of Humour) hath ever been known to defcend willingly therefrom ? and who, below the throne, (in that barren valley of the mere human herd) is content to live upon the dry thiftles of every-day thought or, poflibly, even upon the fruits of fome few trees of ages, that therein may occafionally be found ? Not Car- taphilus, truly nor my Nero, though both have fometimes dealt in morals and in proverbs ! " %)hilofophy is for the clofet Virtue, and the fombre Judg ments of age, (the natural allies of that philofophy) may repofefully dwell therein : but Wit and Humour are for the few who, in garifh and in outward life, ftill do fegregate themfelves a peculiar people ; and though the follies and vices of the mafsbe often their fole com panions, the jewels of fprightly thought are radiant around thefe fons of Wit breaking forth in awakening brilliancy! Graver thoughts may fometimes, indeed, be fmuggled in by others ; but, doth not Wit foon extinguilh them all ? furely fo it is, elfe, even Humour would degenerate, and become but a hypocritical imitator. And hence is it that Cartaphilus can be truly wife, only in the clofet or, in his own unuttered thoughts, elfewhere : for, in the prefence of Rome s facetious livers, and ever in my Nero s, the Jew muft be feated on Wit s loftieft pinnacle there to form into amufmg and fantaftic fhapes the folideft metals yea, the very diamonds of curioufly famioned thought, often diftilled from fub- tileft and moft difguifed dialectics ! blending all, moreover, with that froth and fcum of Folly s ocean, in which men do moftly fwim ! There, as Wit s monarch, doth Cartaphilus fit fupreme, to diffufe into life s bitter acids embodied fweets to cull the flowers, and to fecrete the odours, of the boundlefs garden of the mind ! " X3 ut: wnat ^ Wit ? tis a happy and darting feries of thoughts from fome very foreign region taking inftant and exulting growth in a foil, wholly unlike their own ! tis the quick perceiving by one, and the inftant application by others, of deeply hidden refemblances, caufing pleafure from the great and fudden brightnefs, where no light before was feen ! tis a piercing and luminous victory of mind, over comparative dulnefs, which, Parthian-like, furprifes and fully accomplimes, whilft others are fcarce thinking of a con flict ! Wit is indeed an inftant creation, eftablifhing fellowfhip and confanguinity among unlooked-for, and even hoftile bloods and the more effectual, from its own warmth and pervading fharpnefs, which, quickly recognifed, caufe the fons of Humour, as well as of Wit, joyoufly to welcome the alliance, fhaking the vela and janua, yea, the very empyrean, with their loud and long and exult ing applaufes ! Wit (more multiform than the fea-god of famous memory) is, at one time, lurking invifibly, in fome ambiguous 204 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. The Praifes of Wit. word but fuddenly to ftart upon us in no doubtful fhape and then, anon, is it haftily and brightly revealed from fome remote cognation of mere founds and again is it feen in philofophy s moft cunning diftillations but, poflibly, foon to vanifh, in fome fparkling elixir of nonfenfe ! O, how boundlefs are the realms of Wit ! who fhall define them who, even imagine them ? all mind and matter being fo tributary to it ! " ftllL IT dth fei ze upon, and render palpable, even the feebleft refemblances : eflentially ambulatory, it flits about in fearch of thefe hidden cognations : but JUDGMENT, more quiefcent, doth foberly weigh, and well compare, all differences : it fparkles not, nor refrefhes, as doth Wit, but yet gives to the mind abiding afTurances of its own folid worth, and invites its difciples to falhion thereon their moft cherifhed actions. ^JjJQiT is the vagabond herald of Genius JUDGMENT the ftaid executor of Wifdom : the one hath a multitude to fhout its paeans the other but few to heed its behefts. " ^JjJ^it often, but not always, provokes to laughter judgment uniformly feeks repofe. Wit is a fophift judgment a logician. Wit hath a fpice of truth judgment is Truth itfelf ! Myriads would attend the Courts of Wit, as admiring lifteners, if not as fuccefsful doers : but Judgment, though fo proudly born, hath no Court is individual, and antifocial dealing only with the actu alities of life, and ufmg language only as the exa&eft fymbol of thought ! " ^SBC^, moreover, doth often attract to her court the Hu- morifts but only as attendants fubmiffive to her fway. Wit, more grave than Humour, receives them all upon tolerance only, left her point and brilliancy mould be borne off" by the laughter of the Humorifts ! Wits are not always humorifts, nor are the latter always wits : Humour feldom offends, Wit often doth : both are children of the Imagination : but the elder brother is lefs fan- taftic, and feemingly is never as anxious, nor as confcious of his doings, as is the younger."* * Our philosophic Jew, in his foregoing " Prailes of Wit," has more thought fully dealt with his fubjeft, than, perhaps, elfewhere may be found fo far as the Editor remembers, and yet, under leave of Cartaphilus, we pray to fay that had Cartaphilus explored the aftual fountain of wit, and likewife, why it, and alib Humour, are fometimes, not nature s gift to merely a few individuals and families, but may be faid to be fometimes National characleriftics, he would have further gratified us. And, if we may ftill extend our note, we pray to advert to a couplet from a Poet of our own age, who, next to Shakefpeare, we are compelled to regard as the moft natural, philofophic, accurate, terfe, and yet graphic, of all the poets, of any of the ages. " True wit is nature to advantage drefled ; What oft was thought, but ne er fo well exprefled. xix. Cfjc (HJanBering; 3[eto, 205 The People s facetiae on Nero. jffjnd now, Cartaphilus, thou fhouldft not forget the theme of thy former difcourfe, which furely was not Wifs praifes, but the Senate s bafenefs, in that fore matter of Agrippina : proceed we then with that.* ^Q>ow, what the Senate dared not do in that matter of the murdered Emprefs-Mother, the people did privately, cj- hg p pif s and with a galling potency ; for, on all other fubjects, dealings to- than the flaying of his mother, Nero hath proved in- wards the vulnerable but on that, he is ever deeply fenfitive, Emperor. but more from the dread of ridicule, than from its intrinfic horror : for my Nero s mrinking from the people s gibes was fcarce in the way of remorfe ; and often have I thought that fuperflition, far more than confcience, hath caufed his emotion at Agrippina s name. The foothfayers, as tis foolifhly faid, knew he would flay Agrippina; and that the eclipfe, which fhortly after happened, and other pro digies, are to be referred to that matricide : and fo the ruder people firmly hold ; and of that notion feems my Nero, quite as much as the hated foothfayers ! Added to thefe, the people s fatires thereon, annoy him almoft daily many of them being fo very clever in thought, and humorous in allufion nay fo full of wit, that even friends as well as foes feek eagerly for them. * * * * I remember me, that on one morning early, when pafling by Pompey s ftatue, I beheld a crowd of people making very merry ; and with many gibes, at their difcovery of an infant, expofed in a wicker bafket fufpended from the ftatue ; and with this infcription, in letters nearly as large as the forfaken child. " I DO NOT BRING THEE UP LEST THOU MAYEST KILL THY MOTHER ! " few nights after this, there was the like vociferous merri ment over a fack^ fufpended from the neck of Nero s ftatue in allufion to the cuftomary mode of deftroying a parricide^ by tying him up in a fack, with many venemous makes, and other animals, and then cafting him into the fea ! jjEfnd a g a n > a few nights after followed the famous epigram ; Quis neget ./Eneas magna de ftirpe Neronem ? Suftulit hie matrem : fuftulit ille patrem. Who denies to Nero def cent from the flock of jEneas? The one bears off" his father the other his Mother ! * The eventful life of Cartaphilus, as we have feveral times before re marked, occafioned him frequently thus to mufe, and to record his thoughts, often in the third perfon ; as if fpeaking to, or of another : and, when power fully excited, he paflTes unconfcioufly into the confecutive ufe, even of the three peribns ! The Editor has not feen fit to omit this peculiarity, or to fafliion it in another way ; as it is not an unnatural mental idiofyncracy, though poffibly, it may ibmetimes diminim its clearnefs to the general reader. 206 Cjjronicle.s of CartapFrilus, Century i. Death of Burrhus The fearlefs Thrafeus. TYhe equivoque, then, confifts in the word Juftulit ; which im ports to kill) as well as to bear off. Thefe irrepreffible facetiie difturbed the Emperor greatly, for they came from invifible hands, and penetrated as lightning through a population of feveral millions a multitude quite too numerous to be cut off, even by a Nero ; and hence, perhaps, his great attempt, a few years after, to lay all Rome in afhes ; and how nearly executed we all do know ! ^wo years after thefe numerous manifeftations of a people s horror of the Great Parricide, Nero fought the life of the praetor Socianus ; and merely for a fimilar piece of wit ; but this was de feated by the ftill fearlefs Thrafeus : and the matter ended only in the banifhment of the offender. [A.D. 62.] In the fame year, the excellent Burrhus became a victim, as tis faid, by poifon admi- niftered to him when unwell ; and this by Nero s contrivance ! The lofs of Burrhus haftened the extinction of the waning regard of Nero towards Seneca and now thefe two greatly troubled me, compelling me to think far more clofely and conftantly of my relations with Nero, than ever before had been my wont. eino; one morning at the Palace, I perceived Seneca enter, o o r He alked or the fecretary, Epaphroditus, a private Interi/iew be- auc [| ence w j tn tne Emperor : which being ended, and tween beneca i XT r i n-n i and Nero. Seneca retired, Nero round me mil on my couch, greatly amufed with Horace. " My laughing Carta- " philus," faid he, " would that I could always be of thy (brightly " temper thus to drown all care with Horace, or the like ! but " SENECA now troubles me no little he is refolved to retire utterly u from Court, and into fome fecluded fpot, far from the world s " annoyance, as he terms it ! and alfo he prates much of his care " of my early youth of the riches and honours I have lavifhed " upon him alfo of my great progenitor Auguftus ; who he faith " permitted Agrippa to retire to Mitylene ; and Maecenas into a " fnug retreat in the bofom of the City : and he craves now of me " the like permiffion defiring to feek a humble home, but extra " muros, and among the groves and ftreams ! And, ftranger ftill, " he prays that I may receive back all that I have given him, and " more yea, nearly all his great pofleffions ! To this evidently " ft u died fpeech of my Seneca, I hefitated for fuitable reply : but, " finding he looked for fome more inftant anfwer, I admitted that, " if to his prepared difcourfe I could at once refpond, I owed to " him, as well my power of every prompt, as of every ftudied reply; " for that he had early taught me both. I admitted fully, moreover, " what he faid of Auguftus dealing towards Agrippa and Maecenas, " but prayed him to remember that neither of them had been " ftripped by Auguftus of their merited rewards that my Seneca " had been to me as faithful, as they to their mafter that Seneca s <c gifts to me were by nature immortal, whereas mine to him were c&e 22JantJering 3[eto* 207 Interview between Seneca and Nero. " effentially perijhable ; and I added that yet he was of good age to 11 enjoy life, and to manage riches that his honours were not yet " equal to what Claudius had lavifhed upon his friend Vitellius " that I would yet add to his ; and prayed him to continue with " me, inftruting me by his wife counfels, advifing him, more- " over, to keep his pofleffions, and not to feek applaufe for mode- " ration, at the expenfe of his pupil s reputation. Then killing " Seneca, I permitted him to leave me." ^Q^ero having ended this ftrange account of his interview with that philofopher, eyed me with a fearching gaze, to difcover whether I had fathomed his fecret thoughts, but every mufcle of my face was faithful to my refolve which was to disappoint him ! ^J^hough the Emperor s deep hypocrify had often much fur- prifed me, I had now liftened to his detail with an aftonimment nearly overwhelming and yet without the leaft vifible emotion : nor could his moft penetrating look aroufe me. I knew he hated Seneca, and only fought fitting occafion to deal with him, as with Burrhus ! ^J^he Emperor ft ill waited for fome flattering comment by me ; but 1 continued hermetically filent. " Thy tongue, good Carta, is not ufually fo chained," faid Nero mildly, " did I not deal with Seneca nobly, and to thy mind was I not moft kind to him ? " " Thy kifs^ mighty Emperor," replied I, " is warrant fufficient that Seneca is not yet among the doomed ! " " Thou art a fubtle devil ; " faid Nero, with a Satanic fmile, " but, my funny, though myfterious Jew, I know thou love/} me ; and a thoufand Senecas will not make me doubt thee." J^eneca, I queftion not, fathomed our Nero as truly as I had done ; and confequently dreaded him : and though he went not into the retirement of the country, he with- *>e nec a retires. drew himfelf from the court changed the whole ce f^ Sm courfe of his former expenfive life clofed his doors againft the crowd that yet would have paid him their cuftomary homage; and addicted himfelf to all the charms of the moft varied ftudies. Though his wealth was boundlefs, (fome of which had been gained by ufury, which he never deemed immoral, and much alfo by gifts from Nero, under circumftances, too, queftionable, at leaft,) yet Seneca feetned proud in the confcioufnefs of never having gained any thing by wrong, or manifeft indirection : for he boafted that " he could throw open all his coffers, and bid every man to come and take whatever belonged to him^ and be none the poorer !" But fuch fpeeches are eafier made than vouched : people, moreover, have different confciences different opinions of indirection and different notions as to the legitimate modes of gaining wealth : and yet, on the whole, I fomewhat love Seneca, and think well of him as the world goes. I doubt not the fmcerity of his proffer to Nero ; 208 C&romcie.s of Cartapfrilus, Century \. Tigellinus lucceeds Seneca. he muft have known the rifk, at leaft, he ran with Nero in making it ; for it truly was a great one : and the offer, perhaps at any other moment, would have been courteoufly accepted ! But what the fad end of Seneca was, will prefently be mown. *^IGELLINUS fucceeded to the place of Seneca, a more wor thy minifter he, for my Nero s purpofes ; and Tigellinus was not flow in manifefting that fitnefs. He early ftimulated the emperor s jealoufy of Plautus immenfe wealth, and of Sylla s abjet poverty ; and therefore each poflefled, in his opinion, an equally dangerous ambition ! Both were at that time in exile the former in Afia, the latter at Maflilia ; and both, no long time after, were privately murdered by Nero s orders ! ^wo years more went on with the Emperor in his cuftomary way : refined in cruelties, exceflive in debaucheries, ftriking in his follies, mad in his paflion for mufic and the ftage ; and the now public exhibition of the hiftrionic art failed not to incenfe many of the people, and to difguft the Senate. Nero, therefore, had daily caufe to know that abfence of princely dignity might offend more deeply, than the prefence of crimes and cruelties, however en ormous ! u wilt be with Tigellinus to-morrow ?" faid the Empe ror to me, " his entertainment upon the Agrippa Lake eao ( wlth Whi h he d th faVOUf h S Em P eror ) wil1 do ho / y / & nour to his own tafte, whilft it equally manifefts his zeal for him he ferves." "That truly is my intention, moft potent Emperor," I anfwered ; " and, though, like Seneca s, my age now doth begin to admonifh me, I mould foon retire from thefe daily indulgences, and the nightly, too, as thou knoweft, yet, in refpecT: to thee, dread Emperor, I willingly yield to Tigelli nus bidding."* ()n the following evening, Nero was more gorgeoufly attired and attended, than I had ever before feen him. We arrived at the Lake a few hours after the fun was buried in the dark blue waters of the remote Zephyrus. Luna was giving a clear but feeble light, being only in her firft quarter : but the lake was magnificent be yond imagination, with the moft varied illuminations. The palace, fituate upon a little artificial ifland, was ftill more radiant in daz zling lights, (hed through coloured lamps, and all reflected from walls of polifhed marble, often inlaid with burnimed gold, and fometimes with {hining jewels ! The air was redolent of the moft delicate perfumes ; mufic, as of the fpheres, ftole gently upon our ravifhed ears the tables were then groaning under the rareft lux- * This fplendid entertainment probably occurred in the dimmer of A.D. 64, a fhort time previous to the great Conflagration. Section xix. c&c iKlanlieung; Jeto. 209 The Feaft of Tigellinus in honour of Nero. uries, that earth and fea, and the remoteft regions of each could yield. The guefts had moftly afiembled, and were impatiently waiting Nero s coming. jJt length (in a barge of fuperlative beauty, drawn by fix boats adorned with gold and ivory, each rowed by twenty of Rome s handfomeft youths, and each party richly and differently attired) appeared the EMPEROR ! ^hen came thirty other barges, with ladies of the higheft rank, aflbciated with the moft diftinguifhed of the courtefans of the Im perial City ! The fofteft mufic, upon the {hore of the little ifland, awaited their approach ; and, with the fteps, as it were of a God, Rome s proud and wicked Sovereign defcended from his barge all eyes intent upon him, as would the Mufes be, when Apollo met them ! And yet, O, fhame on poor humanity of all the men and women there affembled, fcarce one was pure ! And, though all without them difplayed to the eye more lovelinefs and beauty than, perhaps, had ever been brought together, ftill, to an eye that could have fearched the interior^ (the hearts and thoughts of each) the fight muft have proved one, that earth feldom, if ever, before had witneffed fo extraordinary was the unfeemly union ofphyfical elegance with moral deformity ! jMs to the many difgufting fcenes that marked with illuftrious infamy that night, and which infinitely furpafled even my expe rienced conception, or even my moft unbridled imagination, I (hall wholly forbear to detail them. Aurora dawned in murky clouds upon the loathfome fcenes ; and the morning frefhnefs feemed ill in harmony with the wafted and haggard looks of all ! * * * * *Ti ne events f tne two years that followed Seneca s more than partial withdrawal from the Court, at length caufed him to leave it wholly, left even his occafional prefence there fhould countenance in any degree Nero s then more recklefs and mad proceedings. The emperor had reluctantly permitted Seneca to greatly feclude himfelf: but now, as he refolved to abandon the city, and feek deeper retirement, and no more to pre- fent himfelf at court, Nero was equally firm in refolving that he fhould not live; and therefore bribed one Cleonicus, a freedman of Seneca s, to poifon him ! How this was defeated, hath not yet tranfpired, fome fuppofe from Seneca s extreme caution ; others believe the freedman, though accepting the bribe, proved faithful to his patron : time can alone, if ever, reveal to us the truth. arly in this year, the eleventh of Nero s reign, [A. D. 65,] a great confpiracy was formed againft the emperor s life, under Piso, whom his friends defired to raife to the throne, but hatred of Nero was the controlling motive : i. p 210 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century \. The Pifo Confpiracy. was a nobleman of talents, learning, eloquence and of fome virtue, yet, from his great mildnefs, and extreme love of pleafure, ill adapted for the contrivance, or for the execution of a confpiracy, efpecially fuch one as the crifis demanded. ^J^he confpiracy, however, was well planned by others ; and embraced many noble and determined fpirits. Though ardently engaged in by many, it remained concealed for a long time ; and was upon the eve of fuccefsful execution, when all was caft to the winds ! The difcovery was made on the eleventh of April, the following day being the one appointed for its confummation. This revelation bathed Rome in the blood of many of her moft diftin- guiflied citizens, and occafioned the exile of many others. The more celebrated among the confpirators were the praefect Fcenius Rufus^ the centurion Sulpitius Afper, the tribune Subrius Flavins^ the conful Lateranus^ the fenators Sccevenus and Quint ianus^ the poet Lucan and that remarkable woman Epicharis. Some would implicate the philofopher Seneca^ but, as I think, with little or no truth ; as, upon the whole, the evidence is not even feebly circum- ftantial. ]j-^_or the accomplifhment of the great defign, three plans were fuggefted ; viz., that Nero fhould be attacked whilft finging on the ftage, or at the Milvian, where it was known he would be a few nights thereafter : others thought that he ftiould be deftroyed at Fife s villa, near Baii, where Nero fo often bathes, and without ftate, or even guards, but to this Pifo would in no wife confent, as being groflly violative of hofpitality. The third propofal was to befet the emperor at the approaching games of the Circus, to be celebrated in honor of Ceres, on the twelfth of April and that plan was adopted. j jateranus claimed the honour of the initial act, which was to caft himfelf at the Emperor s feet with a petition ! Scaevinus then prayed permiflion to inflict the firft ftab, and with a dagger fpecially and long dedicated to fome great deed ! and finally, Pifo and Faenius, with many others, were to await the confummated event, in the temple of Ceres, whither the dead body was to be conveyed. ^f3 ut the whole of this induftrioufly planned fcheme was brought to light, by the overzealous fidelity of Epicharis, and the treachery of one Melichus, the freedman of Scaevinus. picharis, whofe womanly impatience could not brook the delay of the other confpirators, believed (he might fully rely on the tribune Proculus, who had been known to exprefs no little difcon- tent at the poornefs of his reward for the (hare he had in the murder of Agrippina ! She therefore communicated to him fuch know ledge of the confpiracy as (he pofTefTed, fave as to names^ of which (he profefTed total ignorance, not doubting, however, but that xix. c&e ftUantienng; 3[eto. 21 1 The Pifo Confpiracy. Proculus would bring with him all the officers of the Mifenum fleet, who could eafily have defpatched Nero,, during any of his fre quent excurfions of pleafure round the promontory of Mifenum, or during any of his like expeditions to Puteoli. J^hrewd as Epicharis certainly is, Proculus left her under the conviction that he was zealous in the caufe : but mammon was ftronger than hate, fo that he haftened to Nero, and revealed all that he knew, or conjectured. The Tribune and Epicharis were foon confronted in the Emperor s prefence ; but the woman proved the flronger her bold denial being fuch as to feemingly confound all three ! and Proculus, moreover, when clofely queftioned, could really fay fo little that was fatisfaclory or probable, that Epicharis was likely to go quite free ! But the Emperor s fecond thoughts were more prudent, and fhe was ordered to prifon, to abide the events of accident and time. ^t fo chanced, a few days thereafter, that the freedman Meli- chus had heard a fufpicious whifpering converfation between Scae- vinus and Natalis, an intimate friend of Pifo whereupon this freed man appeared before the emperor ; and with the confecrated dagger of Scaevinus in his hand (which had been given him to fliarpen) he offered to divulge much refpeting the now rumoured confpiracy, and demanded to be examined thereon in the prefence of his patron ! Melichus had alfo feen his patron Scaevinus make his Will, and give freedom to fome of his flaves, and money to others all of which aflured him that thefe were preparatory, in fome way, to an attempt upon the emperor s life : and fo the matter was foon proved to be. Epicharis was then put to the torture ; but would confefs nothing ; but being to fuffer again on the following day, fhe fufpended herfelf by her handkerchief, and thus deprived the tyrant of any further revelation from herfelf. ^uch of the confpirators as had been named, or fufpecled, were then put upon their trial. Nero prefided in perfon as chief judge, next to him was his counterpart, Tigel- Confpirators linus on the other fide fat the confpirator Faenius Rufus ! who having efcaped all fufpicion, necefTarily found himfelf in the fearful attitude of their judge. The confpirators doubtlefs thought themfelves moft fortunate in having Rufus there ; who acted his difficult part fo well that, whilft he feemed to aflure the other judges of his deep zeal for Nero, he likewife indicated to his co-confpirators his ardent defire to fave them, were that poflible. ^Difo was urged at this moment by his friends, to excite the foldiers and people to open rebellion ; but courage is of various kinds, and Pifo was not equal to the emergency : he hopeleffly haftened to his own roof, and calmly awaited his inevitable doom. The Emperor being duly informed of all, fuffered Pifo, with fome 2 1 2 c&ronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, century i. Trial of the Conlpirators. fhow of mercy, to felecl: the manner of his death ; who, after exe cuting his will, in which he lavimed upon Nero the moft fulfome adulation, (hoping, as tis faid, to thereby fcreen Arria, his beautiful though wicked wife) laid open his veins, and foon expired ! |TTateranus was not fo much favoured ; but had his head in- ftantly ftruck off by one of the unfufpe<5led confpirators ! Flavius and Subrius and Afper died valiantly : and, upon the Emperor s afking Flavius, " Why he had violated his military oath ? " he replied, " Thou, Emperor, haft forced one, who, at fir/1, loved thee, foon to abhor thee -for , from the hour thou did/} murder thy Mother, and thy wife and then turned player and incendiary, I detefled thee." Nero ftruggled to conceal his galling emotion, and deep rage : for all that had taken place ftung and vexed him not half fo much as this intrepid fpeech pronounced with unfaltering tongue, and pointed by a keen and fteady eye direcl: to the tyrant s heart ! Nero fat nearly motionlefs for a while ; and then turning to Sulpitius Afper, he faid, " And why didft thou confpire againft thy emperor s life?" The centurion anfwered, " Becaufe the progrefs of my Em peror s crimes could in no other way be flayed." j^-| t length, came on the trial of Scaevinus ; but thereupon the praefecT: Rufus became much excited ; and unhappily overacted his judicial part for, by his too preffing queftions, he fo angered Scae vinus, that he caft out many words of accufation againft the judge himfelf! Rufus became deadly pale his tongue cleaved to his mouth no fingle word of utterance had he guilt was fo ftamped upon his face, as to leave no ray of doubt in thofe around him ; and, in this ftate, he was incontinently feized from off his judicial chair, and caft into prifon, with heavy irons on him ! Rufus fhortly after died, and with much cowardly and even howling lamentations which, for a Roman, is among the rareft of events, and gave to this matter, otherwife fo full of valorous devotion, a feature of ridicule that greatly vexed the nobler fpirits. ^Q>ext came the conful Veftinus which, with him, was a fpeedy work, though he as guiltlefs of any lot therein, as is a child of any deep philofophy ! But Nero hated Veftinus ; and this was a fitting occafion to fettle that account. Then came the poet Lucan, who had never forgiven Nero for having flighted, more than once, his mufic, and particularly on the occafion, when Lucan was publicly reciting his verfes, the Emperor was feen to leave the houfe, in the midft of the poet s performance ! The offended vanity of authorfhip, far more than wounded patriotifm, had ftimulated the mortified poet to enter into this perilous league : and, it is faid, that whilft life was flowly departing from him, and the blood from his opened veins was gradually trickling down, xix. c&e bannering; 3letn. 213 Trial of the Confpirators. Lucan failed not to remember his own verfes in the " Pbarfalia" defcriptive of a death fimilar to what he was then enduring where the extremities were lifelefs, whilft head and heart were quite warm he roufed himfelf, and repeated with animation, Pars ultima trunci Tradidit in letum vacuos vitalibus artus, &c. and then, without a moan, expired !* ^he evidence, if fo it may be called, againft SENECA, was fcarcely more than what fufficed as to Veftinus ; and for the like reafon it came to the fame fpeedy refult. That great philofopher alfo died by the opening of his veins, afiifted by a hot bath, and by a fmall dofe of poifon : and his wife Paulina, having refufed to fur- vive him, likewife opened her veins but was refcued from death by Nero s orders. In that endeavour of Paulina, Seneca con curred ; he having ever maintained the moral right of felf-immo- lation ! jM s for Rufius Crifpinus, the former hufband of the Emprefs Poppcea, he, together with Flaccus and Rufus, men of great learn ing, were banifhed : as alfo very many others, of much lefs note, women as well as men, and fome children, were configned to the fame fate a few were alfo poifoned, and fome were ftarved in pri- fons : and thus ended that famous confpiracy, and thofe diftin- guifhed confpirators ; for they were moftly perfons of great note, and fome of much worth : and furely two quite innocent of that matter poor Veftinus and the renowned fage, Lucius Annasus Seneca. MELICHUS, the freedman, however, was not forgotten in the midft of all that fcene of blood : but, as the difcoverer of the plot, Nero conferred on him great riches, and the honour of the Greek name of Soter or Saviour ! The month of April had alfo its glory ; it being decreed to be henceforth called Nero s Month. A Temple of "Safety" was alfo decreed to be forthwith erected on the fpot where Scasvinus had firft confecrated the dagger ; and the inftrument itfelf was dedicated to the Emperor in the Capitol, with the infcription " To Mars The Avenger !" and, in addition to all thefe teftimonials, the Conful Cerialis propofed that a comme morative Temple mould be erected, and infcribed, To THE GOD NERO. Pharf. in. 638. Cftronicle.s of Cartaplrilu.s, Century \. Death of Poppoea. in the following year, it being the twelfth of his reign, the maddened monarch committed other enormous Death of the crue ltj es ; and among thefe, as previoufly alluded to, tea t ^ ie mur der f his fecond wife POPPCEA alfo of Antlf- teus fetus of Sextia^ his mother-in-law, and of Antif- tia her daughter thus, at one ftroke, fweeping away a whole family ! < jjfjbout the fame time, were facrificed Si/anus and Ojiorius^ and Mella, brother to Seneca : alfo the intrepid and virtuous fena- tor THRASSEUS ; and indeed fo many others of like renown, that the bloody catalogue, and that of the almoft equally cruel banifh- ments, would fwell this narrative of Nero alone into a hideous volume ! [A. D. 65 66.] ARRIVAL OF KING TIRIDATES. ^Jji this ftate of things, it was fortunate that tyranny mould find fome other fources of excitement, to divert it, if but for a time, from private bloodfhed to pleasure! and next to fome preparations for a war as to which of the twain our Apollo or Thefpis, was ever moft inclined, and the more probable to now felecl:, was at once decided in favour of the former, though the latter might fol low of necefiity. The two circumftances, however, that caufed this diverfion to our Emperor, were the arrival of TIRIDATES, Prince of Parthia caufing much gorgeous feftivity ; and next, the renewed revolt of my ever rebellious countrymen a war, which, if perfifted in, feemed likely to involve all Palestine. On thofe two events, my Nero failed not to confult me, and with more than cuftomary folicitude the one of pleajure^ now at hand, and becaufe in that he knew I was fkilled the other of war^ becaufe that happened to be with my own country and people, alike well known of me : but the Emperor foon haftened from the matter of Palestine, to the feftivities due to Tiridates, as to which his foul was alive for our Nero, as I have intimated, is but a forry warrior ! " ^hou wert with me, Cartaphilus, at Neapolis," faid the emperor, " when Tiridates the Parthian, made me fuch deep obei- fance kneeling, as thou doft remember, with crofled arms, and hailing me as his Lord and Mafter and yet the wily Oriental kept his fword welded to his fide, and would by no means part with it, though inftrucled that it was cuftomary fo to do ! I liked the cau tious barbarian the better for it. What honours I then lavimed on him at Puteoli, and on my way hither towards Rome, thou well knoweft : but now, that Tiridates hath reached the World s great City, and is foon to receive at my hands Armenia s Crown, I defire Seffion xix. C&0 WfttftZtinQ 3JCto. 2 1 5 Reception of Tiridates the Parthian. thee to confult with my good Epaphroditus, as alfo with Helius, concerning all that can gladden the ftay of Tiridates ; and all that likewife may imprefs him deeply with the power and riches of my Empire." With this, Nero courteoufly waved his hand towards the door, and I took my refpectful leave. ()n the night of the following day, the whole city was in a blaze of light ; the illuminations being inconceivably various, and far more brilliant than thofe witneffed by me at the Agrippina Lake, when Tigellinus fo feafted the Emperor. Many feftivities then fucceeded in unbroken continuance each vicing for the palm of novelty, no lefs than of fplendour. ^he day appointed for conferring Armenia s Crown upon Ti ridates, had now arrived. The ceremony was performed in the Great Forum ; in the centre of which were feated, during the whole previous night, a vaft afTemblage of Rome s moft diftin- guifhed people of both fexes, clad in white robes, each crowned with laurel, and all arranged according to their refpeclive tribes. Encircling thefe, were the Pretorian Cohorts ; whofe highly bur- nifhed arms, and with many colours waving in the gentle breeze, added largely to the brilliancy of the fcene. Myriads of fpe&ators were feated upon the houfe-tops, among whom were moft of the illuftrious females of Rome, in tafteful and in gorgeous habiliments. And all of this untold multitude awaited, during full ten hours, the rifing Sun at whofe gradual prefence, Nero was flowly to ap proach ! ^^he propitious moment came ! the Emperor was feen in the far diftance, attended by the Senate, and by his Imperial Guards. As he gradually approached, the Sun s rays were becoming brighter and brighter, until the Proceflion flopped, for an inftant, oppofite the noble Portico of the Curia Hoftilia, then fuftaining a living and dazzling mafs of Rome s moft renowned Courtezans and, at that moment, Apollo s beams fhot forth with intenfe fplendour upon Nero s flowing robes, which, in a conftellation of fparkling lights, were reflected from the myriad golden fpangles that enriched his veftments ! ^he Temple of Auguftus, and that of Caftor and Pollux, were alfo thus honoured by the Emperor s momentary delay, that he might alfo receive the adulation of the thoufands feated there. *^he Ro/frum, that had been enlarged for the occafion, was at length attained. Nero, feated there in his curule chair, awaited the coming of Tiridates, and of his almoft equally fplendid train. Pafling through a double row of foldiers, near the Roftrum, the Parthian king left his magnificent car ; and approaching the Empe ror, kneeled before him on the firft ftep of the enthroned roftrum. At that inftant, the multitude gave fo loud a (bout, that Tiridates, 2 1 6 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, Century \. The Crowning of Tiridates. not prepared for it, became fo terrified as to remain for a moment almoft fpeechlefs ! Nero gracioufly raifed him, and affectionately kifled him. Silence being reftored, the King, in the language of his own country, thus addrefTed our monarch. " *^hough I am defcended from the renowned ARSACES, and am brother to VoLOGESES and to PACORUS, both great kings ; I own my- felf, O Nero, thy Jlave ! Thou art my God; and I am come to adore thee, as I adore the Sun / My dejliny is to be determined by thy fu- preme and omnipotent will ; for, upon thee do I depend, as upon Fate, and upon Fortune " ^he Emperor s reply was ftriclly Neronian, and as follows ! " Thou hajt done well, Tiridates, to come hither to receive in perfon my favours. What thy father could not leave thee, and thy brothers, after giving it thee, could not preferve, THAT / now grant of my liberality. I make thee King of Armenia, that the whole UNIVERSE may know that it appertains to NERO to give, or to take away crowns." Tiridates was then feated at the Emperor s feet ; who thereupon placed a fplendid diadem on the King s head, amidft acclamations that fhook the Forum and its folid ftruftures, as if by a fudden remote earthquake and thunder ! *^hen enfued the Games, and with greater magnificence than Rome perhaps ever witnefled. The interior of the fumptuous building in which they were celebrated, and the ftage in particular, glittered in every direction with golden ornaments and hence this was called the Golden Day ! The ftage was covered by an awning of the richeft Tyrian purple, on which was embroidered in gold a reprefentation of Nero driving a car, encompafled with glittering ftars, as if he were fpeeding through the firmament ! On the ftage appeared the Emperor himfelf, who difplayed his (kill in mufic ; and afterwards, at the Circus, he drove his car, attired in an humble caftac ! for Nero s divinity and humanity were often in conflict for the afcendency ! ^he enjoyments of fucceeding days need no detail ; they never failed in magnificence and in variety. At length the day of the Armenian Prince s departure being announced, and he Tridatei then receiving large donatives, with permiflion alfo to rebuild ARTAXATA as his kingly refidence, the with drawal from Rome of Tiridates was well-nigh as gorgeous and ex- penfive, as had been his reception but this likewife need not be chronicled by me. J^oon after the return of Armenia s Sovereign, the city of Artaxata was rebuilt, and received the name of Neronia: but how long to retain it, is with Cartaphilus no queftion, fince flattery s offerings in this way, have fo often ceafed to exift with the death of the power that caufed them. xix. cfje banner in g: Jeto* 2 1 7 Velogefes Reply to Nero Palcftine. ]J^n a few months after that Prince s return, the Emperor defired to win a like homage from the brother, Vologefes and, with that intent, invited him to Rome : but this far more wary Parthian replied, " Thou^ O Nero^ canjl crofs the fea with much more eafe than can Fologefes, Do thou come over to Afia, and then we will fettle allfuch matters ! " QC ready incenfed indeed was Nero at this unexpected anfwer ; and little elfe did he fpeak of, for a time, than war againft all the Eaftern nations ! but our Nero loved mufic and the ftage and could forget marvelloufly, whenever power ceafed. ferious revolt of the Jews, however, demanded inftantly quite as much of war, as the Emperor could even _ . think of, though all aclion, and nearly all of thought paMine were left by him to able and renowned captains. Now, as to how and when the valiant VESPASIAN was fent to conduct that war againft my countrymen, I muft, for the prefent, pafs by : but my faithful Polychronicon muft record that, during my many colloquies with Nero, fo much had occurred to aflure me of Jerufalem s now great peril, heightened alfo by my knowledge of Vefpafian s juft renown, that I fighed for a fpeedy return to the land of my forefathers, and I mould certainly have fecretly de parted could I have conceived it poflible for me to be any where fafe in Judaea, even were it poflible to efcape from the Imperial City. ^he perfecutions, moreover, of the Chriftians at Rome, and fomewhat in the Provinces, in which fo many even of the Jews had perifhed in the paft two years, augmented ftill more my difguft of courtly life, and my longing after Jerufalem in its lowering difficulties. Thofe perfecutions had commenced fhortly after the great fire, foolifhly imputed by many to the fo called Nazarenes but that I knew to be far from true ; and it pained me much to fee their greater perfecution, as the confequence of the exifting rebellion in Judea. 5U.y eyes had already witnefTed, and were again to behold fcenes of favage ferocity againft thofe helplefs and innocent people be they Jewifh or Gentile converts to that myfterious and wonderful faith : and thefe fo deeply poifoned my happinefs, as fometimes to excite in me a tranfient refolution to avail myfelfof my daily oppor tunity to rid the world of this matchlefs monfter ! But I could not fail to remember how kind Nero ever had been to me : and truly may I fay, Nullum odiofius mih i crimen ingrati anlml culpd. CDy pleafures, alfo, had now become almoft invincible habits ; and Nero, when not cruel, was to me the moft agreeable of 2 1 8 Chronicles of Cartap&ilus, century i. Death of the Apoftle Paul. mortals : for, not being myfelf a Roman, his follies offended no pride or dignity of country in me ; and, as to his crimes, they were in no part mine ; but perfonally and wholly his own. ^J^hus did I often mufe with myfelf, ftriving to foothe the alarms of a purer confcience alfo the awakening calls of my country, and my natural averfion to all tyranny. But my mind wouldy?/// recur to thofe pious, though poflibly deluded Jews and Gentiles of the new faith, whom Nero had lately ordered to be clothed in garments ftiffened with wax, and then fet on fire, to brighten therewith the illuminations of his gardens ! I remember with equal horror, how others were fewed up in the fkins of wild beafts, and then worried by dogs, until they expired ! I could not banifh from my mind the many ftrange devices, firft to torture^ and then to kill fome being caft to ferocious wild beafts others beheaded, and fome crucified by modes of newly invented agony ! ^f^ero had never troubled me with fuch matters I being . uppermoft in his thoughts chiefly as affociated with Death of Paul. ," v r n i- c the Abollle nis amu i ements r ) lometimes, as Claudius before him had done, when the fpecial condition of Paleftine needed my counfel : but now, as I have previoufly intimated, Nero had ftrangely departed from his dealing towards me, in his infifting upon my witnejjing the appointed execution of Saul of Tarfus ! now always known as PAUL. ^Qt ow this Paul, in his then trouble, had, by an epiflle from his prifon, lately reminded my Nero that, if death muft come, it mould be by decapitation, and not by crucifixion he being a Roman citizen, pofleiTed of the jus civitatis by fucceilion ; and moreover, as being of Tarfus in Cilicia, free-born and well-born. He made that appeal for his privilege with ftrong right, and with confidence that it would be allowed ; and hence, alfo, he had forth with written to Troas for his mantle his parchments and his books, that he might appear in judicature, not in a lefs feemly attire, and with his proofs of citizenfhip, than of right he could, and thus to die the death of a Roman. Paul ever had great and juft repute for learning, and for an ardent and moft winning eloquence both well fuited for thofe who were to witnefs his mock trial, and cruel exit and yet, as all knew, of no avail whatever with Nero, or his judges but, poflibly, of great avail with the multitude and, if not now, yet in future ages; for Paul s death feemed to him but the antepaft of Heaven. f * * * * But the fad f- This portion of the Chronicles affords an interefting explanation of a verfe, towards the concluiion of St. Paul s Second Epiftle to Timothy, chap. iv. 13, in which, after he knew his fate was foon to die, he (till manifefts Iblicitude in regard to matters feemingly of fo little moment as obtaining his cloak, parch ments, and books ! After a folemn exhortation to Timothy, as to his care and Cjje 6&anDermg; Jeto. 219 Death of the Apoftle Paul. event is now paft : and, in compliance with Nero s order, (for who dare fet it at naught,) I attended the melancholy fcene. Now, whatever may be thought of Saul s ardent temper, which caufed him, in fo fhort a time, to be equally zealous againft and for the Nazarenes, that wonderful martyr was doubtlefs, in both cafes, alike fmcere : and fo his dealing towards all around, at his clofing hour, and efpecially to thofe commiflioned by the tyrant to execute the cruel deed, abundantly proved. <he proceedings of that painful day were entrufted by Nero to two officers of his Guard, named Partbemius and Ferega : and Saul being permitted to fpeak a parting word to the people, declared in brief words his belief, as follows, that the doctrines that had brought him to death were nothing more than what JESUS, the Chriftus, when on earth, had taught his difciples and others : alfo that the fame Jefus, after his crucifixion, had fpoken to him Saul when journeying to Damafcus that he might perfecute thofe of the new Faith and audibly from the heavens, bidding him to preach the Gofpel, that would afTure everlafting life through Jefus, to all who believe and fhall praftife his teachings and, that the whole fcope of that doctrine, fealed by his approaching death, teaches diligence in the Faith ; and after fome touching allufions to his own approach ing death and preparednefs his then lonelinefs the perfidy of Demas, and that no one was with him, fave Luke, he fays, " The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comeft bring with thee, and the books ; but efpecially the parchments." Now this anxiety refpecling the three things afked for, has been fomewhat carped at by the iciolous, and efpecially the infidels, as being unfuited to the decorum of his then condition or, by the pious, probably wholly mifapprehended as to the true motive. That St. Paul pleaded his privilege as a Roman citizen, and was fuccefsfui in that plea, in that he was beheaded, whilft St. Peter (at another time, when and nv/iere, we know not of a certainty) was crucified, can in nowife be questioned ; and that Paul mould be felicitous to appear on his trial, not only in his national drefs, but with his proofs of citizenfhip, and, if need were, allb with his books, to eftablim his exemption from crucifixion, are matters extremely probable and natural and hence he requefts the cloak, parchments, and books to be fent. The mantle, or cloak, at this time had fuperfeded the Roman toga; which perhaps had been little if at all worn fince the reign of Auguftus. It may be here remarked that none of the Biblical commentators have given this explanation to Paul s requeft of Timothy : but thedefire to have the named articles is confidered by them as being merely for his comfort during his re maining imprifonment, and that the parchments, he fo fpecially needed, were only his common-place-books! We prefume that this verfe has nowhere re ceived the illustration which the above paflage of Cartaphilus fufrains, except in the two inftances, firft of the enlightened Author of the " Purfuits of Lite rature," who, though fo emphatically a layman, has the merit of originating this view of the matter; which, fecondly, has been entirely approved by the elo quent and learned Edward Miller, of Bognor, SulTex. See his Sermons 184.8, p. 107. 220 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. The Laft Hours of Paul Cartaphilus. men to cultivate peace and charity among all men to love one- another to put no truft in riches nor to be made vain by their pofTeffion : that one God, alone, is to be relied on, and with perfect faith in his only fon Jefus, and in the Holy Spirit that the poor muft be content with their lot that fathers mould teach their chil dren to love their Creator, and to obey their parents that hufbands mould be tender to their wives and they obey and reverence their hufbands that governments mould be fuitained by the people, and due obedience be rendered to them by all that mafters mould be kind to fervants, and they faithful to their mailers. jFTfter declaring thefe to be the fubftance of his creed, this great champion of the New Religion mildly fubmitted, and faid he was prepared to yield his life in teftimony of the words he had uttered. Parthemius and Ferega were much affected by what they had juft heard and feen ; and befought Paul to give them fome further in- ftruction in thofe wonderful things announced by Jefus and his fol lowers. The holy man allured them that they both, ere long, mould be baptized at his fepulchre ! and, after a fervent prayer for them, and thofe around him, Paul yielded his neck to the fatal ftroke.* H] retired from this fcene of blood with feelings of unmingled horror. My eyes had never refted upon Saul, fmce the ftoning of Stephen in which we both had too much fhared. And, let my pages now confefs that, though prefent at the beheading of Saul, fo much againft my will, I ftill had not courage to reveal myfelf to him at fo awful a moment : nor did I feel myfelf at all worthy, even to look fteadily on him fo fublimely great was he in faith, and fo ftoically indifferent to the pains of death, and to all he left behind ! for it matters not how erroneous men s opinions may be as to the heavenly origin of their doctrines, if fuch doctrines be zealoufly and honeftly cherifhed, and efpecially when they fo fublimate heart and mind as to raife us far above mortality, (as thofe of JESUS furely do) then are they and their pofTeflors commended to my re verence, though aflent as to their direct celeftial fource be withheld by me.f * The foregoing account by Cartaphilus of Paul s laft moments, is fubftan- tially the lame with that handed down by ABDIUS. We meet, however, with nothing of the kind in the works of any other hiftorian, or in the writings of any of the Fathers of the Church. Abdius, moreover, is an ancient and ex tremely rare book ; and we are pleafed to have it in our power to give the like ftatement a more extenfive circulation through the Chronicles of Cartaphilus. See alfo, ante Settion xvm. f- Thefe remarks of Cartaphilus feem an involuntary eulogium on the excel lence and beauty of the Chriftian code. Its divine fource he then appears to have queftioned, at leaft, in part ; but, experience teaches that he who unaf- feftedly admits the excellence of Chriltianity, is often not remote from embracing Cfjc (KBatilienng; Jeto. 221 The Colloquy between Cartaphilus and Nero. Qn the following day, Nero defired to fee me. I thought him, for a time, hideous, black, and difgufting ! And though it feemed as if he had read my inward foul, he eyed me amiably ! Nero truly, had nothing to fear in me no motive to be angered with me none to regard me in any other light than as one, both willing and able to augment his pleafures. Nero, therefore, fweetly and jocofely faid, " The CHRISTIAN of Tarfus died vahfoufly at the Salvian Waters, I learn : but, my agreeable Cartaphilus, I am forry that thou wert fo much pained yefterday, at what met thine eye and ear there- 1 brighten up, good Carta :" (for fo he would fometimes call me) " for, doft remember how, fcarce two years ago, thou wert equally in horror, and played the child, when Rome was burning, and wert much vexed with me, that I fo preluded on my lyre, whilft the fiery furges (hot up from all directions, and rolled their red waves through the fkies fo angrily ? And yet, Cartaphilus, look all around thee now the Streets ! are they not nearly whole again ? Nor was I wanting in all liberal expenditures to adorn the City, and to raife it far beyond its former ftate ! Behold likewife my Golden Houfe ! doft think thy famed Solomon ever faw the like ? And yet Rome had not fuch palace before the fire, good Carta ! Thy foul, at that time, feemed to retire from its wonted vaft expanfion, and into the leaft poffible compafs too, my Cartaphilus, to mow unto me, doubt- lefs, how great is its verfatility ! And fo now : churlifh art thou, and moping, becaufe a filly Chriftian dies valiantly ! wouldft thou have had him die otherwise?" "^Q>o, mighty Nero," timidly replied I, " but I would not have had him die at all." " Well, that s freely fpoken," rejoined the Emperor, " but why lament over one, when fo many are likely foon to follow ? " mufing then for an inftant, the Emperor further faid, " caft offthefe vapours from thy mind, and be thyfelf again : thou haft been much to my fancy ; and I would not lightly part from thee." and then placing on my neck a rich and coftly chain, and upon my finger a brilliant ring, he continued, " be with me at my Golden Houfe, at this hour to-morrow: and come with fmiles with fmiles, I fay ; for I have fomething to propofe unto thee, which then, and for many months thereafter, will need thy moft funny countenance." And thus we parted he to his bath, and I to my meditations on the long paft, and early future. alfo the doftrine of its heavenly origin, and eventually, too, without any here tical limitations. How it will be with Cartaphilus, muft not be now antici pated, as the reader will be more interefted, as well as improved, by noting the progreffive development of his more orthodox faith. He has a long career before him ; and one in which the World, the Flefh, and the Devil, are deftined to be ftrongly againft him. 222 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century His Vifit to the Golden-Houie. CDy curiofity, I confefs, was intenle to know what new freak had befet Nero s mind ; and therefore very early era s o en Qn ^ g f o jj ow i n g j a y even fome hours before the Palace. . . . T r 1/^.11 TT r appointed time, 1 let out to view the Golden Houle, and its extenfive grounds. The palace ftood before me in all its wonderful richnefs, vaftnefs, and glory ; for truly the world now hath not its equal. I found it ftill, in many of its parts unfinifhed ; but that many hundred of the firft artifts of the age, were then en gaged in its minute decorations. Meeting with the fecretary Epa- phroditus, I was informed by him that the Emperor would not be in the Audience Chamber, until three hours hence and this fome- what fuiting the appointed time, and equally my ftrong defire to examine this eighth wonder of the world, more carefully than ever before I had occafion, I thus employed the interval. ^Q^ero s former palace having fhared the common fate, that levelled to the earth ten out of the fourteen diftri&s, into which Rome is divided, the Golden-Houfe was raifed upon its ruins but with a fublime enlargement of all its former ample boundaries; and with a multiplication of its variety and magnificence, as daring as the mind that conceived and executed that awful conflagration. ]J]n extent, the now palace and its grounds feem nearly bound- lefs and this, too, in a city, fo needful of cautious fpreadings for others, as well as for my Nero ! mowing herein, the bold and illimitable fpirit that is found fo ftrangely blended with littlenefs and folly, in none elfe known than in Nero ! I ftood in the veftibule, contemplating the gorgeous and foul-expanding fcene. Near me arofe the colofTal ftatue of that emperor, the work of Zenodorus, which pierces the air to the height of an hundred and twenty feet. Before me were numerous fifh-ponds, animated with every variety of the rareft and moft beautiful of the finny tribe then were feen boundlefs meadows, luxuriant in verdure and wild flowers then vineyards, with their lufcious grapes next, groves of fig-trees, Struggling to fuflain their myriads of green, ripe, and almoft falling fruits, then again, extenfive forefts alive with hearts and birds of every known region and finally, as far as the eye could reach, a foft and mellow profpe6l, mixing with the light blue fkies ! Had I not known the mafter of all this varied lovelinefs, I mould have hailed it as the abode of a God ! jJnd well did Nero call this habitation his Golden Houfe ; for it is adorned with much fine gold moft cunningly wrought alfo with mother of pearl, and with very many precious marbles and brilliant ftones ! JJrom the veftibule, I went around the building, into its nume rous porticoes of great length, fupported by a triple row of columns: and after much obfervance of the exterior, I took to my currhus, xix. cjjc ^Bannering 3lto 223 The Palace defcribed The Interview. and fpeeded off to the baths, filled with the falutary waters of Al- bula, or with thofe of the fait ftreams from beyond Oftia and thence on a few more miles, until Nero s fancies ceafed to ap pear.* ^]urnlng my currhus again towards Rome, I reached the pa lace in due time : and on entering it, again encountered the good natured fecretary ; who bade me go any where, fave into the Em peror s Mufeum, for yet an half hour. CDy attention was early attracted by the fpacious Dining Hall^ then juft finimed. It is wainfcotted in a very novel manner, with the pureft white ivory, each fquare whereof is fo contrived as to turn upon pivots ; and, in their changes, they form a moft pleafing variety of moving pictures ! At proper diftances down the walls of this magnificent hall, I found fufpended numerous wreaths of artificial flowers, fafhioned to the very life, and out of no perimable materials, through the ftems of which dropped the richeft and moft coftly perfumes into fmall vales, fuitably placed for their reception ! From thence I paffed into the Circular Room ; which being in perpetual, though flow motion, and adorned with a vivid reprefentation of the Zodiac and furrounding Heavens, prefents a fublime picture of the celeftial fpheres ! The Chambers were quite too numerous and varied, to be more than glanced at fave the Emperor s, which detained me : for truly it is fuch as Venus herfelf might anxioufly covet ! I reached the Audience Room juft as Nero was feated there ; who, as I at once obferved, was habited with a moft chafte fimplicity, amidft all the fplendour that encom- paffed him. ^rMie Emperor had thrown himfelf, with apparent languor, upon a foft and dazzling couch: and as I entered, A further Col- bade me do the fame. " Thou feemeft fatigued, my i q U y between funny Jew," faid Nero. " Truly fo," replied I, " for Nero and Car- the wonders of thy creative fancy and boundlefs libe- taphilus. rality, in this ftately palace, and in thefe extenfive grounds of thine, have occupied me quite four hours ; and during the larger part of that time, my horfes, I affure thee, Emperor, have done their duty." " What thou haft feen, good Carta, willfomewbat do I begin to be lodged now, more like a man : but much yet muft be done." This was faid by Nero in a tone of fuch unaffected in difference, as to what had fo nearly overwhelmed me with aftonifh- * The baths of Albula were fupplied from the fulphurous ftreams atTibur the modern Ti<uoli, to which the grounds of the Golden Houfe extended, pro bably a fomewhat narrow ftrip of land reaching from Rome to beyond Tibur, a diftance of about fixteen miles. The fait waters alluded to, were conveyed from near Oftia, either by canal, or by fubterranean pipes to the Baths, fituate about the fame diftance from the City. 224 Cfjromcleg of Cartapirilus, Century i. Neronian Conceptions of the Future. ment and admiration, that, I confefs, I knew not what to fay or think ! " Devil, or God !" thought I, mufingly to myfelf " for mortal thou canft not be ! If thefe things content thee not, and fully, how will the little piece of earth, and narrow farcophagus, though ever fo gorgeoufly adorned, be relimed by thee if thou ever diejl? for a God, they now call thee !" and then, aroufing from my momentary outward filence, " This Golden Houfe, and all around it, my Emperor," faid I, " are to my poor mind, quite ce- leftial ; and fo far exceed my utmoft imaginings, and all that the fire hath lately devoured, that it feems a fupernal creation or, as Fancy s moft delicate fketchings, fuddenly realized !" " "ftlJL e ^ Cartaphilus, and thy content, if juft, may go yet further, and more than redeem all done in conflagrated Rome : for, are not all the ftreets now much wider more like javelins^ alfo, than like hornS) as was their late condition ? the houfes, likewife, are they not now of due elevation, and all of defined height, with porticoes throughout the whole line of nearly every new ftreet ? and yet, the filly fcribblers complain of thefe as unhealthy innovations, urging that narrow and crooked ftreets give more fhelter from the fun as if that beautiful, and genial and fructifying orb of day, were peftiferous ! But, my Cartaphilus, they may fcribble on ; their verfes do but amufe me, though their witty authors only mean to vex their Emperor." Nero was filent for a moment, and with an eye intent upon me, that gave aflurance of lefs repofe in him, than his words implied. " Thefe unknown growlers," continued he, " are, or affect to be, alarmed at the vaftnefs of this palace, and fear, as they prefumptuoufly have it, that one houfe and Its grounds will fwallow up all Rome and that, ere long, they muft all depart to Veii ; and, even there, have fpecial care left the Emperor doth encroach upon them ! for doubtlefs, thou haft feen the Epigram, to which I would allude ? Roma damns fiet. f^eios migrate ^uerites / Si non, et Veios occupat [ft a domus. " !O ut ^ et tJ }em l au g n > whilft NERO works for Rome fhall extend every way, and in proportions, too, well fuited to his palace: yes, Cartaphilus, her walls mall not ftop until they reach Oftia whence I will bring the fea by canal, even into the very heart of our city ! and why not, good Jew ? Shall Nero be controlled by mere drivellers ; or, (hall he direct the artizans of the world to execute his and their boldeft conceptions ? My architects, Celer and Severus^ are much to my mind, in thefe my defigns, our pro- jecl: being to extend a navigable canal from the Avernum Lake, to the mouth of Tiber, though more than a hundred and fifty miles; and that, too, through arid foils, and divers very rocky hills ! " c&c 2x3an&eung 3[efo, 225 Propofed Expedition of Nero into Greece. " ^O ut m X Cartaphilus," continued the now loquacious emperor, " I have not fummoned thee here to difcourfe of Rome but of GREECE yes, good Carta, of Greece ; for I will inftantly there, and defire to have thee with me thou wilt cheer the arduous jour ney, for thou canft talk ; but the fools around me cannot. " r ^he Games at Olympia, and elfewhere, have long refted upon my mind ; and I would now contend at them, and pluck bright laurels in thofe fields of honourable rivalry. I know the fqueamijh Senate have heretofore frowned upon this fond enterprife of mine and as they alfo did upon my theatrical campaign at Neapolis, and likewife upon my mufical difplays here in Rome ! But now my refolution will brook no further let. Prepare thyfelf, therefore, my Cartaphilus, and at my fole charge, with all things fitting the fplendour of the occafion." ^he Emperor arofe from his couch, and approaching the Ckpjydra^ eyed it for a moment, and then courteoufly faid, " Depart now, Cartaphilus ; I would court Somnus awhile, before my bath and prandium." With low obeifance, I took my leave of this moral and intellectual litfus natures a ftrange being, in whom mightinefs and littlenefs are more artfully combined, than in any other mortal ! * propofed expedition with Nero into Greece was, of all other things, the moft in confonance with my wimes ; and though I well knew the Emperor s filly objection to embrace Athens within his plan, I yet hoped to obtain permiffion for myfelf to vifit it, for what is Greece without the City of Minerva ? Is it not Delphos without the Oracle or Parnaflus with no faith in the Mufes ? ^ was pleafed foon to learn that meflengers had already been fecretly defpatched to Olympia and elfewhere, announcing with due pomp the emperor s intention, and his will that the ufual time of celebrating the Games mould be deferred, until he and his retinue * The ancients were ignorant of wheel-clocks, and afcertained time either by the Dial the Horologium ex aqua, a fpecies of rude water-clock or by the more perfect one called Clepfydra, of thefe three the dial was the fimpleft, and earlieft invention, being introduced from Sicily during the firft Punic war. As it was adapted for day, and clear weather, it was of little domeftic ufe, and con- fequently was nearly fuperfeded by the others. The water-clock was firft in troduced by Scipio Nafica, about 125 years later. This and the Clepfydra meafured time by the dropping of portions of water in a given time ; but the Horologium being rude, though complex, gave way to the almoft univerfal ufe of the clepfydra. Both were called winter, or night clocks, (tiorologium hiber- num, aut nofturnum) as diftinguifhed from the dial, of fo little value in winter, and of none at night. 226 Chronicles of CartapWte, century \. End of the Retrofpeft of Twenty Years. fhould arrive in Greece, the month of June, of the prefent year of Rome 819, being otherwife the appointed time.* jjCnd here muft end my promifed Retrofpect ; which has em braced fomewhat more than twenty years fmce, in the time of Claudius, I abandoned Jerufalem for Rome: What next (hall be chronicled by me, is as the Fates mail direcl:. * June, A.D. 66 whereas Nero could not depart for Greece earlier than in Oftober of that year. CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, THE THET BOOK P FOURTH \ i CHRONICLES OF , ti)e BOOK IV. Neronian Equipments for the Expedition. SECTION XX. NERO S TRAVEL INTO GREECE. HE month of October was nearly fpent, before the Expedition was in reacfinefs : for an enter- prife in every way fo remarkable required no little thought, and confequently time, for its jiift accomplimment. faithful defcription of what I have feen and heard during our abfence, would demand a volume, rather than a feition of my Chronicle ; and even were the larger chofen, words could but feebly unfold the varied realities : for furely, none but a Nero could have imagined fuch curious and minute details as fignalized thofe journeyings from their commencement to the end and thefe Chronicles were fet in order only upon my return the daily events being too ftirring to be recorded inva riably at the time. * * * * Suffice it for the commencement to fay, we departed from Rome with Soldiers^ armed indeed, but in a famion fo dainty or damfel-like, that they and their equipments were manifestly not for ufe, if even needed : alfo, with very many coftly inftruments of Mufic fo brightly polifhed, as to ferve all for mirrors ! alfo with numerous Mafks, in every fhape of beauty, or of deformity likewife with drefles and every equipment for Stage and Circus, and of all fantaftic kinds a private Wardrobe fo nu merous in garments and other attire as could not be catalogued, and were put in charge of no lefs than a thoufand trufty flaves ! Horfes alfo of the rareft beauty, fome from Mefopotamia, others 230 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, Century \. Arrival of Nero in Greece His marvellous deeds. from Perfia and Arabia with Chariots and Cars of wonderful fplendour, and of heretofore unimagined forms alfo all the devices that appertain to Hunting and Fowling^ each wrought with match- lefs (kill, and with Fijbing-nets of twifted gold and filver, the rods of rareft wood inlaid with ivory and precious ftones, and, in fine, with all that the moft refined and ftimulated ingenuity, miniftering to Imperial fenfuoufnefs and to Neronian fancies, could contrive ! jJ_rriving at Cafsiopea, in Epirus, the Emperor commenced his career by finging at the altar of Jupiter Caflius ! Nero s viSories At Qlympia, he infifted on having his darling mufic, ana Crowns. , / . r , , /j. u u though in that place no Itage had ever been known, and though courteously informed by the Olympians that chariot- racing, and wreftling had alone been practifed at their Games, during all the many ages ! The Emperor then proclaimed to all Greece that, during his fojourn of a year, or more, the Games mould every where be celebrated to fuit his own conveniency ; and then pafling in quick fucceflion from city to city, he informed them all that their long cuftomary obfervances, as to times, could not be regarded by him. Nero then difputed every where for the prizes encounter ing the experts at the Pythian, the Ifthmean, and at the Nim&an^ with alike wonderful ardour, and ever, of courfe, the vi^or, and with fuch acclamations, as made the mountains and valleys, and the very heavens to echo, as if the Univerfe were intenfely interefted to know of Nero s triumphs ! Oh, how bafe and loathing and fervile is man and how flavifhly given to the fervice of that vile ferpent Flattery! Oh, fhame upon all that s fincere and honeft, thus to charm the ear of fuch a tyrant, and to award, as was ever done, to haughty pretenfions the meed due alone to exalted worth ! But, in this venal age, tis not given to Princes ever to hear unmixed Truth that is an abftra6lion known but to clofet philofophers, and not always pra&ifed even by them. Nero entered Greece, a com petitor againft the world : but the mantle even of Grecian hofpitality ought not thus to have fcreened his many faults and failures. Nero, doubtlefs was fometimes very fkilful, and ever daring ; but often was really vanquimed, and yet was always the conceded victor ! Nothing unattempted was too much for his ambitious foul, as defeat brought no exprefled fcorn, and partial fuccefs (hook the heavens ! Nero therefore undertook to drive fix horfes round the Stadium, and accomplifhed it, too, in the larger part ; but with a recklefs rapidity that caufed the wheels to be invifible, and, mirabile diftu, though darned from his car, but not deftroyed, the race ended amidft fearful fhouts and apprehenfions for his fate ! The emperor was in great pain, not injured, and regained his feat before the car had reached the meta ! It was indeed a noble feat of madnefs, and yet not of complete fuccefs ftill, the myriad parafitical voices pro- xx. c&e bannering Jeto. 23 1 Propofed Canal through the Ifthmus of Corinth. claimed him the triumphant conqueror, and on this, as on all other occafions, Nero fet afide the eftablifhed heralds ; and taking up the cuftomary proclamation, fhouted forth his own victory ! ^hefe proclamations ufually were in the following famion. " Nero is Vittor in the race, and bath gained the Crown for the Roman People, and for the Univerfe of which he alone is Majler !" ighteen hundred crowns, of various kinds, were awarded to this " Mafter of the Univerfe," during the year he was thus occu pied in Greece ! And for thofe honours fhowered upon him, the Emperor proclaimed that country to be free ! He alfo conferred upon fome individuals there, large donatives ; and upon others, many civil fpeeches, and fpecious promifes : but to detail the parti culars of a hundredth part of the ftrange things done by Nero, and the fingular events that happened during our abfence from Italy, would fwell my narrative beyond its defigned limits. ^he Emperor s bold conception, however, in regard to the Ifthmus of Corinth, deferves fome fpecial notice. During one of our vifits to Corinth, Nero was much Corinth ftruck with the extreme narrownefs of that Ifthmus which feparates the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs. " Why, Carta- philus," (aid Nero, " fliould navigators be debarred by this little neck of land, only five miles acrofs, from paffing direct from the Ionian into the Egean fea ? They are now compelled to fail round the Peloponnefus ! an extreme abfurdity this : I will pierce that Ifth mus, and teach Greece and the world, that whilft Nero purfues his many pleafures, he has time to conceive and to execute mighty projects, unthought of in all preceding times ! " * " ^hy fcheme, O Emperor, is a bold and noble one," replied I, " and would add largely to thy laurels ; and being for ever ufeful, the laurels thus gained would never perifh." " It (hall be done, Cartaphilus, it fhall be done, and quickly too, on the word of Nero but, we muft to fupper !" ()n the following day, no time was loft in preparations for the mighty work. Thoufands of workmen were foon aflembled from all the furrounding provinces. The jails were emptied of their prifoners ; and the Jewifh captives, more than fix thoufand, were added not long after. ^J^he undertaking was begun at Lechasum, one of the ports of Corinth ; and Nero s tent was pitched on the more, where he * In this affertion, either Nero s vanity made him forgetful, or he may have been ignorant of the far, that the fame wifh was exprefled long before by others as by Demetrius Poliocretes by Periander by Julius Caefar, and by Caligula, and finally by Herodes Atticus. Some remains of Nero s excavations are yet vifible. 232 Chronicles of Cartapfjite, Century i. Jewifh captives Afcent of the Acrocorinthus. fung a hymn to Neptune, and to Amphitrite. The Governor of Achaia then prefented to the Emperor a golden pick-axe ; who, with great folemnity arofe, and thrice {truck the earth, in the pre- fence of a vafr. multitude, who rent the air with their acclamations. The Emperor then received a fmall bafket rilled with foil ; and placing it upon his fhoulders, depofited its contents at a convenient diftance, thus ftimulating the workmen by his own example but to a far more arduous and perfevering toil on their part ! The en- terprife was carried on with great fpirit during about two months .; and yet the only refult of their labour was a Tuitable excavation of not more than four ftadia, or about the tenth of the required diftance. j?Jmong the labourers I early recognized, and with grief, fome of my earlieft friends of Jerufalem ; and not a few from other parts of Paleftine. Thefe had been made captives, during the late and exifting conflicts between the Jews and Romans, efpecially under the procurators Feftus, Albinus, and Florus,* and alfo more re cently, by Vefpafian ; who, after the deftruftion of TarlcUa^ fent to Nero no lefs than 6000 captives. f (T) y attention was likewife drawn, and with deep fympathy, to the melancholy fight of the philofopher Rufus^ a knight of high diftin&ion, and feveral other Romans ; who, being banifhed by Nero to one of the Iflands, on account of the Pifo confpiracy, were now brought by his command to the Ifthmus, and moft feverely talked. X)uring the progrefs of that work, the Emperor made an ex- _. curfion to the fummit of the Acrocorinthus, a Acrocorinthus mountain bordering clofely upon Corinth. Afcend- ing its lofty heights with fome toil, Nero and his attendants were gracioufly welcomed by the prieftefles of the beautiful little Temple of Venus, fituate upon its extreme fummit. From the temple s dome, our view of the extenfive profpecl: before us was truly enchanting. Almoft immediately beneath us, the magnificent city (whofe patron goddefs is Venus) was repofing alongfide the limpid waters of the Corinthian gulf a city then, as always, enlivened with the entrance and departure of a thoufand veflels, bearing to and from diftant lands the count- lefs commodities of an extenfive commerce. Near to this were the myriad of bufy labourers toiling in Nero s fervice, to further enlarge the means of that commerce, which mafs of men, from the height we viewed them, feemed but as fo many induftrious ants, confufedly engaged in fome work of comparative infignificance fo filent were their labours then to us, and fo apparently fmall the field * Between the years A.D. 63 and 66. f In the Autumn of A.D. 67. xx. c&0 2xUan&ering; 3(eto* 133 Cartaphilus in Peril. of their action ! In the diftance, towards the Weft, and North, were defcried the mountains of Phocis among which were the fnowy tops of ParnafTus, towering greatly above their fellows : then came thofe of Boeotia, and on the Eaft were feen in the horizon, thofe of Attica, encompafTed by the lovely blue waters of the ./Egean, fpeckled with their hoft of iflands and iflets ! Further on, our eyes refted on the fummits of the Hymettus, and Pentelicus, and even on the walls of the Propylceum, the Ereflbeum, the Par thenon^ the Pandrofeum and the Acropolis thofe glories of Athens, all blended into one indiftincl: mafs of Ihining whitenefs ! A more raviming and varied profpe6t furely never greeted the eager gaze of thofe loving the fublime and beautiful in nature and in art ! " Xi. a ft thou, good Cartaphilus," faid the merry Emperor, " ever feen fo goodly a profpecl: as this, even in all fair Italia faving always, my Carta, the near, not dif- Cartaphilut tant, profpecl of the many courfes of delicious viands mperor * and of fparkling wines that grace our Roman tables?" A hundred voices promptly fnatched, as it were from me, the re ply ; and refponded in flattering admiration the Emperor s humo rous allufion to my, perhaps, too great love of good cheer ; and this being continued a fhort time, feemed to relieve me, and as I wijhed, from any further notice of the Emperor s queftion. " Again, Cartaphilus," continued Nero, " doft perceive the Biceps, far to your left, piercing into the very clouds ? We muft not fhrink from their arduous heights, poetry and mufic unite in bid ding me thither j and though the afcent of this Acrocorinthus hath, I confefs, fomewhat jaded me, the Hyampea and the Tithorea of Parnaflus would receive me, treading their facred paths with an elaftic ftep !" ^f^ow, though Nero s boundlefs vanity had often met my ear and in a thoufand forms annoyed me during my long refidence at Rome, yet the love of flattery, in man or woman, I could never endure. I was therefore ftill lefs prompt to reply than before; and my very pliant friends again relieved me by their inftant and voci ferous adulation ! The Emperor, at this renewed dulnefs, or flownefs of mine, feemed fomewhat difconcerted ; and faid, (ftill with apparent good humour, when be commenced] " thou feemeft not yet to have forgotten Paul, or the Conflagration, and art too deep in thine own cogitations, to heed thy Emperor ! Thou haft afked permiflion, moft Boeotian Cartaphilus, to gratify thy curiofity by vifiting for a fhort time Athens, and other Grecian cities not remote from Corinth. Go ! but fee that, on thy return, thy good humour and thy wits have returned with thee or, by Apollo and the Nine, I ll put all wit out of thee !" words were as thunder in my ears ; for Nero was too 234 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Reftoration to favour Permitted to vifit Athens. well known of me, for a moment to doubt the fincerity of his threat : and though this was the only unkind language I had ever experienced from him, during the more than twelve years of my clofe aflbciation with him, (before and fince he came to the throne,) it was quite too fternly uttered, not to difturb me greatly. I faw, at once, that my dijlikes were in no degree to be indulged towards one fo fupreme in wickednefs, as well as in power ; and was there fore quick as lightning, on this occafion, with my refponfe making no allufion, however, to his alarming threat but, with many civil fpeeches of meafured praife, and with much good hu mour withal, yet with clear avoidance of flattery : for nolo ejje lau- dator, ne vldear adulator and no one mail ever fay of Cartaphilus Ut phalcratis diftis duds me. ^he Emperor, to my great relief, and that of all in company, cheerfully arofe, and faid, " Well, we muft now defcend the bright waters of the Corinthian and Saronic are darkened by the evening {hades ; and the fun of this glorious day will foon dip his beams behind the lofty Cithaeron and the other heights. Come, Cartaphilus, thou Jhalt go upon thy excurfion, and without condi tions." I kifled the Tyrant s hand and all was well ! SECTION XXI. CHRONICLE OF MY VISIT TO ATHENS. N the fucceeding day, with the Emperor s renewed permifllon, I commenced my fhort journey, taking with me my Strabo, being myielf no great geographer in Grecian matters. ^3affing through Tenea, and thence on the verdant banks of the Ornea, I defcended through the narrow valley which opens to Nenifea. In the vicinity of that ancient city, the hills and rocks and caverns reminded me of the exploit of Hercules ; who, according to the legend of very early days, and as the firft of his Labours, destroyed the fierce lion that infefted thefe wilds clothed himfelf in its fkin, and was honoured in all after times by the cele bration of the famed Nemtean Games, in commemoration of that event. In thefe woods was alfo mown me a cavern, traditionally held to be the lair of the very beaft flain by that hero ! After vifiting the temple of the Nemaean Jupiter, and the noble Studium, I pafled from that city to the foot of mount Apcfantus ; then crofled the river Inachus^ and reached ArgQS^ a city built by the Cyclopeans, more than nine hundred years before the Trojan War ! " Head of Methufelah ! " exclaimed I, " but they have antiquity in Greece, as well as in Egypt and Paleftine ! Ever fince my refidence at Section xxr. Cf) WMfttnn$ %Z\n. 235 Argos Cyclopean Walls Ruins of Mycenae. Rome, I have fighed for forriething ancient things being there fo very modern and frejh, and fo changing, withal, that one fcarce can think of his great grand-fire ! One third of that vaft City hath been newly built, or famioned fmce the time of Auguftus and our Nero hath lately made fuch havoc with both, as to leave Rome little to remind one even of its Commonwealth, much lefs of its Kings." Thefe words were uttered by me to a civil Argolicus, whilft he was fhowing me the buildings of his city, and pointing out, with evident pride, thofe of its earlieft days. ^he Cyclopean walls that abound hereabouts, are truly wonder ful, and much roufed my curiofity, they being (till uninjured, and indeed, as folidly on their foundations, as if newly raifed, and yet more aged than Rome are they, by at leaft feven hundred years ! * ^hefe giant-like people, the Cyclops, were doubtlefs too good architects to be " one-eyed" as they are fabled to have been ! but how much of fable do we find in moft that is called hiftory ! and therefore do I count them, not one.-eyed but round-eyed, or rather, bull-eyed; which, as fome tell us, is ever a token of mental, as well as of bodily ftrength ; and both of thefe feem to have been needed, to accomplifh fuch mafterly and maffive works as thefe. f F^rom the plain of Argos, I crofled the river Ajlerion, and in a few hours reached the ruins, I may fay, of Mycena, . juft as the fun was withdrawing his beams behind the Mvcena lofty mountains, to quench them in the deep blue fea. This ancient city, built by Perfeus, was much to my mind, as being crowded with the mementoes of almoft Abrahamic days ! It never, however, furvived the deftruclion brought upon it by the Argives, nearly fix hundred years ago ; but there yet remain fuffi- cient proofs of its former power and magnificence the origin of which is more than as many centuries before the Argives thus dealt with them.J I pafled into Mycenae through the " Gate of * Thefe walls are ftill in perfect prefervation in many places, though nearly 1800 years have elapfed fmce Cartaphilus vifited them they now being 3,200 years old. f- Various intimations are given in the progrefs of thefe Chronicles, from which we learn that Cartaphilus was not ignorant of what we now call Phyfi- ognomy and Phrenology; and that our Galls and Spurfheims may have been more indebted to Cartaphilus, indiretlly at leaft, than the pride of modern dif- covery is often ready to admit. But this remark is equally applicable to various other fciences, and efpecially to the arts fhowing to the philofophers of our day that there are really few things entirely " new under the fun ! " And yet the moderns, even Cartaphilus would admit, greatly excel all antiquity in the fublime ufe of ancient principles of philofophy and of art; and wholly excel them, in what may be denominated the " Georgia " of the mind, and efpecially of the heart. \ Many remains of Mycenae are ftill vifible, and nearly in the fame condi tion, as -when vifited by Cartaphilus. 236 Chronicles of CartapfjiUtg, Century i. Maufoleum of Atreus, king of Argos Conference ! the Lions" a truly fublime opening, which pierces thole Cyclopean walls, as if defigned by giants, and for their fpecial ufe ! The lions, of rather primitive workmanmip, that grace the pillars of this vaft portal, are ftill in tolerable prefervation. Not far from this gate I entered the Maufoleum of king Atreus, fon of Pelops who being unjuftly fufpe&ed of the murder of his illegitimate brother Chry- fippus, the favourite of his father, fought refuge in Argos, of which he afterwards became king. It is further ftated of this Atreus that, having invited his legitimate brother ThyeJJes to a fplendid feaft, he ferved up to him the flefh of his wife s children, inceftuoufly the offspring of Thyeftes : and, to aflure him of the revolting facl:, and thus heighten his own revenge, Atreus ex hibited to his brother the heads of the murdered children : at which refined cruelty, it is faid, the fun receded fome degrees in his courfe through the zodiac ! Atreus was aflaflinated, fhortly after, by the fon of Thyeftes. This tale (related to me by my loquacious guide, and which, indeed, is traditional) fhocked me fo much (furrounded as I was at the time by a feeble torchlight, and the fepulchral dampnefs) that I thought this fplendid tomb had been permitted to efcape the ordinary ravages of time, only that we might thus learn that He, who caufed the great luminary to ftand ftill, fees and knows all our actions ; and that, when man becomes fo fupremely wicked as Atreus, the fame Almighty Being will alfo fometimes ftop the courfe even of natural decay, that we may have, as in this tomb, a perpetual memorial of God s fignal vengeance againft fuch monftrous deeds ! I therefore afcended from thefe dark chambers, deeply confcience-ftruck, and glad again to behold the fun s bright rays, left in thofe gloomy abodes, I fhould find the tomb of Atreus my own, and the record of his fate fixed upon myfelf ! Remem brance there had brought the bloody fcene on Calvary vividly to my view, and placed me in fuch agony, as I have never ex perienced fince firft I fought Hinnom s hideous valley ! OH the fucceeding day I regained my fpirits, fufficiently to vifit fome other places at Mycenas ; and among thefc, the ofAgamemnon, circular tomb of Agamemnon^ king of that city, and grand-fon of Atreus. jM s I entered its lofty portal, and furveyed its fpacious chamber, nigh thirty and five cubits in diameter, and from thence pafled into another of fmaller dimenfion, I eagerly fought for the farcophagus, that mould contain the remains of this illuftrious hero of the Trojan war : but neither the receptacle, nor the afhes were to be feen. Aga memnon, as I remembered from Homer, had murdered his daughter, and ftolen the miftrefs of Achilles, and then fell by the hands of his wife, Clytemneftra ! If then, the Greeks thought him ftill on xxr. c&e 2x13 anfc erin g Jeto. 237 Tomb of Agamemnon Confcience ! JEgms.. worthy of fo great a maufoleum, their Gods feem to have thought otherwife ; and have probably changed the farcophagus into lime, and fcattered his ajhes to the twelve winds ! And thus is it that, even in this world, men can fcarce value on His being indifferent to their actions, as all things were created in purity and under law, and hence punifhment, in fome form or other, feems to follow upon our vices, as do the fhadows their fubftances ! What may alfb come hereafter we know not. As I came from this tomb, my mind again reverted to my life at Jerufalem to my numerous mifpent years at Rome, and ftrongly to Nero s fignificant threat when on the Acrocorinthus. " Will not the fate of Nero," faid I mentally, "be that of Atreus, or of Agamemnon and wjjl Cartaphilus efcape ?" ^ left Mycenae foon after : and, as my time might prove very fhort for all I wiflied to fee, I haftened on through feveral fmall towns, until I reached Epidaurus, there to obtain a pafTage over the Saronic to ATHENS that being the great object of my now ardent purfuit. ] delayed not an hour at Epidaurus, believing that, after my panting curiofity as to Athens mould be allayed, I mould not fail to retrace my fteps, and then fee in Epidaurus the many things that Fame hath given it, and its vicinity. Our little veflel deftined for the Pir<zus, foon brought us to ./Egina ; where, as ufual, we were happily detained a few hours, as that Ifland is not only beautiful, but is -fa" * adorned with fome very magnificent temples, and other buildings. It is about an hundred and eighty furlongs in circum ference, and contains feveral good ports. The town, of the fame name, is ftrongly walled, and embellifhed with many notable ftruc- tures of the pureft Doric ; and the fame may be faid of its language, and of the manners of the people both fo extremely chafte. ^n the time of the fplendid Pericles, Athens waged a moft ruinous war againft this naval and flourifhing little Ifland feized on and deftroyed feventy of their Veflels, and put the worthy people to flight. Thefe fugitives from JEgms. fettled in Peloponnefus : and though they returned to their lovely Ifland, fhortly after the Spar tan, Lyfander, had ruined Athens, they never regained their former (landing. In this fertile and beautiful Ifland, made fo by man, not by nature, nearly the firft object that ravifhed my attention was the wonderful Temple of Jupiter Penhellenius, faid to have been erected to that god by his fon TEacus, of the nymph ./Egina ! It is, how ever, quite certain that its chafte and natural beauty differs from, and is yet even more truthful than the Attic architecture. The temple is highly decorated on its eaftern and weftern fronts, the 238 C&romcles of Cattap!riiu0, century i. Eginetan Remains Arrival at Athens. graceful fculptures of which portray the battles of the under the protection of Minerva.* And though this fplendid temple is conftructed of the fineft Parian marble, the figures, and all of the rich and deep fculptures, the foliage, vines, and fruits are rendered additionally effective and true, by the painter s exquifite fkill in which are found many colours blended according to Nature s moft happy combinations, f ()ur good veflel, meeting with, a favourable breeze, raifed her anchor, and, with all fails fet towards Athens, bore us Athens * P 1 ^ 11 ^ mto tne bofom of her port, the Piraeus, before the fun had dipped behind the mountains that border upon the weftern limits of Epidauria. ^j^his great City of Minerva lies at a fmall diftance, perhaps a hundred and twenty furlongs, from the fea, upon a promontory formed by the junction of the Cephifus and the IlHJJus. Its three harbours the Piraus, Munich ia^ and the Phalerum, are fituate re- fpectively to each other, as the points of an equilateral triangle the two former on the fea, the latter fo much the more within land. Very maflive walls connect the City with its harbours, of which the Piraeus is far the greater, and may be regarded, indeed, as one of the wonders of the world. |l^t is now more than a century and a half fmce Sylla added this long-famed city to the Roman Empire robbing Athens, at the fame time, of the greater part of its extenfive libraries, of the fplen did columns deftined for the Temple of Jupiter Olympus, alfo of many valuable paintings of note, and of much ineftimable ftatuary transferring them all to the City of Univerfal Empire ! and yet how little hath Rome profited by them, and how greatly Athens fufFered by their lofs ! But war and plunder have always been clofe affociates ; and, if the war be juft, fuch fpoils are far more equitable than thofe gained from private property, and being felected, more over, by the victor, becaufe of their rarity in his own country, they ought to, and often do exercife a meliorating influence in the * Thefe beft of all the remains of the ancient Doric architecture, are ftill ex- rant in tolerable prefervation : and have recently excited much attention. In the year 1812, the King of Bavaria purchafed the beautiful fculptures that adorned the fronts of that temple; and employed the great fculptor Thor^ivald- fen, to reftore the deficient parts. The work being accomplished, each member of the Englifti and German Affociation (eftablifhed in 1811) was prefented with a cafl of thofe precious ^Eginetan remains, as repaired by Thorwaldfen. f The painting and gilding of marbles, fo abhorrent to our modern notions, were not uncommon, even in the moft refined ages of the fculptor s art. The Greeks derived the practice from the Egyptians. The modern conception of all fculptures is fo entirely an abjlraflion, as probably will for ever forbid the adoption of thefe ancient additions and we hope fo. * Cirdtfr, B.C. 410. xxi. c&e (Kftannering Jeto, 239 A Meditation Acropolis He makes a new Acquaintance. land whither they are fent. And yet a nation whofe vocation is War, is far more apt to become oppreflive, and indifcriminately greedy of plunder, than to improve its fcience and arts and tafte by fuch ac- quifitions and that hath ever been too much the cafe with Rome. ^he maffive and yet beautiful ftru&ures of Athens greatly charmed me fo different from thofe of Egypt, and of the yet more oriental lands ! Had the " UNKNOWN GOD," to whom the Athe nians have raifed an altar, been folely worfhipped there, inftead of the hoft of deities of their own vain imaginings, it is quite probable that their laws and inftitutions would have been as eternal, as are their ftru&ures ; for thefe feem as if deftined to be coeval with time if, happily, they /hall be left to time alone ! But that Great Being, who rules the deftinies of nations, may provide a deftroyer ; and, indeed, often fele&s wicked inftruments for the punifhment of the wicked ; who, in turn, are immolated by others. And fo may it be with Greece, and certainly with victorious Rome ! other na tions, now unknown unthought of, may ere long wreft from the Imperial Empire the fceptre of the Univerfe it now wields, and level into duft its now proud head ! Athens, in turn, if chaf- tened by long adverfity, may again triumph, and Jerufalem, at prefent fo very low, may yet regain a Solomon ; yea, a far greater than he, when the true MESSIAS fhall appear and yet the NA- ZARENE, though now invifible,y^w?z.f to be effecting wonders ! Oh, who fhall refolve that myftery ? ()f all places my eye hath ever refted on, none feems as full of the elements of every earthly enjoyment as Athens. The morning after my arrival there, I fallied forth at A new-modi an early hour, to fee the wonders of the ACROPOLIS. When near the hill s fummit, my attention was arrefted by an im- menfe multitude, as it preffed into the avenue of the Temple dedi cated to Minerva Parthenos. I did not then follow the crowd, though curious to learn the caufe of their fo early oblations, for the fplendour by which I was furrounded was too abforbing to per mit diftra&ion, even from a moft gorgeous proceflion. At that moment I flood before the ivory ftatue of the Goddefs, from the matchlefs chifel of Phidias ; and it had fo fixed my gaze of wonder and delight, that an Athenian youth (fo fure to venerate age, and to obferve hofpitality) thus gracioufly accofted me. " Thou art, pof- fibly, a ftranger in Athens ; and, as 1 ferve in the Temple, freely will I anfwer thee of any matter thou art curious to know of it, and of other things around us." So kind an offer was moft kindly ac cepted ; and from him I learned the impreffive truth that, even from a youth at his home, age may learn much when abroad. There foon patted by us many who wore upon their head, or garments, a golden grafshopper ! and though this Athenian vanity was not un- 240 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilits, century i. The Parthenon. known to me, it was the more ftriking when feen^ and its exact caufe explained, when the youth remarked, " this traditional badge of honour all Athenians claim to wear, as their undoubted birth right : and though not conftantly worn, all hold it as indicating that they, of all Attica, are the moft ancient people men, who, like grafshoppers, are originally fprung from the very earth they now in habit!"* ^he Youth, as a retainer of the Parthenon, was naturally am bitious to fhow me its glories, and truly Minerva 1 s Temple (names her not; for, faving the Temple of Jerufalem, with its Courts, none other that earth contains doth equal it. In length, it is one hundred, forty and five cubits in breadth, fixty and leven, and in height, forty and fix cubits, fo that, in dimenjions^ it finds not its fource of grandeur its real worth being in its wonderful beauty of defign, and of workmanfhip, as likewife in its vaft riches. The chryf- elephantine ftatue of the Goddefs is fplendid beyond the power of words to unfold, not only in finely wrought gold, but in exquifitely chifelled ivory : the weight alone of its precious metal equals forty and four talents of gold; and its ivory dwindles not in like eftima- tion, from its great purity, and its matchlefs workmanmip. The height of the ftatue is thirty and two cubits ; and in elegance, ma- jefty, and grace, it fails not to fymbolize all the virtues of that famed deity ! f X) unn g the Perfian war this great temple was deftroyed ; but was rebuilt in all its prefent excellence, by the princely and accom- plifhed Pericles its illuftrious defigner being Phidias ; and his architects the renowned Ictinus and Callicrates. " ^()oft thou perceive that this garment hath been formed with fuch admirable fkill by the great Phidias," faid the intelligent youth, " that it may be haftily taken off, either for fafe cuftody, or to pre- * The ethnological refources of modern times, as a moft important branch of the hiftorical, have taught us that it was not fo much vanity, as ignorance in the Greeks, to claim for themfelves the appellation of Autoc hones (that is, fprung from, or indigenous to the foil). The fadr. was that the Pelafgi, or an cient inhabitants of Greece, were themfelves emigrants from a very remote land no doubt India and that their language was doubtlefs, the Sanfcrit; and, further, that the comparatively more recent emigrants into Attica (the Greeks) remained for ever ignorant of their aftual Indian or Ethiopian genefis. That the Nineteenth Century is far better acquainted with the Hebraic, Abra- hamic, Pelafgic, Etrufcan, Ofcan, Roman, Hyperborean, and other national lineages, than were thofe people refpeftively, can fcarce be queftioned and this raft will gradually, but abundantly, be mown in the progrefs of" thefe chronicles. f- The fuppofed coft of this ftatue was probably i 76,000, or 880,000 dollars in the materials alone ; the exquifite workmanrtiip muft have very largely added to it ; poflibly as much more. C&e ^Bannering 3leto. 24 r The lefler Panathenais Procefllon. ferve it from the ravages of war? for, tis faid that, about three hundred and feventy years ago, that is, about one hundred and fifty years after it came from the hands of its author, it was carried off for a time, by that deftroyer of cities, Demetrius Poliorcetes. I would alfo inform thee, Stranger," continued the youth, " that thofe two figures upon Minerva s ihield, (pointing them out to me,) are faithful likenefles of Phidias, and of his diftinguifhed patron, Pericles. The concave fide of the fhield, as you perceive, reprefents the battle of the Amazons and the beautiful fculpture on its convex, that of the Titans. The eyes are of marble, carefully inferted in the ivory, and are fo exquifitely painted, with imperifhable materials, as per fectly to reprefent the living eye ! the colours, moreover, have been fo made to combine with the ftone, as to be equally durable with it ! " CDy attention was next directed to the little goddefs of Victory, about four cubits high, which Minerva holds in her right hand. The materials are likewife ivory and gold, even more elaborately wrought than in the fupporting ftatue. The patron goddefs holds a fpear in her left hand ; her breaft is covered with the aegis ; and the graceful dragon by her fide is faid to be connected with the re markable hiftory of King Eriflhonius, whofe feet are fabled to have been like thofe of a dragon, which compelled him to invent a wagon for his conveyance, and to conceal his deformity ! After his death, Jupiter, as fome fay, kindly placed him among the ftars, under the name of Artt ophylax.* ^^^he Proceflion then pafling into the Parthenon, through the magnificent white marble Propylaeum, that forms the entrance to the temple, is called the Panathenaic proceflion. It is of high an tiquity, in honour of the goddefs who prefides over the city ; and far exceeds all others in variety and fplendour. In that proceflion I beheld hundreds bearing olive branches, (that tree being facred to Minerva) thefe were followed by a long train of virgins and of matrons, of the higheft diftinclion all in white robes ; then came numerous youths in armour, after the fame fafhion as the Goddefs, who prefides over War, no lefs than over Wifdom and Learning ; next fucceeded a train of gladiators, followed by the Bearer of Minerva s Sacred Garments, compofed of white and gold threads, woven with matchlefs fkill by virgins felecled for that fole purpofe ! Next in order were the Flower Bearers, with light bafkets upon their heads, filled with the frefhefr and moft beautiful of Flora s * This conftellation is now more ufually known as Bootes, or " Charles Wain," it being one of the twenty-one Northern conftellations, of which Arfiurus is the chief ftar. Being fituate near the Urfa Major, and the fmaller one, it ieems their keeper ; and hence Ovid calls Arftophylax the Cuflos Urfa. I. R 242 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, Century i. The Propylasa Acropolis Hall of Polygnotus. gatherings. Aged men followed, fuftaining fliields and fpears, after whom came the Peregrin!, or Foreigners, alfo called the Boat- Bearers, with their wives and daughters the former carrying tiny boats, of beautiful materials, as lymbolizing their tranfmarine or alien origin and the latter gracefully waving their water-pots, and ihading themfelves with little umbrellas. ^he foregoing are fcarce one half, of even the clajfes that formed the ranks of that great proceflion then entering the Par thenon, with flow and mealured ftep. The ceremonies that enfued lafted during feveral days ; and I deemed myfelf fortunate in arriving at Athens fo near the 2oth of their month Thargelion^ as it enabled me to witnefs fo much fplendour, even in this their lejjer Pan- athenaea ! But, to defcribe the proceedings of thefe few Panathenasic days would much exceed the defigned fcope of my hafty travel ; as Nero, doubtlefs, will foon be beckoning me Corinth-ward.* ^he PROPYLJEA, fo called from the propylaeum, or central building, is the firft that meets you, and forms the grand entrance into the peribobus, or area, of all the buildings of the Acropolis. Its approach is firft by a gradual afcent, fuited for chariots or other wheeled vehicles, which road, after branching, is continued on each fide up to the portico ; whilft, from the point of divifion, where all vehicles ftop, the more narrow approaches are formed of feveral ftages of marble fteps, until you reach the veftibule the Propylaeum. f Qn each fide of this magnificent ftrudture, and connected with it as wings, are the temple of Winglefs Victory, upon the right, and the Hall of Polygnotus, a repofitory of paintings, upon the left. Thefe are nearly of equal extent ; fo that the entire front of the three ftru&ures, is in beautiful harmony. The whole, indeed, is the pride of Greece, and it may well have coft more than 2OOO golden talents, no lefs from its intrinfic riches, than from the fur- prifing fkill and beauty of its colourings, gildings and varied fculp- * Nero left Rome at the end of Oftober; and Cartaphilus feems to have departed for Athens in the month of April following. The zoth of Thar- gelion correfponds to about the fame time of our month, April, as the year began with the fummer folftice, in the month of Hecatombteon, or zift or our June. Nero, therefore, had been in Greece, at that time, about fix months. J- The account here given by Cartaphilus of the approach to the area of the Acropolis, differs from ail others we have feen ; and would feem to explain the doubt which many entertain, as to whether carriages ever pafled up to the Pro- pylasum, and into the Acropolis. But, that chariots did pals into the peribobus, and in the mode ftated above, feems highly probable, efpecially in connexion with the greater Panathenaeic, not only from the width of the central interco- lumniation, but alfo from the reliefs upon the frieze and pediment of that temple, both of which entirely fan6tion the ftatement of Cartaphilus. 243 The Ereftheum The Pandrofeum The Minerva Polias. tures that dazzle the eye, and rival even Flora s choiceft fruits and flowers. * *^he PARTHENON, of white Pentelic marble, fhines as the ftar of Venus, and occupies the loftieft ground of the Acropolis, for I perceived that the bafe of its periftyle is on a level with the frieze of the Propylasa ! Time will not permit me to dwell upon this glory of all Athens ; which, let it fuffice to fay, is worthy of Mi nerva, were all the praifes that have been beftowed on her by Greeks and Romans ftrictly true. ^JLj; caving the Parthenon and Propylaea, and walking a little to wards the north, fcarce more than a hundred cubits, I entered the ERECTHEUM, fo named from the temple of Neptune, built by Ere&heus, but which now embraces the three temples known as the Erettbeum the Pandrofeum and the Minerva-Fellas, all un der the general name of the firft, or The Ereftheum, each temple being of the pureft white marble, and the firft named one of great antiquity, if Ereclheus be its actual founder. According to the popular hiftory of thefe temples, the Pandrofeum was raifed in honour of Pandrofos, daughter of Cecrops, king of Athens, more than fixteen centuries ago ! and, as the ftory goes, Minerva having entrufted a valuable cafket to this Pandrofos, and her fifters, Hirfe and Aglauros, the firft alone proved worthy of the truft, and re- fifted the prohibited and fatal curiofity of infpe&ing its contents ! to commemorate which facl:, Minerva erected the Pandrofeum clofe to her own temple fuch rare fidelity in woman being re garded even by Minerva as meritorious of the higheft honour ! *^hefe three temples, that compofe the prefent Ereclheum, though each is of fmall dimenfions, are executed in themoft exqui- fite Ionic tafte. Their porticoes, of the chafteft caryatides, fupport friezes and cornices of fingular beauty. ^Darting from that rich group of buildings, I wandered among the more rocky heights of the Acropolis, and found the Citadel a rich depofitory of treafures, alfo of the public records, and of thofe trophies, fo dear to every nation, whether eflentially peaceful, or warlike. At this fpot, moreover, the eye refts at once upon much of the vifible glories of the whole city ; and not far below me, were feen the many proofs of wealth, of tafte, and of luxury, as alfo the ever varied dwellings and occupations, and means of amufement, of her intelligent people great even in adverfity, and perpetually reminding one of the luftrous days of her renowned Statefmen philofophers hiftorians, poets, fculptors, warriors, matrons, and virgins a galaxy , fuch as no fpot on earth, of fuch fmall territorial * The probable coft of this fplendid building would amount to about 22,000,000 dollars or nearly 4,4.00,000 fterling ! 244 Chronicles of Cattap&ilus, century i. The Bronze Statue by Phidias Mars Hill. extent, ever yielded a fimilitude ! and whether equal, or greater things, are ever likely to be again accomplished, quid dicam hifce incertus fum, as Terence faith ; and with Cicero would I fay, they are res cognitions dignce. All human greatnefs, moreover, feems at this time deftined to be caft into new moulds, and as to which thofe Nazarenes alfo appear deftined to have no fmall mare in fafhioning ! Strange, and paft all divining is this ! for, though few, comparatively in number, their work is conftant and rapid ; and they fear not to contend with the higheft powers, and to argue againft all known philofophy ! but of this matter, I muft no longer think. XlP on the right and left, and near each other, are two beautiful little theatres the one of Bacchus, and the other, called the Odeon, for mufic, as the former is for the drama. But my eye was not permitted to reft long upon thofe diftant views and prof- pedls ; for the famed Bronze Statue^ alfo the labour of Phidias, drew me as myfterioufly to it, and as certainly, as doth the load- ftone win to its embrace the iron ! This little ftatue was prefented to the Acropolis, by the people of Lemnos. Its proportions are fo exquifite, that, by way of eminence, it is only known as the " beautiful Jlatue." The kind youth, who ftill adhered to me, found me at the moment in fuch deep contemplation of that ftatue that, at length, he was obliged to awaken me : and from thence we proceeded to the place where the Areopagitas hold their fevere de liberations. My eye was delighted to reft upon thofe marble feats of the Judges upon the ftations, refpe6tively, of the accufmg and of the accufed party ; where, during fo many ages, Athenian juftice had been adminiftered. I felt as if upon fome holy ground, when defcending the noble flight of fteps, which leads down from the Hill of Mars all as folid and eternal as the Hill itfelf, the fteps being hewn into the maffive rock, fymbolizing, as it were, that all things in any way connected with the enforcement of juftice, mould be as enduring as are its immutable Principles ! ^aking leave of all this afTembled magnificence of the Acropo lis, and of all the buildings that encompafs the hill, which together form the larger part of the Upper City ; I next vifited the CATO- POLIS, or Lower City, in which the objects of moft note are The Temple of the Winds The Poikile and The Street of Monuments. ^he firft is an octagonal and narrow tower, of moderate height, erected by Andromachus Cyrrhejles, fomewhat more than two centuries ago. Each of the four principal fides is oppofite to one of the four principal winds ; and the others refpe&ively face the four intermediate winds all of which are diftinclly marked by the moft expenfive fculptures on the frieze of the eight fides, all of which reprefents the Seafons and the Winds. Setlion xxi. C&0 WmlMil\$ 3[0to, 245 Temple of the Winds The Poikile Zeno. t ^ lou bferve Boreas," faid the interefting youth, u he, I mean, who holds a tortuous horn, and feems to blow his Hyper borean winds from the loftieft tops of the remote mountains ? and behold likewife how his airy and fluttering garments appear ready to leave him I And, good Stranger, perceiveft thou how Aufter hath her feet naked, and holds an inverted water-pot, pouring on the parched earth her genial mowers ? Here is alfo another, with her lap full of delicious fruits ; and further on, you fee Eurus blow ing a veflel along, directly in the courfe {he would be \ and all thefe, methinks, portray whence come the winds in the heavens, and the feafons as they divide the year." ^J^he kindnefs and clevernefs of the youth much pleafed me : and thanking him warmly, I as cheerfully complied with his wifh, and followed his fteps into the town ; which, as he affured me was remarkable for its interior beauty, and alfo for a wonderful clepfydra for the public ufe. And truly fo I found all within, the roof being formed of marble wrought into maffive panels : and the clepfydra, moreover, was indeed fuperb, and fo contrived as doubtlefs to make it an accurate meafure of time. ^gjj^e pafled from thence, and next vifited the POIKILE or Pce- cile an extenfive range of marble buildings crowded _.. p .... with paintings, almoft wholly of the hiftorical clafs. As we traced the extenfive gallery, the Youth faid, " here the fol lowers of ZENO hold their appointed meetings : they, I aflure thee, ftill greatly venerate, and juftly, their matter s name, though more than three centuries have elapfed fince he lived. In the Ceramicus we fhall fee his monument ; which, though firm enough yet, cannot outlive his great fame : for, oh venerable ftranger, youth as I am, I find that marble may diffolve, but fuch a luftrous name as Zeno s muft be eternal. Forty and eight years did the great Zeno publicly teach in this Poikile Stoa, and fuch was his temperance in all things, that he never knew difeafe, until the gods or rather God removed him quietly, in the ninety-eighth year of his age ? " ^he manner of my young friend, and efpecially his laft remark, won him greatly to me ; and awakened in my heart fome fenfations that had flumbered there many years. " And why wouldft thou rather fay c God, than the gods ? " alked I but, as the youth feemed alarmed at my queftion, and evidently preferred filence on that matter, I urged it no further, though my curiofity was indeed great. " But thefe paintings of Meicon, of Polygnotus, of Pam- philus, and others, delight me much," continued the Youth, u and furely will tbee, as all the great and learned frequent this Portico, to view them : but I muft mow thee the great battle at Marathon, as alfo that between the renowned Xhefeus and the Amazons nor muft we pafs by the famous Shields of the Lacedaemonians, and of 246 Cj)rOniCl00 Of CattapfrilUg, Century i. The Pnyx Roftrum Street of Tripods. the Thracians." I again earneftly thanked my kind friend, though in truth my heart was fufficiently fet upon them all, before I had entered the Poiktle, as they have had a wide and enduring fame : but ftill, the Youth s unintentional allufion to a God,inftead of many, and his defire to conceal the reafon, made me very thoughtful : the paintings moreover, were quite too numerous for prefent examina tion they were but glanced over, and hours were now as days with me, as Nero s commands would brook no delay beyond the affigned time. We therefore haftened to other objects elfewhere. "mj^e foon arrived at the PNYX, an extenfive and maffive ftruc- ture, a fhort diftance from the Areopagus ; to which ie n y x - j t i s j n f ome degree akin, as to the ufes to which it is almoft daily appropriated. The foundations of the Pnyx are alfo upon the natural rock, and feemly is it fo ; for the place in which the Athenian people deliberate refpe&ing all their means of happinefs where they fo cautioufly argue, approve, or rejecl: the counfels of wifdom, or of folly, (hould indeed be founded upon a rock, alike to fymbolize that their principles fhall never prove faithlefs. ^nthis kind ofmufing upon the Pnyx and its great ufes, I was detained a while in filent meditation ; when, lofing fight of my youthful guide, I feared I had pained him by my queftion as to his evident doubt touching a plurality of gods : but, after a little quiet fearch, I found him at a fmall diftance from the Pnyx, repofing in the ROSTRUM a marble ftru6ture, from which the orators of every kind are accuftomed to addrefs the people ; and near to which are the Scribes, and the places for thofe officers, whofe province it is to preferve filence, and to proclaim the decifion of the aflembled multitude. I was likewife ftruck with the niches, in which thofe having requefts to make of the people, are accuftomed to depofit their petitions. jgQs I approached the Roftrum, the Youth (with all that Athe nian deference to age, that fo awakens refpecl: even in the Barba rians) promptly arofe, and courteoufly invited me to occupy the feat. I did fo ; but only fufficiently long to mufe on that hallowed fpot, where the renowned men of Athens, during fo many ages have been wont to reafon with the people or to charm, and fome- times to terrify them to deeds of valour, or of honour, but fo feldom to the reverfe of either. JL^eaving this, we next examined fome of thofe numerous monu- ments raifed to the memory of their celebrated men, the T t>od wm h together form an entire avenue of maufoleums, of cenotaphs, and of tombs, of furpaffing beauty, and all of great intereft. How true is it that " all flefh is grafs ! " and that virtue alone is immortal that riches take wings the happy die, as well as the wretched all, all may pcrifh and be forgotten : but xxi. Cjje QBantietmg 3ieto 247 Monuments to Pericles and to Lyficrates The Choragi. virtuous fame lives for ever ; and fcarce can ever need the proud maufoleum : for marbles may wafte away, or be deftroyed ; but a good name perimeth not ! Who, that hath a heart, can furvey this long ftreet of tombs, and not figh for that vifible token of a grateful country, which thefe monuments proclaim and yet more for that traditionary renown of virtue, that fome poffefs, and which is far more enduring than any fculptured mementoes, however folid and gorgeous they may be ? Thefe tombs and cenotaphs are as many in form and fize, and in decoration, as the various tafte and fkill, or fancy of the numerous fculptors of different ages, neceflarily would make them. Here, was the maffive and fplendid maufoleum there, the chafte tomb, or the more modeft cenotaph ; and here again, the unobtrufive tablet. The monument to Pericles, and alfo that to Thefeus, are, as they mould be, truly magnificent : and, of the fmaller clafs, that of Lyficrates is chafte and extremely graceful. This, as well as others, and alfo many fmall temples, are all called CboragiC) owing to the fact that the Choragi of their theatres, efpecially that of Bacchus, dedicated to that deity all the tripods awarded to them at various times which tripods, when collected, were placed upon the finials of thefe monuments and temples. This circumftance has occafioned the avenue of tombs, &c. to be alfo called the Street of Tripods. ^he monument of Lyficrates was erected about four hundred years ago ; and is of the richeft Corinthian order, in which every appropriate embellimment is found. The whole is of Pentelic marble is folid throughout, and confifts of a quadrangular and lofty bafe, with a circular maft of the temple-form, the intercolum- niations of the fix columns being clofed, but fo as to leave the columns in high relief, to the extent of quite one half their diameter. Thefe fupport a gorgeous entablature, upon which repofes a folid cupola, the highly ornamented and imbricated roof of which is terminated by a fiofcular ornament of exceeding richnefs ; and in the centre of which ftands a magnificent tripod. ^J|J[e both gazed upon this beautiful object, until admonimed that the fhades of night were coming on, for the deeply carved capitals, and the frieze, fo abforbed the remaining feeble light, as fcarcely permitted them to be longer vifible. * ^JJ^ith the exception of a very flight repaft of fruits and wines in the early morning, we both had fafted till night, fo, beftowing * This monument of Lyficrates, ftrangely called by fome the " Lantern of Demofthenes," ftill remains to delight the traveller, though greatly morn of its beauties by time and accident, and alfo by fome barbaric mutilations. It never could have been the mufeum or ftudy of that great orator, nor of any one, being folid, or wholly deftitute of a cavity. 248 Cf)tOniCl00 Of CattapfrillllS, Century The Youth ALC^US The Thefeion. upon my young friend a kind fie te Superis commendo, we parted ; and, as I thought, never to meet again he to his home, near the Acropolis, and I to my taberna, near the gate leading to the Piraeus. O n the following day, and for three more, I wandered much .at random, obferving the places and things of moft The f eion - note beyond the city walls. Much did I regret being without the aid of my amiable and fenfible guide, who had fo greatly affifted me at firft ; and finding myfelf, at length, fo much an alien here, (having failed to bring with me a fingle letter to con- necl: me with the powerful name of Nero) I refolved to fearch for my only acquaintance, hoping to meet the kind boy fomewhere near the Propylaea, and in this I was not miftaken : he was de lighted to fee me, was much regretful at my not naming my abode, and gave me as his name ALC^EUS. He readily accompanied me at once to the Temple of Thefeus ; which, though fmall, is the chafteft of all the Athenian temples, being of the pureft Doric. It much refembles, however, the Parthenon in its outlines, of which it is about half the fize. r he high refpecl: in which THESEUS is ftill held by the Athe nians, though more than ten centuries have paffed fince he was king of Athens, is mown by the feftivities and games yet celebrated in honour of that hero. The Thefeion is of white marble. Its two fronts are graced with a portico, each of fix fluted Doric columns ; and its fides have each eleven columns an uneven number ever being characleriftic of Grecian temples. Thefe re- pofe upon the pavement, without any pedeftal or bafe. The tri angular pediment in front, and the frieze all around, are decorated with the moft exquifite reliefs ; whilft upon the ten metopes of the eaftern front, are reprefented the labours of Hercules, alfo upon fome of the metopes of the two fides are delineated with equal beauty, the labours of Thefeus ; and the figures upon the frieze depicl: the wonderful achievements of that heroic fon of ^Egeus, in his famous combat with the Centaurs ! ^J^his beautiful memorial to his fame was erected about 530 years ago, by Cimon, fon of Miltiades, himfelf an illuftrious hero a princely liver, and munificent patron of the arts. Strange ! that centuries mould have mingled their years with eternity, and no atonement made for a nation s ingratitude to Thefeus. At length (as twas faid) the ever patriotic Spirit of that long deceafed hero, was feen fully armed upon the plains of Marathon, fcattering to all the winds his country s enemies ! and only then was it, that the Doric Oracle decreed that his ames mould be fought after, and receive the higheft funereal honours, which fervice was performed 3ieto, The Piytaneum The Gymnafium Palaeftra. by Cimon ; who happily found at Scyros the remains, and the ar mour of the long neglected Thefeus, and brought them to Athens ; whereupon all Greece united in doing them every honour.* Jpjlcaeus now urged that we fhould proceed forthwith to the Temple of the Olympian Jove ; it being his pride to fhow it to me, as the moft fuperb of all the Athenian buildings ; but, as we were then in the northern part of the city, and the famed temple was more in the way of my return home, he yielded to my inti mations ; and the morning was fpent in examining many other objects of intereft, but of far lefs note. jf-i few minutes brought us to the Prytaneum, an extenfive Hall of the Senate-Houfe, in which are convened the Prytanic Magiftrates, who are of the moft exalted e Pf y ta ~ j- v T^u rr i i i r> r i neum. dignity. 1 hey aliemble the Senate prelide over its deliberations give audiences to diftinguifhed perfons offer facri- fices in their fplendid Hall and direct the order of fuch public feafts, as are given in honour of fuch as have faithfully ferved the country. It has ever been confidered at Athens as a mark of fignal honour, to poffefs the privilege of eating in the Prytaneum ; for its officers being chofen wholly from fenators, in the order of the twelve Tribes of Athens, each prefiding one month, they live freely at the public charge during that period. ^j[nder the guidance of my good Alcaeus, I entered the Great Gymnafium, for, there are many that have affumed the name. This is a very extenfive building or Gymna- rather feries of buildings and of grounds, affociated for diftincl: purpofes, and fitted to accommodate many thoufand per fons. That part in which the philofophers, rhetoricians, and the poets are accuftomed to recite their compofitions is, perhaps at this time, more peculiarly called the Gymnafium ; the other, in which the phyfical education of the Athenians forms the main object, has taken the name of Pal&ftra the exact reverfe of what their names mould now be ; for it is certain that, originally there was no other name than the former, as indicating a place for phyfical exercifes alone ; and this alfo appears from the root of the word gymnos^ nudus which fufficiently imports that the Gymnafium was for phyfical, and not for mental inftru<5tion, as now is the cafe. But, after the philofophers began to letture there, the Hall in which * The T/iefeion is yet in tolerable prefervation, in all of its folid parts, though fome are laid to be comparatively modern repairs. The defigns of the fculptured decorations, are ftill perfectly known, though greatly injured. Thofe of the interior frieze, however, have been much more fortunate. The temple meafures but 104 feet by 45 feet ; and was creeled B. c. 465, about 25 years earlier than the Parthenon. 250 C&romcles of Cartapfnlu.s, century i. The Academy The Ceramicus Value of Time. they taught retained its name ; but the place, then affigned for the wreftlers, the dancers, leapers, riders, &c. gradually aflumed the diftinHve name of the Palaeftra, fo that the prefent fuitablenefs of the original name to the teachings of the philofophers, can be, as I fuppofe, only in a metaphorical fenfe the Gymnafium being a place where naked truth alone is taught ! ^fji the Gymnafium I found many beautiful ftatues, paintings, fculptures, altars, &c. reprefentative of various matters in war, re ligion, hiftory, philofophy, and in fine, illuftrative of all that may highly embellifh the Athenian youth, as well as the general people. ^JjJ^hilft walking in the many fpacious apartments of the Gym- fr, nafium, I foon perceived that Alcaeus was far more Tie Academy. . n . * . n . . . mtereited in the mitructions there given, than in the wonderful exercifes of the Palaeftra, or than in any thing he had yet pointed out to me. I therefore readily yielded to his defire that we mould vifit the fimilar inftitutions named by him- as the Academy the Lyceum and the Cynofarges, all of which are fpecially dedicated to mental inftru&ions ; though the exercifes of the palaeftra are occafionally found in each. ^j^he ACADEMY lies without the walls, a few ftadia north of where we laft were ; and is connected with the Ceramicus. After wandering a while in the fhady groves of the Academy, obferving its beautiful limpid ftreams, its many couches placed beneath the trees of clofeft foliage, and in which the plebeian and ftudent, no lefs than the philofopher and idler, were feen repofmg in undif- turbed quietude, I fighed deeply and involuntarily at the recol lection of the many years wafted by me at Rome ; and efpecially at the remembrance of my Neronian diffipations. Oh, who can gather up the minute fragments of fpilled time ! are they not de voured inftantly by the infatiate fon of Coelus, who, after once granting the blefled boon, thus regains it, never more to be re turned to man, however much he laments its abufed ufe, and refolves thenceforth to nourifh it ? Oh yes ! the pure waters of heaven maybe fpurned, and daftied upon the foul earth they may pafs through caverns and into ftreams and rivers, and even into the fathomlefs ocean ; but they reach the fkies again, and feek un grateful man every where, yea, a thoufand times, in plenteous and fructifying mowers but not fo, even once, of Time, that, caft off, returns to man no more, and is for ever loft ! ETERNITY hath no ages, nor years, nor days, nor even moments but TIME is formed of moments only, which, paffing from us into the ocean of indivifible duration, no realms, nor diadems, nor deep forrow can buy them back, nor even mitigate their lofs ! Oh Man ! thou fhouldft bind this truth upon thy forehead, and hem it as a phylac tery upon thy garments, and cherifh it within thy heart for, all SeStion xxi. C&0 (KJanBeting 3[0to. 251 A Mufmg Apoftrophe to Plato. other truths neglected, have their appropriate cures this hath none ! * J^eated with Alcaeus under a lofty tree, the ftream near me then gently whifpering to its Nymphs fome language denied to man to know, I mufed upon the fcene around us upon that facred fpot where man s fupremeft intelligence has fo long and brightly (hone upon that fpot which holy prophets never law, but which yet is illuftrious by the beft ufe of time ever made by fallible and un- aflifted man upon that little fpot, though not knowing Abraham s God even by name, hath often been more faithful to His Spirit, and to the " Unknown God," (either of their own imagination, or coming to them by fome whifpering tradition) than ungrateful Ifrael hath often been, though fo highly favoured by Prophets, and teachings without number ! In thefe Academic mades, fo nearly holy, I mufed with intenfe thought, on all I faw and heard upon Athens and her doings through a fucceflion of ages upon her hiftorians, orators, poets, artifts, and philofophers upon her morals, her religion, her priefthood, and upon her general exemption from the extremes of wickednefs among other people : and oh, how humbled as an Israelite was I (and for the firft time in all my days) at the melancholy, but irrefiftible fact., that God s peculiar people they alone who poflefled the true Faith they alone to whom the Shekinah, with Urim and Thummim were imparted, fliould have been in almoft every age fo groffly rebellious ; and that they at this very hour, are among the moft degraded and wicked of all the nations ! J^uch were the meditations that rumed through my agitated mind, and caufed the gentle Alcaeus to gaze upon me j j u n r L. !. Apoftrophe with wonder, and then Itnve to amule me with his in- to Plato telligent and fprightly converfe. tc Ah, my Alcaeus," faid I, " thy kindnefs is indeed very foothingto me; but thought muft have its courfe the foul thinks as neceflarily, as the machine moves when fet in motion : go, for a time, my gentle youth, and amufe thy felf." He cheerfully complied ; and for an half hour, my foul was vexed by the fame train of uncontrollable meditation, until, happily, the law of mental aflbciation, and the fcene fo near me, brought the divine PLATO fully to my view. " Here," faid I mufmgly to myfelf, " was it that the greateft of all the philofophers taught that * How (low to realize his aftual deftiny Cartaphilus was, or difpofed to be come oblivious of it, is feen in this meditation : for tis obvious this was the re pining only of one confcious of age looking towards the grave, and mufing upon life, and upon time, as other men of years are wont to do, when roufed by circumftances to lament the paft, and to regard the future as uncertain and fleeting! How he contemplated life and time in after ages, when his deftiny had been more fully revealed to him, will not be anticipated. 252 Cfjtomcles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Apoftrophe to Plato The Lycaeum. deep and myftic wifdom, uttered by no other mortal of the Gentile world ! Whence came it, and why did it come ! Was it the deftined light or rather the deftined dawn^ that mail prepare the way to the heathen world, for a far brighter light ? Is it a filent revelation, through the mere enlargement of human powers, and without the dignity and authority of divine annunciation, though ftill intended to gradually win the mind to deeper and more potent truths, which the Gentile foul was then unable fully to endure ? It may be fo : and doubtlefs, the Philofophy of that great Matter hath exercifed upon the Athenian foul, and on the mind of all the people it hath reached in other lands, a falutary influence har monizing with IfraePs thought, as it was in her purer days, and likewife well fuited to lead the heathen world to the more exalted faith of Abraham ! " " Xi ere > c lfe by me, is the Ceramicus ; and there was this divine Plato buried : the Infcription, juft read by me, proclaims the great merit, the wonderful mind, and the devoted love of virtue that marked his life, and the lafting affedlion of thofe who witneflfed it all. It feems, moreover, that this delightful old man was gently wafted to the fides : for, when furrounded by his friends, even at the wedding feaft of youthful lovers, he gave out his laft foft breath ! Yes, thou greateft of all the philofophers ! thy broad forehead and ample cheft truly proclaimed the expanfive mind that dwelt within thee and rightly did they change thy name from Ariftocles to that of PLATO, more that they might thereby fet forth thy vaft mental powers, than thofe of thy admirable body, great as they alfo were. O, wonderful and excellent Plato ! no marvel is it that Athens gloried in thee, and that my countryman, the great PHILO, late of Alexandria, loved thy memory fo well, and did thee and thy philofophy fuch continued homage for, next to Ifrael s Scriptures, Philo regarded Plato s philofophy as the clofeft approxi mation to heavenly wifdom." fuch mufings fuited not the brief time allotted me here in Athens : and aroufing myfelf, I fummoned Alcaeus to me : we met each other with more cheerful countenances: and then taking another glance at all things in the Academy, we filently departed from its lovely groves where tis offence in any one to do ought than look, or mufe, or quietly to teach all unneceffary fpeech, or laughter being utterly unknown therein. "i^lJ^e next vifited the Lycaeum ; and almoft with equal delight ; for it was there that ARISTOTLE had taught. Situate The Lyceum. upQn the banks of the jj;^ i( . affords a moft fa j ubri _ ous air, refrefhing (hades, and enchanting walks. Here was it that on xxr. c&e WM&tnng 3leto. 253 The Peripathon Cynofarges Cynic Philofophers. the philofophic pupils of the Stagirite converfed on things divine and human, taking no feat^ but continually walking^ that the body s adtion might yield renewed life and fpring to the long exerted ener gies of mind ! j[s we courfed over the fame Peripathon, in which that illuf- trious fcholar of Plato had taught his mafter s, but more fpecially his own peculiar views, and, upon recalling to my mind the admirable writings of Ariftotle, I could not fail to remember, and with fome furprife and contempt, the little eftimation that Romans have yielded to them : for Tiberius and Caligula would fcarce permit the phi- lofopher s few admirers there to utter a word of his philofophy ; or indeed, that of any foreign growth ! And well do I remember that my mafter Claudius was of the fame mind ; and that even my Nero prefumed to follow the like fafhion ! Strange, that the teacher of the great Alexander he whofe writings are as extenfive and varied and deep as all nature, and whom Plato regarded as the crowning excellency of his fchool, fo that, when Ariftotle was abfent, he was ufed to fay, " IntelleH is not here !" Strange ! I fay, is it that our emperors perceive not the value of fuch writings, and would banifh thofe who ftrive to enlighten the people, by the foul-enlarg ing wifdom of fuch a man as Ariftotle ! But the fecret truly is, that our Cicero and Seneca may be read and underftood with eafe ; but Plato and Ariftotle need more ftudy, than fuits their indolence as the diamond, to yield its luftre, needs more toil than other pre cious ftones : and what thofe Roman emperors fail themfelves to mafter, they feem unwilling others fhould better know ! ^^etiring from that delightful fpot, we foon reached the Cyno farges. It is fituate in a fmall village of that name, clofe to the city. Here is a temple dedicated to Apol- ^ ar lo alfo a gymnafium, in which the Cynic philofo- phers of old held their fchool, founded more than four and a half centuries ago by Antifthenes. Thefe Cynics^ to my Sadducean education, feem the moft abfurd of all the numerous feels, who ever claimed philofophy as their own. As far as they are haters of vice and lovers of virtue, the Cynics truly are wife ; but their mode of avoiding the one, and of obtaining the other, is no way to my mind of liking ; for a torturing abftinence neither exorcifes Beelzebul, nor wins grace from the ikies. Doubtlefs, there are more vitality and ftrength in moderate abftinence, than in pampering of the body ; but, to impoverifti and wafte the flefh, and torture the tabernacle, in hope of thereby invigorating its informing foul, is to violate nature, and fet at nought the fuggeftions of Him, who created all things in matchlefs excellence for man s ufe. As for that Antifthenes, the founder of the fet, hiftory and tradition have told us of his zeal in making profelytes, and how he obtained fo many : but we alfo know 254 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. The Jew fighs for Jerufalem The Youth Alcasus. that fuccefs is no fure proof of wifdom in matter or in pupil ; for few things are fo monftroufly abfurd as not to be adopted by thou- fands, if eloquently taught, rigidly practifed, and myfterioufly fet forth : and what will not man endure through vanity, and the flat tering ambition of becoming popular and confpicuous ! Well did the wife Plato fay to this mifguided difciple of the great Socrates " I fee thy vanity through the holes of thy tattered garments /" for this teacher of morals, in fuch clofe alliance with phyfical mifery, was often feen at the Cynofarges, and at Athens, with a wallet upon his back, and with a ftaff in his hand, playing the part of a wretched mendicant ! ^jMiefe Cynics of the Gentiles are as loathing to me, as even thofe of my own country: for we, too, among the Phariiees, have many of this clafs, men who would win Heaven s favour by a mere exterior holinefs by a tangible and vifible religion, to be put on or off, as we change our habiliments or, by the moft difgufting expiations, afcetically tormenting the outward man, to cure the foul s difeafes ! And yet, little do I doubt that, if one mould meet here in Athens, as well as at Jerufalem, an oppreffor of the poor a deceitful, hollow-hearted pretender to exceflive holinefs, that man is more apt to be of the Cynics in the one place, and of the Pharifees in the other, than of the Epicureans, or Sadducees of either. Doubtlefs, the two latter, of both cities, are too often given to fenfual indulgence, alike ruinous to body and foul ; but he alone is truly wife in this regard, who, looking upon all nature, fees it full of the richeft gifts to man all for ufe freely none for abufe. ^3ut the life I have fo long led with my Nero, and the reft, doth frown upon all this fage philofophy ! I know it CartapMus W ell; for, habeo confcientiam mille peccatorum mor- falem fibus quafi ftimulis vulneratam and therefore do I begin to figh for Jerufalem once more oh yes, for that ftill beloved city of my innocent but wretched childhood, and of my guilty manhood. I now long for the facred mountains and lovely valleys of Judea for the green banks of the Kedron, the heights of Olivet and of Gihon, ah, even for the fmoking plains of Hinnom ! Oh, Jerufalem, Jerufalem ! who can forget thee ? can the youth forget his firft love, or the maiden her mother s tendernefs ? furely no. Seas have feparated me from thee years have blanched my locks new friends, and other habits and thoughts have occupied me, but ftill I cling to thee, oh my country ! for no other can ever be truly mine none in which my bones in repofe would lie. * * * * * * Such were the thoughts that flitted rapidly through my mind, Ak^fus wnen fl w ty wandering in the Cynofarges. Alcaeus, who had keenly obferved my filence, and that my 2xftantJ0rmg; Jeto, 255 The Youth Alcaeus. mufings had much agitated me, fuddenly and to my great furprife, thus accofted me. " Haft thou, O venerable Cartaphilus, ever feen, or heard of thofe people called Nazarenes by fome, and Chriftians by others ? " *^he queftion, in my then ftate, greatly difturbed me; and the more fo, as the anxious looks of Alcaeus feemed earneftly to feek a reply. " Yes, my young friend ; in early life I knew much of thofe wonderful people, concerning whom my opinions have been very fitful but the older I grow, the more favourable are they becoming in my eyes." " Oh, I am glad of that," quickly added Alcaeus, bowing himfelf to the earth, " thanks then, thanks to Jupiter, whofe name is but another for the Supreme God of Abra ham, if I find in thee a Chriftian ! for truly my heart is weary of the fervices in our Temple ; and my foul hath panted after fome one to teach me the wonders of this new religion and from thy looks^ I thought thee a Jew, and from thy kindnefs^ probably a Chriftian." " Xi ow comes it, my good Alcaeus, mildly rejoined I, that thou^ a youth of Athens, and daily occupied in the fervices of Mi nerva, thy tutelar goddefs, haft aught heard of that obfcure feel: ? Much have I feen and heard of them in Paleftine likewife of their progrefs at Antioch, and other places : but, having left Jerufalem more than twenty years ago, my acquaintance with them fince hath been very fmall fave that Nero hath much favoured their per- fecution^ of late, at Rome, and fomewhat even in the provinces. Here, in Athens, the moft refined of cities, I little thought to find thefe poor and unoffending Nazarenes efpecially in the very courts of her greateft temple ! " " O that I knew much more of thofe humble people !" ex claimed Alcaeus, with great animation, " a few are indeed to be found here, but only as a pinch of faffron in an amphora of water ! but they are ftill diftin6lly and beautifully vifible : yet of perfe- cutlon I have heard nothing. My parents, now both dead, were Chriftians : no brother nor fifter have I ; and my own means flow alone from my daily exertions in the Temple. My humble fitu- ation, not inclination, forced me into Minerva s fervice : and though, when my parents adopted that new religion, I was fcarce eight years old : well do I remember the thrilling accounts my mother often gave of the preaching of one Saul, a noted Nazarene, whom Heaven, in a dazzling light, had fummoned as its meflenger to diftant nations and alfo, how my father would often fpeak with tears, of the crucifixion of one whom they called Mefliah, and whom my parents regarded as the holieft man the world hath ever known far greater in virtue than even Socrates, or any among the wifeft of our philofophers ! My father alfo fpoke much of the 256 Chronicles of Cartapfnlu0, century i. The Youth Alcasus. One Unknown God, who, in form of Mefliah, had appeared among men, for a fhort time in Jerufalem, where, for ages, there had been a great temple erected to his name that this Holy Being, under man s likenefs endured a moft cruel death of his own will, and then triumphed over the grave and his enemies and then afcended to the fkies ! and finally, that all perfons of whatever country, who believe in that Meffiah, and obferve his laws, will alfo furvive the grave, and become for ever happy in the fkies ! Thefe matters have I deeply pondered : and it hath conftantly, fince that time, appeared to me moft ftrange, that men mould famion with their own hands images of gold or filver, of ivory or marble yea, even of painted wood, and then fear or love them, and, as if to real gods, fall down and worfhip them ! " u ^fjhat thou fayeft, my gentle Alcaeus," replied I, " is indeed moft true ; and the folly of fuch is extreme, feeing that they who make fuch gods with great care, may, with ftill greater eafe, un make and utterly deftroy them. Greatly do I love thy inquiring fpirit ; and, at a more convenient feafon will I fpeak of thefe matters, which my now difturbed mind forbids at prefent. Let us, then, haften homeward." jHlcaeus thoughtfully accepted my arm, and accompanied me to my door, promifing to be with me early on the following day, that together we might examine the famed temple of Jupiter Olym- pius; which again had been pafied over, though Alcaeus by no means had forgotten it. At parting for the night, my feelings fud- denly prompted me to delay the youth for a moment. " Alcaeus ! my heart is greatly warmed towards thee," exclaimed I. " In a few days more I muft leave Athens and thee, perhaps for ever. But, good youth, fhould inclination prompt thee to accompany me to Rome, and mortly after to Jerufalem, I will be to thee a father for children I have none, and thou art parentlefs." Alcseus prefied my hands, bathed them in tears, and with a voice that fank in feeling, whifpered that he had but few ties to bind him to Athens that my too generous offer would not be now accepted, but that, in a month hence, he would meet me in Rome, mould my own mind continue in the fame way, and thus we parted till the morrow. ^he new light in which I now viewed Alcasus the cafual in cident that brought me to his acquaintance the fact that the only mortal I knew in all Athens, mould be more than half a cbriftian the manner in which that was revealed to me, and finally that our hearts feemed to yearn towards each other, almoft from the moment we met near the Propylasum, all appeared as links in def- tiny s chain, or as little elfe than miraculous, and continued to occupy my thoughts till we met again. t the appointed hour of the next morning, Alcaeus was with xxi. c&c (EBantierfng 3[eto, 257 The Youth Alcaeus. me ; and with a more beaming countenance than I yet had wit- nefTed in him. Without thinking of the fplendid temple, and other objects we were about to vifit, he proceeded at once to inform me of the caufe of his joy and hurried bearing. " Soon after I left thee, O venerated Cartaphilus !" faid he, "I was rejoiced to learn of the fafe return from Egypt of DIONYSIUS, late of the Areopagus, and of his wife DAMARIS, both converts, at the time Saul preached on Mars Hill. During their long abfence in diftant lands, I had no one to confult: they had been the kindeft patrons to my father; and before they left Athens, they were in like manner moft kind to me, a poor orphan, fcarce ten years old ; and would have taken me with them, but that my tender years, and education not half complete, equally forbade it. They are now back again : and I muft haften to fee them. Now, as the temple we feek is clofe at hand, and the other objects yet unfeen of thee may eafily be found, I have come to pray thy excufe, if, this day till funfet, I am with Dionyfius but after funfet, I will be furely with thee." " fl)y dear Alcaeus," I haftened to fay, " my delight is great that thy valued friends have come ; efpecially as thou mayeft now a6t advifedly, and counfel with them flowly, as to thine abandoning Athens. It may be that Judea is now in too difturbed a ftate for thee to accompany me there alfo, it may be, that Nero will not liften to my early leaving Rome ; but, dear Youth, there is ftill a much ftronger reafon that may weigh powerfully with Dionyfms and thee I am no Chriftian !" jjEflcaeus looked at me with the deepeft emotion and furprife. " From thy being a Jew," faid he, " and from thy feeming approval of what I uttered refpe&ing the Nazarenes but above all, from thy great kindnefs, I judged thee one : but, honoured Cartaphilus ! whether now fo, or not, I believe thou wilt be one; and, if Diony fms approve, and thy mind ftill be the fame, I will follow thee to Rome, early after thine arrival there after which, my life mall be dedicated to thee and thy happinefs, any where, fo far as a faith ful love towards thee can make me ufeful." " ^Qxcellent Youth !" exclaimed I, taking Alcaeus in my arms, " it now feems we are indeed deftined long to be friends my heart is thine thou malt be to me a fon, and I to thee a father. I defign for thee a peaceful refidence at Pella, not remote from Jeru- falem, until I am quit of Nero there to be under charge of fome valued friends : for, I am fure the pious Eben Ezra, and Prifcilla his admirable wife, as likewife his daughter Rebecca the glory of all Hebrew women, will receive thee, for my fake, moft kindly and for thy own Faith s fake, with rapture, for they all are Chriftians. My wealth is ample : I am, as I told thee, childlefs and fo probably mall ever be." i. s 258 Chronicles; of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Temple of The Olympian Jupiter. kifTed my hand, and we parted he, to the moft dif- tinguifhed among the Athenian chriftians I, to explore the won ders of the Temple of the fupremeft among the Gentile gods. j^| few minutes walk brought me to the long famed Temple of Jupiter Olympius, a building of furprifing grandeur; Temple of the which yet is in an unfinifhed ftate, though more has Olympian Ju- been expended upon it through many centuries, than upon any other in all Athens ! As Jupiter is regarded as father and ruler of gods and men, and worshipped as fuch by Greeks and Romans, under no lefs than fixteen names, and in the reft of the world under, perhaps, three hundred more, his temples, and their ceremonials are magnificent beyond all others, and are peculiarly folemn. r he fluted Corinthian columns that grace the exterior of this fplendid ftruture, are forty cubits high, four in diameter, and one hundred and twenty four in number. Its great extent, at leaft for a Grecian temple, (for theirs compare not, in dimenfions, with thofe of the Egyptians,) maybe judged of from the interior circum ference, which is juft (even hundred cubits.* ()n each fide are forty, and on each front are twenty and two columns the former dipterally, and the latter tripterally difpofed, the whole dipteral colonnade fuftaining an architrave of maffive blocks of the pureft marble ; and in vaftnefs thefe blocks refemble thofe of our Holy Temple at Jerufalem. r his beautiful edifice (ere6ted to the fame God, worfhipped in Egypt under the name of Ofiris ; by the Babylonians as Belus ; by the Africans as Amman ; by the Greeks as Jupiter and by the Jews as JAH, or JEHOVAH) was probably commenced in the time of Pififtratus, nearly fix centuries ago, though even a much earlier origin is by fome given to it, who fabuloufly attribute it to Deuca lion ! Certain it is, however, that Pififtratus employed upon it four renowned architects ; whofe names are given as Ant imachides Porlnus Anil/tales, and Calltefckrus ; and that it continued in a very unfiniflied condition fully three and a half centuries when the Syrian king Epiphanes (fo infamous as the oppreflbr of the Jews) added largely to it, under the direction of the Roman archi tect Cofuntius the naos, or central chamber, and the dipteral co lonnade, with the beautiful entablatures, being executed by him : and laftly, after an interval of nearly one hundred and feventy years, the Emperor Auguftus, and his allies, greatly embellimed it * It is obvious that the wonders, magnificence, and great coft of this temple were mainly owing to the materials and exquifite workmanfliip ; and in no great degree to its extent, as 700 cubits amount to only 1050 feet a veiy in- confiderable even interior circumference, compared with many modern ftruc- tures xxi. c&c ^JantJcring; 3[eto. 259 Temple of Triptolemus Legend of Ceres. but, about eighty years before this, Sylla (after his fuccefsful fiege of Athens) removed many of its fplendid columns to Rome, and added them to the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter.* ^Jeing without the walls, I failed not to vifit the little Ionic temple, on the fouthern bank of the Ilifius. not far cy* //>/ -f from the fountain of Callirrhoc. Though very fmall, tr^uK this amphiproftyle temple is wonderfully impofing and beautiful, the reliefs in the frieze telling its ftory with great clear- nefs, and their execution belonging evidently to the proudeft days of the Grecian arts. To whom dedicated I could not learn : but Alcasus afterwards informed me that it is probably the temple of Triptolemus ; and yet, who this Triptolemus was is now moft doubtful fuch being often the treachery of hiftory, and the perim- able nature of even traditional fame \ As to the fable of his being the fon of Celeus, king of Attica, who fo hofpitably entreated Ceres when in fearch of her daughter, and in gratitude for which fhe re ceived the infant fon of Triptolemus fed him on her own milk, and by means of fire, utterly deftroyed the mortality he had re ceived from his parents, it is furely as little worthy of belief, as any of the thoufand other tales that fully the early hiftory of moft na tions ; and whether he ever exifted, or Ceres be its founder, let no one conjecture. But though a deep mift may hang upon its hif tory, none clouds its own chafte beauty. The four Ionic fluted columns fuftain a frieze enlivened with the chafteft figures, and an equally ornamented pediment , whilft the interior even exceeds the fair promife given by its outward graces. f * Nearly fifty-fix years after this vifit of Cartaphilus to Athens, it is recorded by him that the temple of Jupiter Olympius was finifhed by the emperor Hadrian. At prefent, it is a total ruin ; little of which remains beyond fixteen mutilated columns, out of the one hundred and twenty-four, together with portions of the entablatures. f The doubt here exprefled by Cartaphilus as to this temple being founded by Triptolemus, from his rejection of the idle tales of tradition relpefting Ceres, and Triptolemus, feems a departure from our Wanderer s ufual found judgment : the fables may well be difcarded, and yet the great antiquity of the temple the long tradition as to iome connexion between Ceres, the patronefsof agriculture, and Triptolemus, (who is faid to have done fo much in that way for Attica), render the founding of fuch a temple by him, rather than the god- defs, fufficiently probable, to forbid the cold rejection of that portion of the tradition that refpecls the human, efpecially as it is alfo quite probable that the ornaments of the frieze fuftained that tradition ; and Cartaphilus admits that the frieze told its ftory with clearnefs. The whole tale of Ceres, fo fanci fully told by the mythologifts, is, indeed, quite inftinct with fable : but tra dition has not only affigned that temple to Ceres herfelf, but ftates that flie dwelt in it a year; during which fhe permitted not the earth to yield its pro duce, in revenge for the abduction, by Pluto, of her daughter Proferpina : and fo the mifery is faid to have continued, until Jupiter and all the gods prevailed upon the ravifher to reftore the maiden \ Moft of the ftory of Ceres and Trip- 160 Chronicles of Cartapfriius, Century i. Views from the Acropolis. ^ then crofled the Cipbifus ; and found on its weftern banks many fuperb villas feveral fmall gymnafia, and numerous gardens of furpafling beauty, crowded with ftatues and other fculptures by the beft artifts. And here I may remark that, in my rapid furvey of Athens, my eye always refted with peculiar delight upon fuch monuments of tafte and grandeur, as juftly may be referred to the period before the famed Perfian War. It is, indeed, true that The- miftocles, Cimon, and Pericles, not only were prompt to reftore moft that Xerxes in that war had destroyed ; but they alfo gave Athens a beauty of far greater renown : but ftill, fo great is the charm to me of unmixed antiquity, that almoft any thing purely and certainly <7fc-Perfian, won my attention more, than the perfecteft of works far more recent. <TDy ftay at Athens was now near its clofe : but I could not refift another vifit to all the glories of the Acropolis, though at the ex- penfe of many others yet unfeen and of great excellence : I there fore foon found myfelf once more upon the heights of that richly laden rock. During my firft excurfion there, the magnificence of the buildings, and the impofing ceremonials of the Panathenaea, at that time going on, were quite too abforbing to permit me to devote much attention to the many fplendid views that burft upon the eye, either from the northern rear of the buildings, or from any of their fummits. When feated on the higheft point of the Ere6lheum, lo ! the crowd of the city s commingled beauties lay all beneath me, whilft upon my right looking towards the Eaft for a time, I beheld extended in the diftance the lovely valley of Athens, reaching from the foot of the Pentilicus, to the blue waters of the Saronic gulf on the weft, the whole embellifhed by countlefs objects of varied intereft and lovelinefs, reaching to where they fade as it were into the clouds of the horizon, and then back to the environs and walls of Minerva s city ! 3n front of me, extending far to the North, lay the fame rich valley, bounded there by the rocks and glens and woods of Mount Parnes, whilft behind me, towards the South, arofe the more modeft Hymettus, and its fellow, the thirfty Anydros ! The craggy Egina alfo, with its mining white temples and palaces, was in the diftance upon my left ; and the bright waters of the Great Sea, every where enlivened with the continually recurring and moving tolemus, to whom me was fo grateful, may be the fheereft legend ; and yet, that Triptolemus was the founder, rather than Ceres herfelf, (or than Panops, another hero,) continues far the more probable. This little temple exifted in a very mutilated ftate, fo far down as to the middle of the laft century ! During fome one of the early centuries, however, it was converted into a church, under the name of " Our Lady of the Rock : " but no remains of it are now to be found. Cjje Olantieting 31cto* 261 Cartaphilus departs for Corinth. white fpots, gave aflurance of man s induftrious traffic : and thefe, united with all the reft, yielded a fupreme enchantment to the view. Never before had my eyes refted upon fuch an aflemblage of har monizing and yet varied beauties : but thefe were not all ; for Marathon, Thermopylae, Platea and Salamis were all vifible, at leaft to the mental eye, and nearly fo without imagination s aid. Gazing towards thofe directions, the renowned deeds that eternife thofe localities, feemed to bring them all diftin&ly within my range ; and would have riveted me to the fpot on which I ftood, had not re membrance led me almoft to fancy I could then hear Nero s emphatic whifper from Corinth, chiding me for delay, and bidding me thither forthwith, on pain of being headlefs ! I defcended from the height and haftened home ; where I was delighted to find Alcasus near funfet, ready to unburthen his heart, and alfo moft anxious to know how the day had pafled with me. His eyes beamed with exultation, as he informed me how Dionyfms and Damaris had received him with open arms, and the warmeft hearts. But, when he further told me of their approval of his accompanying me, after a time, to Jerufalem, or eifewhere, his joy knew no bounds : but, how great was my own joy, and awakening my furprife, when Alcaeus proceeded to ftate that Dionyfms knew of me from the Rabbi Eben Ezra, who, with all his family, was then on his return to Judea they having been abfent fome years ; and that, in the courfe of their journey homeward, they would vifit Artaxata in Armenia, thence proceed to Edeffa in Mefopotamia, and laftly to their home at Pella. ^hat fo quiet a family as my beloved friends of Pella, mould have journeyed fo far from Judea, gave me fome folicitude ; and rendered me ftill more anxious to be with Nero at Corinth, looking to his fpeedy return to Rome, and my own to Jerufalem, fo foon after as might be. )J^t was then arranged that Alcasus mould meet me in the Imperial City, a few months thereafter ; and taking affectionate leave of my young friend, I haftened next day to the Piraeus, where a vefTel was then ready to receive me, but alas ! not for Epidaurus, as I had defired but for Megara. ^ departed from the City of Pericles, of Socrates and of Plato, with feelings of great fadnefs ; for my curiofity was more awakened than fatisfied. The change of my vf ^P? rts r ^ ,- t /- i *? i for Lonnth. route for Corinth caufed me fome regret, having much wiflied to pafs through the ./Efculapian city, as Epidaurus is called thence to Tyrens and Naupalia, and then again through Argos, by nearly the road journeyed by me, when coming to Athens. The travel, however, to Corinth by the way of Megara was not only eafier but fhorter, and far from void of intereft ; for, next 262 c&romcles of Cartapfnlu.s, century \. Megara Phocion Euclid. to Athens, that city is, or rather was, among the moft wonderful in Greece, not from its extent at any time, but from its hiftory. We entered the port of Megara, called Niftsa, in about eight hours after our departure from the Piraeus, in a fmall veflel, and with a crowd too numerous to know any thing of them, in fo few hours but ftill fufficiently varied in their exterior, and lan guages to aflure me that, even a little veflel may, for the time, be nearly a microcofm for there were Areopagites and Centurions Priefts and Pirates Greeks and Romans, Jews and Chriftians a Sculptor and a Poet ! each of whom revealed his character by that great law of our nature that prompts aflbciated man to vaunt in fome way, that each may not be loft in the whole ! Thefe were amufing difplays of individuality ftriving to refcue itfelf from a totality, and again confirmed what I before have noted, that, if the fea be calm, man on {hip-board experiences a fenfe of freedom, and finds himfelf more in a ftate of nature, than when on land, unlefs in fome remote defert beyond the influences of his fellows. ]^ut Nifasa was reached ; and pafling between the maflive walls that connect it with the City, diftant about eight ftadia, I found Megara at the bafe of two hills, with a ftrong acropolis upon each the one hill being known as Alcathous, after a fon of Pelops the other as Caria, from Car, a fon of Phoroneus ; which names feem to indicate great antiquity. ^t is faid Megara was founded more than twelve centuries ago : but others, as ufual, claim for it much greater remotenefs. It was ruled, for a time, by The Twelve then became a republic ; and, being juft midway between Athens and Corinth, it had little chance of aflured independence. Commerce and occafional piracies greatly fuftained it : but its people were fo proverbially wicked and de- teftable, that greatly do I marvel how it fo well maintained that famous School of Philofophy, over which the renowned Euclid pre- fided : but often have I had occafion to remark that there is in life nothing fo bad, as to have no mitigating good ! Megara is alfo the burial place of PHOCION the pure and noble in private life but yet the ill-judging and unfortunate Phocion in public life ! whofe bones the high-ipirited, and fometimes rafh Athenians would not fuffer to continue within their boundaries ! His remains were exiled to Megara, as thofe of a traitor there fecreted by a heroic matron, under the hearth of her own houfe fhe hoping the day would come when the Athenians would gladly receive them as the remains of a patriot, in grateful remembrance of his actual worth, and in total oblivion of that honeft defpondency for his country, which had fo angered them, as to banifh from their foil even his bones ! And in this, the good woman predicted wifely ; for it was but a black cloud that had then come over the Athenians, and caufed them to xxi. Cfje COanBenng; Jeto* 263 He arrives at Corinth. deal thus harfhly with their hero. The afties of Phocion were proudly brought back, and received the higheft funereal honours. A bronze ftatue was raifed to his great name bright ftill, though juftly tarnifhed by a fad infirmity for a patriot, in yielding fo com pliantly to the gloomy afpe&s around him, and to the fuppofed overwhelming power of his country s foes but never through any intentional defection. 2C tarried at Megara fufficiently long to glance at its noble aque ducts its temples of Diana, Apollo, Minerva, Venus, and of Ceres, as alfo at the little one dedicated to Nox. The ftatues alfo were every where noble, as if the vicinity to Athens had influ enced for ages the Megareans, and among thefe ftatues I ob- ferved that of Minerva, having the body richly gilt, and the hands, feet, and face of ivory. The twelve ftatues, alfo, of the greater gods, all dedicated to the Olympian Jupiter, are worthy of Prax iteles. Pafling from thefe, I vifited the tombs, efpecially that of Hippolita, a queen of the Amazons ; likewife that of Hillus, and the one raifed to Alcmenes. The Megareans were ambitious in war : at the battle of Salamis they provided twenty {hips the like number alfo at Artemifium; and to that of Platasra they furniihed three thoufand foldiers ; and they gained great honour in their achievement againft the Perfians under Mardonius.* ^()uring my little journey back to Corinth, my mind would again involuntarily dwell upon the life I had palled at Rome during fo many years ; and thefe meditations caufed me no little pain. I ftill derived fome comfort from the belief that, during my twelve years fojourn with Nero, none had ever ferved him, or any monarch, with lefs flattery. Now, however, that my mind was keenly fet upon Judea, I refolved to pleafe him by all afliduous attentions, and by an unclouded cheerfulnefs hoping thereby to gain permif- fion to leave his Court, and to depofit my remains in my native foil j for I well knew if my departure were without leave, not even the mountains of a diftant province could fcreen me from the offended Nero. jFfter an abfence of only twenty days, I reached Corinth much improved in health and fpirits, the refult doubtlefs of unceafing exercife a fubdued diet and of a calm but fixed refolution to effect my return to Jerufalem, none of which bleflings had I much cultivated under the gilded flavery, fo neceflarily experienced in the fervice of an emperor, and efpecially of one whofe attach ment and tyranny were fo artfully combined for fuch was Nero s * Such was the condition of Megara when Cartaphilus thus chronicled ; but it has almoft wholly vanifhed, and indeed may be faid to have retained nothing but its name. 264 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century Neroniana Continued. ever, though far lefs towards me than others. In all truth, how ever, I muft record it, Nero had been moft kind to me ; but my time was always his, never my own, if he fuggefted : when a de mand was made upon it, no thought could 1 ever cherim for a moment of excufmg myfelf, though fometimes in great mental agony. Were clouds all around my foul, funmine muft difpel them all, and fuddenly too ; and yet, thanks for the remembrance, lefs was demanded of me, fave in pleafures, than from his other favourites : he loved me, becaufe I was ever cheerful he fought me becaufe he was ever compenfated he honoured me, becaufe my fuperior mind abforbed his, without any mortification, and he fometimes fpared me, becaufe of his confcioufnefs that fmaller fouls would often fuit him better ! and thus, between love, refpecl:, and dignity on the one hand, and my own cherifhed gaiety and deep fkill in pleafures, on the other, my time with Nero had been fuf- fered to pafs with lefs occafion for adulation (fo violative of my nature) than perhaps with any other of his courtiers, could the truth be faithfully recorded of them.* NERONIANA CONTINUED. jFfrrived at Corinth, the monarch s reception of me was moft gracious. I found him feated with Helius; each on a couch, in clofe and obvioufly awakening converfe. Helius, who had juft arrived from Rome, greeted me warmly ; and feemed difpofed to fuffer me at once to participate in the fubjecl: of his communication, and in the caufe of his hafty appearance in Greece. But Nero s pride indicated to the incautious Helius the Emperor s preference that we mould now fpeak of other matters, fo that I inftantly in quired, and with apparent folicitude, as to the progrefs that had * The remarkable deteftation of flattery, always manifefted by Cartaphilus, feems to have been a collateral refult from Jewifh hatred of all idolatry. Thus do the impreffions of early education fometimes cleave to us in the midft of mu tations in character, of a far different and more pervading nature. To this caufe muft we frequently impute the apparent inconfiftencies, if not contradic tions, fo often found in Cartaphilus. The feeds of virtue, planted by an early moral culture, often lie buried, as if wholly deftroyed ; but time and circum- ftances occafionally will revive them; and though feebly, they (till exert a fub- dued influence, and give rife to feelings and conduct that greatly mitigate the otherwife deformed and odious general outline. Strong fenfe, a highly culti vated mind, and found morals implanted in the youthful mind, though fol lowed by much corruption in after life, are generally found to excite an in fluence upon charafter, which nothing through the whole ftream of life can wholly obliterate : and this trait is remarkably mown in thefe chronicles of his eventful career, and alfo in that of the apoftate Julian ; whofe charafter bears no flight refemblance to that of Cartaphilus. xxi. 3[eto. 265 Canal of the Ifthmus Arrival of Helius. been made in the mighty fcheme of uniting the two gulfs. But alas ! this, if poflible, was yet more unfortunate ; and then, with an unconfcious quicknefs, I fpoke, not of Nero nor of Rome, nor yet of any thing in Greece, but wholly of myfelf, and in fo fprightly and entertaining a manner withal, that the Emperor was greatly charmed, and feemed to have forgotten the troubles of which his Minifter was evidently the bearer. ^Q^ow, as to the canal, the truth was that, during my fhort ab- fence, the vulgar and fuperftitious people had taken much alarm ; and reported that the gods frowned upon the undertaking from its commencement ! They infifted that blood had been feen to gufh from the earth, when the firft axe had penetrated it that dreadful moans had afterwards been heard to ifTue, as if from deep caverns that phantoms had been feen by many ; and finally, that Nero himfelf had been warned by Egyptian mathematicians, that Corinth and the Ifthmus would be deluged, ihould the work be perfifted in ; for that the level of the two feas had been afcertained, and that the Ionian was confiderably higher than the ^Egean ! In the feventy- fifth day, then, after the Emperor had ftruck his golden pick-axe into the Ifthmus, I was not furprifed to find an Order from him to forthwith defift from further work : and thus ended a noble en- terprife defeated by ignorance ; but which, in days of lefs folly and popular fuperftition may be effected.* JHs to the other matter, that foon caufed our return to Rome, (and as to which the Emperor had been fo filent, believing me quite uninformed of that) the truth alfo was that all had been fuf- per_ed by me, if not fully known, even before my departure for Athens. The letters Helius then wrote to me, and thofe received from others, had fufficiently apprifed me that this minifter of Nero (who with the freedman Polycletus, was entrufted with the govern ment during the emperor s abfence) had many tumults to contend with, that would fpeedily end in open rebellion, if the Emperor long delayed his abfence. Helius had repeatedly urged his return in vain ; for Nero was daily greeted with victories he had never won, and with laurels, frefh and odorous only through flattery ; fb that this minifter, wearied and difappointed at the Emperor s filence, and his ftrange proceedings in Greece, had fecretly haftened to Corinth, and revealed to his mafter that deep confpiracies were * Cartaphilus ftill regards the forfaken enterprife as moft worthy of the pre- fent time to execute, and as one of eafy accomplishment, that would be fol lowed by fignal advantages, not only to all the fix divifions of the Peloponnefus, (an illand, or rather peninfula, of not lefs than 500 miles in circuit, and of about 7,800 fquare miles) but to the whole of Greece : and mould any of the great Powers of Chriftendom quietly pofTefs it, a vaft commerce would again revive, and Corinth once more become a magnificent city ! 266 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Confpiracy at Rome Corbulo. then forming againft his throne and life, which could brook no further delay of him in Greece. Then only was it that Nero s ear was opened ; all previous entreaties had been but unimpreflive air ; but now the words of Helius were inftincl with galling alarm. Helius, however, had not revealed the whole truth ; as he failed to ftate that, during every hour of his fovereign s abfence, he had proved to the Romans as cruel a fcourge as Nero had ever been, and a lefs acceptable one, as tis man s nature to endure with lefs patience the wrongs of a deputy, than thofe of an acknowledged principal. Helius therefore foon became himfelf in great peril ; and fought Nero in Greece, as much for protection, as for his mafter s interefls ! ^Hatters after fuch revelations were foon in readinefs for our de parture towards Rome : and here it may be well to remark that, if Nero s hours whilft in Greece were much abforbed in pleafures, and alfo in the exploit as to the Ifthmus, he was by no means for getful of that confiftency of his wonted character, which could not be oblivious of cruelty ; for he there committed many enormities, in harmony with the nature of a foul that twice fought, and then extinguifhed a mother s life and that followed by a humorous con templation of the marvellous beauty of her corpfe ! But his cruel ties in Greece will not be recorded fave one, ex uno difcere omnes ! ^he excellent CORBULO, whom the Romans defired to elevate to the throne, had, however, proved himfelf moft faithful to his emperor ; and in proof had fent his beloved fon as an hoftage to Nero s beft friend, king Tiridates of Armenia ! Nero, on being apprifed of this, invited Corbulo to Greece, called him father, and benefactor : but oh, when Corbulo reached Greece, and was fully within the monfter s grafp, this fame " fon of Corbulo" hurled the confiding Roman to inftant death ! Many others were facrificed, and under circumftances almoft equally revolting : for during our hafty return to Italy, the whole heart of Nero feemed changed into nothing but gall; and he fighed for Rome, with threats of black vengeance againft nearly all of the Roman Senate ! CiIJL nen we Arrived at Beneventum, a fhort diftance from Nea- polis, the emperor s fury was raifed to madnefs, upon hearing that Vinicius had headed a daring confpiracy, which only at that moment had become known. How much blood was inftantly fhed, and even before we reached Neapolis, I will pafs over in loathing filence : but how poor is language to exprefs my feelings, when we heard a few hours thereafter, that the venal Senate, even before it knew of our arrival at Beneventum, had ifTued the moft fulfome decrees of wel coming Nero, thanking the Gods for his expected return, and for all the glories won by him in Greece ! xxr. Cjjc flxKan&ering 3[eto, 267 Arrival of Nero at Neapolis Alba. blood fo lately lavimed by Nero, followed by the flattering words of the Senate, had fomewhat foftened his feel- . ings ; and having reached the walls of Neapolis (next ^ , / to Rome his favourite city) he there refolved to com mence his triumphal progrefs towards the Imperial City with a pomp commemorative of the God-Nero s Expedition into Greece, and of his fafe and glorious return to his Beloved Italy ! ^3 ut if Nero s mind was fomewhat eafed, mine had been greatly aggravated : but extreme caution was now the law of my life if it had any value left. I mufed upon Alcaeus revelled in the thought of again feeing Rebecca, of fitting with her in the peaceful fhades of Pella, converfmg upon their extenfive travels, and upon my own varied life. In thofe fweet anticipations, I realized not, even for a moment, that fixty and five are the moons of Nifan that have de parted fince my melancholy birth and that Rebecca could not now be the frefh and joyous maiden, who, upon Kedron s garnifhed banks, or on Gilead s verdant heights, would often cull the wild flowers, playfully caft them on me, or gracefully weave them into my then raven locks, and declare (in jefting words, but with a heart of feeling and belief fhe could ill conceal) how " beautiful" I looked ! Oh, how fweet are fuch reminifcences, how delightful the illufion that brings fuch innocence to view, and makes one thus oblivious of the wretched changes life brings on ! we were not yet within the walls of Neapolis that was an Imperial ceremonial now, for the firft time to be witnefled by me. Under the Emperor s order, a portion of thofe walls was to be fpee- dily demolished, that through a more fpacious aperture Rome s dread fovereign might proudly enter : and this entrance was in a gorgeous car, drawn by fix richly caparifoned horfes, fhining in milk-like whitenefs ! The noify greetings of myriads attended him ; and thefe vociferations feemed the offering of joyous fpirits and welcomed that wicked monarch juft as kindly, as if Nero had ever been their friend, and that of univerfal man ! jH day in Neapolis made us quit of it : but, in what force and fplendour we departed, need fcarce be told, fince it was Th e p r ocef- an hourly increafing one. We advanced flowly to fan towards Antlum where Nero firft faw light thence to Alba, Rome. and through numerous other towns, until finally we reached the gates of Rome : and during our whole progrefs from Neapolis to the Imperial City, the line of the way exhibited an unbroken chain of triumphal receptions each continually fwelling the tide of thofe who now would do honour to Nero ! the auguft proceflion had been thus increafing in num- 268 Chronicles of Cartapfrilits, century The Proceffion towards Rome. bers, it of courfe became proportionately more varied and glorious ; but to my eye it feemed to picture forth its mafter bright and pompous and fmiling outward black and hollow and malignant in ward ! Strange fpedlacle ! myriads of countenances, and of hearts, utterly divorced from each other ! alfo voices of gladnefs and feel ings of defpair, in hideous affociation ! Many faces in that pro ceflion, well known to me, could not abide my fearching eye truth and nature being ftronger than artifice and flattery, and our eye filently and reciprocally divulged, what words dared not utter ! and fuch, (aid I to myfelf, is the myfterious influence of one man over myriads I an aenigma truly wonderful : for, in that proceflion were many brave and daring fpirits, and yet not one to hurl the tyrant from off the earth ! it doth baffle all philofophy ! ^Jut tne materials of that great proceflion muft not be forgotten, in the wonder caufed by its anomalous mind. Firft, were feen the Eighteen Hundred Crowns, awarded in Greece to Rome s mighty fovereign, each crown with an infcription, denoting by whom when and why conferred ; as alfo the adverfaries whom the emperor had vanquifhed ! and to this was added the flattering declaration that NERO was the firft, throughout all time, who had received fuch brilliant rewards ! Then came the fame long extended retinue that had accompanied the Emperor into Greece, with all their gor geous appendages : next, and in the centre of the whole proceflion, appeared the EMPEROR, followed by the muficians, vocal and in- ftrumental, in great force, then, in majefty and iplendour came Rome s Senators, and all the Chief Authorities of the City, all in their appropriate habiliments, to them fucceeded the New Legion, compofed of the talleft men of all Italy, the whole of the fame height : and thefe are called by Nero, " The Great Alexander s Phalanx" And laftly came on, the Deputations from Neapolis, and other places on horfe, or in vehicles of every fafhion. Such was the proceflion, by the time it reached Rome s gates but, doubtlefs, it had often fomewhat varied in its progrefs thoufands gradually retiring, and others coming in ! ^he car which Nero occupied on this occafion, was that which Auguftus ufed in his triumph : and upon Nero s head was placed the Olympic Crown of olive. In his right hand was the great Pythian crown, his robe was of the richeft Tyrian purple, and his mantle fpotted with myriads of golden ftars, was more gorgeous and dazzling than Herod Agrippa, in all his vanity and extravagance had known how to conceive ! JMs we approached the City, the moft brilliant garlands were every where feen ; and, on entering it, the very heavens were per fumed with incenfe, fmoking in fantaftic curls in a thoufand places ! ftreets were covered with faffron flowers were fhowered xxn. Cfje (HJanlieung; 3(eto, 269 Arrival at Rome The Forum. towards the Emperor, from every direction and the rareft birds , the moft curious confections and even pa/tries^ (delicious in odours and equal in tajlesj) were in like manner beftowed in rapid fucceflion and in wafteful profufion defigned to honour Majefty and to fuf- tain the almoft fainting Multitude ! The whole prefented a vaft Saturnalia ; for everything in nature, that was animate, had licenfe freely to partake ; and amply did they refrefh themfelves. "he proceflion parted through the Forum to the Temple of the Palatine Apollo* there it divided; a portion with their laurels went to the Capitol, but Nero, with his Crowns and Infcriptions, proceeded to the Imperial Palace where they depofited thofe apper taining to the Sacred Games, and from thence to the Hippodrome, where the Emperor faw the reft hung upon the Egyptian Obelifk.f SECTION XXII. ROME, u. c. 821. Seleucid*, 380. Thamuz, nth. [A. D. 68, June 20.] ERO is no more ! like a fplendid but foul vifion from fome nether world, he, and his tremendous power, and morbid love of mifchief his pomp and his glory, have all vanifhed ! Thofe countlefs voices that, fa mort a time fmce, hypocritically fung his praifes declaring him another Hercules a fecond Apollo, and that he alone fmce time began, deferved his glory, are now, as to his praifes, hufhed in death-like filence but, as to his foul demerits, are fuddenly awakened to the keeneft execrations ! Oh, how unlike is the prefent multitude to that, which, only a few moons fmce, had cracked their voices, and made the heavens reverberate with their flattering fhouts ! But Nero, now, is alike unconfcious of praife and of blame ! ^Q^ero fell ; and how he afted, when ftern adverfity had furely come, deferves much more than a patting notice in my Chronicles : tis a leffbn of no ordinary occurrence ijludy for all that would tyrannize a volume, for all who know not that a wretched adver fity as furely follows a recklefs profperity, as doth the intangible fhadow its palpable fubftance ! * The Temple of the Palatine Apollo was erefted by Auguftusj and flood not far from the prefent fite of the Arch of Titus, on grounds lately occupied by the Convent of St. Bonaventura. f This Obelifk is the fame that now occupies the centre of the Piazza cK S. Pietro in Vaticano. It was brought to Rome by Caligula, from Heliopolis of Egypt; where it had been raifed by Nuncoreus, the fon of Sefoftris. It was dedicated by Caligula to Auguftus ; but Nero conveyed it to the Hippodrome j which then occupied a part of the prefent fite of St. Peter s Bafilica, where it remained till Pope Sixtus V. transferred it to the fpot it now graces. 270 Chronicles of Cattap&ite, Century \. Confpiracy againft Nero His Laft hours. finifhed his infamous career, at that primal period of man s existence, in which are ufually developed his entire capacity of ufefulnefs, or of equal mifchief he being then in the fixth month of the xxxi ft year of his age having reigned fourteen years, and nearly four months ; during which brief time, he had caufeleffly fhed more blood, and committed more outrages and fierce cruelties upon man and beaft and property, than, perhaps any other mortal ever did, by his own direcl and individual means ! And yet, to me it feemeth, that even this Nero^ through the whole of his in- fenfate career, is lefs to be blamed than the Roman Senate and People ! for Nero was but one^ with myriads to flatter and miflead, and to pamper his every paffion, the Senate and People were many; and having, in truth, all the power the enaction and guardianfhip of all laws and being themfelves, moreover, the legitimate fource of all the wealth and honours that do or can arife, their heavy load of guilt becomes the weightier, when we know that a fingle day of firm and virtuous refolution, would have put to flight and did all of Nero s vanities and cruelties, and even his difpofition to commit them ! jPEfnd, that this may be feen the more clearly, witnefs the clofing fcene of Nero ! NERO S LAST HOURS. J^oon after the Emperor s return from Greece, he was again found at Neapolis, but at his wonted folly of acting plays ! Vindex was then in Gaul, contriving a revolt ; and Galba, the governor of a province in Spain, was reaping more than golden honours in the people s affections, fo fairly his due ; for he, as well as Vindex are men of high birth, rank, and military experience. No marvel, then, if fuch congenial fouls mould come together and fabricate a holy treafon, to rid the world of a monfter, who poifoned the happinefs of millions, and jeoparded the fafety of a whole empire ! ^}[index, who was not ambitious of imperial dignity, and who wielded a force of more than ten legions, applied fecretly to Galba to aid him in cafting off that mameful yoke to revenge the miferies of the empire, to afTume the imperial title and powers himfelf, and to reftore liberty and happinefs to an oppreffed people. Galba, however, was now fomewhat aged and infirm : and though patriotic and brave, pofTefTed not the ambition and zeal that once would have actuated him. There were others, moreover, who, more fmifter in their motives than Vindex, defired to fuftain Galba only from the hope of early fucceeding him ! Among thofe felfifh afpirants were Otho^ long a participator in Nero s luftful excefles and Nymphidius : the former then being governor, or imperial xxn. myz (ULtanaEniuj JIEUJ. 271 Nero s Laft Hours. legate, in Lufitania and the latter at Rome, where he was dif- tinguifhed, in the command of the Imperial Guards in conjunction with Tigellinus. ^f^ero, when laft at Neapolis, as alfo on his return to Rome, feemed little concerned at the rumour of Vindex s rebellion : but, upon hearing of Galba s participation, he was in great difmay. It fo chanced that at the very moment the official news arrived con cerning Vindex, Nero was engaged in amufmg fome of the Senators with a curious water-organ ; and had jocofely faid, " If our good Vindex will permit, this organ fhall be ufed by me upon the ftage." But fcarce had theie contemptous words as to Vindex been uttered, when the news was heralded of GALBA S actual revolt ! This fo excited the emperor, that he inftantly caft down with violence two fplendid cryftal vafes then near him, and fhivered them into pieces ! Poor Nero ! he at once fainted with exceffive rage and fear com bined : and, upon his revival, feemed without hope, and abforbed in morbid and moody thought. Shortly after, he again became furious, and fet a price upon the head of Vindex, alfo proclaimed Galba a public enemy ; and even had courage fufficient to fummon his legions to go feek the rebels but Nero went not himfelf ! \ 11 things now, however, went againft him ; the army and the people were roufed in favour of the confpirators ; and even the faithful Pretorians forfook him, fo foon as the Imperial cowardice became fully revealed. Nero then faw that his ftar was blotted out ! he abandoned haftily his palace, and retired to the Servilian Gardens taking with him a golden box of precious deadly poifon ! but this he feared to take, fince Hope was fcarce to be found in that box, but might yet be lurking elfewhere, even in his then defperate condition ! He next defired to fly into Egypt ; but the few attendants now with him refufed to accompany him thither ; and one of them meeringly interrogated him, in the words of Virgil, u Ufque adeone mori miferum eft?* 1 " Is it then fuch a mifery to die ? " Another tauntingly faid to the Emperor, " The Arenarii will not deny thee a fubterranean refuge ; the Sand-pits, fo frequented by the Nazarenes and Jews, will be a place of perfect fecurity ! " Nero mournfully turned to Phaon and faid, " Never fhall I be found under ground, while living. * " * The Arenarii were, no doubt, the fand-diggers alluded to by Suetonius, Cicero, and others, as being engaged in the gradual formation of thofe extenfive fubterranean excavations, now known as the Catacombs, which lie beneath the City penetrate the foil many miles in various direftions, and which had become, even thus early, places of refuge and of burial for Chriftians, Jews, and refugees, and, indeed, for all who were oppreiTed in thofe dreadful times. In them were buried many thoufand martyrs during the early centuries. Thefe catacombs, in after times, became nearly forgotten, and perhaps unknown, from the fourth 272 Cfjromcleg of Cartapfulus, Century i. Nero s La.fi. Hours. emperor then thought of his good friend Tiridates, to whom he had given Armenia s crown ; but how to reach that land was now the tefting hope. His further expedient was an appeal to the magnanimity of Galba, and to caft himfelf into his arms ! but Nero was forced to fee that this could not be effected, as his own numerous foes were then between himfelf and Galba. And tartly, in the agony of his perilous condition, he prepared an harangue; and defired fpeedily to mount the Roftrum, and there humbly to implore the People s pardon of all the paft ! but this, even to Nero, foon appeared ridiculous, as he well knew the mob would rend him to pieces, long before he could gain the roftrum. ~j-\ t length, at midnight, upon hearing that Galba had been actually proclaimed emperor, he rufhed from his bed ; and finding that not a fingle guard remained, he prayed a domeftic to deftroy him, by giving that mortal blow, he had not fufficient nerve himfelf to inflict ! but even that poor fervice was denied him. Hope s laft dregs were now exhaufted. But fhortly after, his freedman, named PHAON appeared, and offered to fecrete the Emperor of the Univerfe, in his own humble tenement, four miles from Rome, where the once mighty Nero he whofe ftatue was then towering to the fkies, and whofe Golden Houfe, at one time would have pleafed him better, had emerald and adamant been its fole materials, now promptly accepted Phaon s offer ; and, with naked feet, and little covering, this " M after of the World" haftened on horfe, with Phaon and three other wretched attendants, to feek that humble flicker. ^n performing fo fliort a journey, however, it was not without down to the fifteenth century: but they have been fince very carefully explored and defcribed, as far as the policy of the Roman Church has feen fit to permit. The labours in this refpeft of Bq/io, Severano, Boldetti, Botari, of Rochette, and others, have revealed much of the interefting wonders of thofe dark and facred abodes of the early martyrs; and will relieve the Editor of thefe Chronicles from making Cartaphilus a further witnefs of the marvels that may be revealed to the anxious curiofity of the prefent age. Suffice it to fay, that the remains of 170,000 martyrs and of fourteen Popes are faid to lie there; and that the exca vation extends as far as Oftia, or about fixteen miles in that direction ! St. Jerom, and all who allude to that City of the Dead, are entirely confirmed by Cartaphilus, and now efpecially by the numerous copies made of the infcriptions and pic torial defigns; and by the many removed portions of each, that are to be found in the Vatican and elfewhere, which of themfelves abundantly prove all tra dition; and now form a moft interefting chronicle of the endurance, fufFerings, and deaths of the primitive Chrillians. The principal entrance now into the Catacombs of Rome, is at the Bafilica of S. Sebaftian ; and that portion near the Via Latina, called the cemetery of Prifcilla, contains feveral avenues, and ftreets, and fome forums, ufed in the early centuries for religious meetings. When Christianity became the eftablifhed religion, many bodies of eminent martyrs were removed to the churches, and the catacombs were no longer uled as ceme teries. xxn. CJjc bannering 3[eto. 273 Nero s Laft Hours. many trials and perils ; for fo clofe was the Pretorian camp to his only road, that he was compelled to diftin6tly hear the imprecations of the foldiers againft Nero, and their fervent acclamations in fa vour of Galba. At that inftant, alfo, fome plebeians accofted the difquieted Emperor, and faid, " What news of Nero in the city doft thou hear thofe diftant founds of the fcouts in fearch of him? they fay Nero hath fled from Rome !" At that moment were heard in the diftance the Viatores, folemnly proclaiming on the roads, as they pafTed the villas of the country Senators, that an ex traordinary meeting of the Senate would take place in the morning. Thefe petty officers difcharge that duty, only when the fenate is convened at other times than on the Kalends and the Ides of each month : and now, as their folemn voices broke upon night s filence, they feemed as Pluto s warnings to Nero s defolated foul ! ^fn the emperor s then condition, together with the darknefs of the night, the vivid lightnings, and craming thunder which then difturbed the heavens, fo alarmed him that all utterance was gone; which want of fpeech, however, was his refcue for, as the ruftics were ftill queftioning him, but with no fufpicion, a reply to them was happily rendered unneceflary, by the fudden ftarting of Nero s horfe at the fmell of a dead body almoft beneath his feet ! Thus the imperial fugitive s tenacious filence had pafled unobferved ; and his voice, moreover, might have been known to fome evenofthofe fimple people. In the inftant after, Nero s horfe having fuddenly brought him in advance of the inquifitive ruftics, the fpring of the animal deprived the rider of his mafk, and at once revealed to the keen eye of an aged Pretorian foldier, his now fallen Sovereign ! The Pretorian, however, was felf-poflefled, and filent : he kindly faluted Nero in a whifper all was well again ; and the new friend proved ferviceable, and entirely faithful ! <jjghen within a furlong of Phaon s houfe, Nero defcended from his horfe, and was obliged to take a path that leads through a field of bullrufties, intermixed with briers and thirties, preferring even that great annoyance, to the alual or fuppofed danger of a more open entry into his defigned fhelter, fmall and little known as it really was ! ^Ci,ero had abandoned his palace for the Servilian Gardens in extreme hafte and terror, at midnight, too, and when fuddenly aroufed from his bed ; and hence the then proffered kindnefs of his freedman had fo abforbed him, that he was feated upon his horfe by Phaon, nearly without clothing! The night however was quite warm ; but, in crofting the morafs adjoining Phaon s home, the now humbled monarch fuffered greatly in his almoft naked feet ; and often fcreened them by cafting his mantle down before him- felf thus making but flow progrefs through the rufties and briers, I. T 274 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century Nero s Laft Hours. towards the dwelling of one fo late his flave ! In this arduous work over the pathlefs field, the venerable Pretorian foldier wil lingly gave his own feeble aid ; and the little party at length found themfelves within a few rods of the tenement fo anxioufly fought but ftill fo in the rear, that no entrance could be had without deal ing with the little wall, as Nero fo lately had done with the proud and maffive ones of Neapolis. "(dm^hilft Phaon and the reft, therefore, were actively employed in making a hole in the wall, through which Nero might pafs, that exhaufted " Ruler of the Nations" that " Victor" at all the Games of Greece, lay concealed and horror-ftricken amidft the reeds, and perifhing with thirft ! In that fad ftate, nature had triumphed over pride ; for the Emperor reforted to the flimy puddles of the morafs for water taking it up with his hands, and faying mournfully, " This now is Nero s only drink f" ^he aperture being finimed, behold the " Mafter of the Uni- verfe" creeping through it on hands and knees ! Oh, the fickle- nefs of Fortune s wheels ! no lofty gates of Neapolis were now to be fpurned, no lofty walls were to be levelled, that Nero in his gorgeous car, attended by myriads, might enter : and yet, had the fallen Emperor continued in his palace been felf-poffeiTed, and met his inevitable fate, as a manly and valorous ROMAN, many at that time, and all pofterity, might have yielded more willingly a figh of fympathy, even for that moft wicked among rulers, than can now be done : but even Cartaphilus muft withhold it from him, after thinking of that which foon followed at Phaon s houfe ! ^n that humble dwelling, all that the fallen monarch could obtain was a fmall room, a rugged couch, fome poor viands, and a loaf of brown bread fuch as Imperial eyes had never feen. But even fuch may prove great bleflings, when heart and foul are not difeafed : this was not Nero s condition ; his confcience was as the burning lava; and his fear of death as morbidly terrific, as if Gehen na s horrors were all then broadly before him ! X) av was now nearly dawning ; and in the early morn, the roads were crowded with anxious people. In a few hours after, the (houts from the City were remotely heard by Nero and his little Court ; and all this imported the people s joy at Galba s ele vation to the throne. The few around the wretched Nero urged him vehemently to terminate at once his mental agony by poifon, or by the dagger ; for that efcapg was now hopelefs ; and that a far more painful death certainly awaited him. But the irrefolute and guilty monarch feared the myfterious things beyond the tomb, far more than the calamities around him, or than the rage of earthly foes, compared with that of the offended gods, fo that Nero could xxn. Cf)0 flxBatttiering Jeto* 275 Nero s Laft Hours. now do no more than mingle his loud and fitful fobs, with feeble promifes, that prefently he would end his life ! ^J3haon then placed in Nero s hands a copy of the Senate s decree : and when he reached the claufe, "andjhall be punt/bed to the utmoft rigour of the ancient laws" the difconfolate monarch piteoufly inquired what thefe words truly imported, and on being informed by his Freedman that the fentenced perfbn was to be Jtripped naked, with his head fastened between a fork, and thus whipped to death, he inftantly feized on two daggers, felt their points, but gently laid them afide, and implored that fome one might teach him how to die, by ufing the dagger himfelf ! This ftrange requeft, (the refult either of his maddened mind, or of the long habit expecting ftricl: obedience to his commands) was of courfe firmly declined by all, when the Senate s meflenger was feen ap proaching directly towards Phaon s houfe ! Nero thereupon fit fully gazed upon the daggers then anon, upon the jewelled poifon- box, and with agony upon the haftening meflenger : in the moment after, he feebly fnatched a dagger, and as feebly ftruck it in his throat : but the work was not done the dagger was kindly plunged thoroughly deep, by Epaphroditus, his fecretary, who had juft arrived ! The Senate s Centurion then rufhed in Nero was ftill alive, and after whifpering that his enemies mould not have his body, but that it might be burnt, he quickly expired * the re- * Nero terminated his life, as fome fay, June 9th, A.D. 67, in the confulfhip of Silius Italicus and Trachalus Turpilianus : but others, with Cartaphilus, afllgn that confulfhip to u. c. 821 A.D. 68, and Nero s death to June nth of that year, this being about ten days before the date of this Section of his Chronicles. Under the head of " Neroniana," it will be feen that Cartaphilus ends his re marks on the Roman fafhion of life in thofe days and with the laft hours of Nero s extraordinary career. The Editor hopes that the truthful view the Chronicler has given of the wonderful phyfical power of the Empire its over grown luxury its deep moral degradation and fliperlative wickednefs its un told wealth, and great political influences throughout the world during the entire Apoftolic Age, together with the feeming feeblenefs, on the other hand, of that infant and defpifed Affociation of Nazarenes that fo contemned the world s grandeur and all of its power but which eventually gained an im mortal vidlory over every obftacle, will not fail to imprefs on the reader (when thus placed in ftriking contraft) a deep conviction that thoi e great refults were not accomplimed by mere human means. If the gods of the Romans the influences of their Priefthood the feduftive gratification of every fenfual paffion the hatred of Gentiles againft Jews the power of the ancient religion the abhorrence of Heathens againft the Chrif- tians the cruel perfecutions they experienced as the only aflerters of a Refur- reftion, and of a Tri-une God, and of an unknown fyftem of religion and of morals, if all thefe circumftances proved infuflicient to extinguish, or even to arreft the progrefs of Chriftianity, and that, too, even in its very dawn, how 276 Cfjronicles of Cattapfnlu.s, Century Nero s Tomb. queft was granted ; and Nero repofes in the tomb of the Domitii. [in Idus Juniae u. c. 821.] much more wonderful appears the glorious refult, when we behold the bound- lefs Roman empire s tremendous hoftility exerted altogether in vain and the gentle Nazarenes rifing in dignity and power; and finally, all ancient things fading away before a few obi cure Galileans, and they waving no other ban ner than that of a Crucified Bethlehemite ! And all this we find fufficiently manifefted, during a fingle reign, as given in the Neroniana. CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, THE BOOK THE FIFTH CHRONICLES OF BOOK V. An quifquam eft alius liber, nifi ducere vitarn Cui licet, ut voluit. PERSIUS. Paleftine. SECTION XXIII.- JERUSALEM, Seleucid*, 380; Tifri, 13. [September 29, A.D. 68.] OW that I once more breathe my native air, I feel the words of Perfius with a force . unknown of me during all the years paL/i" of my abfence from Paleftine for who can regard himfelf a freeman, but he who hath the power to fpend his life as he defires and wills ? After Galba s acceflion, I found my continuance in Rome perilous, and mould have earlier departed, but that my accumu lations in money, and in numerous articles of Roman luxury during my refidence of two and twenty years, were too numerous for a more hafty exit, and now too eflential to my habits to be aban doned as an hereditas jacens to others. CDy long and intimate acquaintance with the late emperor, and efpecially my attendance on him to Greece, had made me fo noto rious to the multitude, and fo odious to many, that my life was daily in fome jeopardy I had long fighed for many of my youthful fcenes ; and retro fpe6l ion had often fo abforbed me as to render my connexion with Nero more arduous than my friends around fuppofed, or than I was willing myfelf fully to admit : for habit often rules us with a tyrant s rod. 280 Chronicles of Cartapbito, Century Petronius Arbiter John of Gifchala. hath Petronius (the "Arbiter Elegantiarum" of my Nero) faid, Animus quod perdidlt optat, Atque in preterit a fe tot us imagine verfat. ^JJ[e were never intimate, but always harmonized fufficiently I deplored his melancholy fate ; for Petronius,. who never flattered the emperor, nor Tigellinus, could fcarce hope to efcape death from either or both and 1 had been more fortunate than Petronius only becaufe more politic, and more licentious ; and, moreover, as his death had brought me into ftill higher favour, I have recorded but little of Petronius ; whom my judgment, rather than my liking, greatly valued; for his habits, though elegant, were extremely pecu liar, and I now would make him fome, though too feeble amends, by ftating my conviction that he had a noble foul, a noble genius, and a more noble confcioufnefs of rectitude, than almoft any other who frequented that corrupt Court. Thefe my Chronicles may not foon fee the light, if ever ; but I would have none fuppofe that Cartaphilus envied Petronius the honourable title of Arbiter, fo juftly conferred by Nero for in all courteous fociety, and in all matters of refined tafte, Petronius feldom has met his equal in Rome. ^Jut here am I, once more, in the HOLY CITY in the beloved land of our pious forefathers ; but oh, how. changed are both ! Of myfelf, I need not fpeak ; my heart tells me my Roman Life hath been fit for no Jew, nor even Samaritan : and as for Jerufalem, it is now filled with robbers ! JOHN, the Gifcbalite, their recklefs leader, now reigns here fupreme ! Vefpafian and his fon Titus, both ever victorious, have yet failed to fubdue that fierce and de ceitful man ! Ifrael s defence is indeed in fearful hands thefe robbers make and unmake all things, profane and holy yea, even the High Prieft cometh from them ; and by lot, too, is he fele&ed, but onlv from the meaneft and the moft diflblute clafs of their choice ! The Holy Temple is vilely defecrated, and in a way unknown there, in my time : part thereof is now their citadel many of thofe feditious and mifguided people, called Zealots, are united with thofe robbers from the hills ; and are waging impious war, not only againft fome of their countrymen, and the Romans, but againft God s own anointed the lawful high-prieft Ananus : and the in famous Gifchalite, deceiving the venerable Ananus, has held fecret correfpondence with thofe Zealots, and thus brought into the once Holy Jerufalem the odious Idumeans ! not as a defence againft the Romans only, but mainly to ftrengthen his own hideoufly wicked faction. And oh, is not EDOM now in the feat of Jacob ? Doth not Efau ftrive to be revenged upon Ifrael for the lofs of his xxm. C&0 flxHanlieung; 3leto* 28 1 Efau The Idumeans Vefpafian. birthright? Can this be fo ? fain would I ftrive againft the thought. But if fo, will it endure ? Is not Efau to perifh utterly ?* Thefe Idumeans now have poffeflion of the Temple; and, uniting with the Zealots, have flaughtered many of our people imprifoned many, and at length have foully murdered our Ananus ! The wealthy Zecharias alfo, whom they idly accufed of favouring Vef pafian, they flew, even in the Altar s prefence ; and that, too, at the moment his judges had acquitted him ! We are deftroying each other, inftead of driving out the Romans, our only foes : often are we forced to feek refuge among the Romans, rather than meet the far greater cruelties of Ifrael s fons ! Thoufands of thofe who O fhould have haftened in union againft Roman opprefiion, now lie dead and unburied in Jerufalem s ftreets the miferable victims of faction, and of civil broils ! Until of late, our beft hope was in FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS : but alas, he is now Vefpafian s prifoner ! Afcalon and Gadara and Jotapata and Gifchala yea, even the lofty and once inacceflible Gamala have all fallen with terrific flaughter ; and now are in the undifturbed poffeflion of our im placable foes : and laftly, all Galilee and Perea, and even Idumea are entirely fubdued, whilft Vefpafian, at Caefarea is now ponder ing deeply upon the means of forthwith refcuing Jerufalem from all the factions within her walls not, indeed, for Ifrael s behoof, but for Roman plunder and defecration ! ()h Cartaphilus ! why didft thou fo long tarry at Rome why wafte fuch precious hours in Greece, with that madman Nero, when thy difhonoured and bleeding country fo greatly needed every fon of Ifrael. Happily, age hath not fo blighted thee, but that thou mayeft yet ferve Ifrael in this her foreft peril. Well known unto Vefpafian is thy long and favoured refidence with the emperors Claudius and Nero haften then to feek Vefpafian s camp : he furely will receive thee kindly, not fufpe6ting thy prefent mind ; and when there, commune freely with Jofephus : and unite with him upon fome fure plan for his inftant efcape : that effected, fail not to rally thy countrymen ; and, under the youthful, but experienced and zealous guidance of Flavius Jofephus, teach thefe proud Romans that Ifrael can yet be free ! * This feeble conjecture of Cartaphilus is fomewhat explained in Se&ion 24, Note f, and in Seftion 61 ; where, in after times, he faw this matter refpeting Efau and Idumea in a clearer and more corredt point of view. 282 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Cartaphilus refolves to refcue Jofephus. SECTION XXIV.Tifri, i 4 th day. [September 20, A.D. 68.] URING the paft night, my foul has been heavily op- prefled with the fcheme of yefterday and thus I mufed thereon. " Jofephus mu/t be- refcued ! If- " rael s higheft hopes now lie in him. Flavius furely " will remember gratefully our meeting at Rome, in " the matter of the petition he bore to Nero refpecting the Jewifh " priefts, whom the Procurator Felix had put in bonds, Cartaphilus and f ent to Rome for tr j al> Thofe iefts th rewl--vestorei- ,, , T r n i n cuejofephus. zealous young Jew followed to Rome, with anxious " hope to refcue them from their great peril with Nero." " Jofephus will further recall pleafingly to his mind, the aid " received of me, upon his arrival at Puteoli, where I then chanced " to be with Nero : for, on his way towards Italy, Flavius had " been miferably wrecked on the Adriatic coaft ; and he, with fix " hundred men, were compelled to fwim for their lives, fo that my " eyes beheld, and my hands welcomed and relieved Jofephus, in " that poor condition ! He haftened on from Puteoli to Rome, " bearing kind letters from me to the Emprefs Popposa, craving to " intereft her in the objedl of the Jew s miflion from Jerufalem. " Nero detained me with him for a time at Puteoli, almoft daily " vifiting Neapolis, in regard to the Emperor s then theatrical " campaign in that city ! " Xj, ow u f enj l) moreover, were my letters in his behalf to Pop- " pcea, in obtaining the wifh of his purfuit, and alfo my perfonal " exertions with Nero, after our return to Rome, will all be kindly " recollected by Flavius, and will fully allure him, if need were, of " my perfect fidelity to Jewifh interefts, and of my abhorrence of " Rome s oppreflion of our country. " jPf nd though the Gifchalite now is mafter of Jerufalem, and " a deadly foe to Jofephus, yet the great prifoner of Vefpafian will " not couple me with that roaming robber John of Gifchala, " nor fufpecl: me of pra&ifmg perfidious fchemes in Vefpafian s " camp, fuch as John himfelf did to fecure the perfon of Jofephus ! " Oh no, Flavius, when I reach him there, will harbour no fuch " thoughts of Cartaphilus : but mould he thus rid himfelf of Vef- " pafian s bonds, and being now in the palmieft ftate of life, and in " great military repute, Jofephus will obtain the fupreme command " of our forces. All Judea will then rally to his ftandard Galilee " and Samaria will revive, and then infufe into our diftracted " counfels frefh hopes, unanimity, and refiftlefs vigour ! My defire " then, is at once to execute this fond hope of mine ; and with xxiv. c&e OTauDeting 3[eto. 283 His fear of Galba The Idumeans. " Jofephus, though but half of my age, to dedicate my remaining " ftrengtli and foul to deeds of arms, that we may expel from our " foil thofe odious and omniprefent Romans!"* Such were my meditations as to my hopes with Flavius. J^hould another Nero be found in this Galba, Judea would then indeed need every arm for her defence : for Galba, as once I knew him, was truly a veteran ; and if, like Nero, he fhould be come cruel, the prefent revolt in Paleftine might end, not in conqueft only, but in our extinction for ever, unlefs Ifrael s fons, from every land, mall make bare their arms for unceafmg combat, and once more rely with confidence upon the God of Abraham, and know no other foe but Rome ! ^Je it, then, my fixed purpofe to refcue and to co-operate with that brilliant ftar of Galilee ; and when the cloud that now obfcures his prowefs mall be withdrawn, then to win back to myfelf, under his bright aufpices, my country s confidence, now fo juftly departed from me by reafon of my long ab fence, and yet more from my known intimacy with Nero, the moft hated of all her opprefTors. Be it alfo my zealous endeavour to unite all parties : for our factions are the foreft of all our evils ; and greatly more to be feared are they, than all the arms of Rome ; but this done, let there be no reft for Ifrael, until Roman fway within her limits mall no more be feen that not done, Ifrael is blotted out from among the Nations ! , then, will I furely repair unto Vefpafian s camp at Caefarea, Be firm, O Cartaphilus ! Ifrael s caufe is that of Abraham : Galba and Vefpafian cannot deftroy the Promife of ages ! t * Jofephus was at that time about 33 years of age, he being in his z6th year when at Rome petitioning Nero in behalf of his countrymen. Cartaphilus was his fenior by about 32 years. f The alternations of mental light and darknefs, at this time manifefted by Cartaphilus, are veiy ftriking ; and were perhaps the natural refult of an ex tremely active mind, contending with his very anomalous condition. He feems wholly infenfible, at times, to all prophecy, ancient, as well as of his own day and efpecially as to the fure deftrufiion of the once Holy City, and of his Nation : and yet he fearfully realifes the impending danger, (not, indeed, as prophetically declared, but as of mere human power,) unlefs he can quiet the factions, fecure Jofephus, and unite all hearts and hands againft their oppreffors. But he faw not that thofe very factions were, in part, a fulfilment of the neglected pro phecies : he loathed the prefence of the Idumeans, or Edomites, in Jerufalem, and makes a feeble allufion to the prophecy refpedting them, and of Efau, the elder brother of Jacob before whofe power Jacob would eventually bow : that vifion was but darkly feen by Cartaphilus : nor did he, in the Herodian-Idumean family, fo fatal to Ifrael, perceive any fubmiffion of Jacob unto Efau ! It, neverthelefs, is obvious that the heart and feelings of Cartaphilus were under- 284 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Reception of Cartaphilus by Vefpafian and Jofephus. SECTION XXV. JERUSALEM, 77/r/, 22nd day. [September z8th, A. D. 68.] HAVE juft returned from Caefarea. Vefpafian re ceived me moft kindly, had much to inquire con cerning Nero s death, and his rumoured difgraceful conduct at Phaon s houfe alfo, of Galba s military renown, of his fuppofed decline in bodily and mental energies and likewife of our curious expedition into Greece. Vefpafian hated Nero ; who, as he knew, had fent him to Judea, not from any kindnefs, but from cowardice in himfelf, and an un- willingnefs to abandon, even for a time, his own darling pleafures in Greece, that he might, by his prefence and counfel at leaft, aid in fuppreffing the revolt in Paleftine. He further ftated to me that he had juft defpatched his fon TITUS, and alfo King Agrippa, for frem inftru&ions from Galba ; and then parted on freely to fpeak to me concerning Flavius Jofephus who, to my great furprife, and deep mortification, I found was not in bonds but high in favour^ though ftill a nominal prifoner, and refpeled as fomewhat of a prophet ! ^f failed not, when occafion offered, to open to the ear of Flavius, the fecret object of my coming who liftened Av-SK** with keen attention, and a much difturbed mind. But, by Jofephus. i_ /- i -rLri_- LIII at length Ipeaking or my wiln for him, he pleaded much concerning the refiftlefs power of Rome the conqueft already made of nearly all Paleftine, fave Jerufalem the deftruc- tion of many of our faireft cities the {laughter of more than two hundred and forty feven thoufand of our people within the laft fourteen years ! and moreover, his firm belief that Vefpafian going, at that time, a gradual change for the better : and that, although he greatly valued worldly pleafures, he now more clearly faw and deplored his unnatural and wicked connexion with Nero s career, and his mad indulgences in all the Roman ways of life. His hiftorical faith, during the part twenty years, had certainly increafed ; but there is no indication of any vital change ; fo that he as yet muft be regarded as an unbeliever in the New Faith. All perfecution for opinion s fake was hateful to him, and he warmly fympathifed with the Nazarenes when opprefled by Romans, or by Jews : but all that was philofophy, more than religion feeling, more than faith of any kind tender- ne r s towards the Jew, equally with the Chriftian. He loved the Roman way of life, and hated that of the Jew : and yet he was now fincere in his anxiety to return to his native land; and was filled with the patriotic refolution to con tribute his utmoft endeavours to rid his nation of their odious yoke. Thefe remarks, at this time, are deemed proper, as many portions of his Chro nicles of that period are now omitted. Thefe, moreover, together with the letter from Flavius Jofephus, that foon follows, will explain the then ftate of Paleftine, and alfo the ftrong reafons that overruled his anxious defire to take an aftive part in the then Jewifh rebellion againft Roman power. Cfje OTanDering: Jeto, 285 The Youth Alcaeus The Pella Family. would foon be Rome s emperor in fine, I found Jofephus no Jew, fave that he hinted alfo, as fome others now do in Jerufalem, that the prophets have foretold thefe very times, and that Ifrael s deftlny is to perifh ! Jofephus, however, was moft true to me : and we parted in fomewhat pained friendmip he promifing with fervour, to explain fully to me by letter, why he fo firmly declined to accom pany me to Jerufalem, and thus make one more effort to fave our people. LETTER XXI. ALCJEUS [late of Athens} TO CARTAPHILUS [now in Jerufalem]. PELLA, Maemaderion, 2 dec. 2 ; Seleucida, 380. [September 26th, A.D. 68. J RECEIVED in Athens the letter haftily written by thee upon the Emperor s death, requefting me not to come to Rome, but forthwith to proceed to Pella, where thou wouldeft meet me ; and, in cafe of thy delayed arrival, to prefent to Rabbi Eben-Ezra thy letter ; which I joyoufly did, as it fo kindly explained the caufe of my otherwife ftrange appearance before him. U] cannot tell thee, much honoured Cartaphilus, how warmly I was greeted by all the family, and of their great happinefs at thy promifed return ; of which they had no intimation, until that letter refpeiSting me was prefented. ^ have been here only a month : and at the requeft of the Rabbi, allow of no delay in writing to thee, which I do in Greek as I yet muft. I alfo feared that my prompt letter from hence to Rome could not have reached thee ; and I fuppofe it did not, as thy arrival at Jerufalem is known to us only a few hours fince. Jerufalem, as we hear, is now full of terror, elfe would I fpeedily be with thee ; but this thy friends here forbid me. Haften, then, Cartaphilus, to Pella ; for fuch tender and generous hearts have 1 never witnefied, fave in Dionyfius and Damaris : and it really feemeth to me as if no other religion known to mortals, infufes into the foul a tithe of the benevolence imparted by heaven to the Chriftians. ^f was charmed to find REBECCA (of whom I only heard thee fay, fhe was the glory of Hebrew women) as alfo her delightful mother, fpeak my language perfectly which, to me, is now a great comfort, as the Rabbi can fpeak but little ; and as my acquaintance with Syriac, or other tongue fpoken here, is as nothing. They bid me fay to thee that Artemas and his wife Drufilla, as alfo their children, Thaddeus and Cornelia, will (hortly leave Edefla for 286 Chronicles of Cartapfnius, century i. The Vindication of Jofephus. Pella ; defigning to continue with them fome months ; and to per- fuade the whole family here to remove to EdefTa, in Mefopotamia, as no place is now fafe in all the land of Paleftine. Come quickly, my ever venerated Cartaphilus come quickly : and until then, FAREWELL. LETTER XXII. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS TO CARTAPHILUS. CJESAREA, Tifri 23 ; Seleucid,*, 330. [September 29, A.D. 68.] ADDRESS thee this letter, O learned and excellent Cartaphilus ! that I may more fatisfactorily explain to thee the caufe of my declining to go with thee in thy zeal for Ifrael ; and of my defpair as to all that con cerns the refcue of our afflicted country from the Roman yoke. And I defpatch the fame to thee, with all hafte to Pella learning from thee that thy intention is to be Jofephus <uin- there on a fhort vifit, to our moft revered Eben Ezra; tyf tes ~* m ~ who is much beloved, even by thofe who ufually bear Ihilus ~ no k n d feelings towards the Nazarenes as alfo are. his pious Prifcilla, and wonderful maiden daughter, Re becca. And why I call her wonderful is doubtlefs, by this time, known of thee, and probably was, even before thy vifit there, though thou art fo lately from Rome, and fhe returned from Ar menia not many weeks. jjEnd now to the purpofe of my letter which I pray thee to read in all kindnefs. Poffibly, thou haft not heard, being fo long at Rome, of my proceedings for fome years paft and likewife the doings of the various Procurators fmce the time of Ventidius Cu- manus, now nearly fourteen years ago.* Thefe I muft briefly trouble thee with, wouldft thou juftly underftand the condition of my prefent mind fo different from what it once was : for I re marked thy agitated fpirit, and thy fore difappointment at my refo- lution no more to unmeath my fword in Ifrael s defence ! ^ was but in my eighteenth year, when the emperor Claudius fent Felix hither as our Procurator. My father Mat- Early life of thias, then a nobleman of high {landing and of great Jojep us. piety, perceiving my fondnefs for learning, and my furprifing proficiency therein, entrufted me to the fpecial care of * Immediately after the banifhment of Cumanus, Claudius Felix (a brother of the freedman Pallas, and a great favourite with the emperor Claudius) was fent to Judea, as procurator, in Oftober, A.D. 54. Letter xxn. Cfjc ftOan&ermg Jeto, 287 Vindication His early Life. my brother Matthias ; who beftowed on me fuch affiduous care that, for more than a year previous to the coming of Felix, my ta lents and attainments were fo remarkable that even the high-priefts and chief men of our city confulted me often upon matters of the Temple, and as to the folution of difficulties in our Law ! I men tion this, I truft with due humility, only becaufe it is intimately connected with my life with my hoftility to the Roman power my great zeal in the Jewifh caufe my thorough acquaintance with the connexion between Jewifh and Roman affairs, and hence to mow the almoft impoffibility of my forfaking Ifrael s caufe, un- lefs under the full conviction that her days are numbered^ and now nearly ended! CDy reputed talents and ftudies, however, brought me and my country into great difficulties , for the high-prieft Jonathan, after confulting me as to the infamous conduct of the new Procurator, who had leagued in fome confederacy with the very robbers whofe deftru&ion was then the firft of his duties ! I counfelled Jonathan to be firm and plain in his admonitions of Felix, though fo high in power : and this, as we both fuppofed, could be the more fafely done, as it was notorious that Jonathan had been the chief means in procuring for Felix his appointment. ^3ut thefe falutary remonftrances of the High-Prieft only ftimu- lated Felix to further outrages, and occafioned in him great hoftility againft that venerable man, and alfo ie much of the like feeling againft myfelf. Doras, the intimate friend of Jonathan, was bribed by the wicked Procurator to unite himfelf with the Sicarii^ in effecting the murder of his friend ! and this was accomplifhed with the luperadded crime of daring facrilege, for thofe affaffins entered into the Temple feemingly to worfhip, but with concealed daggers, and, mingling with the crowd, they barbaroufly flew the holy man. r ^]his foul murder of Jonathan went wholly unrevenged : the Sicarii, from that time, became daily more powerful, cruel, and recklefs ; my heart became foured more than ever againft the Ro mans, who had not only thus participated in the odious murder, but generally winked at it, and other fearful doings ; and, from that day, matters continually became worfe our downward courfe in- creafed, and now feems about to end in unmitigated ruin. ^(3 ut > m y worthy Cartaphilus, at that time, I did not fo clearly perceive God s abandonment of our Jerufalem of our once holy, but now defecrated Temple yea, of our long favoured Nation. Hence was it that hope ftill lingered within me, and bade me truft largely in Ifrael s remaining ftrength, and in my own good fword little doubting but that, if every Jew performed his duty in that refpe6l, we might yet be freed of Roman arms. 2 8 8 C f)rOniCl00 Of CartapfrilU0, Century i. Vindication The Nazarenes Fa6tions at CaeCarea. J^oon after the murder of our High-Prieft, came that famous . Jew, now known as the Egyptian Impoftor ; who, Imtoilor afTuming to be a prophet, drew after him an immenfe multitude, to the number of quite thirty thoufand, and eftablifhed himfelf in the Wilds near Jericho. After a fhort time, the Impoftor becoming more bold, came to the Mount of Olives, and bade his deluded followers behold the goodly City alluring them that Jerufalem s walls fhould prefently fall down, and that he and his difciples fhould have triumphal entrance ! ^F^elix had cherifhed an implacable hatred of all fuch pretend ers, and efpecially of all who would impugn his power, that of Rome, or of the gods, whom he feared but loved not : he there fore was prompt to march againft the Egyptian with aftrong force; he flew many, captured fome, and difperfed all but the Impoftor efcaped. ||-^elix was alfo greatly troubled by the Nazarenes, not only from their growing number, but chiefly from the myf- X7T . AZA " terious rumours concerning them : this likewife was fo RENES. -11 n i i 11 f^. o i r with the prieits, and with all in power. One oaul or Tarfus, poilibly known or heard of by thee, even before thy de parture for Rome, (and who, as tis faid perifhed there under Ne ro s decree) was brought at this time before Felix s tribunal at Caefarea. Jerufalem thereupon became much agitated ; for Saul had given great offence to the then High-Prieft, Ananias, fon of Nebedrus, by reafon of a reply made to him, that queftioned the power of Ananias to prevent his fpeaking his faith to the multi tude. And when Saul went down to Caefarea at the fummons of this Felix, fuch was the eloquence of that remarkable man, that Felix is faid to have trembled, and well nigh become a Chriftian ! but Felix hoped for money of Saul, more than for faith in the new religion : but he obtained neither ; whereupon the priefts and others anxioufly fought the Chriftian s life, and would have deftroyed him : for the Sicarii and others, to the number of forty, combined for that purpofe, and made a vow for its execution : but Saul hav ing the privilege of Rome, appealed to Caefar, and after a time was fent thither for trial.* ^U_uch about this time another circumftance occurred, that fear fully excited the people, and haftened the maturity of ofC farta" tno ^ e an g r 7 feelings which, two years ago, broke out in an open revolt againft the Romans. Citfarea, as thou * Saul, however, remained at Caelarea two years in prifon ; and was then fent to Rome by Feftus, the fucceflbr of Felix, in A.D. 60,- or in the eighth year of Nero s reign ; and after a time being releaCed, he departed from Rome, but returned in A.D. 65, and was beheaded there in the Cummer of the follow ing year. Letter xxn. c&e (KKanliertng; 3|eto, 289 Vindication Herod Agrippa II. The Procurators. knoweft, is inhabited by Greeks and Jews ; who differ no lefs in matters of ftate, than in thofe of religion. The Jews claimed the doubtful pre-eminence in Casfarea, becaufe, as they faid, their late king Herod had built that great city, and on the ancient foundation of the Jewifh village known by the name of Straton s Tower ; that the Syrian Greeks, and all others, were there rather as welcomed fettlers, than as perfons entitled to claim a pre-eminence over the Jews who had received them. The Greeks, on the other hand, infifted that Herod himfelf was not a Hebrew that his power, moreover, had been derived from Rome and that, in founding Caefarea, he defigned it to be a Gentile rather than a Jewifh city all his temples, theatres, amphitheatres, porticoes, ftatues, &c. being a clear proof thereof. ^J^he two parties foon became furious ; civil war enfued ; the Jews were too powerful for Felix ; many on both fides perifhed, and Felix was fent to Rome for trial. Upon that trial, the feveral charges were fully fuftained by the Jews ; and though fcreened from puniihment, by the influences of his brother Pallas, his office was withdrawn, and Portius Fejlus was appointed in his ftead. The Greeks, neverthelefs, gained the ultimate victory ; for, my Carta- philus, thy old Roman friend Burrbus, whom I faw with thee in the Imperial City, obtained from Nero a decree that gave to the Greeks fuperiority in citizenfhip which being exercifed by them with even more than their accuftomed feverity, much widened the angry breach between our countrymen and the Romans. ^Jut the miferies that afflicted us arofe, not merely from Roman oppreffion from the wickednefs of our Procurators from the out rages of the Sicarii from the hatred towards thofe now called Chriftians from the contentions between the Syrian Greeks and the Jews from the traditional enmity between Hebrews and Sa maritans from the reciprocal jealoufy of Pharifees and Sadducees from the difturbances occafioned by impoftors pretending to miraculous powers, and even to the Meffiahfhip, (all of which were quite fufficient to crufh any people) but we have had many other fore difficulties ruinous of all political union among ourfelves, poifoning the very fountains of our ancient and once holy Temple, and of all the temporal energies of our people as will fully appear in all that will now follow. Jjing Agrippa of Chalfis, who, for fome years paft, hath been clothed by Rome with the vaft and delicate power of appointing the High Priefts, conferred that office upon Ifmael, the fon of Fabi.* A rancorous enmity foon * Probably at the clofe of Felix s procuratorfhip, A.D. 60; or about eight years prior to the date of the prefent letter. I. U 290 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \. Vindication The Procurators, Feftus and Albinus. fprung up between this Ifmael and many diftinguifhed perfons of our city ; and the lower priefthood favouring the latter, the faction grew to fuch a height, that Ifmael feized upon the tithes, and thereby fo opprefled his poorer brethren, that many of them perifhed through need of food ! ^3orcius Feftus had no fooner come into power than Agrippa, pampered by his own good fortunes, greatly abufed the large powers conferred upon him, and became fo regardlefs of the feelings of all who miniftered in the Temple, as to erect a large Dining Hall adjoining the Antonia Palace his ufual refidence when in Jerufa- lem and fo arranged that Hall as to overlook the Temple whilft he and his guefts were feafting, and thus became witnefles of the facred proceedings in the Temple ! The priefts and others com plained loudly of this ; and infifted on its prompt removal. The contention thereon ran fo high, that Ifmael and fome others of great note were fent to Rome for trial : and, as I well and gratefully re member, O Cartaphilus, it was by thy judicious counfels, aided by the Emprefs Poppcea, by thy procurement alfo, that Nero was induced to permit the great Wall to ftand, that the priefts had raifed to {hut out Agrippa s view into the Temple.* J^oon after this, Agrippa appointed as high prieft Jofeph, fur- named Cabi, and afterwards Ananus, the grandfon of Nobedeus, and fon of Ananus : and about this time died Porcius Feftus the moft unworthy of all our procurators ; and Albinus was appointed his fucceflbr. [In the early part of A.D. 64.] jjfjnanus the then high prieft was of the Sadducean feel: an intrepid man, and of haughty demeanour, and a bitter foe of the new feel: called Nazarenes or Chriftians, which had never ceafed to excite the Jews fince the crucifixion of that wonderful man called Jefus-Chriftus. the fhort time that intervened between the death of Feftus, and of his fucceflbr Albinus, Ananus the high P rieft united with the Sadducees in bringing before the Sanhedrin a certain Nazarene called JAMES, brother of that JESUS, who is the founder of their feel:, and alfo fome others * It may here be noted that, fome few years after this, the works of Jofephus being given to the world the one in A.D. 75, the other in A.D. 93; Carta philus, upon reading them, was not a little furprifed to find that Jofephus mould have imputed to Poppcea any favourable difpofition mown by her in that matter, as flowing from religious motives of any kind : and efpecially that he could have believed that (he was taken with the religion of the Hebrews. Poppoea s beauty and clevernefs were as extreme as her deftitution of principle; and all her taftes were as oppofed to thofe of the Jews as can be conceived ; but as the repu tation for religion of any kind might have ferved her a purpofe or her poft- humous name, Jofephus was fufnciently a man of the world and of policy, to thus have flattered her. Letter xxn. c&c (K3anBering 3(eto, 291 Vindication Geflius Floms Ceftius Gallus. of the fame faith. This ended in the cruel murder of James by firft cafting him over the wall at the battlements, and then, (whilft he was praying for his enemies) by ftoning him ; and laftly, to extinguifh the laft remains of life, by the ufe on his body of a fuller s club ! Some others perimed with him. jHs matters were thus going on, a few of the friends of order went out to meet the new procurator Albinus, as he was approach ing Jerufalem ; that they might at once inform him of thefe pro ceedings under the illegal affembling of the Sanhedrin (during the vacancy of the procuratorfhip) : whereupon Albinus prevailed upon Agrippa to difmifs Ananus, and to appoint as high prieft the fon of Damneus. *^he rule of Albinus was wicked and oppreffive in the ex treme ; and the difmifled Ananus, who was very rich, united with the new high prieft and procurator in the moft cruel extortions from the inferior priefthood. The robbers again openly appeared ; and endeavoured to refcue from Ananus fome of his immenfe ill- gotten riches, fo that, at length, matters becoming daily more deiperate, even Agrippa was compelled to retire from Jerufalem ; whereupon he greatly enlarged Caefarea Philippi gave to it the name of Neronias^ and reforted to it as a place of refuge, and for his pleafures. ^Jut rapacious as Albinus had proved, he was yet a minifter of fafety, compared with his fucceffor GESSIUS FLORUS, who, uniting with the almoft equally defpotic and wicked CESTIUS GALLUS, the prefect of Syria, prac- tifed on our afflicted country a feries of afflictions truly demoniacal ; and which ended, as thou Cartaphilus well knoweft, in the open rebellion, (about two years ago,) that brought upon us the powerful Vefpafian, and his fon Titus feemingly deftined to be equally illuftrious.* ^he miferies we have endured, in the laft three years efpe- cially, (one half of which were under the joint tyranny of Florus and Gallus, and the other half fmce the arrival of Vefpafian) would re quire of me a volume, rather than a letter, to recount. I {hall content myfelf, therefore, with a rapid fketch of that period to the prefent wretched hour. What may come upon us hereafter, ah, even on the Holy Salem, and fhortly, too, my Cartaphilus, is no longer concealed by any veil of time, or of doubt. To me, at leaft, * Geflius Florus was appointed procurator in A. D. 63 fome fay in A. D. 65, V. JE. This great rebellion of the Jews was early in the fecond year of his rule; and during the high priefthood of Matthias, who was the laft but one of all that long line from Aaron to Phaenas there being in all juft eighty-three high priefts, from B.C. 153410 A.D. 70 a period of about 1604 years, giving an average rule of about 19 years. 292 <&ronicle0 of Cartapfnlus, Century i. Vindication John of Gifchala. all is too tranfparent to {hut out her inevitable doom : for naught now remains to us of much worth, fave Jerufalem, and efpecially its venerable Temple : but even that is now in moil unholy hands the Gifchalite with his robbers, and the other mad fa&ionifts, are ftriving as to who (hall have fupreme rule, and fufpeft not that Vefpafian may foon difperfe, or deftroy them all ! *^hou doft perceive, then, O Cartaphilus, that if the difaftrous events under the rule of Claudius Felix, of Porcius Feftus, and of Albinus, had prepared us for a general revolt againft Roman fway, the evils that enfued in quick fucceflion under Geflius Florus and the Syrian Ceflius Gallus, brought us at once into the bloody and exterminating conflict : and thefe I will firft briefly explain, and then fpeak more fully of Vefpafian and of Titus adding fuch things of my poor felf, as may enable me to ftand before thee acquit, as I hope, of all blame for the grievous and deep defpair that hath overtaken me as to my country s fate ; and which hath given me the fixed refolution never to oppofe by arms or counfel, what fo manifeftly is ordained, as punijhment, by Him who hath full right and perfect power to withdraw all that he hath given to a once pure, but now ungrateful, and defperately wicked people. C\f all the fcourges deeply afflictive to a people, there furely is none fo great as a cruel, and avaricious government CeJJius Gallus, itfelf fubordinate to another equally bafe and tyrannical, Syria anc ^ k tn dependent upon a remote and overgrown and wicked Empire of immenfe power, and this, precifely, was our melancholy condition under the procurator Flo rus the prefect Gallus and the tyrants Claudius and Nero ! The two fubordinates were affociated for our ruin ; and both united with the robbers and faftionifts, to plunder us of our riches ; and, by every indirection, to torture and to exat from us, what could not be obtained as eafily by open robbery. Tt fo chanced, moreover, that Cleopatra, wife of Florus, was juft as rapacious as her hufband ; and, unfortunately for us, me poflefled no fmall intereft at the court of Nero, fo that all Jewifh complaints fell more dully upon the Emperor s ear, than poffibly they otherwife might have done. The decree, already alluded to, obtained by Burrhus in favour of the Syrian Greeks over the Jews of Caefarea, occafioned the firft open rebellion, as previoufly ftated : for the Greeks, who owned a piece of ground adjoining the Jew s fynagogue, vexatioufly refufed to fell the fame to the Jews at any price whatever and were eftabliming thereon fome mean and annoying habitations, againft the progrefs of which our countrymen tumultuoufly refifted the workmen. But this ftopped it not ; and no lefs than viii. talents of filver were collected as a bribe for Florus, that he mould prohibit the further erection of the buildings. This, Letter xxn. CJJ0 WmlMin$ 3(eto, 293 Vindication The Rebellions GefJius Florus. the apparently compliant Procurator received ; but he fuddenly de parted from Caefarea, without interfering in the matter, and with the hope that fome greater violence would foon be committed by our maddened people, which, not only would mitigate his perfidy, but greatly enlarge his means of future plunder ! "{JU^hen an occafion, however trivial, is needed for any bafenefs however great, it may be fpeedily brought about and this incontinently was proved as regards the un- ^ e Rebellion happy Jews : for, early on the following Sabbath, the Jerufalem Greeks offered to the Jews the higheft of all indig nities, in the form of a dubious and apparently very fmall offence for they facrificed before our fynagogue a few birds, implying thereby that our progenitors had been expelled from Egypt, in the time of our Matter Mofes, as a race of vile lepers they well knowing that birds are regarded as the appropriate offering in the cafe of leprofy ! The confequences, however, of this really fmall matter, were at once fufficiently dreadful at Caefarea ; but the ex citement inftantly fpread itfelf to Jerufalem, and other places ; and in them all the parties were arranged in fearful oppofition. Florus then came upon us as a fierce hyaena, with a devaftating power hundreds were flaughtered in the market-place houfes were pil laged many were crufhed to death, and ridden over in the narrow ftreets others were fcourged or crucified ; and there fell in Jeru falem, on that mournful day, nearly four thoufand, of all ages, fexes, and conditions.* ^J^hefe were things of high exultation with the execrable Florus : and, that he might ftimulate the Jews to further hoftilities, he infultingly demanded of them to falute with obeifance fome Roman cohorts, then advancing from Caefarea towards Jerufalem ! A proceffion of Jews was formed for that ignominious purpofe ; they performed the a6l, but Florus had inftru6led the cohorts to treat their falutations, though forced, with filent contempt : nature could endure no more a fhocking fcene then enfued the enraged Jews hurled their heavieft imprecations upon the Pro curator both parties rufhed for the city gates the Jews were trampled down by the horfemen many were flain by the fword, or crufhed to death by the infuriated crowd the cohorts entered Jerufalem, and preffed forward to gain the fortrefs of Antonia, as alfo the Temple ! Florus joined them from his palace, under hope of fecuring that part of the caftle which adjoins the Temple : but the people, in countlefs numbers, oppofed their paffage, and caft upon their affailants the moft deftrudtive mifliles from the roofs of * This occurred probably in May, A.D. 66 about one year before Vefpa- fian s arrival. 294 C6ronicle0 of Cattapfrilus, Century Vindication Rebellion of Mafada. houfes, the porticoes connecting the Antonia with the Temple were nearly deftroyed by them ; and Florus, to his great difmay, was obliged to capitulate, and retreated inftantly to Caefarea. Jjing Agrippa was then appealed to by the Jewifh multitude, who defired him to unite in an embafly of complaint to Nero : but Agrippa, after remonftrating with our people againft that meafure, and affuring them that the Emperor would regard their proceedings but as rebellion, efpecially when connected with their arrears of tribute their deftru6r.ion of the porticoes, and their own attack upon the cohorts, advifed them to forthwith rebuild what they had pulled down to pay at once the tribute, and to banifli from their minds all hope of independence ! Agrippa finally urged them to render to Florus their cuftomary allegiance, at leaft until a new procurator could be appointed and thus, by ipecious words, did Agrippa ftrive to make the feverely opprefled feem willing to acknowledge them- felves repentant wrongdoers ! But the name of Florus had become too odious for the adoption of fuch counfel ; and our countrymen, after declaring that they now warred againft him alone, broke out into a new fury : they heaped upon the unfeeling Agrippa the moft opprobrious terms then hurled ftones at him, and bade him, on peril of life, to leave the city inftantly : this he did, and retired to Chalcis. to the fea of Sodom, upon a lofty rock encompalTed by deep chafms, which, in turn, begirt the lovely gardens of En s eddi > is fituate the g odl y cit x of Mafada - The hellion Romans had early perceived that this was to them an important poft. The caftle, built by a Maccabean, and from its fituation nearly impregnable, had been ftrongly fortified by the firft Herod. It was immediately garrifoned by the Romans ; who, from its localities, and artificial ftrength, thought not for a moment that the rebels, as they call us, would prefume to make an attack. The city itfelf, moreover, has a broad and lofty wall, with thirty and feven towers, and is acceflible only by narrow paths from the eaft and weft ; and thofe are of extreme difficulty, as they border upon the moft fearful precipices. Judge, then, of the aftonifliment and vexation of our Roman foes, when they fuddenly found themfelves in the pofieflion of thefe rebels, and that, too, effected by very few of our men ! The garrifon was inftantly put to death, and the, fo called rebels took full pofleflion of the city. This was the moft daring and open at of revolt againft Roman fupremacy that had yet occurred ; and took place juft at the time that Florus and Agrippa were compelled to retire from Jerufalem. ^Q>ew hopes were infpired by thefe fucceiTes ; and the Jews began to contemplate a refiftance unto death. At this time, alfo, the priefts at Jerufalem, contrary to all former practice, and even to Letter xxn. C&e 22JantJetmg 3ieto* 295 Vindication Faftions in Jerufalem. the law of our Mafter Mofes, refufed to receive any Gentile facri- fices whatever ; and rejected thofe even of the Emperor, which, ever fmce the time of the firft Caefar, have been offered in the name of the Roman people, to the God of Abraham and of our Nation. Still, there was a fmall Jewifh party that difapproved of that pro ceeding, and accepted aid from Florus, and took pofleflion of the Upper City, whilft the Temple and the reft of Jerufalem, fave the Antonia, were in the undifturbed pofleflion of the revolters. [July 4th A. D. 66.] ^J^hofe of the Temple refufed to permit the other party to worfhip there ; and having aflbciated themfelves with the Sicarii, they proceeded to the Upper City in purfuit of their brethren, who had favoured the Roman facrifices, and who had accepted aid from Florus therein ; and there they deftroyed Agrippa s palace by fire, as alfo feveral of thofe public buildings in which are regiftered the bonds of debtors hoping to thereby deftroy the evidences of debt, and thus fecure to themfelves the favour of a numerous clafs of people, who, in thefe times of peril, found their debts a fore calamity. ()n the following day, the Temple-party attacked the Caftle of Antonia ; which being gained, they put to the fword the whole of the Roman garrifon. Then was it that Manabem, fon of the once famous Judas of Galilee, proclaimed himfelf king? and conducted the fiege of Caftle-Herod, fome of the towers of which they took, granting to the Jews permiflion to retire but invariably putting the Romans to death. In a little while, however, the Moderate- party obtained the afcendancy under Eleazar flew in the Temple the pretending king Manahem, with many of the robbers : but fome effecting their efcape reached Mafada in fafety ; and were joyoufly welcomed by the now Jewifli garrifon there. ^he Eleazar faction (as fiercely oppofed to the Romans, as if not as fiercely contending with their own countrymen) proceeded with the fiege of Caftle Herod, which ended in a capitulation with the Roman commander Metelius, on condition that all lives fhould be fpared : but the moment after the furrender of arms, the faithlefs Eleazar fell upon his captives, and murderoufly flew them all, except Metelius, who, unlike a Roman, faved his life by confenting to our rite of circumcifion ! This fhocking breach of faith, and cold blooded flaughter, was perpetrated on the fabbath ; and extinguifhed the laft hope, if any ever exifted, of fetting any bounds to Roman vengeance. (gjj^onderful indeed are the ways of Providence ! for, at Caefarea, on that very fabbath yea, and hour, the Greeks, urged by the fanguinary Florus, attacked the Jews : and in that fhort time de ftroyed, in every way, the amazing number of twenty thoufand, fo that fcarce a Jew is left in all Caefarea ! 296 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus:, Century \. Vindication Jofephus in rebellion, and in high command. war of extermination quickly enfued : the revolters had now become defperate ; and wherever Romans, or difafFecled Jews were to be found, the revolters attacked, plundered and deftroyed them ; fo that, in a few months, not lefs than twenty of the cities and vil lages had been overrun by our forces, and wholly freed from their Roman oppreflbrs, and from our own faclionifts. jFTt length, to arreft the progrefs of this bloody and devaftating inteftine and foreign war, Ceftius Gallus took the field Arrival of w j tn an arm y o f ten thoufand Romans, and thirteen of Floras thoufand allies, hoping that the war might be ended by fome rapid and decifive meafure. He marched to Ptolemais, and burnt it to the earth. Joppa and Zebulon were next laid in afties ; the proud Sepphoris of Galilee at once opened her gates the robbers fled to the mountains, and all things feemed once more to favour the Romans. ()n the laft day of 7//H, however, the Syrian Prefect penetrated into Jerufalem, not without fome lofs, and drove the revolters into the Inner City and the Temple, burnt the timber market, and then advanced to the Upper City, where he encamped oppofite the royal palace. Jerufalem, as heretofore, was much divided into factions ; and, after fome conflicts, the Prefect obtained full pofleflion of the city. But the Syrian who had gained it, more by Jewifti perfidy than by his own prowefs and fkill, fearing left the fame want of faith might be turned againft himfelf, fuddenly abandoned his po- fition ; and the robbers again entered Jerufalem, to the great fur- prife of themfelves, and of all others ! On the following day the Jews, with renewed courage, prefled D , upon Gallus fo feverelv, that he haftened from near Rebellion or- .. r T r . * /> i , r ganized,and tne walls or Jerulalem, to Gaboa, his former quarters, Jofephus ap- diftant about a parafang and a half: but this he gained pointed to a w ith extreme peril ; and finding that he probably could high command. not reta j n j tj precipitately retreated, and flopped not until he reached Antipatris. The revolters being thus triumphant, infifted upon having no more neutrals. For the firft time, they now feemed difpofed to organize themfelves into fomething like a one party againft a common foe. The City government was then entrufted to certain rulers, and the military command of the whole country was portioned out, in which divifion there were entrufted to my care Gamala, and all of Galilee. ^fn the mean while, the city of Damafcus, greatly vexed at our fuccefs againft the Romans, fecretly planned the de- emajjacre ftj. u y on o f a ]j our wretched countrymen who then at Damafcus. J were within her walls ! 1 his diabolic fcheme was efFe&ed by perfidioufly convening them unarmed into the Gym- nafium, where, fhocking to declare, no lefs than ten thoufand Letter xxn. c&e (KHanDering; 3feto, 197 Vindication Damafcus John of Gifchala. were murdered in cold blood ! Oh, my Cartaphilus ! tell me whether all thefe complicated miferies do not look as if the God of our fathers had fo forfaken us, that he who now armeth in Ifrael s defence is doomed to defeat ? it truly fo feemeth to me ; but, at that time, my eyes were not opened, as now they are. J^aving received the important military and other command I have mentioned, no time was loft by me in appointing a fupreme council of feventy, for the tranfadtion of all civil concerns ; and, in each city, a fubordinate one of feven. I fortified all the caftles and cities within my jurifdiction ; and foon collected an army of fully 100,000 men, who abounded in zeal and good fpirits, much more than in good arms : for, in truth, our equipments were but in different. ^Jut, my Cartaphilus, our aufpicious beginning wa s early much weakened by the machinations of John of Gifchala, J J 7 <y i f s~i /- fince then fo notorious for his crafty and defperate J , ?-. " , 1 J~ policy. How much he and his barbarous faction marred noted robber. our beft devifed plans, and how fubtlely he fought my life, would exhauft thee to read in detail : little more, then, will I now do than briefly mention fome of his devices, for, if thou art not unkindly affected towards me, (feeing that I am, and {hall be ftill with Vefpafian) as no confined prifoner and yet wholly done with even the defire of arms thou wilt need no laboured ftate- ment as to the Gifchalite, or other matters, but regard with favour fuch brief words as to them and myfelf, as may tend to my perfect exculpation, in not heeding thy earneft counfel. jjEfftcr eftablifhing my civil and military arrangements, and after winning over to us moft of the factions, my earlieft next care was to conciliate Agrippa fo far at leaft as to hope for his neutrality. All the remains of his demolimed palace were, by my orders, collected and returned to the cuftody of the Agrippa party in Jerufalem, to whom we exprefled our regret and indignation at what had been done. ^ then vifited Gifchala or rather the ruins of that which, early in the infurrection had been deftroyed by the confpiracv Jews, after they found John inclined towards the againft the Roman fide or if not, towards his own felfifh and Jofephus faftious plans. P ar *y- jFfrriving there, I was pleafed to fee that John appeared now fo well affected towards me : but this proved to be (heer decep tion ; and we were therefore foon in open hoftility ; whereupon he was compelled to retire to his citadel, his party having been defeated in all the cities of Galilee. JHs the Gifchalite had little hope of deftroying me by arms, he craftily warred againft me by artful perfidies ftriving to undermine 298 C&romcles of Cartapfrito, century i. Vindication John of Gifchala. me in the confidence of my friends and foldiers : and with that view, he defpatched meflengers to Jerufalem, to perfuade our people there, that my views in Galilee were thofe of ambition only, and that I would foon prove myfelf their, as well as my country s enemy. J^imon of Jerufalem, alfo, loved me not ; and the high prieft Ananus was bribed by John to take fides againft me ! Some of the moft powerful men of Jerufalem were therefore fent into Galilee to alienate the army from me ; and to either put me to death, or bring me to Jerufalem a hard lot this, for one who fought to defend his country againft all foes ! jSfepphoris Tiberias Gamala and Gifchala yielded to the authority of that wicked deputation from the once Holy City. But the meilerigers finding me well prepared to refift, at once reforted to ftratagem, and found in me their equal : for, when wits muft encounter, we feldom know our own power, until urged by circum- ftances of fierce neceflity and fo it was with me. They fent to me a moft friendly epiftle, ftating that, in truth, their only object was to punifh John ; and thereupon urged me to forthwith vifit them ! This letter being read by me, was again carefully fealed as before ; and having received it at night, and during a great banquet of my friends, I invited the bearer thereof to remain, at the fame time prefenting co him twenty drachmae, as for his expenfes back. The meflenger being by this means put ofF his guard, was then well plied with wine ; whereby I obtained from his then truthful lips, a full revelation of the plot by which I was doomed to certain death ! j moft friendly letter by that meflenger was handed to him, when fobered, addrefled to thofe crafty and cruel Deputies and, to reciprocate their civility, they were invited courteoufly to vifit me, feeing as they muft how urgent and many were my engagements at that time ! The Deputies, as I well knew, were then much, though fecretly occupied in effecting my ruin among the people : but the apparently well-meaning letter effectually deceived them ; and produced the meeting afked for, without the leaft fufpicion on their part as to how well I knew them ! jFTt our meeting before a numerous multitude of my people, their own Epiftle to me, and fome other intercepted letters, were then flowly read by me to them as if but that moment received. Great was the confufion and wonder of John and his now over reached Deputies and efpecially at my revelations, and burning comments upon all whilft the attentive and foon much enraged people were difficult to reftrain from at once facrificing them in their juft fury. But the Gifchalite made good his fudden retreat, and refted not till he reached his citadel ; and the Deputies, not being detained, quickly efcaped to Tiberias which thus ending, fully aflured them and the authorities at Jerufalem, that their true Letter xxn. Cfje WMbtnn$ 3[eto. 299 Vindication Revolt of Tiberias His enemies. interefts prompted the immediate and hearty confirmation of me in all my former powers, and that no longer fhould they plot againft one, who knew how to be as true to himfelf, as he had been ever to his country. Jgoon after this, Tiberias again revolted from me, and ftrived to furrender the city to Agrippa s troops : but I brought another ftratagem to my aid, and fpeedily defeated their endeavour. I pro cured two hundred and forty veflels, each being manned by only four men : thefe were ftationed by me within fight of Tiberias the inhabitants of which believing them to be filled with troops, at once furrendered to our demand ! Two thoufand and fix hundred of their eminent men were feized by my order, as hoftages for ftricT: fidelity ; but JUSTUS, fon of Piftus, a great foe of mine, had pre- vioufly gone over to the Romans.* H^ next furprifed the fortrefs of Gifchala, and furrendered it to pillage : John then fell into my hands he was pardoned by me how worthily, now needs no comment : his many foul deeds towards me will not be much dwelt on, as the infamy of his cha- racl^r is proclaimed by a world ! ^K^our times did Tiberias furrender to me ; and Sepphoris was twice fubdued by me : I ftrived to fave them both againft them- felves and now cannot but wonder at my leniency ! In other parts of Paleftine, not under my command, there was great rafh- nefs, and equal faclion. Afcalon was unfuccefsfully attacked by the Jews ; the force was large, but fo wholly without difcipline, that our lofs was not lefs than ten thoufand ! ^t was at length announced to us that VESPASIAN had arrived at Antioch on his way to Judea ; but our countrymen Arrival in were then in no degree difmayed thereby, great as his Judea of renown juftly was for the error was that they fome- Vefpafian. what applied againft Vefpafian the confidence derived to them from their fignal fucceiTes againft Ceftius Gallus ! "^Jefpafian, however, is not only a general of great experience and prowefs, but he came with a well-appointed, powerful, and highly difciplined army, to war, indeed, againft a defperate and brave people, but with a divided, wicked, and inconftant one, * This JUSTUS, of Tiberias, was not only an enemy and a military rival of Jofephus : but, about twenty years thereafter, he became alfo the great literary opponent efpecially in the matter of the faithful narrative of the Jewifh wars. He attacked Jofephus with extreme acrimony, to which the enlightened Jewifh hiftorian made a fpirited reply. The work of Juftus is wholly loft: but, from Photius, an able critic, who had read his production, as alfo from Jofephus himfelf, we have good reafon to believe that Juftus was in no degree to be relied on. Vefpafian, Titus, and Agrippa, moreover, concur in fuftaining the faith- fulnefs of Jofephus. 300 Cjjromcles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Vindication Arrival of Vefpafian Agrippa. with a nation, moreover, upon whom Heaven s curfe feems to have alighted : for, with us, [uccefs^ by any daring and almoft unexampled bravery, was fure to be met with fevere loffes or, if not, we had to mourn them in fome other direction, as more than countervail ing our gains was prompt to greet Vefpafian ; for thefe Herodians ever adore the rifing fun never fail to bafk in its genial rays when rifen, and are keen to perceive the diftant clouds that may obfcure its luftre ! At nearly the fame time, Vefpafian received a deputa tion from the ever inconftant SEPPHORIS the central city of my military command, for it likewife loved the favours of Nero s Vicegerent, better than the toils and miferies of a doubtful war ! In vain were all my remonftrances and threats and fhamings againft the perfidious acts of my capital : but my vexation became extreme, when I beheld Placidus, near the walls of Sepphoris, with a thou- fand horfe, and fix times that number of infantry, ravaging all the furrounding beautiful country, and with the fulleft meafure of Roman feverity but no refiftance from Sepphoris ! This conduct of that city, and the infulting indifference of the Romans, urged me to great and continued exertions to regain my ungrateful capital but all to no purpofe : fire -fword and Jlavery now feemed to be the inevi table doom of that portion of my military divifion. THE SIEGE OF JOTAPATA, AND ITS DESTRUCTION. , foon after, arrived from Alexandria, and united his forces with thofe of his father. I pafs, at once, over all preliminary matters ; and fhall detail, with fome care, the ever memorable fiege and deftruftion of JOTAPATA which, as I truly believe, hath not its like in the annals of all pair, time, for bravery on both fides for ingenious devices of attack and defence for variety of frratagems of war for feverity of fufferings for the cruelty and extent of (laughter in proportion to thofe engaged for the barbarous flavery of the remnant, and finally, for the utter deflrucSlion of every vef- tige of a once profperous and happy city ! ^otapata, it is probable, thou didft never vifit. After Vefpafian had deftroyed Gadara, and every being it contained, Jotapata be came the refuge of our braveft Galilean warriors our ftronghold our laft and greateft hope ! It ftood proudly upon a lofty emi nence, in the midft of a mountainous and rugged country ; but ftill fo encompafled by more towering eminences, that it could fcarce be feen until you had nearly gained its walls, or afcended thofe heights. The three fides of the hill which fuftained the City, arofe abruptly from the deep ravines around it ; and the only Letter xxn. Cjje ^Oantietmg 3[eto. 30 r Vindication Siege of Jotapata. approaches to it on the north, were nearly impracticable for infan try, and quite fo for cavalry : and the other was fo fortified by me,, as to infpire the ftrongeft hope that the city was abfolutely impreg nable through this great combination of nature and art. jff war council was promptly fummoned by the experienced Roman ; who was the more eager to reduce Jotapata, as he had juft been informed by a deferter, that I, as chief of all the Galilean forces, had fuddenly left Tiberias, (whither I had retired after the deftruclion of Gadara,) and had fucceeded in getting within the walls of Jotapata, intending to make there the moft defperate de fence. The Council of our foes, when aflembled, determined that an inclined agger mould be raifed againft the wall, fo lately creeled by me for their exclufion from this only pafs, but, how to build their agger was the great queftion with Vefpafion. His army could, indeed, foon collect ample materials from the furrounding country ; and even bring them in fafety through a portion of that narrow pafs, and to within a mort diftance of the wall that guarded the inner pafs but ftill, the doubt with the Romans was as to how they were to be firmly depofited there, and fo near alfo to the city walls, and under the very arrows and javelins of their enemies ? Ah, my learned Cartaphilus, during thefe twenty years paft, thou haft leen too much of thefe Romans, to ever be furprifed at their ingenious and defperate contrivances in war. ^Jefpafian divided his entire forces into five divifions one was ftrictly military, and alfo for guard another to provide and prepare the food and other fuftenance another was deftined to bring no thing but earth ftill another nothing but ftone and wood : and, to the laft (by far the moft numerous) divifion was afligned the making of the agger, which was commenced at a confiderable diftance from our wall of the pafs, and was gradually gaining height, as it approached nearer to it. "(jm^hen, in the progrefs of their work, they came within the range of our arrows and javelins, and other miffiles, we were not a little furprifed and difmayed to find that they had prepared firm and ingenioufly wrought pent-houfes of wicker-work, which were an effectual protection againft the arrow, and nearly fo againft the ja velin ! They were often, indeed, greatly annoyed by us from both, but ftill their work proceeded. As they approached yet nearer the wall, our javelins became more powerful ; and ftill more effec tual were the maffive ftones we hurled upon them many, indeed, without effect, as we had not the power to direct their courfe truly ; but others were occafionally wielded with great and difmay- ing flaughter. r he Roman embankment being at length nearly completed, our city walls were made alive with men, to offer our foes a defpe- 302 Cjjronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Vindication Siege of Jotapata. rate and toilfome refiftance : but the vexatious catapults difcharged againft us fhowers of javelins ; and their refiftlefs balijlts fent forth huge (tones in the midft of folid mafles of our maddened people ! To thefe the Romans now added arrows tipped with burning fub- ftances, and likewife balls of inextinguifhable fire ! Their (lingers, and alfo their Arabian archers, carried fierce deftrudtion all around for their aim was fo deadly true, that the (laughter became immenfe. Tending that moft of the ftations upon our walls were but our certain graves, we commenced a feries of fudden attacks from be low fending out upon the Roman workmen fmall parties, who deftroyed their wicker-work, and flayed many of their men, they being then wholly without armour, and often naked, the weather being oppreflive, and alfo that they might labour with greater eafe in the completion, or repair, of their agger. We were fometimes fuccefsful in fetting fire to their pent-houfes : in which cafe we alfo demolimed portions of their embankment, now rendered far more difficult to repair. But fmall were thefe fuccefles, and fpeedily were they guarded againft for the future, by Vefpafian s directing that all of his wicker-houfes Ihould be united, fo as to form a (ingle and firm line around the whole agger ! ^J^he great work being at length entirely finiflied, the Ro mans ftood proudly thereon, and nearly on a level with our battle ment. Jotapata was then in full view before them ; and the foes furveyed each other, as do two defperate and equally matched lions neither fearing, but each moft wary and contemplative, as to the who and how of the firft onfet ! (^jfreat, however, was the difappointment and furprife of Vefpa- fian, when he beheld the city walls growing higher, as if by magic ! for I had fummoned an immenfe force to this work of raifing the walls entirely above the view from the agger. This was truly a dangerous exploit, againft which our men, fearlefs as they were, involuntarily complained ; for their expofure to the deftru6tive mif- files of our enemy was great and conftant. jFTs the Romans had fo fuddenly furprifed us by their wicker- houfes, fo, in turn, was Vefpafian amazed, when, early in the morning after a dark night, he (aw before him numerous hides of oxen, newly (lain for the purpofe, fufpended upon lofty ftakes, firmly eftablifhed in the walls immediately in front of his agger ! The various mifliles of our foes fell upon thefe hides, as dead and harmlefs things or glided off fwiftly, with no mifchief to any ! Their blazing arrows, alfo, and fire-balls of various combuftibles, could make but fmall impreflion upon thefe moift and pliant (kins ; and, under the protection of this happy (belter, our men toiled during night and day, until we found our city walls full twenty cubits higher ! at leaft to the extent of the breadth of their agger. Letter xxn. cjje 22!antiering 3[eto, 303 Vindication Siege of Jotapata. n this addition we likewife railed numerous fmall towers, and a battlement ; fo that, when finimed, our men had both time and inclination to renew the like fudden and daring Tallies from be low, which had proved fo deftru&ive and annoying to the Romans whillt building their agger. jfll hope of taking Jotapata by fiege being now ended ; Vefpa- fian quietly repofed on his blockade not doubting but that famine muft, in no great time, reduce us. We had ample provifion, for a time at leaft ; but water and fait, unhappily, were very fcarce. The warm feafon was alfo increafmg ; and our ufual reliance upon the heavens for water was daily leflening. All this was fuf- pe6red by the confiderate Roman ; but he was again aftonifhed, when he perceived a number of our men ufmg water in feeming abundance ; and, with apparent indifference, warning their clothes and hanging them to dry on the city walls ! The ftratagem was effectual : for Vefpafian then fuppofed we had deep wells, or other copious fources of that precious element and forthwith abandoned his blockade, and again reforted to affaults ! ^j^hough this wafte of water occafioned no little mifery, the change in the tactics of our foes much pleafed us : as death by their arms was preferable to the flow, but equally fure one, by pre- fent thirft, and eventual famine. ^he Romans, moreover, were further furprifed by our ob- vioufly having frequent communication with our countrymen far beyond the walls ; and yet in a way they could in no wife conjec ture : the truth was, that a certain fecret and very narrow paffage, had wholly efcaped the vigilance of Vefpafian ! It led into the fouthern valley, through the now dry bed of what was once a tor rent. Our meffengers parted through this with letters, and things of fmall bulk, wholly unperceived ; and thus it often was ufed, to our great convenience, and for a long time ! Our famine and thirft, however, were growing apace the fecret pafs was, at length difcovered ; and all things portended a rapid and ruinous termination. My hopes of eventual fuccefs were at no time without apprehenfion ; but the dreadful future was now clearly revealed to me. ^ confefs to thee, O Cartaphilus, that when my mind was once made up that Jotapata muft fall, my own perfonal fafety was not indifferent to me. To fave my fellow foldiers, by any human exertion, and ftill more the unoffending women and children, I would have poured out my life moft freely : but both feemed now alike impoflible, each man s life therefore was then his own. I confulted freely with fome of the chiefs, as to the means of efcape ; this confultation became known ; and the wretched people fur- rounded us, imploring that we would not forfake them, though our 304 Chronicles of Cartapfjilus, Century i. Vindication Siege of Jotapata. prefence could in no way ferve them. What was to be done ! I had exhaufted every fuggeftion my mind Teemed capable of I had been moft willing to try any expedient, however daring, and fpared myfelf in no way, either as to toil, or peril. Abandoned at length by my own hope, and unfuftained by thofe around me, I was ftill eager to catch at any thought adopt any device that might arife but alas ! none fuch were, or could be made ; and yet the people, as was natural, ftill clang to me as their only refuge ! CDy agonized mind then drove me to fome action ; and necefla- rily to little elfe than recklefs and daring repetitions of the means already detailed. I found myfelf again at my poft, but without a folitary fuggeftion that promifed the leaft relief to my people, either from thirft, famine, or fword all that remained, then, was to haften the fad cataftrophe, and die, juft as our enemies chofe. CDy refolution was incontinently made We were now to be come the aflailants, with no other hope or view than to obtain a more fpeedy death ! We rumed forth upon the Roman guards penetrated into the midft of their camps tore down, with fran tic rage and refiftlefs defperation, their works fet fire to their lines witnefled our own fure immolation in each fally, and yet we repeated thefe incurfions fome days and nights, with nothing but the poor fatisfacl:ion of knowing that we had Slaughtered many of our foes, and ended the miferies of many more of our devoted countrymen ! ^3 ut the fagacious Vefpafian was too wife long to receive from us this voluntary proffer of our facrifices at the expenfe thus fe- verely impofed upon him. He confequently directed his regular troops (who previoufly had fuffered fo largely by thofe fallies) to decline all fuch attacks, and to leave for us only their fkilful archers^ and equally adroit Jlingers ! Thefe, as we thought, could neither deftroy us fufficiently faft, nor offer to us the excitement we previoufly had, in flaughtering our foes. The catapults and baliftas iflued their death-diffufing mifliles ; and, as thoufands pe- riflied on our walls, their places were fupplied without intermiflion ! jFTt length came, for the firft time, their BATTERING-RAMS ! The walls of Jotapata fhook under their tremendous ftrokes ; thefe, by conftant repetition, allured us that breaches would foon be made, and that the now greatly enraged lions, attended by their intrepid eagles, would quickly be let in upon us. We had craved death, and yet now fhrank from the trying moment, fo clofe to all that awful moment which was to feparate us, for ever, from wives, children, friends, countrymen and from all the fcenes of this life ! Canft thou, O wife Cartaphilus, accufe me of infir mity of purpofe of inconfiftency, when I tell thee that, the crafh- ing againft our walls of this formidable inftrument roufed me, fud- Letter xxn. Cf)0 W&\ti&\\\(% 3[efo), 305 Vindication Siege of Jotapata. denly, to further refiftance to devices for fafety and revenge, that our minds had utterly refufed to yield till then ? Oh no ; man s true nature is too well known of thee. ^ directed numerous facks to be filled with ftraw, and fufpended from the walls by ropes, fo as to exactly meet the battering-rams, wherever they might ftrike : and, how great was our joy when we faw their oft-repeated blows fall inoperative and dead for the mighty weapon feemed to be at once almoft annihilated ! ^3 ut wri can hope long to elude Roman fagacity experience? In the midft of my exultation, I found that Velpafian had caufed a fcytbe to be attached to a long pole one for each rope and fack fufpended by me ! Thefe fcythes did their work effectually, fo that the refiftlefs battering-rams were again in fearful motion. But my ardour, now awakened, could not be extinguished by this great misfortune, and a large force was inftantly fummoned, equipped with new devices. We rumed from out our walls, in diftincl: par ties, bearing in our hands numerous torches of red and blue fires. At once, we were in the midft of our foes ; their engines, camps, and pent-houfes were foon blazing around us ; black and fuffocating fmoke and flames encompaffed our enemies the fires fpread with terrific rapidity through the timbers that braced the embankment : bitumen, pitch, and fulphur had been much ufed for their cement; and we were now ravifhed with the fight of the almoft fure deftruc- tion of the whole agger, that had coft the Romans fo much of toil and life to raife ! jfft this feemingly propitious moment, the daring Eleazar (with his famed lion-ftrength, as of Samfon in ancient days) was feen to ftand upon the wall, and feize a mighty ftone : holding it in his brawny arms, with keen eye, and faithful aim, he levelled it with giant force againft the head of the battering-ram, and fmote it quite afunder ! He then leaped from the wall, amidft a mower of darts ; and, fecuring the trophy, rumed with miraculous ftrength and quick- nefs to the gate, which fuddenly opened to receive him, and as in- ftantly clofed again ! Five arrows had pierced the valorous Eleazar ; and when he regained the wall, he gazed on the foe below, raifed the iron head aloft ; and with convulfive exultation inftantly expired ! ^3 ut our ftouts of victory were for a brief feafon. Vefpafian had been flightly wounded by a javelin. This caufed the enraged Romans to haften in mafles towards the walls, the battering-rams were renewed night came on, and yet the flaughter of our men ceafed not. The Jews would riot for a moment leave the walls, but were content to be cloven down in denfe crowds, could they but have the fatisfaclion of hurling their balls of fire and huge (tones upon the equally recklefs Romans ! ^he horrors of that night can never be told, nor ever be lefs i. x 306 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Vindication Siege of Jotapata. vivid on my mind they are deep within my foul, for they excel in terrors all that ever a difeafed imagination could portray. I need fay no more than that, before the rirft dawn, a breach had been made through the city wall at its bafe, torrents of blood were flowing the women, children, and the aged of all Jotapata were frantic with defpair, and blended their heart-piercing mrieks with all the other furious noifes of the fcene. ^j^his was the moment for Vefpafian his wound could not then be thought of he appeared before the breach ; and whilir., on the outfide, the illuftrious Roman was planning with matchlefs fkill the entry into our devoted city, I, on the other, was concentrating the moft frightful means of refitting his palTage ; but how, with the fore impediments now around them, thefe Romans ftill entered in mafies through the narrow breach, no mind can conceive, and furely no pen unfold for this laft device of mine wondered and pained even thy Jofephus ! Many, however, were now freely within the walls and in the midft of ravening wolves, until ftrengthened by myriads more : but they ftill poured through the narrow pafTage, in almoft folid phalanx and at that moment my deadly device was executed ! I hurled upon them mafles of boiling o//, contained in very brittle veirels which, burfting at their fall, covered the in- fenfate crowd with that fcalding liquid, and carried into their fouls more of horror and death, than all they had yet experienced at our hands ! The breach, moreover, was not only narrow, but was fomewhat above the level of the earth, and needed a fmall wooden bridge to reach it. Upon that bridge therefore we now poured alfo large quantities of boiling fenugreek; which, from its oily and glu tinous confiftency, rendered the afcent extremely difficult, and thus afforded our vefTels of fcalding oil, our javelins, and other mifliles, full opportunity for the deadly work, by the larger time, and mortal aim ! iQT^efpafian finding now that even the breach, which, at firft, had promifed fo fpeedy a termination to his toils, had only proved the caufe of great lofs of life, reforted to another, and a fatal meafure. With unwearied labour, he elevated the agger, and built thereon fifty towers, armed with the experteft miffile-men ; who, from their lofcy ftation, poured down upon us their weapons of fure deftruc- tion, whilft ours now could but feldom reach them. jjPft this time alfo our hearts fank within us, when intelligence came of the fall of Jopha^ with a lofs of fifteen thoufand killed, and the women and children fent into galling flavery, remote from Ifrael s land and further, of the deftruclion on mount Gerizim of twelve thoufand Samaritans yea, upon their own holy mountain ! And to all this was added, that Vefpafian had heard from one of our deferters, (we had but few,) that Jotapata could hold out not many hours longer. Letter xxn. C&e bannering Jeto, 307 Vindication The Fall of Jotapata. in the morning of the twelfth of Tamuz a mifty day, Titus and the tribune Sabinus, with a few others, gained the top of the Wall ; alfo, many troops under -jQ^ata Placidus and Cerealis inftantly followed, when the fentinels neareft to them were at once put to death, and all our foes quietly defcended into the city took the citadel by furprife and Jotapata was theirs ! [July ift, A. D. 67.] jJll this was effected with marvellous rapidity and filence ; for the darlcnefs of the morning, our exceffive fatigue during the paft night, and the utter abandonment of hope, had rendered us all an eaTy prey. ^j^he horrors of the fcenes that enfued cannot be told no ray of pity, nor of mercy, entered the breaft of a Tingle Roman no refiftance was offered by any of us that feeling being then all part, and nature wholly exhaufted, fo that, the once victorious and lion- hearted-foldier, the aged and infirm, the women and youths and children, were now alike fubdued, and fubmiilive to the ftroke of death, and to the fierceft butcheries of their relentlefs foes ! JOTAPATA was brought down to the earth fire, famine, the fword, and the club, fwept life and property clean from exiftence ? ()f the once crowded and happy population, that a few years before had rejoiced in the ftreets and temples of Jotapata, only twelve hundred could now be found as appropriate captives the reft, to the number of forty tboufand, were (lain during the forty and feven days of our calamitous fiege ! ^TTet me now, O Cartaphilus ! again afk thee, canft tbou con demn Jofephus, if he hath enough of this ? Shall his love towards Ifrael be doubted, becaufe he now refufeth to draw his fword, even in defence of the once holy, but now defecrated Salem ! Wilt thou have me war againft the Moft High ! No, excellent Cartaphilus, no ! Jofephus hath done his part and to do more, would be to arm himfelf againft revealed, palpable deftiny ; for, as our wicked- nefs hath exceeded the wickedncfs of all the nations fo hath our mifery gone far beyond what the world hath ever known ! And here, my Cartaphilus, I would reverfe the Greek proverb, and re mind thee that, if God be againft us, everything that was pojjible be comes impojjible. jf-jnd here, fain would I conclude my painful narrative : but fomething remains to be faid, yet more perfonal to my- felf, than what already hath been given ; and this thy ^ rL^u curiofity, if not love towards me, may demand. Thou wilt naturally afk, " and what became of thee, O Flavius Jofephus f amidft this univerfal carnage ?" I will reply to thee with truth fhrinking in nothing from the loathing events that early followed. jgjmong the myriad of bodies that filled the ftreets, houfes, and 308 CbtOmCle.S Of CattapfjilUS, Century r. Vindication The Fall of Jotapata. fortreffes of Jotapata, that of Jofepbus was no where to be found ! Efcape were impoffible, as the Romans well knew ; for eyes and ears had witnefled his prefence only a few hours before and yet all fearch proved vain, though Vefpafian had ihown extreme anxiety for his capture ! ^3 ut all this, good Cartaphilus, was no wizard-work ; for under the city are many deep caverns in one of which I had fought re fuge, and oh, how great was my aftonimment and delight, when I found there no lefs than forty of our moft eminent people, and having with them an ample fupply of provifions for many days ! But, in only two days thereafter, a certain woman betrayed to Vef pafian the place of our concealment. A mefienger was inftantly charged to feek me, and with promife of life ; great indeed were my furprife and fear, when the tribune Paulinus cried out to me, at the mouth of the cave, to come forth, and that all mould be well with me ! Roman faith and mercy, however, were then but little valued by me ; and I refufed to be feen. Shortly after came Nica- nor at the cave s entrance, and called loudly, but kindly, on me. Him I had well known ; and he afTured me from Vefpafian, my perfon was in no danger : and, remembering at that time the dream that came to me fhortly before the fiege, in which were revealed to me the calamities we were to endure, as alfo the fure exaltation of Vefpafian to the Imperial power, I confented to accompany Nicanor. CDy forty companions, however, were prompt to furround me, and mowed themfelves fo hoftile to my refolution, that my life feemed now in greater peril from them, than it ever had been from Vefpafian ! How feverely I was rated by them, and ftoutly threat ened with fure death and how they appealed vehemently to every motive that might lead me to prefer felf-Jlaughter ! likewife, how I philofophized with them refpe&ing the right of felf-immolation, and the folly of preferring death to a life, not afked for by me, but voluntarily tendered by Vefpafian, would now occupy me too long in the detail: fuffice it to fay, that my philofophy was ridiculed, and that all were ready to facrifice me as the chiefeft of cowards ! I fuddenly reminded them all of my devoted zeal, and ceafelefs labours as their commander that all our ftratagems, all our def- peration, all our dreadful facrifices, and our obftinate refufal to fur- render the city, had been occafioned, in great part, by our own regard for life. They liftened to me with unexpected attention their fwords became all fheathed, and conviction, refpect and pity, feemed to have robbed them of their fury ! But ftill, their eye aflured me it would not endure " If death muft come," exclaimed I, "let it not be by our own hand, but by each other s and by lot !" This was agreed to ; and, wonderful are the ways of Pro- Letter xxn. c&e (EOatitiering; Jeto. 309 Vindication The Capture of Jofephus. vidence, all of them periftied in turn, fave Jofephus, and one other ! and I that Jofephus, was not long in perfuading him to accept of life. ftiH e both haftened to abandon this cave of death ; and were welcomed by Nicanor. I reached the camp of Vefpafian (then at Caefarea) through immenfe crowds ; who eagerly prefled to fee the Commander, who had efcaped fuch complicated dangers my life, indeed, was to be fpared ; but the defign feemed to be, to fend me to Nero ! ^ ftrongly urged a private interview with Vefpafian ; which was granted, fave that Titus and two others remained. I announced to Vefpafian my remarkable dream ; and, Jf c P^ us P re ~ from its partial fulfilment, my perfect conviction that y e ft, a r ian the refidue would be found equally true, in that Vefpa fian was deftined, and foon, to be Rome s Emperor ! " Send me not, O Vefpafian, to Nero," continued I, " but keep me thy prifoner, until thou malt become Lord of the Earth and Sea and Ruler of the Human Race !" ^Q[efpafian looked at me with evident furprife ; but feemed to regard my fpeech as fubtile flattery : yet, upon appealing to my twelve hundred companions in captivity, then in chains, whether I had not declared the like matter to the people of Jotapata, and they fully fu {raining me therein, Vefpafian bowed and foon there after, Jofephus was a welcomed gueft among them all ! jFJnd now, O difcreet and learned Cartaphilus ! Nero, as thou knoweft, is fince dead ; Galba doth .at prefent rule ; but mark what I now repeat Vefpafian will be Emperor ! * ^Ouring the fourteen months pafled by me in the Roman camps, after Jotapata s fall, devaluation and ruin have marked E--vcntsin?a~ our daily tranfaclion. In lefs than a week after I lefline after came to Caefarea, the fea at Joppa was red with the the capture blood of our countrymen : the mores were ftrewed of Jofephus. with dead and mangled bodies ; this moft ancient of our cities was laid low and more than four thoufand lives were the fanguinary facrifice ! Next came Tiberias^ whofe fate muft have been the fame, had not her full fubmiffion, aided by the requeft of Agrippa, faved her from plunder, fire, and carnage. Clofe by, on the beauti ful lake, flood the fair city of Tarichea, that had been fortified by me with fpecial care. Roman bravery, united to Jewim avarice, perfidy, and faction, foon placed her in the melancholy lift of cities * The facl of this prediction by Jofephus has been little, if at all,queftioned; and we know that Vefpafian was proclaimed Emperor, in about two years after the fall of Jotapata ! Still, we regard this as nothing more than a (triking in- ftance of fhrewd political fagacity. 3 io Chronicles of Cartapfjilugf, century i. Paleftine after the Capture of Jofephus. for ever dead ! The limpid waters of Gennefareth were purpled, and her lovely fhores made hideous, by the foul carcaffes of the {lain, by the wrecks of boats, and the mixed fragments of coftly property, and precious things of every kind : and here the lofs of life exceeded fix thoufand, and full fix thoufand captives were fent by Vefpafian to Nero, then in Greece, to aid him, as was faid, in making a great channel through the Ifthmus of Corinth ! Some of thofe wretched men, as I have heard, met thine eye, and friendly fympathy, O Cartaphilus, when thou wert with Nero furveying the mighty work. jjfjTter this came Gamala the towering, inacceffible Gamala ! but it, too, fhared the fate of its fellows. Herod- Agrippa, though poffeffed of vaft civil power in our afflicted country, was not a whit of a Jew, and in feeling never elfe than a forry Roman. He had been befieging this fair city during many months : but the people of Gamala, in their pride and fuppofed fafety, only laughed vehe mently at Agrippa. The Romans then came in ftrong force to his aid ; and this fecond Jotapata, after an angry and fturdy refiftance, (in which Vefpafian had nigh perimed) was alfo blotted out of exiftence, and her entire population, young and old, of both fexes, were murderoufly flain ! * ^QNarly at the fame time Itabyrium fell : next to her, the Citadel and new town of Gifchala, the cunning robber John having efcaped, as thou knoweft, to Jerufalem, where, I would counfel thee to watch him clofely : for, my Cartaphilus, if thou takeft an active part againft the Romans, fee to it that John doth not betray thee and thine, and fave himfelf. The Gifchalite s God is money not his country : but I would further counfel thee, nay entreat thee, to come out of Jerufalem with all fpeed ; and to mix thyfelfin no way with this now defperate caufe. Cmi nen J onn na d Cached Jerufalem, and Vefpafian (after taking Jamnica and Arzotus] came to Caefarea, all Galilee was early fub- dued : and fince that time, Vefpafian hath alfo conquered Gadara and all Pirea. Idumea muft alfo follow ; and then little will remain, fave Jerufalem, to hope for and what hope, feeing that it is now in fuch unholy hands ? for John and the Zealots have it all to themfelves ! f would alfo have thee remember, Cartaphilus, that thou haft come among us, when the grain is already reaped, and ftored in the garner of our enemies. Thy abfence at Rome hath been long : and, if tbou doft yet fee caufe of hope, Jofephus can fee none. Thus do matters ftand at the prefent hour.f We yet have Idumea * About the end of Oftober, A.D. 67. f September a6th, A.D. 68. ion xxvi. c&e (BHantJeting 3leto* 3 1 1 Cartaphilus vifits the Pella Family. the cities a&Mafada, zndAfachtzrus and our afflicted Jerufalem! Judge thou, then, how long they can remain ours and ftill further, what muft come, when all fhall be theirs ! Will they not, in like manner, perifh from off the face of the earth ? It muft be fo. ^ fend this letter by a trufty friend ; with charge to deliver it to thee at Pella : and, if thou art gone from thence, then to thee at Jerufalem. Should it there, however, fall into the hands of the Gifchalite, it can peril thee nothing ; as it contains fufficient proof of thy devotion to the Jewifh caufe : and, as to my/elf, I, in no way am in his power though it hath been lately faid that the Roman Jews have ungratefully fent petitions to Vefpafian, to have me flain ! and, my Cartaphilus, as to my fame , I truft that this letter hath alfo fufficiently vindicated it, not for thee only, but even for the Gifchalite, and his bloody followers. FAREWELL. JOSEPHUS. SECTION XXVI. JERUSALEM, 8th Marchefvan. [Oaobcr i^th, A.D. 69.] HAVE juft returned from Pella ; and oh, whilft there, how joy and grief were ftruggling within me ! What galling reminifcences **",?*$* to agitated my foul ! and the prefent would have weighed me down with the remembrance of thofe blighted joys and hopes, but that my hoft of griefs were now fo gently miniftered unto by Rebecca furely the divineft of women ! Brightly adorned indeed is fhe with all the virtues ftill beautiful in form and motion ftill gentle as the doves that yet play around her, and perch upon her (boulder confcious how greatly they are loved ! More than twenty and five years have patted fince laft we met, but the large black eye is ferene and liquid, as, when in youth we ftrayed on the heights of Ramoth-Gilead and the cheerfulnefs of a heavenly innocence feems a portion of her inner nature. Yes, deareft Rebecca, time hath not fhorn thee of even thy outward fupreme lovelinefs ; and largely hath it added to the riches of thy incomparable mind to the excellence of thy unerring heart. jRTnd thou, Prifcilla ! bright model of Hebrew matrons beft of mothers, my earlieft and fafteft friend ; I now find thee, as thou wert in former days : years have, indeed, thinned and blanched thy once raven locks, but have added largely to the abundance of thine elevated foul, to the wealth of thine admirable heart : and, my venerable Rabboni my firft patron, and enlightened friend, EBEN EZRA ! thou, too, art ftill living, the glory of thy family the orna ment of thy now ruined country ; which, in thee, (could fhe but know it,) would find that Ifrael yet hath one with whom fhe fhould delight to counfel : for, if moral ruin hath fpread as peftilence over 312 C&ronicles of Cartapfjilus, Century i. Cartaphilus vifits the Pella Family. this once fair land, it touches thee not, my friend ! and fain would I believe it hath likewife fpared all among us, (though few indeed) who, like thee, have embraced that Miraculous Faith, which feem- eth to transform the inner foul of man, and enlarging all that is good within us, and with many fuperadded virtues, unthought of before ! And laftly, dear youth of Athens, my excellent Alcaus ! thy heart and mind (fo much beyond thy years) give bright promife of much lovely fruit hereafter. If all this be not from heaven, it is worthy of fo being. ^3 ut the marvellous adventure, in Armenia, of our deareft Re becca, (only brief words as to which would her mother then reveal to me) ftill prove that fuch virtues as all the Pella family then dif- played, can find their fmrce in Him alone that ruleth the fkies. "mj^hen firft my eyes refted upon Rebecca, after fo long a fepa- ration, and when I remembered that fifty of Nifan s moons had parted, fince the day was blefTed that gave her to the light, my foul repofed in mixed delight and wonder, at nature thus permitting fo much lovelinefs as hers to remain fo little blighted ! But the truth ful lips of Prifcilla did not wholly conceal the caufes that took them all from Pella s peaceful fhades ; firfr. to Ephefus, thence to Artaxata, in Armenia alfo fomewhat as to the perils her daugh ter and the reft had there encountered, with brief allufion to Re becca s triumph in the terrific conteft, but with no word as to how they efcaped ! Every veftige of my former love was then bu ried in fupremeft admiration and to me me then feemed no longer the betrothed Idol of Cartaphilus, but a being whole difembodied virtues could alone be thought of a being, no longer allied to hu manity ! Prifcilla departed for a time ; but my eye could no longer reft upon Rebecca ; my tongue was awed into filence, and mute, in mind as well as fpeech, I ftood, in her almoft holy prefence, as a ftatue ! But not fo with the fair daughter : me approached me with fo much of nature and truth, that the ideal extinction of her earthly exiftence pafled inftantly from me and I was delighted to behold in her again the pure and lovely mortal ! ffi^ebecca s ftory had been told me only in brief words : for, as to all that regards her daughter, the matron is ufually either filent, or too painfully diffident thereon to be urged. To her fhort nar rative of the trying fcenes in Armenia, Prifcilla, however, added with animation fome details of events, during their four years ab- fence in various lands ; but fpecially delighted to dwell on the pro- grefs of the Nazarenes^ and of the growth of their infant churches, as to all of which I liftened with intereft, but with ftill a hope (he might return to Rebecca s dangers, and as to her fignal triumph in Armenia ; but on that, Prifcilla gave me then but fmall fatisfac- tion. I ftiould much have regretted to be compelled to chronicle Section xxvii. bannering 313 Prifcilla s Narrative promifed to Cartaphilus. a mutilated tale, of but imperfect recollections, and with large ad mixtures of my own poor and unworthy language ; and therefore I earneftly importuned Prifcilla to fend me, at her leifure, her own faithful Narrative : to this fhe reluctantly confented and here fhall it be recorded. SECTION XXVII. JERUSALEM, Bui, iSth. [November 6th, A.D. 69.] HAVE juft received, of the kindnefs of Prifcilla, her promifed Narrative. Matchlefs woman ! great are thy endowments, rich is thy mind, truthful and gracious thy heart. Like thine own fair daughter, thou art frill majeftic in perfon, cheerful as the matron bird that falutes the morning, and thoughtful as the angel of benevolence. Now, though years have fomewhat told their tale, in the now pale- nefs of thy once blooming cheek, happinefs is in thine eye, and buoyancy in thy mind for piety and zeal, with no taint of fuper- ftition, dwell therein ! jjPfnd that delightful youth Alcseus ! him (he will now cherifh, as Rebecca did her fnow-white lamb, in our youthful days. O, how tender was her entreatment of that lamb and yet with fuch continued difcipline, that the pet, imitating her fair miftrefs, fhowed wifdom as well as affection ! for Rebecca would have naught O around her, that had not head as well as heart j and fo now will Alca;us be unto the admirable Prifcilla. jJlceus tells me Artemas will foon be at Pella ; and that all there will anxioufly await my prefence. O Cartaphilus ! how dif ferent thy years have been from thofe of thy early and devoted friend Artemas ! Canft thou dare to embrace him, who is fo pure ; and will he not now fhrink involuntarily from thy arms ? Withered mutt alfo be his leaf but not from a Neronian life ; oh no, his years have been labours of love to man ! thine worfe than thoie of Nero ; for he was born a Gentile^ and in all the darknefs of nature thou a Jew in the full light of revelation ! But fuch thoughts muft not now be cherifhed they ficken my inner foul, and (hould now give way to others. Prifcilla s ftory will yield me comfort : for her words are ever as the balm of Gilead foft and healing to the wounded heart. 3 * 4 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu0, Century The Narrative Ephefus The Artemifion of Diana. PRISCILLA S NARRATIVE. PELLA. Month of Bui, i5th Seleucid<t, 381. [November 3rd, A. D. 69.] CAN refufe tbee nothing, my Cartaphilus, that may poflibly aid in bringing from darknefs and mifery, into light and happinefs, one fo long cherifhed in our deepeft heart, and tendereft affe&ions, as thou haft ever been. <g|J^ith this hope, and from no defire to fpeak of myfelf or daughter, I now comply with thy urgent requeft, trufting, moreover, that He, whom thou haft fo much offended, will caufe thee to perceive that the toils through which we pafTed were in His great caufe. ^pn the month of /#/, more than feven years ago,* we yielded to the ftrong felicitations of Aquila and his pious wife, to join them at Ephefus, that we might there give our feeble teftimony and aid to the caufe of our Mafter, and towards the downfal of Diana s power fo great among the Ephefians ! TVhe hiftory of the numerous deities of the Gentile world, though not fo full, to overflowing, with wickednefs and abfurdity, as, at firft it would appear, is yet a black and moft foul page in the chronicles of all the ages, and in all countries. To underftand more fully the value of our holy religion, revealed to us through fo many ages, and perfected in this our day, by the coming of the long expected Shiloh, I ftudied, with fome care, the marvellous and difgufting details regarding all thofe whom the heathens worfhip ; fo that, on my arrival at Ephefus, (the firft idolatrous land I had ever feen) the famed temple of Diana, and its gorgeous ceremonials, were not fo entirely ftrange to me, as is fo ufual with my country women. "(ttll ith what joy we were received by Aquila and Prifca, as alfo by the whole church of Ephefus, I need not fay. Art Dlana f We > bein S to the E P hefians wholly unknown, either as Jews or Chriftians, it was deemed expedient by our friends, that we mould at once vifit the temple, and become familiar with all that relates to its tutelary goddefs ! ^J^he prefent Artemifion is the eighth erected on the fame fpot to Diana : what the firft fix were is, probably, little if at all known; but the exifting one is highly magnificent ; and is faid to be even more fo than the much famed one burnt by Heroftratus, four hundred and twenty years ago. When thus deftroyed, it had juft * Allguft, A. D. 6l. ion xxvu. c&e COanDering: 3(eto, 3 1 5 Prifcilla s Narrative Statue of Diana. been finifhed being commenced by the architect Ctefiphon, 220 years before ; and to its erection, during that long period, all Afia Minor is faid to have contributed ! Its fplendour in ftatues and paintings, (to which Gentile nations attach fo much value, but which the Jews fo generally hold in abhorrence) is faid to have been fo wonderful, as to have excited in this Heroftratus the fingular defire of perpetuating his name, by its wanton deftru&ion, as being the greateft building known to the heathen world ! Its dimensions, though ample, were far exceeded by its boundlefs riches, and furprifing magnificence. In length, it was 284 cubits ; its breadth was 134 cubits; and it was adorned with 127 fuperb columns, each 40 cubits high, and 36 of which were elaborately carved ! Thefe magnificent pillars were prefented, as it is faid, by the like number of kings ! To you, my Cartaphilus, who have fo long refided in a Gentile city, (and the greateft the world hath perhaps ever known) the exiiting temple of Diana at Ephefus, and the ftatue of that goddefs, would probably excite but feeble furprife : but I allure thee that, when my inexperienced eye firft refted upon them, I know not which was the greater, my aftonifhment, or difguft for the ftatue, efpecially, is moft hideous, though wonder fully carved, and adorned with ftrange devices. <^his ftatue hath alfo the name of the Ephefian ARTEMIS ; but differs wholly from the other ftatue of that goddefs, the fifter of Apollo, with her bow and quiver her ******* r 11 1-11 IT/- r Diana. gracefully girt-up robe and with her hound lo repole- fully by her fide. This Artemis, on the contrary, is devoid of grace, and would remind one rather of a much adorned Egyptian mummy. Upon her head repofes the turreted crown as of Cybele, furrounded by the lunar orb ; beneath which repofes upon the bofom the zodiacal fymbols of Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer ; at the feet of which are two garlands ; the one of flowers, the other of acorns : then comes an odious difplay, between the out-ftretched arms, and upon the breaft, of twenty or more mamnue, as if greatly opprelTed by their lactiferous currents, and then in front, reaching down to the feet, and alfo on the moulders, the images of cows, ftags, lions, and other animals ; and upon the fides, are numerous reprefentations of bees and of flowers. The whole is indeed, my Cartaphilus, a ftrange thing unto which to pay our adorations but, in principle, it is doubtlefs the fame, as what once in Paleftine was worftiipped under the name of Ajhtoretb ; and alfo as Menl, or the goddefs of the months, or of the moon. I have looked fomewhat into all thefe curious varieties of man, fince I am here in Ephefus ; for, as all our little party mix much with the people, of a faith fo different from our own, I would not be wholly ignorant of their ftrange beliefs. 3 1 6 Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, century i. Prilcilla s Narrative Chriftianity of Ephefus. s goddefs, the twin lifter of Apollo, is faid (in their myftical genealogies,) to be the daughter of Jupiter and Latona; Diana, her an( j ^^ ^^ mot: h er s fufterings in giving them birth were fo great, as to have caufed in Diana a perpetual averfion to marriage ; and hence it is alfo fabled (with fome incon- fiftency), that me prefides over all births is ever attended by a train of young virgins, or fea-nymphs and cultivates bunting, merely that me may avoid the fociety of men ! She is reprefented as drawn by four ftags, in a fplendid car; and directs the chariots of the fun and moon ! It is further faid of her that, whilft fhe pre fides over man at his birth or firft entrance into life me is alfo the goddefs of his exit, or death ! Her power, in all thefe, is fuppofed to be nearly fupreme, as fhe deftroys by peftilence and by every fpecies of difeafe that affli&s man, or that terminates exiftence ! Is it, then, furprifing that one efteemed fo powerful, fo chafte, fo beautiful : one, moreover, who, though not herfelf the matrix of any progeny, is yet the ample fource of the bounties of prolific nature (as is fymbolized by her numerous mamm t -e] mould be ardently worfhipped by thefe deluded and over-fuperftitious people ? Ijiewing all thefe things, I did not marvel to hear that, a few E-thefian ar 7 ears before I reached Ephefus, the preaching of Paul tlfts alarmed ar >d others there had much roufed Demetrius, the noted at Ckrifli- filverfmith, and others of his craft, who manufacture witty, fmall fhrines of gold and filver, for the images of Diana ; and likewife that the many worfhippers in that gorgeous Temple mould have fided with them (at leaft for a time) in a violent tumult againft all of the new faith. Thefe artifans, and others, in the lead connected with the public worfhip, could not but obferve that many of the Ephefians had forfaken Diana ; and that her proud and beautiful temple, and the little fhrines, and fmall images, fo univerfal formerly, were now likely to be held gradually in far lefs repute ! Their religion and worldly craft were alike in peril ; and hence, no wonder was it that Demetrius and his fellows mould have run violently through the city, exclaiming, as they parted near the Temple, " GREAT is DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS !" ^hou well knoweft, my Cartaphilus, how thefe heathens are wont to carry the images of their gods and goddefles in a confe- crated chariot, from one city to another ; and how the chariot, in fuch proceffions, contains, alfo, for each of their divinities, a little chapel or mrine by the Romans called ferculum, and by the Greeks naos. Thefe images, with their fhrines, being very nume rous, thou wilt readily perceive how the interefts and feelings of the Priefts, of the Augurs, and of the Artifts were, more or lefs, affected by the diffusion of Paul s opinions, and alfo by the continued preachings of Aquila, Timothy, and others. The public wormip, as well as their own mercenary gains, experienced a great change xxvu. Cfjc QUantieting 3|eto. 3 1 7 Prifcilla s Narrative Paul in Epheius. victims were in lefs demand lurking, though timid doubts, had been excited as to Diana s real greatnefs ; and the people had alfo heard that in fome places, among other people, the temples had been nearly deferred ; and that men and women of high diftin6Hon had forfaken the idolatrous rites altogether, and avowed the fpiritual and fimple religion of the obfcure Galilean ! Such ftrange things could not fail to roufe the multitude of Ephefus, and to beget toils, hatreds, perfecutions yea, even cruel deaths, for the zealous fol lowers of the crucified, but now triumphant Mefllah, as thou, Cartaphilus, knowefl in part, and wilt prefently further fee. OUT little family had left the peaceful and beautiful retirement of Fella, with the fixed refolution that, come what might a mife- rable life, or a lingering death we would openly confefs before the heathen world our abhorrence of all their idolatries ; and alfo pro claim the reafons of the faith within us. ^O lirm S Paul s refidence at Ephefus, of fully two years,* his labours were inceflant, preaching in the fynagogues, and in other places : alfo by his private teachings (with great power) in the places called " Houfes of Learning" of which, that belonging to Tyrannus was the moil frequented ; and in divers other ways, that occupied all his hours ! ^Jut the matter which awakened all proconfular Afia to yield a curious and refpe&ful, if not a pious, attention to the inftru&ions of Paul and his aflociates, was found in the wonderful miracles openly wrought by them ! The Ephefians faw that their gods were dull and lifelefs they found that their goddefs gave no tokens, either of love or anger ; and that, even Jupiter, (with Minerva at his fide, or, though afTociated with his three famed filters, Vefta, Ceres, and Juno, and alfo by his well known brothers, Neptune and Pluto) ftill could give them no vifible, or audible proof of divinity, or of any commiffion from that " Unknown God," whofe altar is at Athens ! whereas Paul was almoft daily prefenting to them mar vellous difplays of power through the only One-God ! It was in vain that thefe idolaters vaunted the high founding names of their Supreme God, for the " cloud compelling" " loud thundering" "lightning-loving" "far-feeing" " high-feated" Jupiter, could call from heaven no Promethean fire, or other celeftial token, that might affure his worfhippers of the untruth of Paul s declaration that, if Jupiter ever lived, he was now to them for ever dead whereas, that JESUS had lived, none could deny ; and that, having died on the tree he arofe, and refumed his heavenly abode, few dared to controvert, and none, in the prefence of Paul s miraculous works, in the name of that Shiloh, or Mefliah, who was the " Defire of all nations ! " * Embraced by parts of A. D. 59,60,61. 3 1 8 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century Prifcilla s Narrative The Sons of Sceva. laft, upon one occafion, many Ephefians, as well as Jews, were deeply awed and convinced, by what happened to fwsofSce<va t ^ ie ^" even ^ ons f a certa n J ew i named Sceva; who, profefling to be exordjis pofTefled of great magical powers, had invoked to their aid the name of Jefus, that, in imi tation of Paul, they might cure a certain noted maniac ! But, to their great difmay, the foul fpirit cried out, in the language of a fane mind, " Jefus I know, and Paul I know ; but ye are come without any authority from Jefus^ whom Paul doth truly represent : " and thereupon, the man again becoming furious, rufhed violently upon them, tore off their garments, and fo wounded thefe fons of Sceva, that they were happy to efcape ! after this remarkable event, the confufion caufed by De metrius, the filverfmith, was quieted, by the frank conduft of the Regifter of the Public Games: who, on being appealed to by thefe makers of fhrines and images, replied to them that, " if they had fuffered damage, the courts of law were open to them ; but that Paul and the other Nazarenes, had robbed none of the temples ; and that as to their preaching, all the world knows that Ephefus, of all the Greek cities, hath the honour to be the chlefejl in the worfhip of Diana, whofe Temple enclofes the very image of Her, which fell from Jupiter !" ^Qoflibly, the exacl: import of the Regifter s fpeech, and the precife ftate of his mind towards the Chriftians, may never be known : but certain it is, that Demetrius was in no way fuftained by him, or by the other public authorities, and, as to the idle tale concerning the defcent of the Image from Jupiter, it was for Paul to preach in fuch wife, as might allure them of its folly, with out openly offending by feverity the force of their long-enduring prejudices and this great work is filently, but furely advancing. Paul departed from Ephefus foon after, leaving Timothy as the bifhop or elder of that church ; and not without previoufly addrefT- ing an Epiftle to the people of Corinth ; at which place, five years before, he had refided a long time.* H^n Macedonia, many churches had been planted, which Paul much defired to vifit. Arrived, firft at Troas, and then at Philippi, he addrefTed from that place another Epiftle to the Corinthians; and whilft there, he was cruelly entreated by the Philippians being fcourged and put into the flocks ! From Macedonia he went to wards Corinth ; which hath, of late, fuffered greatly, as I learn, from the Roman power : this may compel them to think ; for thy refidence there, though fhort, muft have convinced thee that, of all * This was his Firft Epiftle to the Corinthians, written at the clofe of A. D. 60, more than twenty years after his miraculous converfion. xxvn. Cjje (IxBan&ering 3(eto* 319 Prifcilla s Narrative Paul s travels. the Grecian cities, none hath greater need than Corinth of the chaftening light of the gofpel. Paul, during his previous refidence there, of eighteen months, had made fome impreflion ; but, whilft he was at Ephefus and elfewhere, a corrupt doctrine was introduced into the infant church of Corinth, by a certain Jew of great learn ing, of high birth, and who is a Sadducee of wonderful artifice. This man, defirous of ftanding well with Greeks and Jews, and alfo, if poflible, with the Chriftians, contrived a religion ftrangely compounded of fome matters to be found in the faith of each ! Being eloquent, and aware of the delicate tafte the Greeks ever have in oratory, he fo fafhioned his fpeeches, as, not only to charm the ear, but to fuit the prejudices equally of Greeks and Jews. The former, exceffively ridiculed the doctrine of the body s refur- rection, in an ethereal form, conjoined with the foul : and hence they faid that the expectation of fuch a refurrection of the flefh is but " the hope of worms /" This factious teacher, however, was not content with wholly denying Paul s doctrine of -^fplritual body furviving the ravages of the grave ; but he treated with equal con tempt his precepts refpecting purity, temperance, and chaftity, well knowing how averfe the Corinthians are to all reftraints on the fenfual paffions : and that he might win the Jews alfo, he urged obedience to the law of Mofes, as eflential to falvation ! With all thefe bafe views, he placed himfelf at the head of a church in Co rinth ; and hated Paul the more, becaufe the authority and doc trines of that great Apoftle conflicted with the influence and wealth, he hoped to derive from that artfully compounded religion of his own contrivance. That he might bring the pious and learned apoftle of the Gentiles into contempt, he alfo greatly ridiculed him as being a man of mean and contemptible fpeech ; devoid likewife of the mental and bodily accomplimments required by an apoftle alfo, as poor of birth and of education, and as being, in truth, no apoftle, he never having attended Chrift during his miniftry upon earth ! jn all of thefe matters, his fpleen and falfehoods were manifeft enough to all who had feen and heard Paul, whofe appearance (fave the infirmity of his eyes) was fufficiently attractive : and furely his eloquence, wifdom, learning, and miracles were alfo fufficient to mow the factious fpirit that actuated this wicked and heretical Jew. And yet, in fo large and corrupt a city as Corinth, it is not ftrange that this new teacher became very popular, and that he greatly difturbed the church. This afflicting ftate of the infant eftablimment at Corinth, often reached Paul s ears whilft at Ephe fus ; and occafioned him to addrefs the two Epiftles to the Corin thians, I have mentioned the one from Ephefus the other from Philippi : which letters, O Cartaphilus ! I pray thee to read. Pro- 3 20 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century Prifcilla s Narrative Paul s travels. bably, thou haft not yet feen them ; they are much to my mind ; and moft fatisfactory on all the points, whereof the artful Jew of Corinth defired to difparage Paul s religion, in the eyes of the Greek philofophers, and of the Corinthian voluptuaries. ^3 ut it was Paul s lot never to be able again to reach Corinth. Having ftaid three months in Achaia, anxioufly waiting to hear from Titus as to the manner of reception given to his two Epiftles by the Corinthians, and of the further proceedings of the tempo- rifing Jew, and his mifguided party, Paul was again induced to pafs through Macedonia ; and finally reached Troas once more. Here were aflembled a large company of the more eminent labourers in the Church ; fome of whom had accompanied him from Philippi, and others had preceded him on to Afia, expecting his arrival at Troas. On the night previous to the morning of his intended de parture from Troas, Paul was difcourfing until midnight, in a fpa- cious upper room, the windows of which were all open. In one of thefe, a youth, named Eutychus, was feated ; and, from the great heat of the weather, and the latenefs of the hour, he had fallen into a profound fleep. In this condition, he fell from the third ftory, and was taken up, as one that was dead. This ended the aflembly, for a time ; and Paul defcended forthwith, took the youth into his arms, bid the people make no difturbance, for that life was ftill in him, and that God would fpeedily reftore him to perfett health ! The afTembly then returned to the chamber ; where they partook of the Lord s Supper, mortly after which the youth, to the joy of all, was brought into their midft, perfectly well ! arly in the morning, Paul, and fome of his company, failed for the port of Mitylene, in the Ifland of Lefbos, thence over to Chios ; and finally, paffing by Ephefus, they arrived at Miletus. Being anxious to reach Jerufalem by the day of Pentecoft, Paul would not flop at Ephefus ; but fent a meflage, defiring the Elders of that Church to vifit him ; that he might impart to them a folemn charge, he then having on his mind a deep imprefiion that he never mould fee them again at leaft at Ephefus ! Paul s farewell addrefs to that Church, through the Elders thus aflembled at Miletus, is highly eloquent, touching, and furely was prophetic of his ap proaching fate. Having ended his difcourfe, and kifled them all with fervent affection, they were greatly moved by his faying, " they would fee his face no more!" With tears, they attended Paul to the fhip : and with longing eyes watched him, until hidden from their fight by the diftant blue waters of the Icarian fea. ^n the voyage from Miletus towards Jerufalem, Paul failed to Rhodes, thence to Patara, and to Tyre ; where he found fome of the difciples ; who ftrongly urged him not to vifit Jerufalem, as he there had many enemies fome even among the converts, who Seftion xxvrr. 321 Prifcilla s Narrative Paul and Ananias. much blamed him for his devotion to the Gentiles, and for his neglecl: of the inftitutions of Mofes. From Tyre he pafTed on to Caefarea ; where he remained a fhort time with the Evangelift Philip. fjy^hile Paul and his company were at Philip s houfe, the vene rable prophet Agabus vifited them ; and taking Paul s girdle, began to bind his own feet and hands with it faying, " Thus, O Paul, will the Jews bind thee at Jerufalem, and deliver thee into the hands of the Gentiles ! " ^^ut Paul, nothing difmayed by this prophecy, replied, " Why do ye thus afflicl: me with your tears and entreaties, and that I fhall not go down to Jerufalem ; I am willing to endure bonds, yea, death, for the Gofpel, and our Mafter s fake. jFfrrived at Jerufalem, a great tumult was foon raifed againft him in the Temple ; and fo ftrongly was he prefled upon by the enraged multitude, that the Tribune of the Cohort, Claudius Lyjias, to protect his life, hurried him into the tower of the Antonia. On the next day, the accufations againft him had become fo violent, that Lyfias fent him to the Sanhedrim for examination. The very commencement of Paul s defence there was fo firm, as greatly to anger Ananias, the high-prieft ; who prefided on the trial ; whereupon he commanded an officer to ftrike the fpeaker on his mouth ! At this, Paul s indignation being deeply and juftly aroufed, he exclaimed, "Art thou fitting here to judge me AFTER the law, and fmitejt me thou, CONTRARY to the law ! for fo doing, God will furely finite THEE, thou whited wall ! " J^fome, {landing near, reminded Paul that fuch language to the High-Prieft was alfo againft law : to whom the Apoftle (in jufti- fication, though in acknowledgment of the law) faid, " It is written, Thou /halt not fpeak evil of the RULER of thy people but I do not hold him to be the High-Prieft." ^}y this, as I underftand, Paul regarded Ananias as no true high-prieft, but as an ufurper, either becaufe of the impure fource of his appointment, or, that the Priefthood belonged of right, to Gamaliel, or to Ifmael or, finally, becaufe the office itfelf had wholly ceafed to have lawful exiftence, ever fince the great facrifice upon Calvary. And this laft feems to have been the Apoftle s meaning, judging from his Epiftle, lately addrefled to the Hebrews.* * Vide Heb. ix. This Epiftle was addrefled to the Hebrews, A.D. 65 nearly four years before the date or Prifcilla s Narrative. In confirmation of the opi nion here expreffed byPrifcilla, in regard to Paul s anfwer to thofe who blamed him for his fevere language to Ananias, it may be remarked, that the ufual veriion of Ads xxii. 5, has created extreme difficulty in the minds of fome, as Paul s denial (according to that tranflation) that he knenu him to be the high- I. Y 322 Cbtonicleg of Cartapfnius, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Her zeal at Ephefus. s to the further proceedings againft this holy man, from that time forth until thou, O Cartaphilus, didft witnefs his cruel death at Rome, about three years thereafter, I need fay no more. ~<MH e had now been at Ephefus, and in various parts of the fea- coaft,nearly two years ; when the melancholy news of Paul s death, and that Nero s perfecution of the chriftians was not confined to the City, reached our ears. Our grief and alarm, though great, flopped us not : we were now further called on, to vifit and fuftain the churches ; and, by our example, as well as precept, to (how the heathen world, and our fellows, how idle it was to fuppofe that perfecutions and death could deftroy that Faith, which flows from the living fountain of the Great Eternal ! The wickednefs and folly of man are indeed great ; but the beauty and power of the only true religion are far greater. The force and tenacity of pre judice and habit are ftrong, but the diflolving influences of the Holy Spirit are yet greatly more fo. The fafcinations of a fenfual world are captivating, but the peace of God, that pafleth all underftanding, is yet far more enchanting : and with thefe fenti- prieft, feems uncandid, if not untrue ! The ufual verfion is, " / ivift not, brethren, that he was the high-prieft." Now, as the original word fignifies to acknowledge, as well as to TOO/, or know, furely that is a more rational tranflation which makes the Apoftle fay, " I do not hold, or acknowledge him as high prieft," rather than the ufual one " 7 nvift not, &c. ;" which would imply in Paul, either a want of" candour, or a degree of ignorance, wholly at variance with all probability : for, that Ananias was, in faff, the high-prieft, muft have been notorious, and too much fo to be unknown of Paul though he had been long abfent from Jerufalem. Some have defired to get rid of the difficulty impofed by the cuftomary tranf lation, by fuppofing Paul s failure to difcern the high-prieft, was occafioned by Ananias coming to the Sanhedrim without his prieftly garments, owing to the fudden call of that body by Lyfias ! But this, though highly improbable, would remove none of the difficulty: for Paul fpoke to Ananias, not merely as one of the Sanhedrim, but as the Prince or Nafi of the affembled council, whom the Apoftle (educated as he had been at the feet of Gamaliel) muft have known could fcarce have been any one elfe than the high-prieft. We are alfo to bear in mind that Paul, in the fame addrefs, mowed his a6tual knowledge of the ele ments that compofed the Council then before him ; for he at once diftinguifhed between Sadducees and Pharifees ; and went on to frame his remarks in reference to that knowledge, which he could fcarce have poflefted in regard to them, and yet been ignorant, not merely as to who was de fatto high-prieft, but that the Nafi, then before him, muft almoft neceftarily be that high dignitary. It is, there fore, far more probable that the view of the matter taken by Prifcilla, is the true one ; and that Paul knew Ananias well, regarded him as a ufurper in every refpeft, and intentionally uttered the language of disclaimer, and alfo of threa tening prophecy. In further aid of this verlion, it may be obferved that thefe were no hafty words in Paul, rafhly thrown out againft one whom he did not know becaufe the prophecy was ftriftly fulfilled, about eight years after, Ananias being ignominioufly (lain in a foul aqueduft, in which he had con- cealed himfelf during the afflicling days of Jerufalem s deftru&ion ! SeRion xxvn. Cf)0 W&nftWiHQ Jeft). 323 Prifcilla s Narrative The deftiny of Ephefus. ments and feelings, our little band of Chriftians at Ephefus, would often commune with each other : and, whilft wondering at Nero s folly, they took much delight in looking through the vifta of a com paratively fhort period, when even the ruins of the proud temple of Diana would no longer be vifible ; and the place that now contains fo much beauty, (hall fcarce be known ! j^-jnd thus would we converfe together, and mufe, when alone, over the fure downfall of idolatry, and of all the gentile temples which, if not levelled to their parent earth, might poflibly ferve, in fome other form, as cbriftian temples ! Thefe, my Cartaphilus, were to us delightful anticipations ; and fuch as will be cherifhed by chriftians of every land, and of all ages, until Moloch and Beelzebul mail be quite forfaken, fo that, not even a clay, or a wooden hut mail be found here in Ephefus, or elfewhere, to ferve them as a temple for idolatry ! * ()ur refidence in that great pagan city was not without much intereft, from various other fources than the fupreme // ow t fai r object that brought us there. time was 2fn order effectually to combat with an enemy, we faffed at muft know that enemy, and in more points of view than zp ie j us - the ftrong and fmgle one in which we thoroughly differ. Hence, as far as prudence, and exemption from every danger of contamination would permit, we clofely infpe&ed their habits, manners, inftitu- tions, and efpecially their religion, never at fecond hand, but with our own eyes and ears. There is, alfo, much in their fo-called phtlofophy^ that demanded our attention ; and confequently, we were far from being idle in that refpect, having much to learn, as well as to teach. And fuch inquiries feemed to us the more neceffary, as Eben Ezra and Rebecca had often deplored how many there were, even among thofe having the name of chriflian, who were difpofed, by way of compromife and worldly policy, to ingraft, in fome form or other, the fcions of an unmeaning and wordy philofophy, upon the pure and vigorous ftock of chriftianity, or, thus to ufe fome of * The prefent, and paft condition of Ephefus during many ages, have fully realized the fagacious anticipations of Prifcilla. Travellers agree that, although there are (till to be feen near the dope of the mountain, and upon the plain that adjoins the ancient port of Ephefus, many fcattered fragments of a bold and magnificent mafonry, and many detached ruins, ftill that the fite of the great Temple is only conjectural ; and that this once famous city is now reduced to only a few wretched hovels ! Ephefus, once famous for her idolatry, afterwards for many Chriftian temples of great fplendour, than for having "left its fir ft love" again for further infidelity; and finally, as the crefcent was feen to glitter in their once Chriftian churches, has now neither temple, crofs, nor crefcent ; but has become an utter defolation a peltiferous morals; and, where mips were ufed to float with cargoes from all the then known world, are now only mallow waters filled with rumes ! Cf)rOniCle0 Of CartapfnlUS, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Their difficulties and dangers. the inftitutions and pageant ceremonials of the numerous temples around us or, finally, Tome of the ufages of our own time-honoured and holy land, confecrated in our affections, under the difpenfation of Mofes once our mafter : but thefe are now fuperfeded, as to all of the ceremonials, fome of the precepts, and as to many of the doctrines, by a far brighter and more confoling revelation. J^ence, my Cartaphilus, you will readily perceive the many, and diftinct fources of our difficulty in perfuading Jew and Gentile to be wife unto this new , and now only falvation : for, even if they liften, and are difpofed to go with us, they are often retarded in their progrefs ; and fometimes forfake us wholly, becaufe we do not, and dare not compromife, or blend with the pure gofpel fountain, the foul and muddy waters, for which they ft ill thirft ! One clings to this fimple and fanciful fuperftition, another cannot yield that tenet of their darling philofophy, or more fubtle fcience this one loves the pageantry of certain forms, and urges that men can neither be won nor retained by an abftratt purity : another hath either a direct, or fome remote connexion with the prieftly office and interefts ; and hence fees in bis adoption of the new religion the fure downfal, as well of his own, as of his family s influence ! Others, again, who manufacture the idols and fhrines, and the fplendid garments, and the incenfe, and the golden and filver veffels, and altars, would ftill fain accept the offer of eternal life, and abandon the worftiip of idols, could they but retain in the chrijJian temples, thefe, or things fomewhat fimilar ; and thereby fave, in a meafure, their worldly interefts ! Some, again, among our own countrymen, are jealous of the whole Gentile world ; and object to little elfe in the chriftian doctrine, than its expanfwe prin ciple^ which throws wide open the doors of falvation, alike to Heathen and Jew ! But this, O Cartaphilus, is its moft lovely feature : and laftly, there be others, who object to nothing in the new religion ; but defire ftill to retain fome of the obfervances of our fathers, as if they would add to a beautiful and perfect gar ment, fome folds of their own time-worn veftments, though of a wholly different colour, and far coarfer texture ! ^[Y, then, to the foregoing difficulties^ we add the two very great and pervading ones firft, that the Jews ftill look for a temporal Mefliah ; and fecondly, that the various religions of the whole earth will, in a meafure, be arrayed againft us, we muft look for troubles and perfecutions and death, but thefe will be but trials ; for it is impoflible that the God of Abraham (who hath gone thus far with his people, and concerning which, it is equally impoffible we have been deceived) fhould yield the ultimate victory to the Heathen and their idols. providence, in the Flrjl Difpenfation^ was one of prepa- xxvn. Cfje COanticrmg 3Ieto* 325 Prifcilla s Narrative The rirft Martyrs. ration ; and ftrived with man during very many ages : the Second is now an infant plant in our hands ; but r^ 6 ^ with far more fupport from the fountains of living waters, than attended the firft ; it may fubjecl: us to greater trials, and facrifices in proof of our faith. We are therefore neither dif- mayed nor furprifed at our prefent afflictions, though much grieved that the pious and youthful Stephen, and the excellent Nicanor, with near two thoufand more, were cut off at the outfet, that ten years after, James, the fon of Zebedee, was beheaded by Herod Agrippa and that Timon and Parmenes fuffered at the fame time the one at Philippi, the other in Macedonia ; that in Hierapolis, of Phrygia, we loft Philip by crucifixion that in Nadabah of Ethiopia, Mat thew the Evangelift was flain, about feven and twenty years after the Crucifixion we alfo greatly deplore that the other James, fon of Cleophas, about three years later, was caft off the battlements at Jerufalem ; only becaufe he refufed to proclaim from the Temple, that his belief in Jefus, as the Mefliah, had been without any juft caufe ! and, when found alive on the other fide of the wall (though in the 94th year of his age) neither his white flowing locks, nor his beautiful piety, could refcue him from the murderous ftaffs of his infenfate foes ! I fay, my Cartaphilus, deep is our grief, but nothing is our difmay, at thefe things and though we have the Powers of Darknefs arrayed againft us, for a time, it doth but ftrengthen our faith ! J^ince thofe I have mentioned, we have alfo mourned over Matthias ; who was (toned, and then beheaded at Jerufalem alfo over Andrew, crucified on a tranfverfe crofs, the two ends being fixed in the ground over Mark, the Evangelift, who was dragged to pieces at Alexandria, during a feftival in honour of their idol Serapis ! How much have we wept over our beloved PAUL, and over our faithful PETER, who, of his humility, entreated that he might not be crucified in the manner of his Lord, but with his head downward! And now, we have further to lament Eraftus, late the treafurer at Corinth ; who, forfaking that office, attended Paul to Ephefus became bifhop in Macedonia, and lately fuffered at Phi lippi. And ftill more recently, my friend Trophinus, the Ephefian, and Ananias, bifhop of Damafcus, the fame who received Saul, upon his miraculous converfion. Thefe are only fome of the many bright names of martyrs, who have cheerfully placed the fignet of their blood, in teftimony of their perfecl belief in this New Difpen- fation and yet, Cartaphilus, thou, after all this, art but a poor believer ! ^Jut thefe are not our only caufes of grief : we have to deplore that a religion, fo effentially fpiritual and fimple without the bur den of facrifices without any loathed images with no ceremo- 326 Chronicles of CartapJnlus, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Their HOPES for Chriftianity. nials, and gorgeous temples, (for as yet we worfhip in private houfes, and fometimes in caves,) a religion, fo manifeftly defigned to be exalted above, and diftinguifhed from all others, by its onenefs, its purity, and its &n& fimplicity, fhould yet, and in its very dawn, be molefted by crude opinions, by odious herefies, and by a longing after things merely of the eye, and in which the Heathens have fo long vainly fuppofed their gods to take delight ! ^Qut, my Cartaphilus, if the heralds of the new difpenfation have Twelve fources commence d this conflict, under the difficulties I have of hope for the now named, there are alfo very many caufes of hope, growth of that promife a comparatively fpeedy and large fuc- Chrtftianity. ce f s . an( j a fTure me that, eventually, this religion will reach the uttermoft limits of the earth, and will fill all fpace, as the waters cover the great abyfs ! Thefe caufes of hope I will now enumerate, trufting they may add ftrength to thy own perverfe and ftrangely feeble faith ; for, I have obierved in thee what doth alarm me much a willingnefs to believe that Jefus was truly a Prophet, and even the greateft that hath yet been fent that his precepts are moft holy even that he died and rofe again and yet, thy mind and heart feem to receive him only as a wonderful man eminently endowed, but not as the SHILOH, nor with any of that love and reliance and deep repentance, which, in other cafes, fuch a belief even as thine, hath not failed, foon thereafter, to produce ! Whence this difference in thee from fo many others cometh, eludes my underftanding, and confounds me much : think of this matter ponder it well, and tell me, O Cartaphilus, if I have judged thee aright. But now, to the matter I have promifed ; which is, to fet forth the main caufes of our great hope, in contraft with thofe difficulties I have dwelt on. [K^IRST. The vaftnefs of the Roman empire in its fupremacy over nations of every language, religion, and degrees of civilization, muft be favourable to the univerfal fpread of the gofpel, as it opens to its heralds a knowledge of the remoteft countries, and facilitates accefs to them. Some of thefe were hitherto wholly unknown, and many are either in the gloomieft ftate of ignorance, or of mifery : and, as this will bring the Barbarian in contact with a civilization, which either awes them with the immenfity of its power, or charms them with its comforts, gives to the meiTengers of our faith many fignal advantages. And though the Romans themfelves fhould be flow in its adoption, their actual power over, and conftant inter- courfe with thofe diftant and crude people, are means for our gradually opening the paflage, and advancing the progrefs of thofe engaged in the earth s evangelation, even though they fhould be much oppofed by Imperial interference. The mighty work may be delayed for a time ; but, moreover, we fhould never lofe fight of n xxvir. Cfje (KJanUenng 3(eto. 3*7 Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. the fure facl:, that, when this great " Miftrefs of the World" doth adopt the CROSS, inftead of the EAGLE as it furely will the rays of the Sun of Righteoufnefs diffufed from Calvary, will fpread with marvellous rapidity penetrate the furtheft and darkeft recefTes, and will unite by a common tie very many nations, now barbarous, but which, in time, muft become enlightened, no lefs by the foul-ex panding influences of letters, fcience and of true philofophy, than by the foul-preferving operations of the only true religion ever vouch- fafed to man ! SECONDLY. Heathenifm and Idolatry, in any form, may fuit the grofs multitude ; but, in no form has it ever fuited the enlightened few. Such a national religion may, indeed, be upheld by public policy, becaufe fome religion is eflential : but, when the virtuous and enlightened few find it deftitute of morals ; when they are obliged to refort to myfteries inculcating a more exalted virtue ; when they begin to teach that their polytheifm is merely allegorical, or that the gold or filver, or wood or ftone is but the mere recipient of fome divinity, the tranfition then to a purer religion, and to one that fhall impute all power and goodnefs to a Jingle fountain of immenfe power and goodnefs, is not fo difficult nay, it will be quite eafy. Hence, as to me it feemeth, we have ftronger hope for Christianity, wherever the phikfophers^ in thofe heathen lands, have gained fome influence : for though their philofophy is often vicious, and ever vain and unfatisfadlory, compared with the holy truths we teach, it is generally a far better foundation on which we may repofe for a time, than on that unmixed idolatry that worfhips the ftatue, and feeks after none of thofe thoughtful virtues that amend the mind, as well as heart. Rome and Greece, therefore, (whofe philofophy is thoughtful, and whofe idolatry is not grofs,) feem def- tined to be the two great avenues, through which the Gofpel light will penetrate, and ultimately evangelize the whole earth ! ^HIRDLY. Heathenifm and Idolatry, whether in the a6r.ua! and grofs mode in which they are exhibited under Moloch, Baal, Amun, and others or, in the allegorical and more fanciful way of the mythology, as now viewed by the more refined nations, (or rather by their philofophers,) are ftill fo little in confonance with even the crudeft reafon (when encompafled by civilization) that, if the attack on prejudices and on ancient habits be not too abrupt and violent, the inculcation of a more fimple and fpiritual religion, among fuch people, is by no means hopelefs. Hence thofe heathen Schools which teach a purer morality, which inculcate the onenefs of the ultimate, or rather initiative, Divine nature, and which pre- fent the virtues as fomething lovely in themfelves, and as worthy to be pra6tifed, without the impulfe of fear, are not unacceptable to the people, as is proved by Plato s and Ariftotle s wide and endur- 328 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Prifcilla s Narrative The xii Sources of Hope. ing fame ; for the teachings and writings of both manifeft but little refpect for the exifting mythology, whether allegorical, or grofs, the former philofopher being willing to exclude it wholly from his imaginary Republic, and the latter regarding many of its rites as fo grofs, as to be entirely unfit for youthful eyes and ears and yet all this was the people s and their oftenfible religion ! Nations, then, in which fuch doctrines of fevere reproof, in refpect to their public religion, can be fearleffly maintained before the people, in their fchools, and elfewhere, are not fo funk in wickednefs, folly, and fuperftition, as to have no ears for the diviner truths of our holy faith enforced as thefe are by the moft winning promifes, by the moft dreadful threatenings, and by the moft awakening and con- clufive miracles ! ^f-^ouRTHLY. The new religion differs from all others, in one very remarkable feature ; which cannot fail, as I think, greatly to aid its progrefs : I allude to the fact, that it is founded mainly on love; the others chiefly, if not entirely, on fear ! No other religion inculcates a boundlefs love of their gods towards man ; nor do the Heathens demand from man a heart-felt manifeftation of devoted love towards their gods. Polytheifm, in truth, is the fevereft and moft abject yfai^ry, the monotheifm we teach is perfel freedom! Their gods, and demi-gods are, indeed, powerful in their eftimation; but, as they have endued them with many of the paflions and frailties of mere humanity, fuch gods cannot be objects of fupreme admiration and of abiding love : and, therefore, are they to be pro pitiated, not by a pure worfhip, but by the moft onerous offerings to appeafe their anger, rather than to win their love ! As therefore, men love freedom more than bondage, fo will they eventually abandon their hoft of exacting gods, and cleave to that only ONE true God, who requireth little beyond the mental offerings of a fpiritual and pure worfhip. ^F^iFTHLY. Another principle, at the very foundation of our holy faith, is the perfect co-equality (fo to fpeak) of every human being ! His aflual condition may, indeed, be varied by his own vices by his voluntary ignorance by his neglect of himfelf his idlenefs j or, in a few individual inftances, by the fmall meafure of genius, with which God may have endowed him : but ftill, if man be faithful to himfelf, he hath none who may rightfully deprive him of nature s bounties none that is not bound by the religion of Calvary to minifter to his wants, if not the cherifhed offspring of his own perverfenefs : and, if unfaithful to himfelf, he perfifts in fin, he muft fuffer, fince /><?/ , of fome kind, muft flow from moral evil. Under this religion, then, every human being is entitled to precifely that ftation in life, and to thofe enjoyments, which he can faithfully maintain by his moral, intellectual, and phyfical worth 2x3anlienng 3|eto, 329 Prifcilla s Narrative The xu Sources of Hope. and to no more. The fruits of honeft induftry are the property of thofe alone who thus acquire them, the idle, the ignorant, and the vicious have no claim beyond that of a judicious charity. J^ence is it, that the fpirit of Chriftianity, at once, raifes WOMAN far above the degraded (late, in which (he is ufually found in heathen nations and likewife greatly meliorates the condition of the SLAVE, and prepares the way for the utter abolition of that relation : and yet, the duty of the wife muft ever be that of a reafonable obedience to her hufband the duty oftheflave, that of a reafonable fervice to his mafter, fo long as that condition of mafter and flave endures. The chriftian fpirit, doubtlefs, feeks to meliorate the flave s obligations, and to enlarge his privileges ; it alfo would rejoice in univerfal emancipation becaufe it would rejoice to fee every human being wife, virtuous, and happy : but this muft flow mainly from the flaves own honeft exertions, from their own in tellectual, moral, and bodily worth ; and by no means through any violence on their part, or claim as of chriftian right or, from any over-zealous teachings by Chriftians, either to mafters or to flaves, fuddenly and reckleffly to fever thofe bonds, which, though evils, are not to be thus diffblved : for, as it truly feems to me, the New Faith wars not againft exifting political and civil inftitutions, how ever unwife and evil they often are : and this private dominion of man over man, as one of them, muft be left to the individual judg ment and confcience of the parties to the gradual and falutary amendment of the Powers that be ; and mainly to the flow, but fure operation, of the chriftian fpirit and principles themfelves, nothing doubting but that they, in their own good time, will raife up in the heart that mental Jlatus, which fhall voluntarily caft off" all unholy bondage. This fubjet often occupied my thought whilft at Ephefus ; it is full of difficulty ; and finally, it prefented itfelf to my mind as fimilar to one of thofe difeafes of the human body which finds its cure, not in any medicament avowedly adminiftered to the particular difeafe, but to thofe that gradually reform the entire fyftem ; and thus, (as to the moral difeafe of flavery) we may hope to get rid of the evil, without jeopardy of great mifchief, or pofllbly of death, either to the mafter or flave or to both. Jglavery, doubtlefs, in particular cafes, may be rightfully founded-, it maybe virtuoufly exerclfed; and finally, it may be letter to endure it for a time, than haftily and rafhly to end it. But, on the other hand, it is almoft ever of vile origin is often cruelly maintained, and poflibly may, in very fpecial cafes, be fpeedily andfafely termi nated, but never by the flaves themfelves never by Chriftians operating againft the laws and never, even by the laws themfelves, merely becaufe there may be power in the nation to favour the flave, and to forget the mafter. That flavery will end of its own accord,. 330 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. whenever the genuine fpirit of the Gofpel is more extenfively fpread, can fcarce be doubted, as the ftate of flavery itfelf has fo generally proceeded from man s love of power and eafe, on the one hand, and from his inactivity, vices, ignorance, and inability of domefHc felf-government, on the other; all of which would be removed by the prevalence of Chriftianity not in name, indeed, but of a Chrif- tianity in very truth. ^|~Jike a ^ other dominions, flavery, in many inftances, may be individually either cruel, kind, or indifferent ; and fometimes, even tender and Paternal as I have frequently known it to be : and, in the aggregate, it may arife from, and be fuftained by the fpecial, and hereditary condition of a clafs, or people. So alfo, it may be wholly of venal origin, and at variance with the general good. In all cafes, or in any, were the heralds of the new religion to travel over Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Proconfular Alia, proclaiming Chriftian hofti- lity between (lave and mafter, the terrific evils that would fuddenly rum in upon the entire communities, would be inexpreflibly great, and far exceed thofe that now flow direcStly from flavery itfelf, would injure mafters, ruin flaves, and even jeopard the caufe of Chriftianity ! But, when Chriftianity (hall be really pervading and dominant, flavery would foon ceafe to exift, without any immediate aid of thofe heralds, or from human laws becaufe the people s con dition being then at variance with the idea of bondage, would have, within itfelf, the prolific feeds of its own fure regeneration, and or the natural termination of fuch a power of man over his fellows. ^JJJ^hilft at Ephefus, therefore, I found no difpofition in our heralds to meddle with this truly delicate fubjecl:, they trufting that, if the fpirit of Chriftianity were faithfully preached, no fudden (hock would be inflicted, either on prejudices, or on property ; and further, that flavery will thus more furely expire, and almoft im perceptibly, than if rudely aflailed under an authority nowhere ex- preflly given; and which would be the more readily rebelled againft, if coming through the merely implied powers of the minifters of a new, and yet infant religion. ^f^ know not whether you have ever feen, (and probably have not, owing to the nature of your life at Rome,) a letter of great intereft and beauty, written by Paul, at Rome, to one PHILEMON, of Coloflas, in Phrygia. When the flave Onejimus eloped from his mafter Philemon, and came to Rome, the flave fell into great want, and applied to Paul for relief, which he promptly received. Paul was then dwelling in his own hired houfe, where Onefimus often heard his difcourfes, and became a convert. The Apoftle had previoufly known the mafter, and his numerous family, all of whom were people of great note, and were probably among the early converts. The epiftle is add re fled by Paul to Philemon, on behalf of the flave section xxvn. Cfje COantJeting; 3[eto. 331 Prifcilla s Narrative The xii Sources of Hope. Onefimus, whom Paul fent back to his mafter, with the letter. In this cafe we finder/?, that Onefimus himfelf, after his converfion, fet up no claim whatever to his emancipation; and this, too, although he certainly knew of his mailer s converfion; but, on the contrary, Onefimus defired to repair the elopement as an injury, by return ing to his former condition -fecondly, that Philemon had previoufly retained this Onefimus as hisjlave (and probably very many others), the elopement having taken place after Philemon s open adoption of the new religion thirdly, that Paul, who knew Philemon s worth, Chriftian piety, and wealth, alfo laid no claim to the flave s freedom: but only afked it of Philemon as a fpecial favour : and lajlly, that he tendered to Philemon amends for what Onefimus might have defpoiled him ; and urged no apojlolic right, or even inti mation, that he could dljjohe the tie of bondage ; nor any corref- ponding duty in Philemon to releafe the {lave, but Paul relies on obtaining his object, from that change of fpirit in Philemon, which would readily yield to Paul s wifhes efpecially as Onefimus might be the more ufeful to the church, and alfo to Paul, whofe labours were then fo heavy.* JH nd now, my Cartaphilus, I would thus plead unto THEE, refpecting thofe two beautiful little youths, now with us at Pella, prefented unto thee, as I learn, by Nero, after one of his magni ficent entertainments. I would not have thee difcharge them at once from thy fervice, and caft them on a rude and pitilefs world ; but they mould now be rather thy fbns, than thy flaves thy own means being fo ample: for, how will they differ, if well educated, from thy juftly beloved Alcaeus, who is fhortly to be made thine by arrogation ? He is now thy friend, thy equal, and becomes thy fon and heir : the others, indeed, are ftill thy flaves thy property ; their liberty, actions, earnings, yea, their lives, are, by human laws, all at thy difpofal ! Thou haft alfo informed me that, when in Rome, all of thy houfehold were flaves ; that fome were men of learning, admirable artifts, and of pleafing manners: if fo, they had raifed themfelves above their accidental condition ; and it ought to have pained thee much to retain them in the degrading ftate of bondage : and yet, at thy departure from Rome, they were handed over to other mafters ; and in exchange for them thou didft receive money, which thou didft not need! But that cannot now be re called ; yet thefe two youths are ftill thine, and have as much claim on thy bounty, as had our good Alcaeus. Thou mayeft reply that Alcaeus was born free, the others flaves becaufe they came into * It is fa id that this Onefimus became a bifhop, and fuffered martyrdom ; and it is certain that Philemon fent him back to Paul, who employed him to carry luch epiftles to the churches, as the Apoftle had occafion to fend. 33 2 CbtOmCleS Of Cattapfrillt.0, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. the world burdened with a debt, which their own enflaved parents could not cancel; and which thefe children inherit, in part, and have fince contracted, in part, as they were Curtained by their matter, before and after their birth ! This is true, in theory ; and, if fo in fac~l alfo, it is but a fmall debt, my Cartaphilus, for a whole life of bondage ! Suppofe their parents had been captives in war, or been condemned to flavery for crime, or that as prodigals, they had be come flaves in fatisfa&ion for their own debts or, that the parents had become voluntary flaves, under the late decree of the Emperor Claudius : all this might have been pregnant with the direct con- fequences as to them perfonally ; but how have their innocent pro geny finned againft the Jiate, againft their parents, againft thee^ their mafter ? And, if even fo, it furely may be cancelled by a few years of toil by fomething, indeed, far fhort of a life of flavery ! jfjnd here, my Cartaphilus, I will haftily recount a fcene we lately witnefTed as being quite pertinent to the The Slave-mart matter nQW m hand> At pne f us we atte nded their at hp/iefus n , in i v i PHILOTERA. great ilave-market, on the itreet leading to the gates of the Megatidae, and there we found many Egyp tian men and women on fale. We then became curious to know the feelings of the multitude around ; and we converfed freely with fome Alexandrians, and other Egyptians, as alfo with many Greeks, Romans, and Syrians, refpe&ing the fcene then before us : and, as we flood at a fhort diftance from the flaves, under the fpacious portico, there were many around us greatly amufed at Rebecca s and my deep fympathy for fome of the poor youths of both fexes ; and efpecially in behalf of a beautiful and fragile girl of fifteen, named PHILOTERA ; who had been twice fold in the market at Cyprus ; and now was here feeking a third mafter becaufe (he was too delicate, too lovely, and too miferable to toil and yet, quite too honeft to be the vitim of brutal paflions ! ^^ebecca promptly tendered her purfe, and requefted a civil Alexandrian to pay the required price and bring her home to us. She is fomewhat younger than the eldeft of thy youths ; and, as I lately faw them cafting loving eyes towards each other, Rebecca is charmed with the thought of wedding thy Julianusto her Philotera. Four years have now elapfed fince me became free ; and knowledge of all kind hath fhe lapped up, as doth the parched defert drink in the waters of an evening rain. ^Jut, proceed we now with the converfation at the flave- market. Eben Ezra mildly and focially contended with fome half- chriftian Greeks and Egyptians, and with fome that had no know ledge of the Nazarenes (as we often were called) that flavery derived no fupport whatever from the universality of its prevalence it not being the fadr. we feck, but the right. The Alexandrian on xxvn. Cjje (KHanUering; 3lto- 333 Prifcilla s Narrative The XII Sources of Hope. urged its validity with fome animation becaufe it had in faff exifted in all lands, and in nearly all the ages fmce the deluge f Rebecca then joined in, and briefly faid, " So have Idolatry and Sin exifted in nearly all ages, and all countries and there is no difference between thefe andjlavery, except that the former are always fmful, the latter ufually is, and hath ever a great tendency fo to be." This fpeech being quite too zealous for the occafion, Eben Ezra mildly added, (addrefling himfelf to one of the more thoughtful and argumentative Greeks, who probably had often witnefled the logical difcuflions on the Peripathon at Athens) " it is fcarcely fair to reafon from mere matter of faff, to mere matter of right , fince, if we thus argue, I know not what may not be thus juftified:" the Greek was attentive, and Eben Ezra continued, " it would end in about the fame refult, as if we were to reverfe the matter, and argue from mere right, to mere facT: ! or, in other words, that becaufe certain things ought of right to be pra6t.ifed, they are fo praftifed in fact which, furely would be too abfurd for any one to predicate, and yet, I can perceive no effential difference between the two modes of reafoning." The Greek foftly whifpered to Eben Ezra, " Thou art right, O Stranger ! flavery exifts it is a miferable difeafe and it were folly to contend for its rightful exiftence, becaufe long prac- tifed ; or becaufe no one can fay how the leprofy fhall be cured." " Thy candour pleafes me much," rejoined Eben Ezra, " the difeafe is deeply rooted, and almoft univerfal ; nophilofophy can cure it : there is but one remedy, and that is a flow, but iure one." " Thou doft echo my fentiments, in part, but I know not the remedy thou fpeakeft of," faid the Greek. " That flavery, volun tary as well as involuntary," added Eben Ezra, " is almoft coeval with man, muft be admitted the firft being praclifed as early as the days of the firft Pharaohs, and the fecond ftill earlier, being con- fequent, as fome believe, upon the curfe of Canaan, fhortly after the deluge ; and was general in the times of our father Abraham, and of all the Prophets. Throughout the whole land of Egypt, alfo at Tyre and Sidon, and in all Phoenicia and Syria, in Cyprus, and in moft of the iflands of the ./Egean fea in Sparta, Lacedemon, and in other parts of Greece, and in Rome and in all the provinces. Slavery and the flave-marts are familiarly known. They^^, then, if worth any thing, is largely againft us." " Thou haft fpoken of fome matters," rejoined the Greek, " of which I have little or no knowledge of the curfe of Canaan of thy father Abraham, and of the Prophets ; and likewife of a flow, and only remedy for flavery ! I pray thee to explain thefe matters to me." We all readily and joyoufly met the wifhes of the intelligent Greek, and invited him to our home : delighted am I to remember how he drank in the truths of our divine religion, and that he is now one of us ! 334 Chronicles of Cartapfulus, century \. PHfcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. Qn the whole, then, my Cartaphilus, as the world is now full of flavery ; and as chriftianity, from its inherent nature, fheds fuch a mafs of light, it muft gradually difpel this darknefs of bondage, and without any ruinous violence done to the feelings^ prejudices, and property of mafters. This feature, therefore, I alfo hail as a powerful fource of hope for the eventual triumph of our chriftianity. J^IXTHLY. Among the Greeks and Romans, and, indeed among all nations in any degree civilized, the teachers of pure and fublime morals have charmed the wife and virtuous few, as alfb the more reflecting portion of the multitude, by thofe pithy and laconic Say ings, that have the names of maxims, or of apophthegms, and ft ill more appropriately that of proverbs poflibly, a contraction of the expreffion pro multa verba, becaufe thefe fhort fpeeches are inftead of many words. ^he " SAYINGS" of Socrates, Plato, Ariftotle, of Publius Syrus, and of others, as alfo of thofe called the " Wife Men of Greece," likewife of Zoroafter, and of that wonderful man Koung- fu-tfel, have never failed to win their way into the hearts of all who hear them. Hence is it, that the fupreme excellence, abfolute purity, charming fimplicity, and wonderful beauty of the Chriftian Morals, as we find them in the many parables, rules, and Sayings of the Chriftus, have always fo greatly won the multitude, that even his enemies, and thofe who regard him as a falfe Mellias, ftill admit their furprifing excellence, and likewife the great fublimity of his teachings in general. The feelings of the intelligent among the Gentiles towards Chrift and his Apoftles, and efpecially in regard to their u SAYINGS," are generally thofe of an exalted admiration : and, though the Jews are greatly difappointed in him as a temporal Mefliah, his fpiritual character has never been vilified even by them ! And, could Jews and Gentiles incorporate all his moral teachings into their religion, exempt from the peculiar doctrines that make Him the veritable Shiloh, and the Supreme Incarnate God, the pregnant maxims of Jefus would then find but few oppofers. Felix, as you have heard, trembled at the awful and fublime truths preached of Paul Agrippa became almoft a chriftian Tiberius would have had our humble Nazarene enrolled among the Gods of Rome ! and the Statues creeled at Caefarea Philippi, to commemorate Chrift s miracle in curing the woman of that city of an iiTue of blood, may even now be feen {landing before the gates of her houfe, molefted by none : there we may fee the brazen one of the Nazarene, in his diplois, who ftretches forth his hands towards the other ftatue of the woman the object of his mercy : and thefe ftatues may long con tinue to be greatly venerated, though in the midft of a gentile city ! All of thefe matters feem to indicate that our Chriftianity hath as yet no fuch ugly features in the Heathen eftimation, as to caufe the Idolaters to be at once our enemies. xxvn. CJjc (KHanDering; Jetru 335 Prilcilla s Narrative The xii Sources of Hope. . The expectation, even among the Gentile nations, of the appearance, about this time, of fome remarkable perfonao-e, as a great Deliverer, excites at this day The Heathen \. j i r c c *u ExpeRation of fome anxiety and jealouly among a few or the more the Me /lias diftinguifhed rulers of nations the rumour ftill being vague, and not underftood : but, doubtlefs, the executed fafi^ which Chriftians maintain, muft eventually prove very favourable to the fpread of the Gofpel, efpecially as the remarkable Being who has appeared in Judea, claimed to fulfil that very Expectation, and yet aflumed to himfelf no earthly kingdom for the future ; and re jected all fuch rule when prefent ! The expectation, paft and prefent, will be no further gratified but now, and for ever, He, through his Church and Minifters, claims only a fpiritual dominion over the hearts and moral actions of his followers, and verifies the divinity of his miflion, by the miraculous powers conferred on his apoftles. ftilL 6 a ^ know how univerfal the expectation, to which I allude, has ever been among our own countrymen. And, as the other meffiahs who have appeared have all proved to be falfe ones (and fo will they all hereafter that may appear) it not only ftrengthens the title of JESUS as being the true one, but muft foon compel the un believing Jews, either to abandon all prophecy refpecting their Mefliah, or to admit that He, whom they flew, is the only one ever intended by the God of Abraham, or by any of his prophets. But this long enduring expectation among the Jons of Ifra e /, flowing, as all admit, from the word of prophecy, is alfo fuftained, as I have faid, by an extenfive and remarkable tradition among the Gentiles; which, from its myfterious character, claims to be fomething more than a vague popular tradition, and therefore fecures to the Jew- ifh and Chriftian claim, an attention from the Gentiles, which the now afTerted fact could not have received, had there never have been fuch a heathen tradition. ^J^he fubject of the Gentile tradition was a matter almoft wholly unknown to me, until of late : but Aquila hath excited my intereft and curiofity much in regard to it. He informs me that one Cicero, a famous orator of Rome, and alfo a writer on morals, who lived a fhort time before the Saviour, hath fome pafiages in his works that intimate the coming of this wonderful perfonage. jH quila alfo ftates that when he refided at Rome, he was fhown an interefting poetical defcription of the happier inftitutions, that are to come forth about thefe times, from a remarkable peribn to be born ; and that this poet, one Virgilius, lived a half century before the coming of the great Emanuel. ^Jut my furprife and delight were yet more heightened by all that he narrated and read to me, refpecting certain perfons called Sibyls ; who feem to have this tradition of a coming Saviour in a yet clearer 336 Chronicles of Cartapiriluss Century \. Prifcilla s Narrative The xii Sources of Hope. form ! Thefe Sibyls are virgin propheteffes among various gentile nations ! Wonderful indeed are the ftatements concerning thefe fibyls : but there feems to be great diverfity of opinion as to their number, origin, antiquity, and credibility ! Some fay there were only two ; others enumerate no lefs than ten ; and Aquila feems to think, from all that he has read and heard of them, that, long before the coming of our Meflias, there hath been vouchfafed by Deity to the Gentile nations, through thefe Sibyls, certain Jkadowy or feeble prophecies, fimilar to thofe fo clearly revealed to Ifrael, fo that the coming of the great Shiloh, and of the happier deftiny of man under his reign, might be at leaft fo dimly looked for even by the heathen, that, when the high evidence of his actual appearance in Judea mould be prefented to them, the light might come, as well from Gentile, as from Jewim fources ! This idea, fo novel to the He brew mind and heart, pleafed me fo greatly, that I engaged Aquila to unite with me in forthwith examining the hiftory of thefe Sibyls, at leaft to the limited extent of the means we now have. ^he moft famous of thefe heathen prophetefTes is me, who is named the Cumaean, or Erythraean fibyl, from her having removed from the Ionian city of Erytbra, to that of Gumtz in Italy ; where (he is faid to have ifTued her oracles. And here I was much in- terefted by Aquila s defcription of her cave, vifited by him during his abode in Italy ; but which, during thy fhort and otherwife occu pied vifits to Neapolis with the late Emperor, may poffibly not have then been of fufficient intereft to claim thy attention. Cumae is a very ancient city in Campania, a few miles from Neapolis, and clofe by Baiae. This fibyl is faid to have been the daughter of Be- rofus, a prieft of the temple of Belus at Babylon ; who lived, as thou knoweft, about 320 years ago. Nigh unto Cumae is a wonder ful cavern, executed with fingular art out of the folid rock and alfo a fmall temple, hewn out of the fame rock, through which living ftreams of the pureft water ftill flow ; and where, as the tradition is, the Sibyl always bathed before me afTumed her prophetic gar ments, and then from a lofty feat proclaimed her oracles !* In our examination of this fubjecT:, however, we have reafon to believe that this fibyl (if originally of Babylon, and then of Erythra) never came into Italy : and that the prophetefs of Cum.-e is much more ancient, being the one who lived fully one thoufand years ago, during the famous Trojan war ! To this more ancient Cumaean Sibyl, alfo, are afcribed the large collection of prophecies in Greek verfe, known as the Sibylline Books ; and which many ages ago, are faid to have * The cave of the Cumaean Sibyl is yet to be feen; and remains an objeft of intereft to all curious travellers, who vifit the ruins of Cumae, and the other Campanian cities. 337 Prifcilla s Narrative The XH Sources of Hone. been offered for fale in nine books to Tarquinius, an early king of Rome, by a myfterious woman, who came from fome foreign land ! The king refufed to purchafe at her price, whereupon {he destroyed three, and again appeared, demanding the fame price for the fix : being again difmifled, as one befide herfelf, {he burnt three more, and ftill importuned the king as to the remaining, at the fame price ! The Augurs being confulted, advifed the purchale, which was done ; and the books were preferved with fpecial care in the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, where they were to be feen until lately ; they being deftroyed by the fire that confumed the capitol, about one hundred and fifty years ago. <^jhe people are faid to have fo deeply lamented the lofs of the Sibylline Books, as eventually to caufe Government to fend to the Cumae of Afia, hoping to recover copies of at leaft fome ; which failing, they fent to Erythra, and other cities, and to the Grecian Iflands, and fucceeded in obtaining near a thoufand verfes. Thefe were depofited in the new Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus ; and thofe found in the hands of fome individuals were deftroyed. Au- guftus afterwards depofited thofe deemed quite genuine in golden chefts, under the pedeftal of the Palatine Apolio. Shortly after this, Tiberius again caufed the whole to be carefully examined ; and this felelion was highly valued, until again deftroyed in that dread ful conflagration, witnefled by thee in the time of Nero. Thefe were the books that Aquila fought to examine in the time of Clau dius ; and which, doubtlefs, thou haft often feen. They are pro bably the fource, whence the Roman poet Virgilius derived his ac count of an approaching happinefs, but which the Hebrew prophets call the " Defire of all Nations" and which iibyls and prophets caufed fome Roman writers to think that " Nature was then in labour^ to bring forth a king that fhould rule the nations !" J-^_rom this general Expectation of the Heathen world, whether caufed, or not, by the Sibylline prophecy, the wonderful fa ft that has arifen in Judea, muft receive from the people an additional refpecl.* (IGHTHLY. From the birth of the Chriftus to the prefent hour, * Notwithftanding the deftruftion of thefe famous Sibylline Books, in the reign of Nero, fuch was their authority among the Romans, that we again hear of them in the time of Aurelian; and afterwards in the reign of Julian ; who ordered them to be burnt, A.D. 363 and ftill of a further collection, alib de ftroyed by Honorius, A.D. 398. It is faid that this final deftruftion of what were ftill called the genuine verfes, arofe from a rumour then extant among the heathen Romans, that the Sibylline writings prophefied that Chriftianity was to endure only 365 years; which period expired thirty-three years before viz. in A.D. 398, it being juft 365 years fmce Chrift s afcenfion, according to the then computation : whereupon Honorius demolifhed the temple of Apollo, and I. Z 338 C&ronicle.s of Cartapfnlu.s, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The XII Sources of Hope. though the world hath not been exempt from wars ; yet may it be regarded as being a peculiarly pacific period, not only when he did firft appear, but comparatively ib, even to the prefent time ! They have in Rome, as thou muft have often feen, a Temple erected to one of their gods named Janus ; which is ever open in time of war, and clofed only during profound peace. j^j quila ftates that this Temple, during fully 750 years, was never clofed but five times, the third and fourth times being im mediately before, and the laft being ordered by Auguftus, in the month of Tebeth, and in the very year of the birth of Him, who, ages before, hath been prophetically ftyled the " PRINCE OF PEACE :" and, when he came, profound tranquillity reigned over the world, and continued twelve years ! This fact, in fuch beautiful harmony with his character and religion, is not without its utility among the caufes of hope we have that this religion will cover the face of the earth for ages are not with God, as they are with man. ^QMisrTH. The Apoftles and Evangelifts, and thofe called in aid of them, muft penetrate into the remoteft nations, where Jews and fynagogues are wholly unknown, for they are to declare the " Glad Tidings " unto all the people. Some of thefe rude and diftant nations have no temples, or very few but generally per form their worlhip in the open air ; as is the cafe among fome of the Britons, fo remote from us, and among the Gauls and Ger mans, as likewife among fome of the Perfians, who are better known to us, and far more advanced in general civilization, and whofe temples are often extremely magnificent. But, from the fewnefs, and often total abfence of temples among the Barbarians, we derive feveral advantages ; firft, as we have no temples among them, and their worfliip fometimes requires none, our devotion can fuftain no lofs of holy dignity from being performed in groves, or open fields, and in connexion with no ftated times, or confecrated places : fecondly, if one fpecies of idolatry may have originated from the beauties difclofed at night, by the richly jewelled canopy re- fplendent with the heavenly hoft, and, in the day, by the glorious Sun, performing his circuit through the empyrean a canopy oftimes far more rich than any Tyrian dye fo we may now hope to turn all thofe beauties to our own advantage, by a much purer worfhip than that of the heathen a worfhip that awakens their committed to the flames the remaining Sibylline verfes, as manifeft impoftures, whatever the previous ones may have been. But, even now, there is a fmall collection of thefe verfes that feem to have furvived ! Whence they come is not certainly known : probably they were fabricated in an early century, through fome pious Chriilian fraud. They were collected and annotated by Ser vatius Gallieus, of Rotterdam, in his work en titled " Sibillina Oracula, ex Veterlbus Codicibus." Amfterdam, 1689 4-to. Sesiion xxvn. CJje 2xUanBenng Jeto. 339 Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. attention, not to the fublime works of nature as the mere idols of their ignorant adoration, but to the omnipotent Creator of all thofe objects of fuch wonderful beauty, no lefs during night than day ! Then, my Cartaphilus, our worfhip in the open air, at all times and feafons, furrounded by the varied charms of creation, fo profufely difplayed in the boundlefs heavens when mining with their myriads of twinkling ftars in the mild-faced moon or in the ineffably brilliant fun ; or, when looking on the earth beneath, we behold the like diffufion of beauties in the gufhing fountains in the flowing rivers in the majeftic mountains, the verdant hills, flowery vales, and in the deep lhady groves ; then, I fay, our worfhip be comes an exalted adoration of an eternal, omnifcient and omni- prefent ONE-Goo, filling the mind with boundlefs love and awe, and yet with no flavifh fear ! And /^/?/y, this worfhip without temples^ agrees with our prefent humble means and forced con dition ; and, at the fame time enables our apoftles, our evangelifts, and other minifters, to be feen and heard by a far greater number, than in more civilized nations could poflibly enter their temples, even if freely cart open to our fervice. Now all of this, dear Car taphilus, muft again tend to the fpread of our Gofpel : for the multitude, even in their worfhip, enjoy the freedom of nature, and the magnificence of God s works. ^ENTH. Although the religions in the world are almoft as numerous as are the nations, each is permitted by the others freely to enjoy its own : for nations war not with each other becaufe of their faith or, that their gods are different from thofe of others, the prevalent opinion being (moft happily for the repofe of the human race) that the gods themfelves have harmonioufly eftablifhed for each nation its peculiar religion ! Hence, though no nation be permitted, in any way, to interfere with the worfhip of another nation, the gods of all are generally refpecled in each ; and the in dividuals of each are hofpitably received : and, whilft fbjourning among them, are allowed to worfhip their own gods privately alfo to commune with the people refpecling their feveral faiths, and even to declare openly their own peculiar views, if done with a due regard for the opinions and prejudices of thofe around them. Hence Paul refided at Rome during feveral years communed freely with his own people and declared his faith to others none molefting him : and this he might have continued to do, but for the wonderful circumftance that marked the Nazarene faith in par ticular, and the extraordinary wickednefs of Nero ; who fought to caft from himfelf the odium of Rome s conflagration upon the harmlefs Chriftians ; and who alfo had taken great offence at the converfion of fome of his own houfehold to the apoftle s faith. e, my Cartaphilus, better knows than thou, that our Roman 340 Qt&ronicleg of Cartapfnlus, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. rulers, fmce the time of the firft Herod, have feldom moleited us in our worfhip ; unlefs when we actually, or by report, had irritated their people ; and alfo that they generally refpeted the Hebrew do&rine as to the only God ; and even fo far as to pay annual honours to Jehovah as the god of our nation ; and the rather, poflibly, as they likewife conceived that to be but another name for Jupiter, their own fupreme god. It ftiould alfo be remembered that when the great Macedonian conqueror, Alexander, came to Jerufalem, he offered facrifices in our Temple, under the guidance of our High-Priefr. ; and that Seleucus, who is called Soter, alfo facrificed to our God, at his own charge, as did likewife Vitellius lately. Nor will you forget, my Cartaphilus, that the Ephefians, and other people, were often more angered by the lofs of their gains in the trade of decorating temples, and in the making of idols, than by all the doftrines and morals^ and teachings^ however variant from theirs, provided we taught them with no revilings of their own gods. jffll thefe are proofs that ufually our faith is not, in itfelf, of- feniive to the Gentiles; and that if perfections muft come, they will flow from many other caufes, than the Heathens love towards their own many gods, and hatred towards our One : and what thofe other caufes are, the paft has fomewhat difclofed, and the future will, doubtlefs, more largely mow us. ^gJJ[e have churches in Antioch, in Damafcus, Smyrna, Jeru falem, and in divers other places: the Gofpel has been openly preached in very many lands, and amidft faiths utterly unlike our own, and where no church hath yet been eftablifhed, and yet with a hearing of attention, and often of kindnefs. In Ephefus we were feldom ferioufly molefted ; and oftener through the machinations of hoftile Jews, than otherwife. But, if the late powerful decree of Nero be not revoked by his fucceflbrs; if the ftronger powers come upon us as roaring lions, then indeed will there be bad paffions enough in man s nature, to caufe the people to fpread that perfecu- tion with contagious fury, and to prefs it fo hotly againft us, that -even the moft private worihip will be forbidden, and our very name of Chriftian fubjel us to great miferies, or even to certain death ! Still, until this comes, the privileges we enjoy from the caufes I have detailed, will continue, as they already have done, to diffufe exten- fively the Gofpel light : and, if others follow not the example of Nero, the New Faith will daily gain bright laurels, and be found planted firmly in the higheft places ! ^LEVENTH. The great fame of the writings of our PHILO, and my own acquaintance with him for a fhort time, have caufed me to look into his works ; which, though I do not feel allured are within the fcope of a woman s limited philofophy, yet fufficiently . C6e OEJantiering; 3[eto. 341 Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. afTure me that the vanity of human learning is infinitely fmall, when compared with the illumination of Paul, and the divine infight of John into fuch myfteries, during his vifions at Patmos. How ftrangely hath Philo blended many of the great truths revealed by Mofes and the Prophets, with the curious, and perhaps deep philo- fophy of Plato ! which is again faid to be, in many things, but a corruption of our own early religion ; for fo Ariftobulus of Alex andria confiders it, in his Commentary on the Books of Mofes, written more than a century before the works of Philo. ^Jorn at Alexandria, Philo s education was of the higheft order; and he became renowned no lefs for his thorough knowledge of our Scriptures, than for his acquaintance with the Greek Philo- fophy, especially that of Plato ; and alfo for his fublime eloquence, that noifed his fame in his native city, and yet more, in the latter part of his life, at Jerufalem, in our Sanhedrim. ^he Judaic Platonifm of Pbilo^ and the difguifed Judaifm of Plato, though fo variant from the Mofaic religion, on the one hand, and greatly fo from the Polytheifm of the Gentiles, on the other, are both more congenial to the fpirit of Chriftianity, than are any of the fyftems of Philofophy known to the Greeks and Romans ; or of the Science cultivated by the Orientals, fo that, wherever the one or the other is well received, the tranfition to the much purer dogmata and morals of Chriftianity is not fo abrupt as to oc- cafionany real difficulty. Plato teaches (as my learned Cartaphilus well knows) that all things are governed by One Being the fountain of all perfections, whom he calls the Aya8c$ a reunion with which, as he fays, is the ftrongeft afpiration of the human foul, one which furvives the body s diflblution, and enters, through the grave, into an eternal world there to caufe the foul to be happy, or miferable, according to the degree of reunion it has erta- blifhed in this world with the Source of all good. He further teaches, that the love of, and fearch after TRUTH, are the only means of uniting kindred fpirits; and that man s foul, though aflb- ciated with matter^ (which he regards as the fource of all malignity) ftill retains within itfelf the germs of a complete reftoration to the kingdom of truth ! In this fyftem, then, my Cartaphilus, we have the Unity of God the Immortality of the Soul the Corrup tion of Man and the doctrine of future Rewards arid Puniihments : but it is greatly disfigured by the dogma that matter is eflentially corrupt, and nearly invincibly the fource of evil that Deity, in this refpedl, is not omnipotent and that man has within himfelf the means of his own regeneration, but only as far as it is poffible for him to baffle the influences of matter ! all of which are doctrines at variance in a large degree with the Hebrew, and wholly fo with the found Chriftian faith. 342 Chronicles of CartapfriUis, century \. Prifcilla s Narrative The xn Sources of Hope. ^n addition to thefe approximations of Platonifm to the celeftial truths proclaimed by Chriftians, Plato fpeaks (though myfterioufly) of the LogoSj as an energy proceeding from God ; whilft Philo, going yet further, perfonifies this Logos, and calls it fimply, " God:" but the Supreme Being he calls, by way of eminence, " The God." Philo alfo makes a difference (as to origin) between the creation of matter, and information : the firft he afcribes to the Agatbos the latter to the Logos. *^)hefe are matters fo nearly accordant with the Chriftian dog mata, that whenever, in the Weft or Eaft, the views of Plato and of Philo are approved, Chriftianity may expe6l no fturdy oppofition : for, while in Ephefus, I remarked that many from Alexandria, who were rather friendly to the Chriftian caufe, were generally Pla- tonifts ; and often faid that the Athenian philofopher of the Cera- micus was little elfe than Mofes fpeaking Greek : and that Philo of Alexandria, is but Plato Hebraized! And, though this may be too ftrongly worded, there is in it fufficient truth to yield us no fmall hope from this caufe likewife. ^f muft here mention that the ESSENES, alfo, who are fome- what numerous in Egypt, occafion many to think well of the Chrif tians : for, though the Chriftians do not dwell in rural folitudes, are not given to wafting abftinences, to penitential mortifications, and to rigid celibacy, as are the EfTenes of Syria, of Judea, and of Egypt, yet, as the Chriftians worfhip God in fpirit and in truth, through much contemplation, and with no reliance now upon any facrificeS) and offerings, to appeafe the Deity, they refemble thofe Effenes of Egypt, by Plato, denominated Therapeutts. Thefe Contemplative Eflenes, fo well known at Alexandria, Philo feems to admire, in contradiftin6tion to thofe of Syria and Judea, whom he calls Practical Eflenes : for Philo was by no means of the way of living of either fort though, when he philosophizes ^ it is after the fafhion of the Therapeutae. r his combination, then, of the views of Plato, of Philo, and of the Therapeutas (fo well received by the Heleniftic Jews, and by others who cultivate the philofophy I have mentioned) feems well fuited to win towards the Minifters of our Faith, at leaft a refpecl- ful ear. ^J^WELFTH, and laftly. I fhall advert to only one more caufe, though there be many others, of the ftrong hope we all have, that the religion from Calvary is deftined, eventually at leaft, to Chrif- tianize the whole world ! ^hou wilt readily agree with me, O Cartaphilus, that the Samaritans (whofe religion, from its very origin, hath been corrupt, and far more tainted with Gentile errors than that of the Hebrews) have neverthelefs entertained, at all times, much jufter views as to the long-expeted Meffiah, than thofe of our purer-blooded Jewifh seBion xxvm. Cfjc C23antiering Jetri, 343 Prifcilla s Narrative The XII Sources of" Hope. countrymen. The Samaritans worfhip the God of Abraham they believe in the foul s immortality they venerate the prophets ; but ftill they have for ages differed from us in fome do&rines and prac tices ; and alfo a long hatred between them and our people hath been the caufe of great mifery to both : and yet, to me, it is quite evident that the Samaritan opinions and practices are often now the purer ; and that their idea of the views of Jehovah in fending his Shiloh, are far more correct than thofe of the Jews, whofe diflike of other nations, and whofe fKff-necked pride, caufed them to look for a temporal Mefliah, who would not fail to fpeedily place Ifrael highly exalted above all other people ! and this, my Cartaphilus, was thine own great miftake, and the fatal caufe of thy dealings with Judas and Pilate. This erroneous notion is feldom enter tained by Samaritans ; and may therefore prove a means of exciting a more favourable impreflion on them, generally, as to the claims of Jefus, than on the Jews. *^he foregoing twelve reafons of hope for the fpread of Chrif- tianity weighed ftrongly upon my mind ; and indeed fuftained us all whilft fojourning at Ephefus, and during our travels into fuch remote lands, during our abfence of fome years. Amidft the difficulties I firft mentioned, and the hopes I have juft enumerated, the little Band at Ephefus proclaimed the Gofpel truths wherever they went, fometimes with fruit, and lively gratitude from the Gentiles, and at other times, the feed falling upon ftony ground, produced only ridicule, revilings, and threats. ^Jut, my Cartaphilus, no longer will I detain thee with thefe deep matters ; but proceed to the narrative of our journey I ngs from Ephefus into various lands and our great perils therein; thefe being, as I well know, the only object of thy impofmg on me the talk of a narrative. But, Cartaphilus, thy friend Prifcilla had fome other views, than to gratify thy curiofity ; for thefe views are aimed at thy finful heart and perverted underftanding which fhe prays may not fall lifelefs to the earth. SECTION XXVIII. UR little family, with Aquila and his excellent Prifca (who confented fo kindly to accompany us as far as Smyrna) took leave of Ephefus, *** .,, , ,,- r / i i i n family leave at the early dawn or one or the lovelieit F+L/r,., f c . , J cpaf/tu, or bivan s mornings. had detained us nearly three years : how flufhed, then, were we with the bright hope that now beamed on us, of gradually reaching our ftill beloved Judea ; and of fettling ourfelves once 344 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. more in that dear place of refuge, on the borders of Pella, afligned to the faithful by the Moft High ! " Hail Judea ! thou once moft favoured of lands thou brighteft fpot of our earlieft affections," mufingly faid I, as we journeyed towards Smyrna, 4t I ivill love thee, and until the great day of thy fure curfe {hall be accomplimed ! till then, doubtlefs we may love thy foil, though we muft ever hate the many foul deeds of thy people, but, after thofe fatal days, even thy accurfed foil muft be avoided ! for thou, O Judea, wilt fade away thy limpid living ftreams will be dried up thy rich and verdant paftures become as the rocky and fandy defert thy people will be fcattered, rinding no fafe abiding place : for fo the Lord of Hofts hath proclaimed ! and fhall he not execute it?" Such were my then thoughts. And now, Cartaphilus, I would have thee, as one doubting, to remember well, and underftand, what our holy prophet AMOS faith : " Behold ! the eyes of the Lord Are upon the finful kingdom : And I will deftroy it from off the face of the earth ; Saving, that I will not utterly deftroy The Houfe of Jacob, faith the Lord. For lo ! I will command, And I willy//? the Houfe of Ifrael, Among all nations, Like as corn is fifted in a fieve : Yet mail not the leaft grain Fall upon the earth ! " And JEREMIAH faith, " I will make Jerufalem heaps a den of dragons ; And I will make the cities of Judah defolate." *^he dreadful times feen by thofe prophets are now faft ap proaching already moft of our proud cities are levelled to the earth, which is moiftened with the bloods of her children, and whitened by their bones ! JERUSALEM, the once holy and favoured, is nearly all that now remains to us and this muft foon perifh ! But with hefe afflictive realities and forebodings, I muft no longer grieve thee, and myfelf; but tell thee of my travels through lands fo ftrange to me, fome of which, thanks to Calvary s great Prince, are not without a few bright fpots, made fo only by the King of kings ! h we had made fome excurfions from Epheius, to feveral cities of Ionia and Caria, they generally were to the ane f Uth a " d Weft and neVCr in the direaion of that fited by them. " Ornament of Afia" that " Crown of all Ionia" as Smyrna is cuftomarily called, we crofted the beautiful and rapid Cayjlrus, we were greatly on xxvm. Cfjc OKantienng; 3(eto* 345 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. charmed with the fhaded and verdant banks, with the clearnefs of its mountain waters, and ftill more, with the numerous flocks of fwans, which habitually grace with their white plumage its reflective bofom, and gambol in its fecure and umbrageous recefles, with a moft enviable innocence. jjtfrriving at the foot of Majlufia, we afcended its lofty heights, that we might enjoy its enchanting profpect. The fun was juft crofling its lummit with his ruddy and genial rays ; and the early morning mifts that lay beneath us, were diflolving before his beams in a thoufand fantaftic fhapes taking directions through the clefts of the mountains, and occafionally dilplaying the trees, as fo many iflets in the midft of a foaming ocean ! At our feet lay the rich valley that ftretches even unto the fea ; its variegated meadows and fields and gardens being refreftied by the waters of the Colophon, and of the Haloefus, with their feveral tributary ftreams, and, in the diftance, this valley is graced by the ancient cities of Colophon, where Xenophanes firft drew breath ; and where it, with divers other cities, claims the luftrous fame of Homer s birth ! phefus fouthwardly, and Smyrna on the north and weft, were diftinctly vifible to us from thofe Maftufian heights ; whilft clofe to the fea lay the venerable, though unfortunate Lebedos, whofe in habitants were moft happy to find an exile at Ephefus, after the de- ftruction of their town by Lyfimachus : alfo the city of Teios, lately repaired by Auguftus, and renowned as the birth-place of Anacreon ; who is faid to have been a poet of exalted genius, but of very licen tious morals. It is further related of this intemperate and lafcivious poet, that he lived to a great old age ; but met his death, at laft, by a grape-ftone ; which, taking a wrong direction in the act of fwal- lowing, inftantly fuffbcated him ! [K^urther to the fouth, we alfo beheld Myonnefus and Claros ; at which latter place Apollo hath an oracle. Thefe oracles, as we hear, are of late in much lefs repute the celeftial one, firft wit- neffed in Judea, will ere long filence them all ! arly on the fucceeding day we reached that Teios, which we had feen from the fummit of Maftufia ; and proceeding thence direct for Smyrna, following the banks of the Meles, we reached that city before the fun had dipped his rays into the Ifcarian fea, in the rear of Chios.* ^he Ephefians claim Smyrna as their daughter, ftating that it was founded at a very early period by a fmall colony, from that quarter of their own great city, called Smyrna. Others fay that .it is but a part of the more ancient city called Tantalus, founded near 1200 years ago by a king of Lydia of * Smyrna is diftant from Ephefus only about forty-eight miles. 346 Chronicles of Cattapi)ilu0, century i. Prilcilla s NaiTative Their Journeyings. that name ; who is faid to be the fon of Jupiter, and the father of that moft unfortunate of mothers the weeping Niobe ! Be all this as it may, it is certain that Smyrna may boaft of great antiquity hath encountered many remarkable viciflitudes, being fometimes almoft wholly obliterated ; and that Alexander, the famous Mace donian, greatly revived it ; and further, that Lyfimachus raifed it to fo lofty a height, that it hath become the moft flourifhing and beauti ful of all the cities in this portion of the world. ^j[his proud ornament of the LefTer Afia lies on a beautiful plain ; and covers alfo the brow of a hill, on the north of the river, and near its junction with the Meles. ()n the north and eaft of the city, we fee the towering heights of the Sipylus mountains on the weft, the magnificent gulf, clofe to which the city is fituate ; and, as you enter its fouthern gate, clofe to where the rivers blend, in fweet communion, their bright waters, the eye is greeted with the lovely gardens of the Gymnafium, and with the ftately Temple, dedicated to the mother of all their gods ! jCDy attention was next arrefted by an extenfive quadrangular Portico, leading to a graceful little temple confecrated to the me mory of Homer ; who, as the Smyrnians infift, was born there ; and to ftrengthen their claim, they have among them a bronze coin, of fome antiquity, called the Homericum. ^J^he Greek language, as thou, my Cartaphilus, well knoweft, hath greatly occupied me of late ; and hence I do not hefitate to read Homer s wonderful poems, though Anacreon I mail never venture to caft my eye into ; for our Jewifh education has never fet any value upon the ftrange and wicked fancies of thefe heathen poets, and efpecially fuch as Anacreon. Homer, however, furely the greateft of them all, I muft not reject ; as I deem it a duty to become as fully acquainted with all heathen inftitutions and man ners as poffible, if without rifk of contamination. I could not, therefore, behold the ftatue of Homer, in the little temple I have juft mentioned, but with confiderable intereft, derived as well from my fondnefs for the language of that memorable genius, as from my juft admiration of the furprifing variety of knowledge he difplays as to men and things. Had we a Homer now, how would he delight to fing of the wonders and infinite graces of Him, who filled Judea with his fame, and whofe luftre, as fhed from Calvary, fhall hereafter fill the worlds ! Such a poem would be read by me with a rapture, equal to the infpiration that fhould breathe it. ^J^here is likewife in Smyrna an extenfive library many ranges of porticoes, and of fpacious buildings, all of great beauty ; and the city, generally, is remarkably regular. I forgot, however, to men tion that, foon after leaving Teios, we were mown near the fource of the Meles, a cave, in which it is faid Homer compofed his won- on xxvm. Cfje bannering 3|eto* 347 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. derful poems : and hence, as thou knoweft, he is called a Melejigtnes ; and his poem Meletere Carmen. ^s it not wonderful, my learned Cartaphilus, that fo great a poet, whofe renown fills the earth, mould have no birth-place ? for he truly hath none, who hath at leaft nine ! Surely, in the lapfe of even the remoteft ages, the day never can come, when nine cities fhall difpute the claims of the humble BETHLEHEM to its pre- fent high and well-known honour. ftSJl e were greatly pleafed to find the Church at Smyrna profper- ous : it is, indeed, fcarce more yet than in its planted feed, but, will it not grow into a goodly tree, whofe branches (hall caft a de licious fhade over all this region, yea, beyond the Euxinus, and until it reaches the very fources of the Euphrates and of the Indus? doubt it not, O Cartaphilus yea, even beyond Abyla and Calpe ! iUJl e tarr e d in the "lovely Smyrna" only a few weeks ; and, on our departure, refolved to vifit Pboctea, on our way towards Thyatira. We travelled near the mores of the Smyrnian Gulf, in the delightful valley between them and the foot of the Sipylus mountain : and having crofled the Hermus^ we remained a day at the little town of Lemnos ; and early next morning reached the fine city of Phocaea fo called from the phocfe^ or fea calves, that abound in the noble inlet on which it is fituate. (gJJ^hen the Perfian conqueror Cyrus, fix hundred years ago, would have reduced them into his power, many of the Phocaei forfook their city ; and being great mariners, they flopped not un- til they reached Gaul and there they founded the now famed city of MaMlia.* Phocasa is now only nominally under Roman autho rity, Pompey having made it independent ; and fo it feems to con tinue ; and is at this time among the moft flourifhing of all the numerous cities of Peninfular Afia. Ci!Jl e na ft ene d n to Thyatira^ pafling through ./Egae and Cu- mae, places of no note, except that it may here be remarked that * Its modern name is Marfeilles. Early it became a commercial rival of Carthage ; and, from the period of the definition of that great African city, B.C. 146, to the contefts between Caefar and Pompey, an interval of about one hundred years, Maflilia became extremely profperous and populous, as likewife the feat of the fciences and arts contending even with Athens for the favour of all the Mufes ! During feveral centuries after the firft Punic war, (he con tinued Rome s firmed ally; fo that the friendship of the two cities became even remarkable : but her devotion to the intereds of Pompey much injured her; and though her political importance never furvived the mock, me ftill maintained her literary (landing for fome centuries ; and for fome time even after the Bar barians had made deep inroads into various parts of the Empire. Marfeilles is ftill a commercial city of confiderable note ; and next to Paris, is perhaps even now entitled to literary precedence over the other Gallic cities. 348 Chronicles of Cartapfnlu.s, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. Cumae of Italy, where the famed Sibyl hath her oracle, was founded by a colony from this Afiatic town of the fame name. The jour ney from Phocaea to Thyatira is very fatiguing, as we feldom for- fook the mountains : but from thofe heights, the profpe6l was delightful indeed embracing the luxuriant plain in which the latter city lies embofomed, amidft the moft extenfive groves of cyprefs, willow, poplar, and other beautiful trees. ^JJJ^e reached this city at midnight ; and on the following day , were received by the Church, with many affectionate Thyatira and . J J its Church, greetings. ,O urm g our ihort fojourn at the lovely Thyatira, Rebecca was much charmed with the Chriftian fimplicity, high in telligence, and amiable hofpitality of LYDIA, an eminent trader in all the purples, and who, about twelve years ago, was an inha-" bitant of Philippi, of Macedonia, though born at Thyatira. ()n Paul s arrival at Philippi, Lydia kindly invited the holy man to her houfe and, under his difcourfes, me received the faith, and was baptized, with all her houfehold. j^ome few years after this, Lydia returned to her native city ; and, on hearing of our arrival at Thyatira, (he urged us, with the like hofpitality mown by her to Paul, that we mould make her houfe our home. ^^ebecca s mind was fo greatly and juftly taken with Lydia, that we promptly confented to dwell with her for a time ; and never have I found in woman more heavenly-mindednefs, than in Lydia. ^^ut, my Cartaphilus, I lament to fay that the infant Church of Thyatira was greatly troubled at that time by a certain Jezebel woman (as unlike the admirable Lydia, as is Heaven from Hades) who feduced our people to believe her a prophetefs, and to go after her idolatries ! Strange is it indeed, that amidft the brightnefs of the New Faith, the follies of fo wicked a woman mould be heeded by any, in preference to the teachings and lovely example of fo pure a being as Lydia ! and yet, when I departed from Thyatira, the Church ftill continued in no fmall mifery from this artful woman.* * It feems pretty evident that the name Jezebel was applied indifferently to any fuch charafters, as the one alluded to by Prifcilla ; and that neither the individual fo named in Revelation, ii. 20, nor the one ftated by Prifcilla, was a woman of that name ; but was fo called from that Jezebel, wife of king Ahab, who (a thoufand years before the prophet of Patmos) was fo mad with idolatry, as to inftigate her hufband to feek the life of Elijah, and murder the prophets. She met her death, however, in the way foretold by Elijah her body being caft out of a window, trodden to death by war-horfes, and devoured by the numerous dogs that infefted the city. Hence her name palled into a proverb. Vide i Kings xix. z xxi. 9. i Kings ix. 30 35. 349 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. Thyatira we pafled on to Sardis, a diilance of fcarce thirty Roman miles, and therefore nearer Ephefus, the place of our departure j for we had now performed in a f r l f. ^ our travels more than a femicircle, being defirous to vifit all of the Churches of the Letter Afia. Sardis is beautifully fituate on the Paftolus, near its confluence with that bright and living ftream that flows into lake Gygteus, about five miles below. Mount Imolus overlooks the city ; from the fummit of which the view is furprifingly grand. On the north you fee the Hermus flowing at the bafe of a long mountain chain ; it then pafles through the northern valley of the Siphus your eye foon refts upon La- rijfa ; and the diftant Smyrnian gulf mixes its blue tints with thofe of the far more expanfive empyrean. On the eaft, the tran quil filver waters of the Gygaean lake, and the wide expanfe of the city of Croefus, feem almoft under your feet ; and on the fouth, you fee the Padtolean ftream ifluing fromTmolus and defcending through the very narrow, but lovely valley ; whilft again, more to the eaft, the white buildings of our much beloved Philadelphia blend their fpotlefs colour (fo exprefiive of their faith) with the rich verdure that encompafTes them. ^ardis is not at this time more than the memento of what it was, when the proud metropolis of Crcefus, king of Lydia the richeft of mankind, if we except our Solomon. The Greeks of all Afia to Croefus paid their tributes : his court was the abode of all the known learning of his days ! There Solon, of Athens, converfed with Crcefus on the higheft fources of human happinefs. In Sardis, the truly wife JEfop alfo, found an afylum of general fafety and of merited honour ; and the Delphian oracle was likewife enriched by prefents of immenfe value, given by this Crcefus ! ^Jut all this wealth and power vaniftied before the refiftlefs army of the " appointed" Cyrus of Perfia ! Xerxes, in after times, fet fb large a value upon Sardis, that he commanded thofe around him daily to exclaim to him when at dinner, " The Greeks have taken Sardis ! fo that he might never ceafe to be ftimulated to fecure it at any coft ! " Jgfardis, however, fell not to the earth ; {he continued rich and powerful amidft all her adverfities : her conflicts with the Medes, lonians, Macedonians, Athenians, Romans, and others, fhow the vaftnefs of her ftrength. But, what man was flow in efFe&ing, the God of nature greatly haftened, for me fuffered much by an earth quake, only about forty years ago, in the time of the Emperor Tiberius. Sardis rofe again to confiderable fplendour, when rebuilt by order of that monarch : and fince then, me hath been growing rich ; but alas ! no lefs proud and wicked. One of our earlieft Churches was eftablifhed in Sardis, but her 350 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. love of luxury promifes us but little fruit. Unhappy people ! that thou canft not, even in this thy brightest hope for true happinefs and glory, embrace the offer fo freely given. That, which Solon, O people of Sardis ! told thy Crcefus, was indeed Wifdom, as from the fkies, though it came from heathen lips, but thy Crcefus had no faith, until Cyrus was his matter : what the Chriftus, through his meflengers, hath proclaimed to Sardis, and unto all Lydia, is a far higher wifdom ; and, if neglected, will bring on thee, O Sardis, a more fure and lafting ruin, than that which befell thy long famed and wealthy ruler ! (gje remained at Sardis not many days ; and were truly happy They arrive to find ourfelves on the road to Philadelphia. This at Philadel- brought us, for a time, upon the border of the Gygaean phia. Jake . where we tarried fome hours, to furvey the many gorgeous tombs of the once wealthy and powerful, who had flourifhed at Sardis ; but who chiefly have now a marble immortality only, on the more of this beautiful lake. And fo is the fame of this life, moftly like that of Sardis marble and gold and ivory cannot preferve it long.* JH rrived at Philadelphia, we were much refrefhed by the prof- perous condition of our Church. This is not an ancient city, being founded only about two hundred years ago, by Attalus III., king of Pergamus ; who was alfo called Philadelphus, from his fraternal love. jttalus was a great patron of learning, and a wife ruler of his people ; over whom he prefided twenty years ; but was cruelly murdered by his nephew, in the 82nd year of his age ! You perceive, my Cartaphilus, that this little city had for its founder, one fo noted for his brotherly love and eminent wifdom, that her now gracious and zealous acceptance of the Gofpel feems to be a merciful recog nition by God of his refpecT: even for heathen piety ! and I cannot help feeling a conviction that the humility of this fmall city, graced * The Emperor Julian "The Apoftate," nearly 300 years after Prifcilla s vifit, made a ftrenuous effort to refcue the pagan worfhip in Sardis from its ex- pefted decline, by erecting there various altars, and reftoring fome of their ruined temples. In a century after this, the Goths feverely plundered it ; and for quite 600 years more, we hear little of Sardis, until it fell into the hands of the Turks, who retained it but a mort time, and yet regained it in the fourteenth century. At length came the renowned Timur, who feems to have utterly deftroyed it, as nothing now remains of that famed Lydian capital, but a wretched village, interefting, indeed, from fome magnificent ruins painful mementos of its ancient grandeur ! Her Paftolean current, that flowed through the city, has long fmce ceafed to yield its golden treafures; and nothing in Sardis now re minds the traveller of her former glories, but an occafional infcription on fome fragment, or difmterred medal, certifying that, " Sardis is the firft metropolis of AJia, Greece, and Lydia." SeElion xxvrn. Cf)0 (KHantiering 31efoJ, 351 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. with the jewels of Christianity, will caufe her to live, when many arrogant and lordly cities fhall be refolved into their firft elements, and be loft in the grave of their mother earth ! JF-I fter fpending nearly a month among thofe interefting people, we took our departure for Laodicea. As this journey was rough, and too tedious for one day, we occupied a portion of the firft in afcending the Acropolis of Philadelphia ; and were again charmed with a rich and varied profpect. I know not how it is, my friend Cartaphilus, but I can never permit an occafion to efcape me of viewing the works of God, and of man s induftry, from the greateft attainable heights ! My feelings are there fublimated my heart warmed by all fuch contemplations. I then experience my own fuperlative littlenefs, and God s unutterable greatnefs ; I feel, for the time, as if nearer Heaven I find my heart fwelling, and my lips involuntarily ejaculating his praifes, and condemning my own poor gratitude. JH fter leaving the Acropolis, we rode for a few hours upon the green and beautiful banks of the Cogamus, it being in our direct road for Laodicea : and whilft on the borders of that lovely river, we amufed ourfelves greatly with the varied and graceful motions, and fportive fwimming of the numerous fwans that feek their food and habitations in this river. And we were efpecially ftruck with their furprifmg faculty ofrefpiring fo very long a time, with bill and neck under water, and often plunging amidft the tangled grafs and mud of the fhoals near the river margin ! In deeper waters, we obferved they would fometimes dive with extreme rapidity, and remain until our own patience was quite exhaufted, in waiting for their rife : and when they reappeared, it was at a furprifmg diftance from where they had Submerged ; and then, gracefully making their long necks, and pure white plumage, they feemed to revel in their occupation, as one of far lefs neceflity than of great delight ! JLJ.eaving the Cogamus, we foon crofted the Mceander^ not far from Tripolis ; and reached Laodicea at a convenient hour, on the fecond day of our departure from Phila- delphia. It is fituate on the eaftern bank of the Lycus y near its confluence with the dfopus : and lies only a few miles north of Coloflas. Its prefent is not its ancient name, once Diofpolis, then Rhoas, and now Laodicea, in memory of Laodice, wife of Antiochus, the Syro-Grecian King, who rebuilt it. ^he Church here did not entirely pleafe me ; the people are much given to luxury and riot ; and the Chriftians are lefs devout than at any of the other cities through which we have pafied having Churches. Paul never vifited this city ; but, feeling much for the Church there, (more flourifhing then, than now) he requefts the Chriftians of Coloftae, to whom he addrefled an epiftle about 35 2 Chronicles of Cattapfrilu.s, Century r. Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. four, years ago, to have the fame read alfo in the Church of the Laodiceans.* Our flay at Laodicea was fhort ; and thence we proceeded to Colofias on the Lycus, a few miles fouth of Laodicea, Myfain an( j a b out t^g f ame diftance from Hierapolis. Hard by Coloflae, we were aftonimed to find that the river Lycus abruptly difappears ; and after running its courfe, deep and * About twenty-five years after the date of Prifcilla s narrative, the Aportle John, when at a very advanced age, addrefled the Seven Churches of Afia- Minor, in a very remarkable and prophetic manner; which will be found in the Second and Third Chapters of Revelation. Thefe Churches were at Smyrna, Ephefus, Pergamus, T/iyatira, Santis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea : and how wonderfully the prophecy has been fulfilled, may be feen in the whole hiftory of thefe feven cities, and of their Churches, even up to the prefent hour ! It is interefting to find that the Apoftle, in fpeaking of the Church at SMYRNA, utters no word of reproof Ibme of caution but others of praife, inftruftion, and promife. The words addreffed to each Church, are, indeed, but few, yet extremely fignificant; and quite fufficient to enable us to fee in each cafe, the perfe6t fulfilment of the prophetic words ! Smyrna is even yet a flourifliing city, more than four miles in circuit, poffefTed of an extenfive commerce with almoft every part of the world ; and though in the hands of the Turks, (he has retained Chriftianity ever fince its firft planta tion there ; and it now contains a larger number of Chriftians of various na tions, languages, and feels, than any other Afiatic city all living in perfect fecurity and general harmony with each other, and with thofe of fo entirely different a faith ! EPHESUS was blamed for her then ftate ; and was alfo warned that her " candleftick " would be removed, if me repented not. She did not fulfil her firft promife ; and, with her waning Chriflianity, which at length utterly va- nifhed in the prefence of Mohammed, (he has wholly ceafed to exift ; and can now be recognifed only in a few iplendid ruins, and fome mud cottages, where once had flood the magnificent city ; and even among thole wretched hovels, not a folitary Chriftian is to be feen ! The very name of Ephefus is loft, for that of Aiafoluc ; and the church of Saint John, converted into a mofque, is vifited only occafionally by a few Turks her candleftick, therefore, was en tirely removed, as (he heeded not the prophetic warning ! PERGAMOS is commended for her fteadfaftnefs during the early perfecutions ; but is ftill blamed for fome things : the threat againft her is more liibdued than that againft Ephefus j and we find that Pergamos is yet among the cities of Afia, having both Greek and Armenian churches ! Its prefent population does not exceed three or four thoufand the ruins of its once great magnificence are all around them ; but the leaven of the found faith is ftill there; and the prophecy (which fo emphatically alludes to the do&rines of Balaam, and of the Nico- laitans, fo prevalent at Pergamos in the apoftolic age) may have anticipated the fate of the then exifting heretics, but that they might be overcome only by a herefy more grievous than what Pergamos then had and doubtlefs, that was Mohamedaniirn ! THYATIRA, alfo, is praifed and blamed : me is now fallen from her high eftate but is not deftroyed utterly ; fhe yet has fome of the* faithful ; and, like Pergamos, contains both Armenian and Greek churches. SARDIS was more culpable than either; it was a lordly city, and juftly claimed to be the metropolis of Afia, When the Prophet addrefled their Church, it xxvm. Cfjc 2^antiermg 3|eto. 353 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. hidden underground, full half a Roman mile, it again emerges, and foon after empties itfelf into the river Maeander ! jFft Coloffae we were moft hofpitably entreated by PHILEMON, the former mailer of Onefimus, mentioned by me as beine freed from fervitude at Paul s folicitation. Phile- The ^" erable f ... . .. . r .. . . Philemon. mon s wealth is great ; but his mode or Jiving is un- oftentatious : he enjoys the goods of this life without ftint, but had greatly foiled its faith : there were but "fe-iv" who had not " defiled their garments^ and they were admonifhed to be " ^watchful, and ftrengthen the things which remain," left vengeance fhould come upon them " as a thief" they not knowing the hour it fhould come ! Thofe feeble and half-dead re mains of piety foon faded away; and Sardis, like Ephefus, has been blotted out of exiftence, there being now, in that once gorgeous city, but a few huts occupied by Turkifh herdfmen and not a iingle Chriftian refident there ! This now miferable village, called Sart, has neverthelefs many fad mementoes of its former grandeur, in the defolate ruins of ma/live buildings, and in the broken folitary pillars that ftill linger there : and among thofe melancholy remnants are fome of a great church poffiblythe very one on which the eye of the holy Prophet had refted : but there it is, in dead folitude, with no one who could dare to collect its fragments, to raife the humbleft temple to the long forfaken God of Calvary ! , LAODICEA, if poflible, had yet more deeply offended ; and the prophetic eye faw that it would go ftill much further. The Chriftians of that metropolis were charged with lukewarmnefs of being neither hot nor cold and of ex- cefTive pride of wealth. All the other Churches were commended for fome- thing ; and were partially, for a time, blefTed : but that of Laodicea was loathed ; and the threat was, " / <willfpne thee out of my mouth ;" for, after having been the mother Church of that region, it early foriook its faith, and gave itfelt up to exceflive luxury. Its fate is a fignal execution of the prophecy it has been annihilated "// is thoroughly defolated, without anv inhabitant, but *wol-~ues and jackals and foxes" rambling freely amidft its fplendid fragments, its gor- geoufly fculptured, but now mofs-grown and half-buried ruins ! PHILADELPHIA. But, if the threatenings of the holy Prophet have been re markably verified, fo have his promifes been equally accomplished, and in the exaft proportion that thefe feveral Churches have been true to their high truft in each cafe, feeble, indeed, but ftill vifible. In the cafe of Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira, we have feen how far they have been bleffed, according to the very feeble meafure of their enduring faith, refpeclively : but in that of Philadelphia, it has been yet more clearly manifefted. As a city, Philadelphia was at no time of much confideration ; nor is it now; but me had received the faith with joy, and retained it with exemplary tenacity, amidft long-enduring trials. The Prophet utters no words of blame all are of praife, and of fpiritual blcfling, fo far forth as the condition of the furround- ing world would admit. " Becaufe thou haft kept the word of my patience, I will alfo keep thee from the hour of temptation, ivhich JJiall come upon all the world." This is the prophetic promife ; and its fulfilment is to be feen in the whole hiftory of this little city, up to the p relent hour ! Smyrna, indeed, had no judgment pronounced againft her, (he is merely warned that Beelzebub will try fome of her people; and that tribulation will come upon her Church for " ten days," (alluding to the ten years of perfecution that followed, in the reign of the Emperor Dioclefian) and then he promifes her a crown of life, if me mall remain faithful unto death ! The Smyrnians pafled through that perfecu- I. A A 354 C&ronicles: of Cartapirilus, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. with no wafteful fuperfluity and all with a grateful heart of re membrance, and an entire dependance upon the Source whence all bounties flow. The poor are under his protection ; but the idle and vicious are not fuffered to live on him. He hath ftill many flaves ; but they are all moft happy under his paternal care ; and no one is retained who fighs for liberty, if he be capable of felf-fupport and felf-government. ^|3hilemon is now far advanced in years ; his long white locks, bright as the wool of a petted lamb, hang over his moulders ; his eyes beam with intelligence, and charm you with their Chriftian repofe. He feems to enjoy his exiftence, as in the days of his moft youthful innocence ; and yet with a dignity that commands high refpeft. This I perceived, on his queftioning Rebecca concerning Philotera ; who, no more a Have and heathen, is now as lovely as the opening rofe on a dewy fpring morning. The venerable old man having heard from the lips of Rebecca, the brief though eventful hiftory of Philotera, arofe, tenderly embraced my daughter, and playfully faid, " it is indeed, dear Rebecca, well for thee that fo many winters have frofted my head, and that fo few now remain for me, elfe furely would I claim thee inftantly of thy mother but, how comes it that thou, who haft fo many charms, haft never tion unfcathed; and have furvived, in a degree, the much feverer trial that followed in the feventh century, under Mohammed : but the Philadelphians have been yet more blefTed ; for, when the followers of the falfe prophet of Arabia came, and with fire and fword had proftrated half a world, Philadelphia, alone, though fo fmall in worldly power, was enabled from on high, fo long to withltand the Turks, that, at length, me fo capitulated with the proudeil of the Ottomans, as to remain through all the ages in a great degree Chriftian ! Even the infidel hiltorian, Gibbon, was ftruck fo forcibly with the remark able difcrepance between the phyfical power, and the moral fuccefs of this fa voured little city, amidft the general ruin of the Greek colonies and churches of Afia, that he fays, " Philadelphiaisftill ereEl a column in a fcene of ruins !" And all travellers, up to the prefent hour, agree that nowhere in the Turkifh dominions, has Chriilianity been fo uniformly fuftained during the lapfe of the twelve centuries fince Mohammed s time, as in that fmall city at the foot of Mount Imolus ! Divine fervice is now performed there in five churches; and, notwithftanding the erroneous and even hoftile views of the Greek and Latin Churches as to the diffufion of the Bible, the Bifhop of Philadelphia regards it as the only folid foundation of hope for the extenfive fpread of Chriltianity ; and that the prefent age will be found too enlightened to tolerate the abufes in this refpeft, that were i an&ioned by thofe Churches in earlier times, of withhold ing the facred Volume from the people. In conclufion of this long note, the Editor of thefe Chronicles cannot refrain from faying that, were there no other evidence of the divine fource of the " Book of Revelation" than the fure fulfilment of the words contained in thofe two chapters refpefting the "Seven Churches" of the Lefler Afia, nothing more would be needed the entire Book would ftand redeemed from all doubt as to its prophetic character, its authenticity and genuinenefs. xxvm. Cf)e ^Bannering; 3[eto, 355 Prilcilla s Narrative Their Journcyings. wedded, feeing that even I, who have my fires fmothered by old age, am fo warmed to life and love by thee ? Rebecca s diffidence could make no fit reply with her wonted promptnefs ; but from which the good and fprightly Philemon at once generoufly relieved her, by his equally jocofe and ardent addrefs to Philotera, who had juft entered and unveiled herfelf, and who, as thou knoweft, fcarce numbers a third of Rebecca s years. Philotera, indeed, had blufhes enough ; but they all vanifhed before the amiable cheerful- nefs of the pious old man. jjfjnd thus, my Cartaphilus, doChriftian influences, when blended with the naturally eftimable and vivacious temper of the intellectual Philemon, make him an exemplar of furprifing excellence in all af- femblages ; for, be they public or private, Philemon is ever fought after. *^he age, the great perfonal beauty, and highly cultivated mind of Philemon his uncommon mildnefs, gracefully blended with joyoufnefs ; and above all, that innocence, alone to be found in the Chriftian heart and mind, have rendered him a very dear companion, for youths as well as fages ! ^)hilemon and his family had known Paul elfewhere, but never at their own home ; for Paul, in his travels, had never reached either Coloflae, or Laodicea. Many inquiries were made of us by Philemon refpecling Paul, of whofe probable death by Nero he had caufe to fear ; and he wept bitterly over the recital, as given in an Epiftle from Onefimus, who greatly apprehended that Nero would execute his threat againft that great Apoftle. Philemon then faid to Rebecca, " thou fhouldft give to the gentle Philotera the name of Paulina, on her baptifm : " which, if done, Prifcilla would now advife thee, my Cartaphilus, that thy Julianus fhould receive from thee the name of Parmenas, in honour of him who fo lately was martyred at Philippi : but, of thefe matters we will converfe hereafter as Philotera and Julianus will foon receive baptifm. fllJL e departed from Coloflae with no little emotion ; for we had received there much kindnefs. And now, O Cartaphilus ! with what dread do I ftate my alarm, and, as I fear, my too well grounded belief, that this excellent Philemon and his family, have been fwal- lowed up by that terrific earthquake which, fhortly after we left Coloffe, deftroyed nearly the entire city, and feveral others of Phrygia ! During my fubfequent travels, and in the miferies we encountered at Artaxata, prefently to be detailed, I had heard only vague rumours of the fad calamity at Coloflae, and, fince my late return to Pella, no intelligence have I of Philemon, and no certain news refpedting that great vifitation, that deftroyed many thoufands, and nearly blotted out of exiftence that and other cities. Philemon may have perifhed ; and to this mifery was foon added the confirma- 35 6 Chronicles of Cartapfrite, century \. Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. tion of the rumoured apprehenfion as to Paul, whofe death comes now by a letter, that at length reached us from Onefimus.* ^^ut, now to proceed with our travels. The journey before us, after leaving ColoiTse, was long and perilous ; and n ?fd ^ ^ ar kk mtere ^5 tnan n tne tands we had pafTed over fince our departure from Ephefus. I fhall, therefore, omit all that occurred in our creeping over a very mountainous country, until we reached Ant iocbia, the chief town of Pifidia, in a fertile and wonderfully beautiful country ; which, though hilly, is far lefs lofty and rigid than what we had juft left behind. Antio- chia is fituate on the border of a lovely lake ; and is one of the fourteen cities of that name, which Nicator built in memory of his father Antiochus. It was here that Paul and Barnabas, being per mitted by the ruler of the fynagogue there, preached the gofpel with fuch fuccefs, as alarmed the Jews, and induced them to expel thofe devout men from the city. ^UJ^e came next to Iconium, the metropolis of Lycaonia. It is fituate hard-by Lake TrogTlus, in a valley of incon- comum in ce j va ^,j e luxuriance and beauty, and alfo of a very re- Lycaoma. , , , r > i 11 , markable form, it being quite circular, and begirt with lofty mountains. Paul and Barnabas made many converts there ; but, at length, as in Antiochia, they were not allowed to continue long at Iconium. ^J^wenty and three years have pafled fince the wondering people of Iconium firft received from the lips of Paul and Barnabas the celeftial truths of a religion, which, even Plato was forced to ac knowledge that man s fallen condition fo much needed, as to de mand that " Some one fhould come from his native Jkies to teach as man could not" The Church there is yet profperous, although the malicious Jews caufed Paul and Barnabas to leave it."f few days more, and we were at Lyjlra, the birth-place of Timothy, and where Paul, after healing the cripple at the city gate, had been hailed by the people as Mercury, and Barnabas as Jupiter ! Some years after this, the * Coloflfe never recovered from the effects of this earthquake, which occurred in the tenth year of Nero s reign, A.D. 64, according to Eufebius and pro bably two years after St. Paul s Epiftle to the Coloflians. It was then a very flourishing city, and famed for its extenfive commerce in wool. The ruin being fo great, Chon* was built in its vicinity, many centuries after. Some few re mains of both cities are yet vifible, in a place now called by the Turks, KenaJJi. Whether Philemon perilhed in that earthquake is not known, and the minute particulars refpecling him given by Prifcilla are not elfevvhere recorded. f- A Chriftian church was maintained in Iconium during nearly eight cen turies : but, fince the ninth century, fcarce a Jew or Chriitian has been feen there. xxvrn. Cbe (K3anB sting 3leto. 357 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. Lyftrans were again vifited by Paul ; who then confirmed their con verts ; and the Church there is quite profperous. <mH e then pafied quickly over to Derbe a fhort but rugged ride : and here we refted, and communed with the Arrival at Church feveral months. Derbe. ^he fituation of Derbe, at the bafe of a mountain, which is itfelf in the very heart of a valley, is as curious as it is truly delight ful ; and the whole valley on the fouth fide of Derbe, bounded by the lofty chain of Taurus, is extremely luxuriant, and ever vocal with many birds, that, of preference, build their nefts in the cyprefs and poplar groves of the plain, rather than in any of the larger trees of the furrounding mountains. ()n departing from Derbe, we crofled Taurus lofty heights, and then pafled down the narrow valley, following the banks of the limpid CalycadnuS) until we reached Seleucia^ one of the thirty-five cities built by Sileucus Nicator ; and then purfuing our travel near the mores of the Cilician fea, ever in our view, we reached Tarfus^ the birth-place of Saul now fo familiar to us as Paul. *^his city lies chiefly on the weftern bank of the Cydnus^ which flows through it a few miles from the fea ; and is now, _ . as generally it has been, remarkable for men of cele- Cincia. brity, it being at one time the rival, alike of Athens and of Alexandria, in philofophy and the arts. Some think Tarfus derives its name from Tarmifh, the fon of Javan the fon of Japheth, who was the fon of Noe ! But Strabo, the great geogra pher, who died about fixty years ago, and whofe valuable books, in thefe travels, were my conftant companion, holds that Tarfus was built by the Aflyrian king Sardanapalus, but for what fpecial rea- fons I wot not, and he reveals not. ^t feems, that Julius Caefar having extended to this city fome privileges, the people, to indicate their gratitude, changed its name to JuliopoKs ; but habit being too ftrong even for the fpirit of adula tion, foon triumphed, and the new was quickly loft in its ancient name. Auguftus exempted Tarfus from tribute, and conferred fome other privileges, not amounting to the jus civitatis, or to the jus coloniarum; To that, the claim of our Paul, as a Roman citizen, to have an appeal from the Procurator of Judea, to Ceefar at Rome, was more probably an inherited one, than perfonal to himfelf from being born at Tarfus. <gjj[hen at Tarfus, we began to earneftly figh for our quiet home at Pella ; for a few days more, by fea and land, would have brought us to Pieria, in Syria, and thence to Jerufalem and Pella, in as many more days : but two powerful confiderations forbade this : my own mind called me irrefiftibly into the benighted land of ARMENIA ; and we alfo had promifed Artemas and Drufilla to Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Apollonius of Tyana. vifit them in Edefla, on our return from Artaxata, the great city of the Armenians. We therefore left Tarfus for Militene, within the borders of the LefTer Armenia looking for a fublime, but ex tremely fatiguing journey over many lofty mountains, before we fhould reach the Greater Armenia. Our road carried us over the river Sarus ; and purfuing its eaftern bank, we pafled through the gap of Mount Taurus, and reached Pylcz, or the City of the Gates fo called from its being, as it were, a gate of communication between Cilicia and Cappado- cia : and then following the left bank of the Sarus, and pafling through Podandus, we arrived at Tyana^ the chief city of Cappado- cia, on the third day after our departure from Tarfus. H^ere we were detained more than a week, by that extraordi- nary man APOLLONIUS, of whom we had all heard Apo omus y- ^ ^ won( ] e rs \ and whom, now to fee and converfe anaus. . ,. with, was truly a matter or no ordinary mterelt. ^hat Apollonius is a man of attractive genius, of a creative but wild imagination, and of deep learning in the Egyptian, Pytha gorean, and Platonic philofophy, as alfo in that of the remote India, and in all the magic of the latter country, as well as of the The- baid, no one I fuppofe will queftion : and further, that his morality, fuch as it is, is exemplary, rigid, and often true, may not be de nied. And again, that Apollonius, in many things, refembles the practical Eflenes of Judea, and the Therapeutae, or contemplative ones of Egypt, I likewife admit : but, that he is ftill an arch-impof- tor, and a wicked pretender to miracles and that his followers have been groffly deluded by him, and that they, as ufual, have gone far beyond their mafter in highly colouring the fails refpecliing his fuppofed miracles, and with the knowledge of Apollonius, I am firmly and cautioufly perfuaded. \gJJQhen we arrived at Tyana, Apollonius had juft returned from Egypt the land of magic and alfo from Ethiopia, which is yet more fb. But, my Cartaphilus, in order that you may fee this much-famed man in his true colours, and judge of his pretended works correctly, I will now detail what I have heard and feen of him during our fojourn at Tyana. jjETpollonius was born at Tyana ; and is now in the 66th year of his age. He is remarkably tall his hair long, once His perfonal ee p black, and in flowing curls, but now purely white, appea ice. ^^ that, as it hangs upon his fhoulders, it occafionally reveals a dark lock, the reft being thus blanched, not by his years, but probably by his oft-repeated abftinences, and his many toils endured by him in his extenfive travels. His beard repofes in co pious folds on his breaft, nearly down to his linen abnet^ or girdle, and his long purple robe, a fpecies of chetoneth, is of the fofteft xxvm. c&c bannering 3!eto 359 Prifcilla s Narrative Apollonius of Tyana. wool. His head is covered with a plain, but curioufly plaited migbangnoth, of very many folds, in a manner derived by him from Egypt : and, what fpecially attracted our obfervation as to his at tire, was a fmall fack or pouch, faid to contain fome potent drugs the claws of various rare animals the teeth of others, all as magi cal charms againft evil fpirits, and as enduing the wearer with power over them, and nature, fo long as the fac is fufpended on his perfon ! and this idle fuperftition is alfo of Egyptian importation, and well fuits the eafily deluded multitude. "mi^hen a youth of only fourteen years of age, Apollonius was fent to Tarfus for inftru&ion, under the renowned Euthydemus, the rhetorician : but the luxury and ha- Apollonius bits of the people of that city being difgufting to him, he went with his preceptor to ^gae, a fmall town near the gulf of Ifficus, where there is a temple of -/Efculapius of much celebrity. Here he ftudied the philofophy of the Greeks, the fcience of the Orientals, and the peculiar doctrines of the numerous fects. His deportment when a ftudent at ^gae, was very remarkable for a youth. Exenus next became his preceptor ; who permitted him to yield himfelf to the moft rigid requirements of the Pythagorean difcipline, he ate no animal food, lived on herbs and fruits, went barefooted, fuffered his long and curling hair to flow luxuriantly over his (boulders, and he communed at all times with the ^fcula- pian priefts, by whom he was inftrufted in many curious myfteries. Apollonius was endowed with powers too remarkable, and he cul tivated the priefts, and was cultivated by them, too induftrioufly, not to gain over them, as well as over the entire community of ^Egae, a potent influence, that gave to his after life, and fo muft continue, a wonderful colouring, injurious to the Nazarene faith, unlefs the much ftronger and more foul-fubduing powers of the Apoftles from Calvary, {hall clearly reveal to the inconfiderate multitude the eflential diftinclion between the artful devices of magic, and the truthful wonders of celeftial miracles. Who, O Cartaphilus ! (hall fail to perceive, at once, that blind Bartimeus could not have been reftored to fight, nor the ten lepers been cleanfed nor Lazarus raifed from the dead nor the demoniac cured the ftorm appeafed the raging fea walked upon nor the water changed into wine a hungry multitude of five thoufand fed on a few loaves and fifties, unlefs by a divine power, wholly beyond the arts of magic ? And who doth not fee at once, that all fuch miracles differ utterly from all thofe fpecious devices of an Apollo nius ? A youth, for example, comes into the temple of jEfcula- pius, and would know of this Apollonius fome cure for his dropfy, occafioned by exceflive intemperance. The philofopher ponders not, but gravely commands a rigid abftinence and the youth re- 360 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Apollonius of Tyana. covers ! So again, a wealthy debauchee of ./Egae, whofe oblations to the temple were oft and liberal, repairs thither to have an eye reftored, that had been put out in fome wicked broil, but Apollo- nius had no cure for him ; and yet gained fame for high morality, fince none could be had by a miracle, for he difmiffed the wealthy patient, as one fo low in vice, as to be unworthy of the Temple s notice ! J^ummoned home to Tyana by the death of his father, Apollo- nius paid the laft fad office of funereal honours to the memory of his parent ; and then gave to his brother the larger part of his patrimony admonifhing him to reform his vicious life : and thefe things done, the philofopher returned to his prieftly life at ./Egae ; where he erected a fplendid temple, and eftablifhed a fchool of inftruclion in philofophy, all of which doings greatly enlarged his fame. Oh, how mifcellaneous are the human mind and heart ! ^hat he might become an adept in the Pythagorean fyftem, Apollonius conformed to the fevere novitiate of a five years rigid filence ! and during that period he taught by figns, geftures, and looks only. After the expiration of that quinquennial novitiate, (the greateft of all his trials, he being naturally very loquacious) he departed from ^gse, and came to Antioch on the Orontes, and there vifited the far-famed Daphne fo little fuited to any of his habits ; from whence he paffed on to Ephefus : in all of which places he added largely to his renown. J\is manner of teaching, though with the trueft Attic eloquence, was ever the moft ftriftly dogmatic : and, being once queftioned concerning the preference he gave to the dogmatic mode of in- ftrucYion, he replied, " I fought defperately for truth, when I was a youth ; but now it is my duty to teach what I have found to be truth : a wife man mujl fpeak as a LAW-GIVER, and the people be taught by INJUNCTIONS." ^Qeing on a certain occafion at Afyenda, Apollonius found the people greatly excited by a then raging famine, by reafon of thofe traders who monopolife the grain ; whereupon he wrote upon a large tablet the following words, in fevere reproof of thofe pitilefs engroflers who, in times of great fcarcity, grow rich on the miferies of others. " The Earth, which is the mother of us all, is truly jujl ; but YE, being unjnjl, would make her a bountiful mother to none but yourselves. Defifl, then, from your iniquity in this for, if ye do not, no longer fhall ye be permitted to live ! " The alarmed traders quickly opened their well ftored granaries the people were relieved, the tumult was appeafed, and Apollonius hailed as almoft a god ! from Ephefus, Apollonius travelled into very diftant ion xxvm. Cfrc flxBanBeung; 3|eto. 361 Prifcilla s Narrative Apollonius of" Tyana. lands. Arrived at Ninus in Aflyria, he engaged the youthful Damis as his afibciate ; whom he perfuaded that he was not only familiar with all languages, but equally well knew thofe of birds and of hearts ! This belief occafioned Damis to regard Apollonius as little elfe than a god ! The Babylonian Magi, with whom he converfed, alfo re- fpe&fully acquiefced in his lofty pretenfions, and even the king, who then lay feverely ill, fent for the illuftrious ftranger ; and, after feveral converfations, acknowledged that Apollonius had taught him many things regarding the foul, that rendered the kingdoms of this world of little value. The Tyanian magician then viilted the yet more remote Indians, and their king Phraotis, who received him with high honours ; and, on his departure, loaded him with coftly prefents. ^f^>ear the river Ganges, Apollonius became acquainted with the great Indian philofopher Jarcbas; who initiated him into all the myfteries of the Gymnofophifts. Faffing from thofe countries, in which he had refided fome time, he reached the plains of Troy the fiege of which is fo fweetly fung by Homer, fo little known to the Hebrews, and for the reading of which our good friend Artemas is chiefly thanked by me: living at Caefarea, more a Greek than Paleftine city, Artemas there learned to greatly value Homer. On the plains of Troy, Apollonius found the tomb of Achilles, near to which he parted the whole night : and on the following morning, he informed the credulous Damis, and his other followers, that he had raifed the fpirit of Achilles from his tomb, had con verfed familiarly with him during moft of the night, and that he had achieved this by the magic arts he had acquired in India ! jJ_pollonius then crofled over to Athens, but was refufed entrance into the city of Minerva, the fame of his enchantments having preceded him, and the Athenians being then engaged in their own facred myfteries, poffibly no better than thofe of the Tyanian philofopher, but which the Athenians regarded in a very different light from the hidden things of Oriental magic. Our travelling Wonder next appeared at the gates of Rome ; but Nero, as it fo happened, had fhortly before decreed that all the magicians fhould be ejected from the city. Of the thirty- four aflbciates of Apollonius in his travels, nearly all forfook him through much fear, and alfo from their eagernefs to furtively enter Rome. The great Tyanian, however, was no way to be daunted, even by Nero ; and, if I remember aright, thou, my Cartaphilus, didft fecretly prevail upon the conful Telefmus to admit the magician into Rome, under a facred habit, with permiffion, likewife, to vifit all the temples. During his fhort abode at Rome, (of which 362 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, century i. PHl dlla s Narrative Their Journey ings. thou didft give me fome account, with confeflion of total ignorance of his previous eventful hiftory) thou hadft caufe afterwards to know the deep impreflions made by him on the Roman priefts. Leaving the Imperial city, Apollonius vifited Hifpania thence he pafTed through fouthern Italy over to Greece, and thence to Egypt, where Vefpafian at that time was. This probably, was foon after Nero and thou were at the Ifthmus of Corinth. Vefpafian was greatly taken with Apollonius and his doings for the future Em peror loved flattery, and the Tyanian was never fparing of it to thofe in power, and efpecially if likely to add largely thereto. From Egypt, the philofopher went into Ethiopia ; and had juft arrived from thence, about the time of our coming to Tyana. 1 have now, my Cartaphilus, to end my, I fear, too long account of this remark able man, fcarce worthy fo extended a notice, but that his learning, wonders, fpecious morals, and zealous teachings, have induced fome daring and hoftile fpirits to compare this Apollonius with the Mighty Nazarene ! * now to proceed with our travels. We left Tyana, and continued on the north bank of the Sarus, till we reached Comana > at the foot of the Anti-Taurus. Here we paffed a few days, as there is a great temple there, dedicated to Bellona, the hideous goddefs of war. She is re- prefented by a ftatue as a tall figure, with difhevelled hair, holding in one hand a torch, and in the other a whip the one to illuminate the path of the combatants, the other to ftimulate them to battle and victory ! No where is Bellona fo much venerated as in this city of Cappadocia her temple having more than five thoufand priefts, which are of both fexes ! The High-Prieft of this terrific temple is fecond only to the king ; and is ufually felecled from the royal family. We departed hence with no regretful feelings. before us, all the way to Melitene, a rich and lovely valley, our journey from Comena was truly one of de- aekin ^ l ^ We crofled the Melas river, nigh the northern of Armenia. ^ a ^ e ^ Mount Taurus ; and thence following the cheerful banks of the Euphrates, at length arrived at Melitene, in Lower Armenia a point fo long defired by us, as there we mould terminate the difficulties of our journey the re mainder to ARTAXATA, in Upper Armenia, the feat of royalty, being, as we fuppofed, not only eafy of attainment, but repofeful when we mould reach it. * Some further account of Apollonius Tyangeus is given in Letter xxvii, xxviii, and xxxv bringing his hiftory from A.D. 64 to the time of his death, about A.D. 97, he having lived to the advanced age of 93 years; and became more notorious in his after life, than at the time Prilcilla met him at Tyana. . C{je (KBan&enng; 3leto, 363 Prifcilla s Narrative Their Journeyings. t Melitene we tarried a few days, chiefly with the view of knowing fomething of the Armenians, before we fhould pafs on to the chief object of our vifiting the metropolis of king Tiridates. <im.hilft at Melitene, we foon learned that Tiridates was then actively occupied in rebuilding Artaxata in great magnificence, under Nero s recent permiilion, having lately returned from Rome, when the Emperor had received him with fignal honours, and with many fplendid festivities. And then came the fad in telligence that king Tiridates was moft hoftile to the Nazarenes, efpecially fo fmce his vifit to Nero ; and that, moreover, fome ftricl orders had lately arrived from Nero refpecling fuch Chriftians as might be found in Armenia ! We were therefore compelled, for the prefent, to obferve great prudence : for, on our firft arrival at Melitene, not knowing of Nero s decree, or of any fpecial hoftility of Tiridates againft the Chriftians, we had fpoken with great freedom relpe&ing the temple of Bellona at Comana ; had alfo fpoken of the Apoftolic million, and made anxious inquiries after the few Chriftians in the two Arminies. At this, fome of the people mocked us, others bade us be on our guard at Artaxata ; and fome again faid, they fuppofed our Chriftus could not excel the wonderful Apollonius of Tyana ! This laft remark necefTarily drew us into untimely vindications : for, though by no means difpofed to fhrink from perfecution, or even death, in fupport of our caufe, yet reafon and duty impofed on us the obfervance of fuch prudence, as fhould not hurl deftruclion upon us, before we had made the leaft im- preflion to beget a redeeming fympathy, either for the caufe we ferved, or for ourfelves. Silence therefore, fometimes fo great a virtue, was greatly fo then. Rebecca, however, was ever too fear- lefs ; the things me thought, whether of morals or of religion, were moft apt to be upon her tongue, and dauntleflly uttered. She had faid " the temple of Bellona ought to be levelled to the earth, and its five thoufand priefts and prieftefTes be made to labour for them- felves and others, inftead of wafting their lives in the idle and gorgeous fervices of fb wicked a goddefs as me of the whip and the torch !" All this was, indeed, moft true : but the people fcowled at her with aftonifhment and anger j and we feared it would bring trouble upon us before we could be quit of Melitene, where we found little hope for our minion, though the people faw we were well educated, and perfons of no fmall confideration. In a few days, therefore, we were moft happy to leave Melitene ; and we arrived in fafety at Artaxata. )I^n now adverting to the miferies we endured in this city, and to the great jeopardy of the lives of us all, efpecially of Rebecca, I mall be as brief as pofiible, having complied with thy requeft, my Cartaphilus, with great timidity, when to fpeak of my daughter : 364 C&romcles of Cartapfrito, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Events at Artaxata. and I engaged in the prefent Narrative, more with the view of anfwering thy firft queftion, " How did you fpend your feven years ?" than thy fecond, and more urgent one, " How did Rebecca get into fuch great peril and how did ihe efcape therefrom ?" jgQrtaxata is fituate on an extenfive plain, where the river Praxes takes a fudden bend, fo as nearly to furround vents at j ^ t ^ _ o j nt wnere tne jfthmus is narroweft, Artaxata. .J . j j /- i i j jj j-i the city is rendered iecure by a broad and deep ditch, and by a fubftantial rampart. Artaxata can boaft of no great anti quity, as this plain was pointed out by the Carthaginian Hannibal to king Artaxes, as the Deft fite for his capital. It became, how ever, a place of fome note ; and finally was regarded as fo impreg nable that Lucullus, after having defeated Tigranes, and made himfelf mafter of all Armenia, fave its capital, would not venture on befieging it ! But Corbulo, whom thou didft know, and whom Nero fhortly after murdered fo treacheroufly, as being too power ful a Roman general to live, caufed Artaxata to furrender her arms ; and he laid it in afhes. Tiridates, then, did well to pay his court unto Nero, having obtained thereby not only a renewal of Armenia s crown, but permiffion incontinently to rebuild Artaxata: and, in compliment to Nero, it is now called Neronia by fomc : but the king s decree fo to call it is moft likely to end in total forgetfulnefs, as was the cafe with Tarfus, which few would call Juliopolis. ^JJJ^e were early in making ourfelves known to the few Chriftians at Artaxata ; who, in confequence of the late decree, irij a ^ ac | re {.| re( j . f ome j n t o the moft unfrequented recelTes of the mountains fome among the ruins of the out- fkirts of the city, near the river and others into caves and grot toes, a few miles beyond the ditch and rampart. They confidered their lives in imminent peril ; and entreated us to fecure ourfelves, without delay, in their recelfes ! This we promptly refufed to do, ftating that, though we were under no obligation by our holy re ligion to proclaim its truths in the prefent condition of things ; yet that, if we were aflailed by our foes, and put to the teft of confef- fion, or of denial, there would be but one courfe for us. We ftated, moreover, that we had voluntarily come to Artaxata, with the view of declaring the glories of that kingdom which is not of this earth ; but that times and feafons and circumftances were to be duly con- fulted the clouds might fomewhat pafs oft that we would now violate no law of man but that man fhould never compel us to violate any law of God. ()ur friends, who had buried themfelves in the caverns, there upon refufed to remain, but infilled on coming into the city ; and, like ourfelves, to continue there entirely inactive, hoping the ftorm might fubfide, or, if not, that they would be guided by our coun- fels, and ftiare our fate. Section xxvur. Cf)0 W&nftttin$ J^ttJ. 365 Prii cilla s Narrative Meifalcus and Voloeles. Armenians worfhip the fame deities as the Medes and Perfians ; but the great one is Venus Anaitis, to whom they pay the moft difgufting adorations. The tern- Armenian pies railed to that goddeis are unufually magnificent, MY/ ihe being reprefented in a ftatue of folid gold, of the Vodeefes mod cunning and ineftimable workmanfhip. IX EISALCUS ) a venerable Chriftian of extreme old age, and of great wealth, had been made known to us by one of the fugitive Chriftians, The pious old man had refufed to liften to the entrea ties of his more humble friends of the faith, to remove from his well-known refidence near the royal palace, either to one of the caves, or to the ruins upon the river border ; for Meifalcus had been at one time high in kingly favour ; but the priefts hated him, now that he was no longer in the prefence of their altars ; and Ti- ridates feldom thought of him in his old age, and disfavour in the temples. ^j^eifalcus was prompt in bidding us to fojourn with him in his ample and beautiful manfion. By birth an Armenian of Sebaftia, on the Euphrates, Meifalcus had heard the preaching of Paul at Iconium-Lyftra, and at other places in Afia ; and was well known of Philemon of Colofiae. His wealth, learning, and great age, had given him ftrong influences in Artaxata, and efpecially with Volo- gefes, brother to king Tiridates : but the recent open avowal by Meifalcus of his Chriitianity, had not only banifhed him from the Court, but placed his life in imminent peril, efpecially from the people yet was he far fafer than the others. " ^J|J[hat thinkeft thou of Anaitis?" faid Meifalcus to Rebecca. " Is (he not odious, even among the Heathen deities is not her ftatue of gold, and the beautiful work there- ^""^Trf r i r 1-1 n r i tit, EOT fa lift or, much too good ror one like her, who alketh or the O f Meifalcus. Armenians to facrifice their faireft daughters to the priefts of her fhrine ? I tell thee, Rebecca, that the cuftom here is for lovely young women thus to confecrate themfelves, and I admonifh thee to look, alfo, to thy young and lovely Philotera ; who is far too beautiful to efcape their fearching eyes : and, if otherwife, not thofe of Tiridates ! And thou, Rebecca, though in years much her elder, art ftill moft lovely, and hence in great peril ; for to this teft do they fometimes put even us Chriftians !" " Oh, fear me not fear me not, venerable Meifalcus," replied Rebecca. " Anaitis and I {hall never be better acquainted thefe Heathens muft fear the Chriftian s eye and if not, they can never reach the foul that undefiled, the body may perifli." " Well and truly fpoken, fair daughter," rejoined Meifalcus ;" but I muft tell thee that, in my earlieft youth, even I wormipped at this odious fhrine, thinking Tanais (for that is her other name) truly and 366 Chronicles of Cartapfnto, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The aged Meifalcus. juftly an honoured goddefs ! When, therefore, Mark Antony s foldiers had laid their facrilegious hands, as then I thought, upon the facred utenfils of one of thofe temples, the report for a long time was, that the firft perfon who thus had feized the utenfils, was in- ftantly ftruck blind by the goddefs, and met his death foon after !" " ^t fo happened," continued Meifalcus, "that I, then but twelve years old, was kindly entreated by this Antony, for my fa ther s fake, who then was ferving in the Roman army under Mark Antony. But, boy as I was, I liked not this proceeding againft the facred vefTels of the temple : and, many years after, when at Bo- nonio, Auguftus, then at a fplendid entertainment, inquired of me the probable truth of the report, ftill in the mouths of the people, that fome perfon in the temple of Anaitis had been ftricken blind for his plunder of that goddefs and that the rumour further was that he had alfo died foon after ?" " CDv after intercourfe with thefe Romans, my military life, and my more ripened years, had by that time made me lefs fearful of the potent goddefs, fo that I frankly confeffed to the inquiring Auguf tus, the whole truth thereof which was, that I, Meifalcus, was the very perfon, faid to have been Jlruck blind, and to have died ! the faff being that I had been largely bribed thus to jeopard my life, and, for the priejls fake to play this part, to fave the temple from further molejtation! I am, O daughters of Ifrael ! grown very old; and am truly amamed of the worfe than heathen life through which I pafled, efpecially during my connexion with the Roman ways. " Chriftianity, as I fear," continued the venerable Meifalcus, " is little probable to make great progrefs now, or at any time, in Armenia. Nero s late decree, and the heavy obligations to him which our king Tiridates hath fo recently incurred, peril not only the property, but the lives of all who avow this heavenly faith. A few are now in chains fome have fled others are concealed and many, as thou knoweft, have juft come from their hiding places, to perifh, if need be, for this great caufe. But ye all, as Jlrangers, (to whom hofpitality may prove a mantle, and as inmates of my dwelling) may poflibly efcape the reft cannot." Here the good old man breathed a deep figh, and bright tears foon followed. ^t being then a late hour of the night, for one fo aged, we re tired to our couches, after a hymn, in which all fear- Appearance l e ffly joined and a prayer from Meifalcus. of Meifalcus *f> ever can I forget the appearance of that holy his devout r **?* , r i T\/T i j i prayer. * a g e m tne a " * P ra 7 er More than one hundred and eight of Nifan s moons had vifited him ; his once thick and flowing hair was now blanched and wafted into fparfe and fleecy-white locks, mining as flakes of new fallen fnow, when luftrous under a balmy fun ! His eyes, fmall, black, and deep in xxvm. Cfje ftEJanBeung 3[eto, 367 Priicilla s Narrative His Prayer. their chambers, flamed with the fire of one militant, not in any worldly combat, but under the banner of the Crofs, contending againft the Powers of everlafting darkness ! His beard, as he kneeled, nearly reached the floor and, with eyes fixed on Heaven, both hands far above his head and tears filently ftealing down his cheeks, from both their fountains, Meifalcus feemed unto me fome one more than human ! and thus he clofed his prayer. " j^-j nd, oh, thou long unknown God! if our enemies are to come upon us, we know they are thine alfo ; and that thou wilt be with us, and to us, the only Captain offalvation we now need. Let them then come ! IVe know they can but kill the body and, even that, only for a time. And, in that lajl great day, when "Tiridates and Vologefes, with wj, Jhall rife from their graves, what will be their difmay, if they, having put us to death, Jhall find themf elves without a robe, and we refplendent in thofe of pure ft white ! Oh, may the God of the Chrift- ians now fo ft en their cruel hearts and give them robes in that day, as bright as ours /" jjebecca and I aflifted in raifing the venerable man from his knees : he embraced and kifled us both, and then difappeared. STORY OF MEISALCUS AND HIS TWO DAUGHTERS. ()n the following morning early, we obferved the aged Meifal cus enter a fmall apartment, and unlock it with a golden key all of which feemed to be fo ftealthily done, as if unwilling that we in par ticular mould in the leaft obferve him ! He remained there full half an hour, and then, in the like furtive manner, entered the portico in which we were feated fpoke not, repofed himfelf upon a couch, covered his head with his mantle, and placed both hands over his face. Continuing in this pofition more than an hour, we occafionally heard his whifpering prayers his deep fighs, and fome- times a groan that pierced our inmoft heart ! At length, fuddenly rifing, he took Eben-Ezra by the hand, and faid, " this hath been my cuftom, O my Rabbi, for fome years paft yea, ever fince Paul and I communed. I would have withheld from thee and thine the fad hiftory that, even yet gives to my life its only poifon : but, whilft in my clofet, and whilft here upon my couch, it hath feemed to me like foul deception, to (brink from difclofing to thefe my Chriftian friends, the heavy fin that ftill refts upon my foul a deed not yet truly repented of: and were it, yet would it be, I fear, un- forgiven as to this world ! for, my Eben-Ezra, doth not the Law of our God declare that " he who Jheddeth man s blood, by man fljall his blood be Jhed" and, if divine vengeance came late upon Cain, yet furely it came at laft, and will it not be fo with Meifalcus ?" 368 Cf)tOniCl0.S Of Cattapf)llU0, Century Prifcilla s Narrative Meifalcus and his Daughters. " ^B[hat, O dear Meifalcus ! doft thou mean ?" faid Eben-Ezra with aftonimment, " If voluntarily thou haft {lain thy brother, it was furely done in heathen darknefs, and not fince thy foul hath been lighted up by the celeftial truths of Calvary s Victim." " ^hou doft truly fay," replied Meifalcus, " and for the fin then done, my punifhment, I truft, will be here only but it will come it mujl infallibly come, though truly, never had man a ftronger call for the unholy deed. Know, then, oh fon and daugh ters of Ifrael ! the brief ftory of my double grief." Here the aged man, bidding us all be feated, thus detailed, with trembling voice, the caufe of his forely troubled foul. " jM RAXES, who was our king, being at war with the Perfians, was allured by one of their lying oracles, that he fhould prove the victor, and return home laden with fpoils, provided he forthwith fhould facrifice his tv/o daughters ! The king, with the wonderful folly that marks all idolatry, believed the oracle ; and yet fuppofed he could deceive it by a moft cruel fraud, for he fpared his own lovely daughters, but facrificed my thrice more lovely ones my own beautiful ARAXENA, fo named after that very king ! She was then only in her fifteenth year : and likewife my VOLOGESIA, fo named after the prefent king s brother {he being then in the glory of womanhood, frefh as the dewy flowers at the morning dawn mild as the young and petted gazelle affectionate as the loving hind, or pleafant roe ! Oh, how fhe would hang upon my neck, and kifs me to fleep ! truly, my Vologefia was as a feal upon my heart as a fignet upon my arm ! How fair and how pleafant wert thou, oh my daughter ? Thou, Vologefia, my firft born, wert in ftature as the palm thy lips as poliftied rubies thy teeth as pearls ; and thy affectionate heart towards me, after thy mother had de parted, was as the ramparts of Artaxata, yea, as oil fpread upon the waters of my life !" u j^l nd thou, my fecond born my tender one my little Araxena, though fewer of years, thou wert not behind thy fifter in deep love, or in lovelinefs ! How oft do the words of the great Hebrew Songfter rum upon my mind in thinking of thee, and of thy youthful innocence ! He faith, " And we have a little fifter and /he hath no breafts : what Jhall we do for our fifter, in the day when Jhe Jhall be fpoken for?" Ah ! what could Meifalcus do for his young daughter, when Araxes, the King, fpoke for her ? Meifalcus could be no wall of defence for her, nor for Vologefia, when the king demanded them neither, indeed, as his bride, but both as viftims for the odious Tanais ! they were flain both facri ficed to that voluptuous and cruel goddefs ! " Xi ere the weeping fage was filent for a moment, hid his face in the ample folds of his robe. At length he fiercely exclaimed ion xxvm. c&c COanueting 3[eto. 369 Prifcilla s Narrative Meiialcus and his Daughters. " but I bad revenge, oh, Heaven forgive me I had revenge ! I flew the king s two daughters, and purfued the wretched father, even until I forced him into the rapid Helmus ; where exhaufted with his efforts againft the rufhing waters, he fank for ever from my view ! Since then, the Helmus hath been called the Araxes, and that river, mefeems, doth flow more fluggimly and darkly on, than it ufed before ! Sixty and eight years have parted fmce that fad event ; and, until I heard of Paul at Iconium, I never knew peace of mind: but fmce I abandoned the Heathen gods, and have loathed the adoration paid by me to Tanais, my foul hath known no caufe of mifery, fave in thofe three foul murders committed deeds that yet leave a fting, though all my other fins be loft in JESU S love ! Marvel not, then, good friends, that I mould daily fmce have vifited that fmall apartment, locked with this golden key once my dear Araxena s : for therein I have two fmall ivory images, as like to each of my daughters, as could be fafhioned by the beft fkill of all Armenia! daily do I bathe them with my tears ; and then pray, moft fervently to Him who fuffered on Calvary, to wafh out the blood I have fhed." Xl ere Meifalcus ended his piteous ftory ; and hid his face for a time from our view. We all united to fuftain the venerable man in his deep affliction ; and with much prayer, and cheerful finging, we greatly reftored him to repofe. J^everal days paffed on in fweet communion with our Chriftian friends, until they heard, with difmay, of my daughter s incautious words at Melitene, refpe6ting the goddefs Bellona : and foon after, her like imprudence in Armenia s great capital ; (in both cafes fo well intended by Rebecca) and thefe brought upon us all a fudden mifery. ftUL e were now informed that the aged Vologefes, king of Parthia, had juft arrived in Artaxata that Nero had been greatly offended by a certain letter of Vologefes, ^f^J^ 1 refufing the Emperor s requeft that this Parthian king Tiridates fhould repair to Rome, and do him homage, in like manner as Tiridates had fo lately done. That refufal of Vologefes to the demand of the proud and cruel Roman, ftated that " much eafier was it for Nero to crofs the feas in fearch of the homage, than for Parthia s king to pay it unto him at Rome !" Tiridates trembled at his brother s boldnefs he greatly feared Nero, but feared Vologefes alfo ; for that brother had, in truth, placed Tiri dates on the throne, the crown of which he had received at the hands of Nero, with fo much expenfive pomp, as aftonifhed all Armenia, and fomewhat vexed the more fearlefs Vologefes.* * It is faid that the fplendid reception by Nero on that occafion of Tiridates, was at the daily coft of not lefs than what now would be equivalent to 6000 fter. I. B B 37 C&romcles of Cartap{rilu0, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative The doomed ones Rebecca s zeal. jjg/taxata, in a few hours thereafter, was fwelled with immenfe crowds, to welcome and honour the arrival of Volo- g efes The houfes and ram P arts were now filled with the living mafles banners waved in every ftreet mufic met the ear in all directions the image of the goddefs, Venus Tanais, fparkled with jewels, and was borne beneath a rich canopy of blue, fpangled with golden ftars ! Then came the Magian Priefts in gorgeous proceflion and laftly, were ken five Chrijtians^ clothed in black robes, their heads quite bald, and their beards fhaven clofe, in diftionour of them, they being all deftined for facri- fice, by being caft from a lofty rock into a deep den there to be devoured by many hungry and favage beafts ! jffs the proceflion (at the head of which were Tiridates and Vologefes, in a magnificent chariot drawn by fix white Chriltianzeal ^ or ^ es ) puffed towards the royal refidence, the whole were ordered to ftand ; and, at the very moment, too, that the five doomed Chriftians had arrived oppofite the gate of Meifalcus ! Our windows had all been intentionally clofed, and the veils let down, as alfo the portal locked, which gave to all the appearance of a deferted manfion but Rebecca, whofe keen eye had, through a crevice, refted upon the unhappy Chriftians, and whofe ear foon caught the offenfive language offered them, fuddenly caft open the window and veil, and exclaimed, " Chriftians ! be comforted this is thy triumphal proceflion the crown referved for thee is of more value than all earthly crowns ! Waiver not, O Chriftians ! the foul perimeth not ! " She inftantly clofed the veil, and fell as one lifelefs in our arms ! Directions were at once given by the King not to moleft the houfe, but for the proceflion to move on. 5Heifalcus united with us in the kindeft exertions for Rebecca s reftoration : and when (he firft fpoke, his joy was indeed great. " And wilt thou not, O excellent Rebecca ! fuffer the aged Meifal cus to unite with thofe honoured Chriftians, and win a crown?" faid our venerated friend , u Surely thou wilt and thine will be the brighteft of them all." " For myfelf, O Meifalcus," faid Rebecca, " I fhould rejoice in my imprudence ; but my horror is great for thee, and for my ever beloved parents, and for my dear Philotera ! When the thought rufhed into my mind, that thus I had perilled all thy dear lives, I fainted." " Fear not," rejoined Meifalcus, "if we all perifh, tis but the pang of an hour, followed by an eternity ofblifs." ^he reft of the day was pafled in fadnefs, and gloomy antici- . . pation, for nature would often refume her power, and The fugitive ^ f ^ expected calamity. At the third Chnflian. . . , J . , , hour or the night, a gentle rap was heard at the portal. on xxvm. c&e SOantieung; 3leto* 371 Prifcilla s Narrative The fugitive Chriftian. " Who claims entrance," demanded the Janitor. u A friend and Cbrijllan" feebly refponded the ftranger and the door was in- ftantly opened. He entered with a haity ftep, fhrouded in a black robe, and hooded which, when removed, at once revealed to us one of the five Chriftians doomed to die ! " Haften to conceal thyfelves," laid he, " go with me a place of fure fafety have I for thee all : for, in a few hours hence, a cohort will be fent hither, to caft thee into prifon and what {hall early follow, judge ye ! The indignity offered to the King, and his illuftrious brother, now his gueft, hath much enraged Tiridates all of the Nazarene faith muft perim : how I efcaped cannot now be told delay not MELCHIOR will furely fave thee." " Save thyfelf, O Melchior !" we all ex claimed, " fly with thee we cannot efcape thus would be im- poffible ; if not found in Artaxata, or elfewhere, how could we hope to pafs Armenia s bounds ?" Melchior then haftily departed, and with more tears for us than for himfelf. The mifery of that night was great ; the doomed Chriftian, however, had foon returned to us, and with renewed perfuafions. Eben-Ezra and myfelf deeply mourned for our beloved daughter s grief the agony of Rebecca for the danger brought on us was heightened by the great age and tendernefs of Meifalcus ; and by the perfeverance of Melchior ; who departed not till towards the fixth hour of the night. ^he cohort, however, came not that night ; but a fummons from the King to Meifalcus, came early in the morn- ^ ing, bidding him attend at the fixth hour of that day O f them by at the Audience Chamber of the Palace, and to bring the King. with him all of his guefts ! JHll of us, except Meifalcus, regarded this fummons as more favourable for our lives, and as far lefs alarming than the dreaded cohort, that was inftantly to haften us into fome gloomy and damp cell, as Melchior had fuppofed. But Meifalcus, knowing the character and manner of his King, had no hope, unlefs from Vologefes ; who ftill retained for him fome lingering regard, grow ing out of long acquaintance, and the naming of his daughter Volo- gefia in honour of him, and when Vologefes himfelf was a mere youth. jjfjt the hour appointed, we all entered the Audience-room of the Palace. Tiridates was ieated in regal fplendour on a throne of gold and ivory, with a rich canopy of purple, embroidered with golden ftars ! At his fide was the aged Vologefes, with Parthia s crown on his head, attired in robes of fcarlet, gorgeoufly filled with needle-work of gold and filver cunningly wrought. On either fide were the Chamberlains, and other officers of the Court. Meifalcus was firft feated ; next to him on his right was Eben-Ezra ; on his left was I feated ; on the right of her father was Rebecca and, in 37 2 Cf)tOmClC0 Of CartapfHlUS, Century i. Prifcilla"s Narrative Tiridates Meifalcus, &c. the rear of all, as if intentionally feparated, was placed the gentle Philotera, clad in light blue, and in more than her natural lovelinefs, excited by the fcene of thrilling intereft that foon might follow. " l tn s fhould. mean entirely eluded our utmoft con- je&ures : that we were upon trial feemed moft evi- dent; but yet in a fafhion fo courtly, as never was known before ! Silence being proclaimed, Tiridates thus fpoke. " Meifalcus ! We know all concerning thee ; as likewife of thy 44 foreign guefts, fince their firft coming into our dominions. Thou 44 and they are hot Chri/tians ; and before thefe ftrangers reached 44 our Artaxata yea, even at Comana of Cappadocia, they could " not retain their hatred to our Gods, nor reftrain their idle and " fuperftitious zeal, but would have confined even BELLONA and " her Temple to the flames, and all her numerous holy minifters 4C to the degrading offices and toils of common life ! Here, even . " in our great Capital, have thy intemperate guefts brought back " from their hiding places (where, poffibly, they might have refted " in fecurity) their filly and impious followers thus openly, and 44 daringly contemning our royal power ! Not content with this, 44 they next proceed, moll rafhly, to infult even royalty, and the 14 regal hofpitalitv we extended to our equally royal, and much " beloved brother ! and this done, moreover, by openly ftimulat- " ing thofe peftiferous ChrifHans, whom we had fentenced under " the late decree of the Mighty Nero, as defpifers of the Gods, and " worfhippers of a crucified malefactor !" 44 Jf-l nd laftly, O Meifalcus ! thy guefts have combined, as we " have caufe to fufpecl, to effe6l the efcape of one of thofe doomed 44 Nazarenes ; and, even fmce then, have communed with him, " and in thine own houfe, too, O Meifalcus ! Thefe are matters 44 no way to be queftioned : and as the Law varies not in refpecl: " to perfons and is equally clear againft ye all, We do fentence 44 thee and them to inftant death death, by being caft from the 41 Tigranean Rock, into the deep den of the Royal Lions ! We " have fummoned thee here, Meifalcus, to our Palace, and likewife 44 thefe thy guefts ; and have thus dealt gracioufly with thee and " them, and in fo courtly a manner, in refpecl not only of thy " great age, but of thy many fervices to the ftate in former days " of thy great learning thy long attendance in thefe halls and of u thy former love towards Vologefes. And thy guefts have at- 44 tended thee, from our known refpect for hofpitalitv, fo kindly 44 extended by thee to them ; but which they have fo much abufed. 44 And thus courteoufly (hall we deal with ye all, till death mall 44 come to all." t, before we now part, O Meifalcus ! I would afk thee, on xxvm. cjje COanBering 3leto* 373 Prifcilla s Narrative Rebecca and Tiridates Philotera. " who is the maiden with the blue robe ? Suffer her to ftand forth " unveiled." ben-Ezra, uninvited, then arofe, and firmly claimed to fpeak in her regard ; and briefly detailed the hiftory of the young Phi lotera. " jjjj31nd who is the other maiden fhe who fpoke fo rafhly from the window ?" faid Tiridates, "let her ftand forth, alfo unveiled." ^E^ebecca then arofe, flowly removed her veil, and thus fhe fpoke. u I need no father, nor mother, nor friend, O " King ! to declare unto thee who, and what I am *r /"* r *~ " by birth a Jewefs by fecond birth, a Chriftian and, c/iridates. 11 by my approaching death, an honoured, happy " martyr. Canft thou create a foul, O King ? thou canft not " and neither canft thou kill one : but the great Being, whofe law " thou doft now violate, can kill thy foul and body ! I tremble " not at thy power, nor at that of the lions they difturb me not ; 11 but much more am I difturbed and grieved for thee, O King!" r rjridates fuddenly arofe ; fire flamed from his eyes, and yet he trembled as the afpen. " Myfterious woman !" faid he, " thy dar- " ing, thy eloquence, and thy beauty fill me with wonder. I will " not have thee killed to-day and thy lovely flave, never. Cham- " berlain ! do thou convey hence the maiden Philotera thou know- " eft! and the other prilbners, let them be taken to the beft rooms " of the South Tower : and fee further, that all the papers and " books of thefe ftrangers be examined without delay, and burnt." ()n the morning of the third day after our condemnation, a vaft proceffion was formed in the great fquare that fronts upon the Southern Tower. We there recognized r r . , it- i A i n~ from the windows looking upon the Ana, the officers of juftice the high officials of the palace the magi cians the priefts and prieftefTes of Bellona many of thofe like- wife of the Temple of Venus Anaites ; and a numerous military all of thefe claffes in their rich and distinctive habiliments ! Then came the chariots of the two Kings, and of their numerous high re tainers ; after thefe, the more exalted officials of Venus Anaites, and the magnificent Image of that goddefs next followed only four of the doomed Chriftians at which, we involuntarily exclaimed, " Melchior^ then, hath fur ely efcaped !" ^^he proceffion being formed, a cohort entered the hall leading to our rooms, and bade us prepare to join them. We were foon in readinefs, and were placed in the proceffion, in the rear of the four other Chriftians, except that Meifalcus chariot received him alone we being compelled to walk to the place deftined for our deftru&ion But Philotera was nowhere to be feen ! proceffion arrived at the Rock, after a flow march of 374 Cf)tOniCle0 Of CattapfUlUg, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative Trial of the Prifoners. about an hour. The afiembled multitude feemed boundlefs ; and the provifion made at the rock, and around the den, was fo ar ranged that, when feated, the more favoured fpectators might fee, or diftinctly hear the deftruction of the fufferers in the abyfs below ! Immediately in the rear of the den s opening, which laid expofed to the heavens, was erected a fmall platform, covered with a rich canopy, and under it were feated on cufhions Tiridates and Volo- gefes, with their chief attendants j and behind both was ftandingthe Minifter of Vengeance, clad in a black robe, with a fpecies of ephod, of bright fcarlet, and holding in his right hand a long wand, richly decorated. Numerous fpectators, according to their dignity, were feated in elevated pofitions ; and around the whole were ftanding myriads, either to catch a glance at the royal perfonages, or at thofe deftined for the lions ! j?I fignal being given, the Minifter of Vengeance arofe, and ordered one of the four Chriftians to ftand forth. He was placed by an executioner on a narrow platform, fufpended over the opening of the den ! The ravenous beafts were roaring beneath him, and eagerly watching for their expected prey. Around the Chriftian s waift was girt a leathern rope, firmly held by the executioners at fome diftance, fo that, if required, they might fuddenly draw him back in fafety but, if otherwife, they would as fuddenly drop the tie, the platform inftantly fall, and the victim plunge into the deep abyfs ! Matters being thus arranged, the King and the feated audience were to give their final decifion : if they raifed their arms, the Chriftian was faved if not, he perifhed ! r he Minifter of Vengeance then folemnly arofe ; and proclaim ing filence, faid, " Doft thou confefs thyfelf a Chriftian and, iffo, wilt thou abjure thy religion, and worfliip the Gods of the Arme nians ?" ^he doomed one quickly replied, and with a firm voice, " I am " a Chriftian will never worfhip any of Armenia s gods, and " hereby cling to death and my religion, rather than to life with " thine." The King and audience were filent, and motionlefs the platform fank the tie of fafety was inftantly abandoned ; and the victim was heard coming, as lightning to the bottom of the den ; whilft the beafts naming upon him, were alfo heard cracking his bones, and tearing him into many living pieces ! The air was rent, and the earth trembled at that moment, with the loud and joyous acclamations of thoufands, who witnefled the fcene as a gracious oblation to their offended deities ! The other three periftied in the like manner. 5U.eifalcus next was fummoned the fame queftion was afked of him, and the Avenger received the fame firm denial of their gods ! xxvm. c&e bannering 3!eto* 375 Prifcilla s Narrative Trial of the Prifoners Judgment. The Kinginftantly arofe with uplifted arms, and the whole audience did the fame but all was too late ! the old man s Jfrengtb ferved him not as faithfully as did his mind : the platform was fteady under him, but he fell at the moment the King arofe ; and thofe having the thong were fo violently pulled thereby, as to wrench it from them and Meifalcus came to the jaws of the lions, before the arms of the King had reached their fulleft elevation ! Thus, O Cartaphilus, was verified the foreboding, in regard to himfelf, of this venerable Chriftian ! jPJfter a folemn paufe, Rebecca was fternly called forth ! She took her pofition fearleffly at the very end of the platform ; and, for a time, calmly looked down, and heard and faw the ravenous beafts mangling the yet quivering limbs of our beloved Meifalcus ! then, turning round to the Avenger, fhe firmly laid, " I am ready" The cuftomary queftion was put ; to which {he promptly anfwered, " A Chriftian I am and a Heathen I never will be." The -King and audience arofe, as if by a fingle impulfe, the Avenger again proclaimed filence, and Tiridates thus fpoke. " Rebecca ! thou, " and thy parents, and the young flave, though abfent in fafety, " have fecured the good will of our beloved brother Vologefes, and " likewife of Armenia s king ! By what means effetted, will here- " after be fully explained unto thee. Our brother of Parthia hath " been the inftrument of this great good to thee elfe would Tiri- " dates have never known who thou art, and have had no caufe to fave " thee. We lament the calamity or rather dejliny that hath " deprived us of our defigned clemency towards MEISALCUS ; as " we defired to fend him, and all his wealth, with thee and thine, " into the land of thy nativity and to which ye all muft now " depart, and without delay. Seeing that thy friend s hofpitality " can no longer avail thee, We, in the mean while, will receive ye " at the royal palace ; where, in feclufion, ye will be. Meifalcus, " moreover, hath died childlefs and heirlefs ; his wealth, therefore, " cometh of right into our treafury : and fuch part thereof, as will " be an ample dowry for the young Philotera once thy flave " I do hereby confer upon her : the refidue is thine, O Rebecca ! " not for thy religion s fake nor yet for thy ungracious acts, efpe- " dally when my people, uniting with me, were honouring the " beloved and illuftrious brother of their king but Rebecca, for " thy fex s fake, which, in thee, hath found the brighteft exemplar u Tiridates hath ever known, not only of devotion to her imaginary " God, but likewife of her more than virile firmnefs, in fteady con- " tempt of death, arrayed in its moft terrific form : for this, O " Hebrew Maiden ! thou, and thofe thou loveft, have been freed " and for other caufes, that will be revealed." multitude foon difperfed, and the chariot of the lamented 376 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Prifcilla s Narrative An Explanation needed. Meifalcus received us, for the South Tower of the Palace ; where we foon were in fweet communion with the only God, and with ourfelves alone. jf-|nd now, my Cartaphilus, I muft end this narrative : a few days more found us beyond Armenia s confines j and, at Edefla, we were once more in the arms of our beloved Artemas and his Dru- filla ! What occurred there is foreign to my now purpofe : and, of our fafe arrival at Pella, and how fituate there, thou haft lately feen and heard. But I have yet to add that Artemas and his lovely family have juft arrived here ; and all Pella doth rejoice with us. Come thou quickly to us ; and, doubt not, that neither years, nor toils, nor perils have leflened the dimenfions of thy friend s ample heart, nor in the leaft clouded the brightnefs of a mind, which, like his foul, is falhioned in the perfected of nature s moulds. PRISCILLA. SECTION XXIX. Bui, 29. [November 7 th.] TRANGE ! that Prifcilla, after a detail fo refponfive to my wimes and curiofity in all other refpe<5ts, fhould have thus fuddenly brought her narrative to a clofe, without a word of explanation, or any clue whereby to guefs the caufe of their marvellous efcape, and of the great bounty extended to them, at the moment of their feeming greater!: peril ! How it was that Voloo-efes, when the An Explana- to - r -.IT- j ? r c tion needed P n oners were in the 1 ower, and arter ientence of death, could find any caufe of intereft in thofe ftrangers, and why the marble-hearted and luxurious Tiridates came thus fud denly to change his fierce purpofe, do greatly wonder me. His myfterious words were " elfe would the King never have knoivn who ye are!" and he promifed (doubtlefs he performed it) that the caufe mould be revealed ; and yet is Prifcilla filent, and doth care fully avoid the matter ! I will urge her again ; mv appeal mail be ftrong furely me will not refufe me. * * * * * * * * r hanks to the excellent Prifcilla ! To my urgent letter {he hath vouchfafed a reply fo much in harmony with her generoufnefs, her exalted mind, and with the celeftial purity of her unequalled daughter ! Letter xxm. Cfje (KJantieung 3leto. 377 Prifcilla s Narrative The Explanation given. LETTER XXIII. PRISCILLA TO CARTAPHILUS. PELLA, Chijleu, fth day. [November HOU haft too ftrongly urged me to difclofe, what fain would I have withheld from thee, but for thy entreaty. My daughter s Catt f e M ca 1* r ,. J , J . to from the lions. feelings, even more than mine own, were averfe to any allufion that would recall the leaft remembrance of the mutual love, in former days, of Re becca and Cartaphilus, as fo largely fet forth between them, in the letters of thofe times ; and chiefly, alfo, as we both feared it would greatly pain thee to know that others became accidentally informed of all, and likewife with the myftery that hath hung over thee from thy natal hour, and the agency thou hadft with Judas, in the crucifixion of Him whofe name we bear. Know, then, that on our departure from Pella, the whole of thy mutual correfpondence feveral letters of mine to thee the two letters of thine from Rome that concerned the vifit of Tiridates to Nero with other papers touching thy early life, were brought from the houfe of Meifalcus : and being curforily perufed by one of the officers, as commanded by King Tiridates, were then ordered to be burnt, in conformity to the fame order, as we were then deftined to perim on the following day. It fo happened, however, under Providence, that curiofity prompted Vologefes himfelf to infpecl: them, and, ftrange to fay ! the firft letter that met his eye, was the one in which thou, my Cartaphilus, haft fo glowingly defcribed the pomp attendant upon the reception of Tiridates by Nero, and alfo thy exultation at the reply of Vologefes to Nero, when he demanded homage of that Parthian king ! This ftill further awakened the curiofity of the much-pleafed Vologefes and he read them all became intenfely interefted in thy loves in Rebecca s character and in all that revealed thy clofe intimacy with Nero. Thefe matters being detailed by Vologefes to Armenia s king, he became no little troubled thereat, as he well remembered thee at Rome ; and, for fcarce half of Artaxata, Tiridates would not have flain the father, mother, and daughter, whom Cartaphilus, Nero s favourite, fo much loved, as thy letters {bowed. We mould all have been at once releafed by Tiridates, but that Vologefes (in no fear of Nero, though then living and in vaft power, but no warrior] judged that our prefence and dread of death would better pleafe the multitude, than if at once fet free ; and alfo that we mould more richly prize 37 8 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilug, century i. Prifcilla s Narrative ended. the boon, if refcued from the peril when in very fight of thofe hungry lions ! and hence was it that the great proceflion was formed, and the other impreflive ceremonials fafhioned, that we were made to witnefs. Meifalcus perimed, as fruit even more than ripe. He, and others called it deftiny ! What deftiny is, as diftinguimed from foreknowledge, we know not. Thou, my Car- taphilus, art already too much in that way of thinking : but om- nifcience is not fate ; and I believe not that Meifalcus perimed, as being deftined in any further manner than are all who die. But, tis not philofophy, now, that thou feekeft but the whole matter of our freedom from the lions ! Rebecca much grieved to remember, that me was the caufe of the marvels of thy life being thus revealed to others knowing how deeply fenfitive thou haft ever been as to thy connexion with the traitor Judas the myfterious words alfo uttered at the Valley gate thy long abode in Hinnom s odious valley and, above all, the myfteries attendant on thy birth ! Hence was it that her virgin heart fhrank from letting thee know, at this late period, that fo fupreme was her love that me muft needs have with her all thy letters, and copies of all her s to thee, when, by fuch folemn agreement, thy loves were for ever to be buried. But, dear Cartaphilus, we will now end this matter. ^ft may be interefting for thee to know, alfo, that Tiridates, at the moment of our departure, fully redeemed his generous promife ; and delivered to Rebecca a valuation of Meifalcus entire eftate, placed in charge of Eben-Ezra two talents of gold, as the dowry for our Philotera ; and nearly thrice that fum for Rebecca ! All the papers were likewife fafely returned ; and with them a Letter of Safe-conduct unto the confines of his dominions. jjEflcaeus waits with earneftnefs thy arrival at Pella : Artemas and Drufilla count the hours of anxious expectation before thy coming ; and we all pray thee to leave Jerufalem without delay and for ever for its days are numbered there is deftiny in this ! JT thou haft money or property there, fufFer it to continue within its walls, rather than peril anything by a longer tarry thou canft do nothing for Jerufalem now ! *^hy prefence at Pella is further needed, as Julianus only lives in the prefence of Philotera their love is ftrongly mutual ; and we doubt not of thy confent to Rebecca s wiflies that their nuptials {hall foon take place. Julianus is a youth of great worth, of wonderful talents, and large acquirements for his age his love of knowledge being only equalled by his love for our dear Philotera. FARE-THEE- WELL. CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, THE BOOK THE SIXTH CHRONICLES OF Cartapt)tlus, BOOK VI. SECTION XXX. PELLA, Shebet, 3rd. [January izth, A. D. 70.] Cartaphilus vifits Pella Arrival of Artemas there. ERUSALEM could not make me off as fpeedily as the admirable Prifcilla defired : but pj- s ^,^ f to here am I at Pella, in the midft of a Pella. Arte- happy Cbrijiian family fo different mas and his from that of Nero s ! The noble f ami !> tliere - Artemas, whom I had not feen during more than twenty years, was inftantly in my arms he wept with joy; his {till lovely Drufilla mixed her tears with his : but oh, who, even with imagination s creative power, hath language wherein to clothe the radiant beauty of their daughter Cornelia, now in her feven- teenth year and the graces of perfon and mind that diftinguim her brother Thaddeus her fenior by two years a youth more winning than any my eyes have ever feen before ! In Cornelia are found, all that Greeks and Romans have ever conceived of peerlefs beauty fuch, in truth, as in their Hebe and Venus, are imaged forth in fculptured marble, or in cunningly chifelled gold ! and, in the graces of her mind and heart, far more than they could have imagined ; for Cornelia hath been nurtured in no Heathen famions, but in all Chriftian care, which alone can afli- milate mortals to thofe happy beings, who dwell encompaffed by purities beyond the fkies ! The brother, too ! hath he not the {lature and manly grace of their Adonis and Apollo combined and, in foul and generous feelings, is he not more than even Plato knew how to madow forth, or Cicero to defcribe, as a youthful citizen in the republic of their own imaginings, when juft emerging into the ripenefs of ative public ufefulnefs ? or, in thefe their ideal republics, could either have feleted one fo worthy as Thaddeus, to grace the higheft clafs of their political and moral 382 C&ronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Phyfical Influences of Chriftianity. fabric, and to gaze upon him as their fure exemplar, in the earlieft future of their commonwealth ? for fuch is the prefent, and the fure promife as to Thaddeus ! If, then, fuch be the early fruits of Chrijlian culture, engrafted upon an exalted intelligence, what may we not hope from the ultimate refinement of a Chriftian World \ Should that faith become thus general, how poor even the fancied republics of their wifeft philofophers ! *"he miracles and wonders performed by the Great Nazarene Influences of were not muc h f een f me > but were the hourly Chriftianity matter of difcourfe among the priefts and people : and on perfonal yet there is one, which we may all fee, and freely look beauty. upon daily one, that is a living and perpetual miracle, that doth flow from the fame pure and exhauftlefs fountain ! and this it is, that this Chriftianity doth hourly change men from loathfome beafts into lovely angels doth foften hearts fiercer than the hyaena s doth arreft the long-fought purpofes of revenge doth diflolve our idolatrous love of mammon quench the fires of unholy appetites humble the fouleft and moft vaulting ambition, and, finally, doth effedt in the foul, and way of human life, more fudden cures than ever were effedted in the difeafes of his body by the medicaments of man ! yea, indeed, this miraculous cure of moral difeafes doth wonder me even more, than that the blind fhould re ceive their fight the lame walk the lepers be cleanfed ! Com munion with thefe Chriftians, and comparing their ways with thofe of the Heathen, doth afiure me of the wondrous faff, that they of this new faith are outwardly of better mien, and lovelier to behold, than Heathens can be ; and are ever proportionately fo, as they are inwardly different from them ! Even the innocent and beauteous Philotera, fuch as fhe was when in the flave market of Ephefus, doth now manifeft, through her intelledlual and heaven-enlight ened eyes, and all the lineaments of her face, far milder and lovelier expreflions, graces more abundant, features more celeftial, and actions more winning, than ever fhe could have porTefled, even in the courts of Heathen princes ! So that, of neceflity, a beautiful Chriftian woman becomes yet more feraphic in all exterior loveli- nefs, than can poflibly arife, if remaining under the influences and inftruct.ions of the Gentile world, however refined and elaborate they may be ! And this, truly, is no vain imagination of Cartaphilus ; daily doth he behold and feel it ! Artemas, alfo, was ever attractive to look on. Rebecca excelled moft of Judea s daughters in all lovelinefs of form and features ; but now are they both far more elaftic, youthful, brilliant, and infpiring than they poflibly could have been, at this time, had they been left to the control of the various paflions, that Chriftianity alone knoweth how to fubdue, or at leaft to mitigate ! xxxr. Cf)e SxHanDenng 3(eto. 383 Cartaphilus returns to Jerufalem. SECTION XXXI. JERUSALEM, ijth of Shebet. [January 26th, A.D. 70.] ERE am I once more in the once Holy City poflibly for the laft time! for I am now furrounded by human demons a name which, whether it imports a power to terrify, or to diftribute, unfolds equally the nature of fuch wicked beings, as difmay us by their hideous actions, or affign to many their fure deftinies ! John, the Gifchalite Simon of Georas, with their feveral friends and fadions, are all alike terrific. Here can JJj^^f" I remain no longer ; I muft utterly abandon Jeru- y eru r a [ em falem for ever leave the now defecrated Temple, and all the fcenes of my youth and eventful manhood trufting to find in the folitudes of Fella fome covering from my ever torturing thoughts. Oh, what a mere thing of worth lejfnefs have I become, when compared with Artemas ! I believe wonder tremble repent relapfe, and fin as ever! The beauty of a ChrifKan life doth charm my judgment, and yet never can I imitate it ! He who on Calvary perifhed I believe to be a great and moft holy Prophet and yet my inner eyes cannot behold him as the Shiloh that was to come. His refurre&ion I have no power to deny, and yet I know not how to worfhip him as a crucified God ! With my outward eyes I beheld him as a Man with my inner eyes I have no ability to hail him as the only God. Vain are all my beliefs, and ruinous my unbeliefs, if what Artemas, in his part ing words at Pella, faid unto me be aright. The words of Artemas were, " Believe me, O Cartaphilus ! the New Faith is one : and it admits of no mixture with thy philofophy nor with anything foreign to its celeftial origin. Remember, alfo, that the words fpoken to thee near the Valley-gate, more than thirty and fix years ago, do import in thee a life of more endurance than man hath ever known ! TARRY TILL I COME cannot be thy only curfe : but, in thy mixed faith, thou wilt find one far greater unto thyfelf and others, yea, poflibly to nations yet unknown ! Ponder this well ; and give no reign to thy idle fancy that the Paraclete muft yet come ; and that thou art no free agent ! The Paraclete, indeed, was to come but hath He not come and will He not abide for ever ? Now, whether life in thee be long or fliort, Cartaphilus will ever be as much a free agent, as Artemas at this time furely is." We then embraced, and unto Jerufalem I came. 384 Chronicles of Cartapbilu.s> century i. Cartaphilus abandons Jerufalem. SECTION XXXII. Y flay in the City of ages was only long enough to collect my moveables of value, and fend them with all hafte and fecrefy to Pella. My other large pro perty had all been converted into talents of gold and filver, previous to my departure from Rome, fave alone the burial-place of my venerated family in the valley of Jehofhaphat, between the tomb of Zachariah, and the He abandons three p mars that He] n of ^labene^ erected Jerujalem. r r i i i i- i to the memory or her ion Izates ; and in which he his remains, thofe alfo of his brother Monobazus, and of herfelf. And this burial-ground of my forefathers, though it may not receive the remains of Cartaphilus, mail never be loft in his memory, even though the tombs of Zachariah and of Izates fhould perifh. They are likely to remain in favour, when others in that valley may lie even with their parent earth : but, mould all alike difTolve, and Cartaphilus furvive, never can he forget the tomb s place^ where now are flickered his parents though no fon ever born hath been more wretched than he.* * * * * r ^hat I might prevent the feizure of my perfon or property, by the many factions within thofe walls, or by the Roman army, great was my caution in the city, and I further ob tained a letter of fafe- conduct, procured for me by Jofephus from Vefpafian ; and fpeedily thereafter, I found myfelf far beyond the * Only one of the three tombs mentioned by Cartaphilus now remains ; and, at the prefent day, is uiually called Abfalom s Pillar under the miftaken opi nion that this is actually the monument of King David s third fon ! This notion is probably derived from the words in 2 Sam. xviii. 18. " No-tv Abfalom in his life -time had raifed up for hi mf elf a pillar, which is in the King s Dale ; for he faid, I have no fon to keep my name in remembrance ; and he called the pillar after his own name. And it is called unto this day, Abfalom . : Place." Now, if Cartaphilus, and his Editor, be not miitaken, this never was " Ab- faloirfs Place ; " but is that of Izates : who, with Helena his mother, embraced the Hebrew faith only a mort time before the Crucifixion. Eufebius, in the fourth century, fpeaks of fome fplendid monuments by a queen of that name, and as being ftill feen near Jerufalem which, at that time was ftill fometimes called JElia, being fo named by Hadrian, early in the fecond century. And Paufanias, alfo, mentions thefe monuments as exifting in his day, but .alluding to them as monuments of far greater antiquity, yet not in fuch a way as to defignate the ftrufture now called Abfalom s Pillar. It is far more probable that this remaining tomb was raifed by Helena, than that it is the one alluded to in the book of Samuel ; which, had it been erefted near a thoufand years before Helena s day, and been truly " Abfalom s Place," muft have been a monument of fuch remarkable antiquity and intereft, as to have left no doubts as to whether it were his, or that railed by Helena to her fon Izates. . Cftc <H3an&eung; 3|eto* 385 Roman Ceremonials of Adoption and of Arrogation. doomed City, but with a heart full of fadnefs, and wended my folitary way towards Pella, ftill in perils from thofe who were leagued with the fa&ions. rrived at Pella, my earlieft care was to confult the happinefs and wi{hes of the excellent friends around me, compofed now of the families of Eben-Ezra, and of Artemas. ^ was now to ally myfelf by Adoption to Thaddeus ; and by Arrogation to Alcaeus conferring thereby upon each the rights and privileges, and impofmg upon them Ceremonials of r r?- i u j c r c /i j r i Adoption and relpectively, the duties or ions as tint, and lecond qfJrrefatiaa born. The ceremonials on thefe occafions were per formed moftly after the Roman, and, in part, after the Hebrew manner. he firft proceeding was to obtain permiffion from the public authority, in refpecl: to Alcaeus only ; who being without parent, or guardian, could not be received in adoption (or rather in Arrogation) after the cuftomary way of mere private freedom. Both ceremonials, however, are conducted in the prefence of a magistrate. That per miflion being obtained, all the Chriftians at Pella, and in its vicinity, were invited to the public Hall : and thofe in attendance were arranged in a circle ; in the centre of which was feated, at a table, the Roman Magiftrate, arrayed in robes of office, and having by his fide a portable metallic pillar, from which was fufpended a fmall filver balance, with weights. One half of the circle was occupied by the bidden guefts, and the other half by the Adopter, thofe to be adopted, and by their relations and fpecial friends. ^n front, on a fmall elevation, were feated Artemas and Carta- philus on the right of the former, flood Thaddeus on the left was Alcaeus ; and, on the right and left of each, were feated Cornelia ; her mother Drufilla, and Rebecca, then Julianus and Philotera and finally, the youth Plautius, and the domeftics of the two families. ^o our much regret, Eben-Ezra and Prifcilla were not pre- fent, as well from their age as from fome indifpofition, which gave to us no uneafmefs at the time. (ach of the young men to be adopted wore a fplendid girdle, richly and curioufly wrought with golden and filver threads, and with others of various dyes the one by Cornelia, for Alcaeus the other by Philotera, for Thaddeus. J^"ilence being proclaimed, the Magiftrate arofe, and received as from Cartaphilus, (handed to him by a youth fancifully attired,) a golden piece of money , and from Thaddeus (through his father s hands) a fmall fcroll of parchment, attached to a piece of brafs ; i. c c 386 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Hebrew Ceremonials of Adoption and of Arrogation. which together were of equal weight with the money : and upon the parchment was then written the name of Thaddeus, his parentage, and age. fj\ the one fcale was placed the golden piece, in the like con nexion with the name and age of Cartaphilus ; and in the other fcale was depofited the fcroll of parchment, and its brafs appendant, as reprefenting the Adoptee ; and, by fuppofition, thereby placing him in the fcale, as fomething valued, and then to be fold ! The two fides of the balance being found equal, the fcales were emptied; and this formality was thrice performed, whereupon Thaddeus was proclaimed by the Magiftrate, to be the adopted fon of Carta philus. ^he like ceremony then took place in refpecl: to Alcaeus, with no other variations than that permljjlon had been given, and alfo that the name, age, and parentage were written by Alcaeus himfelf, and then witneffed by the magistrate ; who proclaimed him to be the fecond fon of Cartaphilus, and by arrogatlon. ^Vhe ceremonials, under the Roman law, being ended, thofe more peculiarly of Hebrew requirement immediately The Hebrew followed. Rich perfumes were then burnt and deli- Adoption clous odours were diffufed around ; after which fruits and other refrefhments were handed to all, and many rare and blooming flowers were prefented to all prefent : and this was but initial of the proceeding. J^filence being once more proclaimed, all refumed their former pofitions. The Adopter then defcended from his couch, received the hand of the Adoptee, and afked his father, if he were willing that his fon Thaddeus mould be taken by Cartaphilus in adoption ? An affirmative anfwer being given by Artemas, the girdles of Thaddeus and of Cartaphilus were exchanged by them ; and the upper robe of Cartaphilus being taken off, Thaddeus pajfed through it, and he was then declared to be the^?r/? born fon of Cartaphilus, by adoption ! ^j^he like formality was obferved in refpecl: to Alcaeus, with no other difference than that the Magiftrate, inftead of the parent, gave the affent ; and he was proclaimed as the fecond fon of Car taphilus, and by arrogatlon. ^J^he whole ceremonies being now ended, we proceeded from the Public Hall to our own dwelling ; where, after The Banquet pravers an d hymns, at which Eben-Ezra and Prifcilla of primitive r *. \. c r i t_ i Chriftians were prelent, a banquet of nmplicity, but great beauty, accompanied with the mufic of many instruments, re ceived us. Thefe were without oftentation, in grace and plenty, without profufion, or any vanity : they were all in natural elegance, with no formal and ftudied particularity : in fine, the whole was but the juft reprefentative of Rebecca s truthful mind, in which the on xxxn. cje bannering 3Ieto* 387 The Banquet Removal of Edefla The three happy Families. bounties of Providence were gratefully ufed, and adorned by human art, and only fo far as to manifeft man s exalted refpecl: for God s varied bleflings. And thus did Artemas exprefs himfelf to Rebecca. " Thy work hath been nobly done, my excellent Rebecca ; and, if this banquet may not be compared, as was that of more ancient times in Ecclefiafticus, to a fignet of carbuncle fet in gold, yet is it better fuited to that Chriftian fimplicity, which, whilft it difcards not the rich gifts of Providence, abufes none, and is, moreover, moft gracefully arranged by the fubdued wit of a thoughtful woman, and fo that, the great excellence of the former hath not been obfcured, by a too high value fet upon the latter."* Heaving thus made our fons of adoption, and ourfelves happy, we appointed an early day for the nuptials of Julianus and Philo- tera. f jJs all things were hourly growing worfe in Jerufalem, and in all Judea, and no duty now bound us to continue at Pella there being no hope that Ifrael could ever check the Roman fway, we yielded to the entreaty of our friends of Edefla, to accompany them to that Mefopotamian city ; and this was the more readily done, as the venerable Agbarus, Prince of EdefTa, urged his fon-in-law s early return, and to bring with him permanently, thofe friends of his youth, on whom his happinefs fo largely depended. The journey was in every way delightful, as the land of Heber, Tirah, Abraham, Phaleg, of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, and of Balaam everywhere abounds with interefting and wonderful reminifcences, Edefla itfelf being an ciently that Rouha, which is " Ur of the Chaldees." SECTION XXXIII. EDESSA, Adar, i3th. [February 26th, A.D. 70.] E were not long in eftablifhing ourfelves in great com fort at Edefla. Our three families were fo ftrikingly mifcellaneous, as to furprife me, that never before had I noted it : but, happily, there were no repelling differences, but only variety, which often is a fource of delightful harmony, and yet, with perverfe minds, and efpecially in the Heathen world, is fre quently the very fountain of abiding difcord. Firft, there is Artemas, * The allufion made by Artemas to the " carbuncle-fignet fet in gold," refers to Eccles. xxxii. 6, 7. " Sigillum carbunculi in ornamento aureo, eft concentus muficorum in convivio vini " " Sigillum fmaragdi in opere ex auro conftrufto, eft carmen muficum ad vinum fuave." f- The Editor omits the defcription of the nuptial ceremonials on that occa- lion, as a fimilar and more interefting one occurs fo foon after. 388 CfjrOmCleg Of CattapfUlUS, Century i. The three happy Families Arrival of a Friend. late of Caefarea pious, learned, experienced Drufilla, his lovely wife, a princefs of EdelTa Cornelia, their daughter, as beautiful as the morning ftar, as fprightly as the young Zabi, and yet as docile as the much-cherifhed fawn, and her brother Thaddeus, graced with every virtue of mind and perfon : and thefe refide as one family, in the palace of their father Agbarus, the only prince on whom a miracle hath ever been wrought ! The fecond family confifts of the Rabbi Eben-Ezrei) once a man of high coniideration at Jerufalem ; and ever too virtuous for the times, and for his aiTociates Prifcilla his wife, of Samaria, a bright exemplar of Hebrew matrons, as her Narrative doth (how her their daughter REBECCA, who muft have proved Ifrael s greateft glory, had (he lived in Ifrael s happieft days Julianus of Rome, once a flave of Nero, but well educated, manly, and now much refined by all Chriftian graces the foft-eyed, gentle Philotera, likewife once a flave, purchafed by Rebecca at the mart of Ephefus, and now the wife of Julianus and this family dwells near the palace of Agbarus : and laftly, there is Cartaphilus of Jerufalem, whofe life hath been and continues a riddle, afto- nifhing unto himfelf, even more than unto myriads Ahteus, an orphan of Athens, born of Chriftian parents, educated by Dionyfius, the famed Areopagite, whom Paul converted when firft at Athens and finally, Plautius, who, with Julianus, had been prefented to me by Nero, fhortly after his return from Greece, emancipated at Pella, and now in courfe of education : and thefe form the third family ! "ftiJL e are a ^ m ^ily aflbciation ; and never were three more entirely one, in all feelings and affections, which (fo largely to mould even Cartaphilus, and fo entirely the reft) could never have been, but for the heaven-infpired influences of the New Religion, fo vifible at the foundation, and in all the parts of that lovely domef- tic ftru&ure that now encompaffed me in Edefla. ftlJL e nac ^ Deen eftablimed at Edefla lefs than a month, enjoying the delights of this fweet communion, when, one Joyful arrival even j n g. beino- feated around the brazier in the palace OF & ITlBTlLl Hall, the weather being lefs bland than ufual, the ve nerable Agbarus entered ; and kifling his daughter, faid, " Corne lia ! thy grandfather is growing older, and oftener feeks the couch than formerly ; do tell him, as he there repofes his head upon thy lap, what Solomon meaneth in his Song of Songs, doth it truly import the feven days of his firft week s marriage ?" Cornelia, who was then approaching the couch, caught the eye of Alcaeus next her, and they both blufhed deeply, for they well knew the old man s fportive manner, and that he would now rally them both concerning their mutual love, and the feven days of feftivity that would follow upon their coming nuptials : but, at that inftant, Settion xxxin. C&0 WMfttting 3I^ 389 The Reception of Melchior, the Fugitive Chriftian. Joanna (the damfel who keeps the inner gate of the palace) hur riedly entered and faid, " There is a curious looking man who demands admittance ; but I denied him paffage, unlefs to report his name, and calling, and whom he defired to fee. He gave me the name of Melchior would fee Rebecca, daughter of Eben-Ezra, and that his calling is as one of the Nazarenes !" All were in- ftantly on their feet ; and Rebecca ruihed to the portal, clafped Melchior in her arms, and exclaimed, " Come in, my pious and fuffering Melchior God hath refcued thee from Tiridates, and guided thee by his ftar from Armenia, to this our abode of fafety ! " Melchior was indeed in a deplorable ilate ; but his feet were foon warned by them new garments fupplied him a ring placed upon his left hand : and when he returned to the Hall, thus renovated, and with ruddy cheeks, (for he is but middle aged, and of portly mien) he feemed a new creation ! " Come, my Melchior, we ll have for thee the fatted calf, with mufic and dancing," faid Re becca cheerfully, " though truly thou art no prodigal returning to thy long forfaken home ftill we will rejoice over thee, as one that s found ; yea, as did the father for his loft fon : how didft thou efcape ? fit down, and tell us all thy adventures." Melchior wil lingly complied ; and it was late of night before the tale was ended. Melchior now refides with Eben-Ezra, and adds another to the varied perfons of our three-one family.* * The narrative of Melchior is omitted. The Chronicles of our extraordi nary peribnage, who, of all mortals, has lived the longeft, are neceflarily fo extenfive and varied, as to render feleftion difficult. The Editor, however, in all the nineteen centuries, will endeavour to preferve fome continuity in the per- fonal narrative, as well as in the hiftorical details ; but ftill, with little regard to proportion between his feleftions, and the centuries refpeftively. Some periods are barren in our pages, though redundant enough in thofe of the original Chronicles: but, as thefe neglecled portions conlift often of matters, no lefs dark in philofophy, morals, religion, and hiftory, than they are in intereft, refine ments, and in real utility, we have feleiled from the entire Polychronicon, only what may effentially portray the fpirit and imprefs of the ages refpeftively, and alfo intereft and inftrucl: at the preient time. We here alfo perceive the continuance of that early fondnefs of the Orientals for ftory-telling an occupation fo cuftomary before their fleeping-hour, whether iuch tales were fi&itious or real. Their books and fources of amufement being few and meagre, compared with ours, naturally led them to thefe verbal narra tives, either for inftru&ion, or paftime. The Arabian, Perfian, and Indian tales are often very delightful ; and, like memoirs, letters, and biography, give us a better infight into the adyta of the heart, and of the manners and cuftoms of domeftic life, than any other fources we poflefs. 390 Chronicles of CartapJriius;, century i. Mufings of Cartaphilus upon Immortality. SECTION XXXIV. EDESSA, Nifan i, A.M. 3830. [Friday, izth March, A.D. 70; A.M. 4070.] OW is the anniverfary of that foul day, when firft I breathed ! Threefcore and ten of Nifan s earlieft moons have been feen, fmce Mariamne and Seraiah fo deeply mourned the ufhering into life of him, as to whom nature then forely difturbed, and alfo porten tous dreams, had fymbolized a deftiny fo marvellous as mine ; and which Calvary s mighty Vitim left not unnoted ! X s * fo indeed, that the night vifion, feen of my mother before I law the light, and the INazarenes dread words uttered to me, on the fifteenth of Nifan, near thirty and two years thereafter, do but fhadow forth the birth, and fin, and fore deftiny of Cartaphilus the ignominious death, but immor tal fovereignty, of that marvellous man ? If each be indeed a re velation, why fo myfterious and dark, that, after a pilgrimage of nearly feventy years, the deftiny of that fon of Mariamne remains as it was both dream and curfe (if fuch it be) ftill wholly unre- folved and the Immortal fovereignty of that Nazarene yet doubt ed, denied, and even fcorned by myriads, among Jews as well as Gentiles ? Its lovelinefs, and wonders, it were folly and wicked- nefs to queftion : and yet, more in embryo is that fovereignty now, than when Judas believed, and the multitude fhouted " Hofannas to the Son of David! " If " life and immortality be brought to light" how, and when ? feeing that yet Cimmerian darknefs co- vereth the earth ! Oh, it is indeed moft true, that Time is not meafured by Abraham s God, as tis with man ; moft true it alfo is, that Nature was forely fhaken when Jefus expired, and that all was fweet repofe and ineffable brightnefs foon thereafter ! Doth this import life and immortality to the believer eternal death to fuch as believe not, and even to fuch as Cartaphilus ? If fo, oh that Death would quickly come unto him : for, of terrene life, Carta philus is now more weary than the dungeoned captive, and would welcome eternal death, even as King David unto his bofom drew the fon of Saul ! Eternal Death ! what doth that mean ? death means extinction ; and yet, thefe pious Nazarenes fpeak not of fuch a death for the one clafs, and an eternal life of blifs for the other. If the one furvives the grave, for happinefs may not the other, for mifery ? eternal death^ then, for the unbeliever, is not death, but ///*, and with it countlefs woes ! oh, tis a dogma hard to be re ceived, impoflible to be refolved ! But can it be, at all, that the foul of either fhall furvive the grave s corruption, and be a living entity for ever ? Shall any weal, or woe come unto man when xxxiv. c&e bannering 3feto 391 Mufmgs of Cartaphilus upon Immortality. death hath here done its filthy work ? Is Immortality aught but a wild and profitlefs figment ? Who hath feen the foul at any time, but as with the body and life connected ? none, as I ween ; and fo my Sadducean teaching hath ever been. The ways of the Pha- rifees, moreover, do ill luftain their long preachments and yet, who can deny or withhold his wonder and great admiration at the earneftnefs, and innocence, and marvellous unfelfifhnefs of thefe Nazarenes ? they look not to earth for any joy, they cherifh here naught but of a pure confcience, and, as mere fojourners in a hafty tent, they covet no abiding place here, but fet all their hopes on fome eternal city in the Ikies ! If not, like them, a believer, ftill I like them much and no wit of man can ever rob them of their belief and none but that of Beelzebul would defire fo to do : but eternal woe feemeth unto me an eternal barrier to that full belief the Nazarenes demand : eternal blifs (if an after-life there be) doth harmonize with all we can conceive of Abraham s God the mi- fery of fin here being ever as fure to follow, as the fhadow doth its fubftance but that is not eternal woe for finite fins ! ah, there is the deep, deep myftery that fo confounds me ! ^he words uttered unto me in the Temple, when my eyes firft refted upon that wonderful Being and ftill more, thofe words that fo aftounded me at the Valley Gate, do yet ring loudly in my ears, and grievoufly bewilder me : as the fling before the ftone is caft, fo is my mind often thrown forward and backward, ftriving to caft aright its judgment, and yet knowing not (as little as doth the ftone itfelf ) whether it fhall ever reach the fought-for mark ! ^o live^ at all, is inftincT: with many wonders to live for ages in this nether world is more fo, and full enough of mifery, but to live eternally, when difembodied, and the fpirit is difenthralled, and when its artfully compacted tenement lies utterly refolved into duft, are indeed hard and dark fayings, baffling all human wit, and needing much of faith ! r hefe thoughts do fometimes mantle my reftlefs foul with a blufh, when yielding to them a fitful credence ; for the unwavering faith with which my beloved and honoured friends around me drink in all as celeftial truths, feldom failed greatly to make me ; but anon, philofophy would awaken me my feeble faith vanifhed, and the blufh of fhame for myfelf would mingle with the pride of human reafon. But again, belief comes back the foul, in imo pettore^ is feverely tortured ; and, after fierce ftruggles with the in- vifible Satanas, the blufh of fhame returns pronounces Jefus a great and holy prophet, but not the Meflias and eternal woe but a fancy, to fcare men into virtue ! ^JjJ[hat is faith, and whence cometh it ? Are not belief and unbelief alike refiftlefs ? and if fo, where the merit, or demerit of 39 2 Chronicles of Cartapfrito, century He mourns the lofs of Friends. either ? Whence cometh the glow of fatis faction in Artemas the infidious blufh of contempt in Cartaphilus ? Is the one deceived by zeal, the other by the pride of diftempered reafon ? Is the ar dour of Artemas the offspring of divine truth, and is the agitating dubiety of Cartaphilus (though occafionally fuftained by a feeming faith, and then anon by the glow of contempt) the offspring of fa- tanic artifices ? In both ways have I often argued and refolved thefe vexed queftions, until, at length, thus have I interrogated myfelf. " Doth not Life uprife everywhere from Death, and is not all nature inftinft with the mutations we call diflblution ; and yet, is there anything, in all her wide domains, and in all fuch nu merous diffolutions, that expires eternally ? Doth not even the crawling and loathfome caterpillar retire within its tomb, and then uprifing, with golden and purple wings, revel in a new exiftence, joyoufly fcorning the very earth from whence it came, and gam bolling in the boundlefs empyrean, feem to fay, aba! unto the creeping things below ? Are there not, moreover, numerous mif- fhapen animals, that take unto themfelves new forms, and feem- ingly as oblivious of their former exiftence, as if now a new creation ? tis even fo : and though the ambrofial flowers med their petals, they perifh not and fo likewife, the golden fruits may fall to the earth, and there decay the varied foliage drop from their parent ftems the feeds innumerable be fcattered all around, yet do the whole ferve but as elements for new exiftences, teeming with varied life ! Why, then, fhould Man, the perfereft of all, die for ever? Oh, no ! Cartaphilus no ! thy fure deftiny, and that of man, is IMMORTALITY !" ^T^he month I fpent at Pella, and much of the time fince my arrival at EdefTa, have furely been by far the happieft hf"ff "iends. fmce firft l breathed - Parentlefs, childlefs, and with none by blood allied to me, or by affinity, in all Palef- tine, (though ftill with remote, but unknown relatives in benighted Arabia,) the adoption by me of Alcaeus and of Thaddeus, and like wife the nuptials of Julianus and Philotera, feemed to ally me, for the firft time, to humanity and gave me fome hope that mifery might not be my only portion. But alas ! new wounds have fud- denly come upon me here in Edeffa for I mourn the death of the matchlefs Prifcilla, and of my greatly honoured Eben-Ezra : thefe deaths have laid me very low death, do I call their departure ? oh no, but a triumphal entry into life, frefh and eternal in the illimit able heavens I ***** And yet, Prifcilla s parting words unto me are as rivers of gall to my agonized foul ! She took my hands, and bathed them in her tears mingled with mine own, then faid " Weep not for me, my Cartaphilus, but weep for thyfelf weep for Jerufalem weep for the wickednefs of Ifrael s flock on xxxiv. c&e 2xftantJ0nng; Jeto. 393 He mourns the lofs of Friends Apoftrophe to Conference. weep for the idolatries of the Heathen weep for the miferies the Nazarenes muft endure weep for the troubles the world will fuf- fer from Chriftianity but only becaufe of man s perverfenefs : for the New Faith is indeed a pricelefs pearl ; which, if for a time re jected, or abufed, fail not to remember, that the Prince of Dark- nefs, the foul ARAZAEL, will make the times thou fhalt witnefs tenfold more terrific than now ; yea, like as the darknefs grows deeper towards the morn, though fo foon to be followed by the effulgence of the rifmg fun ! But, my Cartaphilus, let not the blacknefs that fhall firft come, and which may fo long endure, ex- tinguiih in thee thy fmall faith and oh ! let no part of thefe evils be the work of thy too fertile brain." And then gazing for a mo ment upon me, and with a fixed flare, Prifcilla prefTed my hand, and inftantly expired ! ^hat fearful and intenfe look her fudden dropping of my hand in death and yet more, her laft rnyfterious words, filled my foul with dread and fupreme horror. In all this, I faw fomething more prophetic as to my ftrange deftiny, than ever before had occurred to my greatly belaboured mind : and motionlefs as a flatue, I flood in the prefence of her now lifelefs body : weep I now could not : oh, then would I have given many radiant pearls, yea, any gem that with inherent light twinkles, as do the flars in the blue heaven yea, any pofleflion within my imagination, for one tear ! oh, that came not, but a fickening defpair drowned all my will ; and difmay fo pofTefTed my foul, that the very fountains which bedew forrows were not onlv dried up, but inflamed as if with fires for that reve lation, given at the moment of her foul s flight, feemed far more clear and impreflive than prophecy made in the fulnefs of life is apt to be ; and to me it alfo feemed, as if her then purer fpirit had rebounded with horror from longer communion with one whofe foul was fo hateful and corrupt as mine ! and moreover, is not all prophecy brighter, as life is ebbing fafl and are not dreams more veracious at the dawn of day ? fo would it feem, and fo it is faid of old. O CONSCIENCE, what a flern tormentor art thou ! Enthroned in the heart, thou fittefl the untiring; witnefs and judge. Tu r tr u f r i u j Apoftrophe to I here, in levere majefty, is thy never-rorfaken abode, Coafcteace and all the cunning arts of reafon fail, at laft, to hide man s fins from thee, or even to obfcure abidingly any of them ! No vacation haft thou, O Confcience, when once aroufed ! but, with unwearied toil, fentence doft thou pafs upon every adlion; yea, upon every thought, be it of good, or of evil, the firft a balmy cordial, the other adder s poifon to the foul ! O fearful power ! that, by day, amidft the glare of life, doth weigh us down, we know not how, fave that our thoughts are then confufed and leaden, 394 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Apoftrophe to Confcience Funeral Ceremonies. but which, in night s filence, or in our flumbers, come upon us in terrific clearnefs, and oft with thundering peals, exhaufting all our energies, and then anon, as fome ugly hag, they fit brooding over us, hifling remorfeful venom at us or, with the lightning s quicknefs, they carry us into the endlefs regions of troublous fancies, and of vifions, fo inftincl: with horrors, that the morning dawns upon the exhaufted mind, as on fome difeafed and fevered maniac, when reafon and a flower pulfe are juft returning to him ! O Confcience, how creative are all thy energies ! thy fofceft whiiper is often a fearful fhadow upon the foul s funfhine but thy fterner admonitions are as concentrated fires ; and thy pictures, though ideal, are as hideous and varied as are fcenes in Tophet s dread abodes ! Thy innate tortures fhame the artfuleft devices of cruel man : for then the body, indeed, may writhe^ and thereby mitigate the fierce contrivances of our fellows ; but in the Soul s jhrinking, Confcience takes no wing is but augmented, and no chamber of retirement can it find, even for a palling inftant, that it may efcape its fcorpion prefence ! Tremendous power ! faithful fervant unto Him who fends thee ! thy vigils never ceafe ; and fombre night, or garifh day, is to thee alike I ***** But, hold Cartaphilus ! no further muft thou go in this matter of Confcience to madnefs doth it lead, and no cure hath it but one PRAYER the foul s genial food and only medicament ! ^JjJ[hen Prifcilla breathed no longer, Eben-Ezra wept not Mourn : n of ^P^ e not fighed not ; but, as a lamp without oil, he the primitive gradually breathed flower and feebler, until the laft Chriftians. expiration was loft in the deep filence around him. Funeral cere- Fare-thee-well, my earlieft friend ! forely did I peril thy long and patient love ; but even the great offence of Cartaphilus extinguifhed it not nay, largely were his miferies tempered by thee, thou beft of men !****#* I had aflbciated much with thefe Chriftian families ; but little with others of the fame faith. No marvel, then, that naught did I know of their dealings towards the dead , nor that greatly was I furprifed and pained at what foon followed. Wonderful indeed are the changes effected by Chriftianity, even in the folemneft and an- cienteft of all our Hebrew cuftoms ! thefe will I now briefly detail. ^he preparation for the funerals in due time came on ; and all with a filence and regularity, never before witnefled by me. I found that Rebecca, and Artemas, and Drufilla mourned not, as the Hebrews are wont to do ; but in fo cold and unearthly a way, as if their fouls had been congealed, or had departed with the dead ! 395 Funeral Ceremonies of the Primitive Chriftians. they rent not their garments, they beat not their breafts, put not their hands upon their heads ; and upon them they caft no duft, nor afhes, yea, ftranger ftill, Artemas fhaved not his beard ! This abandonment of IfraeFs long venerated cuftoms, for a mourn ing through the heart alone, and for a filent and nearly unfeen weeping, feemed to me as if all regard for the dead had been loft in a one undefined thought, oblivious of the paft and prefent, and only hopeful of that future which (hall be beyond the grave ! Immediately thereafter, I perceived that they all had warned and anointed, as if death was nowhere within our borders : no fack- cloth was to be feen, and only their cuftomary garments, fave that their brighter ornaments were abfent : but, during the whole cuftomary period of feven days mourning, they all converfed with mildnefs, and fometimes cheerfully, and even exultingly, concern ing the two deceafed ! Sorely was I opprefTed by thefe departures from our Hebrew ways. But Artemas, when he found the Chriftian fpirit and mine own fo much at variance, faid, " Oh, Cartaphilus ! more mould we mourn at thy perverfenefs, than for the doings of thofe who are now born anew, and are driving that, when they alfo die, they may live eternally. Thy mind ftill cleaves to the outward forms, in aid of thy inward griefs : we Chriftians believe death is but the portal of life, opening to glories ineffable, and more fuited for joy, to thofe who continue longer here, than for forrow. In our mere humanity, indeed, we feel our lofs ; but the foftening influences of our faith bid us fupprefs all felfifhnefs, and drown our own misfortune in the firm affurance that our temporary lofs is their everlafting gain. Why then torture the body why rend our clothes, beat our breafts, and fadden our countenances and utter ances, when the heart fhould banifti felf, and, with ferene gratitude, contemplate the heavenly beatitude our departed friends muft re ceive, in exchange for the beggarly elements of mere worldly enjoy ments ? Oh, no ! my Cartaphilus ; fuch griefs as fackcloth and afhes fymbolize, do but fully the pure white robes with which the Chriftian heart is clothed." j^n this wife did Artemas argue that matter with me ; until I faw my folly, in part at leaft, in fuppofing that Chriftianity lefTens the devoted affection, and grateful remembrance of the living to wards their dead. jFLfter the few days of preparation, the funeral ceremonials clofely enfued : and pleafed was I to find that they differed but little from our Hebrew fafhion. Perfumes were burnt over their bodies, which were laid each upon a bed filled with fweet odours, and with divers kinds of fpices, all prepared with much art ; and, after being carefully embalmed and cafed, they were laid upon a ftone tablet that being part of the fepulchre itfelf, and, as is fo ufual with us, the C&ronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century i. Funeral Ceremonies of the Primitive Chriftians. tomb was a cavity hewn out of the folid rock, in fome {haded and retired fpot.* jFfter the remains, in a ftone farcophagus, were there depofited, a folemn hymn was fung, followed by a Ihort prayer. The ftone door was attached, and then flowly moved upon its artfully-carved hinges, part alfo of itfelf ; and when clofed upon them, that door feemed but as the everlafting rock, untouched of man and there muft the clayey remains continue, until that great day {hall come, when the maffive portals of every tomb {hall be burft afunder, and the dead arife fome to never-ending glories others to eternal {hame but all with new bodies fuited to their refpe6live ftates ! So fay my Chriftian friends ; and Cartaphilus knows not how to gainfay it. ^he proceflion, at firft, flowly and filently retired from the maniion of the dead : but, after a time, they chanted on the way a holy fong, accompanied by the mournful found of flutes : but there had been no weepers employed for the occafion nor were thofe who had embalmed, or otherwife handled the bodies, regarded as unclean, or as at all needing the cuftomary purification, but all at once united with the reft in honouring the dead, regardlefs of the long-obferved rule among the Hebrews of feparation for a time ! Rebecca s now folitary home received us dignity and a fweet refignation were in her countenance ; and all partook of fome refremments, in a calmnefs that betokened neither forrow, nor forgetfulnefs. jSfuch, then, was the firft Chriftian funeral witnefled by me : and, when all was over, I clearly faw therein, that Chriftian reafon and fobriety had retained all the falutary feelings, though it had parted with all of thofe obtrufive and clamorous features, that had marked all I had ever feen on fuch occafions from my youth up. SECTION XXXV. T/iamuz, 1 5th day. Captiv. 658. [June 24th, A.D. 70.] MOURNED over the lofs of my two valued friends with an intenfe feeling, though outwardly controlled by the fcene I had fo lately witnefled. But this, and my other caufes of deep fadnefs, were much abated by the unceafmg kindnefs of Artemas and Drufilla ; and truly may I fay, equally, by the delicate remembrances of my ever- honoured Rebecca. To thefe was added yet another caufe, to reftore me to a fomewhat compofed, if not happy mind, which I ^ Chron. xvi. 14; xxi. 19; Jerem. xxxiv. 5. on xxxv. Cfje (KJanDeting 3(eto. 397 Betrothment of Alcaeus and Cornelia Agbarus, Prince of EdefTa. found in the exalted love of Alcaeus for the fair Cor- Betrothment nelia : this was refponded to with a woman s deep and Marriage devotion : and this gives to her parents yet more joy, of ^ Ale am and than it can raife in a heart fo buffeted as mine not ^ orne " a - by the ufual cares of life, but by a namelefs mifery. jFJlcaeus, now more than twenty, is a youth of whom princes might juftly be proud. InftincT: with a noble heart, he has embel- lifhed an exalted intellect and refined feelings, with varied readings in the Greek and Roman authors. Before we met at Athens, his attainments were furprifing for a youth of his then tender age ; and during the paft year and more, his devotion to Hebrew learning, and to all that relates to IfraePs marvellous hiftory, and to that of the furrounding kings and princes, hath been intenfe and unre mitting. And here again, the New Faith mines out fupreme over the mind of Alcaeus : for though his love of Cornelia is a fteady and ardent flame, his Chriftian confcience bids him lofe no hours, but to toil the more inceflantly, that he may become the more worthy of her. ^he venerable Agbarus alfo, though aged, retains no remnant of his Heathen faith ; and his affection for my beloved Alcaeus is only equalled by that he bears towards Cornelia : and truly, never were mortals caft in moulds more fuited for each other. jE-j nd moreover, though Cartaphilus be childlefs, knoweth he not of how great value are children held by all ? Yea, when a fon is born unto the family, do they not hang a bow and arrow before the gate, to fymbolize that a new protector hath been added unto them ? for they all fay that " as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, fo are children, and happy is the man who hath his quiver full of them." ^he nuptials of a grand-daughter to a prince fo beloved as Agbarus the daughter alfo of the wealthy and benevolent Artemas, one of the earlieft and moft devoted of the Nazarenes, failed not to excite in Edefla, and in all the furrounding country, the livelier! intereft. r he ceremonial took place on Sivan s twelfth day at the palace,* and, as this, as well as the marriage of Julianus and Philo- tera, are the only Chriftian nuptials yet witnefled by rne, I (hall defcribe the proceedings of the former with fome minutenefs, as they partake in fome degree of the Heathen, as well as of Jewifh and Chriftian formalities the Heathen features being fuch as the New Faith hath not yet wholly fhaken ofF. * The i2th day of the Jewifh month Swan, in A. D. 71, correfponded with Friday, 21 May that being the day on which virgins ufually wedded, as Thurfday was the one generally appropriated to the marriage of widows. 39 8 C&ronicle.s of Cartapfrilu.s, century i. Ceremonials of Betrothment and of Marriage. ^ may here remark that Mefopotamia, in the weftern part of which is fituate Edefla, is yet but little Chriftianized. The prefence, however, of not a few Mefopotamian Jews at Peter s fermon, on the memorable day of Pentecoft, the wonders that then flafhed upon them, and others aflembled from divers parts of the world at Jerusalem the fudden converfion of many at that time, and alfo the miracle wrought upon Prince Agbarus, by the Apoftle Thaddeus, foon after, and the converfion of him and his houfehold, were all circumftances of great power to raife in Edefla very favourable impreflions concerning the Nazarene faith : and yet its actual pro- grefs continues but fmall, compared with the population of that city, and its neighbouring places.* ^J^he Chriftian Jews, moreover, are generally tenacious of their early habits ; and will retain them, if not manifeftly in conflict: with Apoftolic teaching : and even Agbarus, who- was fomewhat aged when the pious Thaddeus firft vifited him, did not fee fit, at once, to break down among his fubjets, fome of thofe formalities fo long ufed among the Heathens. r he Hebrews, as all know, make great rejoicings and feftivities on nuptial occafions ; and, when attendant upon the ceremonial, they fail not to be attired in their coftlieft habiliments. King David compared the appearance of a bridegroom to the fun s fplen- dour : the marriage week is feven days of conftant feflivity ; but the youthful Tobias tarried with his father-in-law Raguel twice that number of days, yet only becaufe they were likely to part for ever. Now, as Alcaeus and Cornelia will abide wholly with Ag barus, the Prince directed that the rejoicings fhould laft but feven days.f jjfjgbarus, when he queftioned Cornelia as to the " SONG OF SONGS," feemed to doubt whether it truly doth relate to the feven days of Solomon s feftivity upon his nuptials with Pharaoh s daughter. And, if that famed Song refers neither to the marriage, nor to the feven days of his rejoicings, yet it clearly alludes to the beauty of virtuous Love the excellence of Hope and to the happinefs of Pofleflion : and moreover, it portrays the high worth of marriage, that confummates the hopeful love and its lawful joys, by myftical allufions to the far more exalted mutual love of God and of Ifrael for each other, as the Jews generally hold : or, poffibly, it fhadows * The day of Pentecoft, next after the RefurreHon, was on Sunday the i6th of May, which correfponded with the yth of Siltaa, A. D. 35 of the true era that being juft fifty days after Eafter Sunday, or the Refurreftion Day, inclufive which occurred on the jyth of Nifan, or the 2.8th of March. f " Juflit igitur Raguel fervos fuos celebrare nuptias diarum quatuordecim. Et edixit ad Tobiam,jure interpofiti, ne liceret ei proficifci, priufquam quatuor decim nuptiarum dies abfolverenter." TOBIAS viii. 19, 20,21. xxxv. cfjc ftdJan&ering Jeto- 399 Ceremonials of Betrothment and of Marriage. forth the happy union between Meflias and his Church, as many Chriftians now maintain. In either view, however, the " Song of Songs" manifefts how honourable and profitable is marriage ; and that it mould be folemnized with the moft impreffive ceremonials, and with matters that gladden the heart of all and fo hath marriage ever been held in all Paleftine, and wherever Jews are found.* j^-j week or more before the nuptial day, the parties were betrothed in the ufual way ; which was performed by Alcasus de livering to Cornelia a fmall piece of filver, and faying to all prefent as witnefles, " Receive this^ O Cornelia ! in folemn pledge that thou Jhalt be my future fpoufe : " and, on the evening before the nuptial day, the betrothed bride was led to the Bath accompanied by the harm founds of many culinary utenfils, as is our ftrange cuftom, though it be defigned to remind the bride of two things firft, that all the matters of the culina are to be known and obferved by her, as well as thofe of the Atrium : and fecondly, that tis better, as the proverb faith, to rife from the kitchen to the Hall, than to defcend from the Hall to the kitchen a fummo dignitatis gradu ad infimum decidere. ~(JLP on the Bride s return from her bath, a marriage fong was chanted by her companions ; who, richly clad in white, ftood near the fecond palace-gate, and within the inner-court, where Arte- mas and Drufilla, as parents, and Agbarus as grandfire, received * The opinions entertained as to the true import of this " Song," have been various and extremely different ; they are principally as follow: I. that it cele brates the mutual love of God and his people Ifrael ; or, n. the alliance between Chrift and his Church; of which opinion are Lo-uuth, Horjley, Good, Home, and many others : in. that it is an amatory poem, fetting forth a real hiftory, di vided into feven parts, which reprefent the feven days of Solomon s marriage ; and of this opinion are Bojfuet, Dupin, and feveral more : iv. that it celebrates illicit love, and is not to be received as canonical : of which opinion was Theo- doret, in A. D. 553 ; who was juftly cenfured for that opinion by the Council of Conftantinople : for not only the prophets Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi, deal with this fong as canonical, and as having a myftical and fpiritual fenfe, but the Jewifh nation have never doubted it ; and the entire poem is at variance with the views of Theodoret, but, neverthelefs, this heterodox opinion was revived by Whifton, in the laft century: v. that though the poem is not ftriftly chafte in language, and deals with reciprocal love, ftill that it imports none of the preceding things, but alludes to the pureft ante-nuptial mental love alone, and in affociation with the idea of monogamy alone ; and of this opinion is Prof. Ja/tn, of Vienna. He regards it as in no degree fpiritual and myftical, and, of courfe, as not being entitled to its place in the Canon. Prof. Jahn feems to adopt his notion from the faft, that the name of God is not once to be found in it ! but this can be of little or no weight: for it may likewife be objefted to the book of Either : and further that, as a mere allegory, (which the poem certainly is,) it would not need, and fcarce would admit the infertion of that blefled name. 400 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Ceremonials of the Marriage of Alcxus and Cornelia. the initiate Bride with tokens of great joy embraced and luffed her, as alfo all her youthful virgin companions. jf-i t length, the evening of the marriage day arrived ; and Cor nelia with all the family were aflembled at an hour previous to the nuptials, that they might, in private, receive the Marriage Contract, that always follows as the laft acT: of the betrothment, and imme diately before the nuptials. ^3y the contract, written on parchment, and in letters of divers colours, Alcseus conveyed to his efpoufed Cornelia a certain dowry ; and covenanted therein to maintain, and in all things to deal with her as his cherifhed wife to take unto himfelf no other, nor any concubine to preferve for her behoof alone all that fhe mail bring with her, and all that thereafter might be acquired by her, from himfelf, or from others. The contract, after being read aloud, was delivered to the Bride : but neither this, nor the previous betroth ment, as I was much pleafed to fee, contained any allufion to the cuftoinary preilum pudlcitiee of fifty filver fhekels that ftipulation being now deemed unfuited to Chriftian purity of thought, and to all thofe more refined morals that mark fo ftrongly the New Religion. ^Q> ight had now come : but Sivan s brighteft moon was mining on the nuptial proceffion, then juft forming within the palace-court foon to defcend through the broad avenue of the enchanting gar den which adjoins, and in the centre of which, the ceremony was to be folemnized. As our cuftom is to wed in the open air, when ever the elements are genial, the clear firmament that now canopied the moving proceflion, was gratefully regarded by all as moft pro pitious. The night was fo balmy and delightfully fweet with odours, diftilled from a thoufand flowers, that it feemed as if Diana and Flora were a final goddefles, and had now united to form it all to our wimes ! Such garden perfumes, moreover, fail not to falute the fmell, if wafted through the air of night, far more palpably, than when blended with the warm and dry rays of the day ; hence were we in the midft of the fremeft odours, though the delicate, or even gorgeous hues of the various flowers that poured them forth, were little vifible by moonlight. ^J^he mufic, from a long diftance, ftole upon our ears in de lightful cadences it being ftationed at the extreme end of that avenue, in the centre of which we ftood, where are three copious fountains pouring forth their ceafelefs fpray. The lofty trees that encompafTed thofe playful waters, were in a blaze of light from many filver and highly burnifhed lamps, placed amidft their thick and varied foliage : thefe fhed their gorgeous rays through tranfpa- rent horn of divers colours, whilft the moon-beams, in the open fountain-fpace, were reflected from the fleecy waters, darned into the air by the foft frefh breeze of the night, and feemingly as per- 3[eto. 401 Ceremonials of the Marriage of Alcaeus and Cornelia. petual fhowers of filver and of golden fpangles ! This was the fpot, judicioufly chofen by Cornelia for her nuptials. *<QCP on a richly cumioned throne, erected near the fountain, were feated Prince Agbarus and Artemas, next Drufilla and Car- taphilus : and over their heads was fufpended a long and variegated canopy, brilliant with many fmall fparkling lights, alfo of various hues. In front of the throne were {landing each upon a cufhion, the other members of the triune family fave the groom and bride : and, on the right and left of the families, were ftationed the invited guefts Chriftians, Jews, and Heathens each in wedding gar ments, refpectively faihioned after the manner of their nations and religions. jf-t crofs the fpacious avenue, and in front of the fountain oppo- fite the throne, were feated the chief Rabbins of EdefTa, and the Chanter of the Synagogue; whilft, in front of all, and for the re ception of the bridal proceffion approaching from the palace, were {landing Melchior, as prefbyter, clad in a white robe, and having on each fide of him two deacons clothed in robes of black. jjjtt a given fignal, the mufic fighed forth in fofteft numbers, the air only of the Epithalamium, whilft at the fame moment were feen and heard the Nuptial proceffion, at the oppofite end of the avenue from the mufic, chanting the words of the marriage fong which became increafmgly audible as the proceffion defcended from the palace fteps, pafled through the lofty portals of the gar den, and then, with meafured but joyous tread, came down the avenue until they reached near to the Prefbyter and Deacons. jM t the head of the proceffion were the twenty virgins in white goflamer fpangled with filver ; each crowned with a light bafket of choiceft flowers : next, were the like number of youths, in robes of byflus, of brighter! and richeft Tyrian dyes, faftened with golden clafps, and fringed with alternate tufts of pomegranates. ^he proceffion now opened in front the virgins taking to the right, and the young men to the left, difclofed to the view of all the Bridegroom and the Bride ! They walked beneath a magnificent and very light canopy ; the four corners of which repofed upon fmall filver rods, each fupported by a virgin veiled in white goffa- mer, richly embroidered in filver, and ftudded with golden fpangles : and from the four ends of the veil of each, were fufpended taflels of blended filver and gold and purple. *^he Bridegroom and Bride were each covered with a thin black veil, to obfcure their entire forms from the four corners of which were hung white tufts of filver, that nearly reached the ground. Thefe dark veils were defigned to conceal, for a time, the great D *-* beauty and riches of their habiliments beneath. J^n the rear of the canopy, and of the mafs of fplendour around I. D D 402 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Ceremonials of" the Marriage of Alcseus and Cornelia. the happy pair, and their four attendants, were to be feen the nu merous domeftics of the three families all in their beft attire. j^f t the moment of thus dividing the Nuptial proceffion, the fong and mufic ceafed ; and the Prefbyter, receiving from the Dea con on his right, a brittle goblet of fmall value, and from the one on his left, fome wine, poured into it from a golden vafe, the goblet and its contents were blefled by the prefbyter fix times ; and after handing it back to the Deacon, he faid to the Bride and Groom, with a gentle voice, " Remove thy dark robes, and thy veils" which, being incontinently done by the virgins, for the former, and by the youths, for the latter, the Prefbyter then proceeded. " We humbly thank thee, oh thou only GOD and his CHRISTUS, for the creation of the Sexes, and for the inftitution of Marriage ordained alike for the benefit of Man and Woman for the virtuous perpe tuation of our kind for the rearing and education of their offspring for the increafe of authorized love, and for the fuppreffion of all incontinency : and thefe thanks we render in the blefled name of Jehovah the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. " "(ftULherefore, O Chriftians ! Marriage mould be honourable among all men ; and is forbidden to none that are of found mind who are not already wedded, and with confent of parents, or of others having lawful authority over fuch as are not ful juris ; and moreover, if not within the forbidden limits of confanguinity, or of affinity. The Law, as delivered by our late Mafter Mofes, hath in no degree been abrogated herein, by Him who now is our only Mafter. " r he parties here before me, being in no way related by blood or affinity, offer no inceftuous impediment : and, if any one prefent knoweth of any infirmity of mind, or of body, which by our holy law is an impediment to their union, let him or her fpeak forth with." Here the Prefbyter was filent for a time. " None being declared, I now would know, who giveth this man, ALC^US, to be wedded to this woman, CORNELIA ?" " j^fl s his father, by arrogation," faid Cartaphilus, " I do con fent, and give him, Alcaeus, in marriage." " j^-flnd who giveth this woman, CORNELIA, to be wedded to this man, Alcaeus ?" continued the Prefbyter. " I, as her aclual father, do confent and give her, Cornelia, in marriage unto Alcasus," anfwered Artemas. ^he Prefbyter then proceeded. " Seeing no caufe why thefe perfons may not be wedded art thou, Alcasus and Cornelia, willing to pledge, and do ye, each your faith ?" " We are willing, and do fo," faid each : whereupon the Prefbyter added, " In token of thy mutual pledge of faith, drink ye each of this goblet." The xxxv. CFje Bannering 3leto. 403 Ceremonials of the Marriage of Alcaeus and Cornelia. Deacon handed the wine ; and when they had tafted thereof, he caft the brittle goblet and wine upon the earth, as a joyous offering, through God its Creator, to that prolific mother of fo many bleflings ! ^he Bridegroom then placed on the Bride s finger a golden ring, and (aid, " With this fymbolic ring, O Cornelia ! I wed thee as my only wife, until death mail part us." The Prefbyter then re ceived the Contract of Marriage ; and, after reading it aloud, del i vered it, at the requeft of Alcaeus and Cornelia, to the venerable prince Agbarus, by him to be preferved in truft for his grand-daughter : this done, the Prefbyter raifed both his hands over the heads of the parties, and faid, " BlefTed be Ye, Alcaeus and Cornelia now man and wife ! Bone of thy bone, and flefh of thy flefh is (he now : fee Alcaeus, that thou love and cherim her ; and Cornelia ! fee that thou love, cherim, honour, and obey thy hufband, from this hour, until death mail feparate thee." ^he CHANTER of the Synagogue and thofe with him then arofe ; and fung from the " Song of Songs," " Go forth , O ye daughters of Zion, and behold King Solomon, with the crown where with his mother crowned him^ in the day of his efpoufals and in the day of the gladnefs of his heart ! " And then all the twenty Virgins, and all the young men fang again the fame words, with graceful motions, and with joyous hearts.* ^he happy pair now approached the throne, when Artemas and Drufilla arofe, and the former faid, " Our Children ! for fo ye both are equally now unto us ; a crown hath Drufilla prepared for her Cornelia and I one for my Alcaeus. We pray thee, afcend unto us." And thereupon both were crowned. ^J^he Nuptial ceremonials were now ended ; and the proceflion was again formed, and proceeded towards the palace, which fhone in the diftance with myriads of coloured lights. As the proceflion approached the veftibule, the virgins and youths (who had preceded the wedded couple, in fufficient time to lay afide their fmall bafkets of flowers, and to receive in exchange wreaths of evergreen) then turned round, and defcended from the palace-fteps, welcoming the arrival of the canopied pair with the fofteft mufic, whilft each of the virgins and youths bore in their hands a wreath of myrtle and of palm, which they waved in the air, and then caft them upon the ground, faying, " Alcaeus and Cornelia, once twain, are now one ! the earth yields its increafe may they likewife !" great portal now wide open, received the proceflion ; * The twenty virgins, attendant upon this bride, were more than ufual, probably in refpeft to her princely condition : for we find that ten was the num ber more generally named, though the larger number fometimes occurred. 404 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \. The Epithalamiums. which pafTed into the fpacious hall the walls of which were hung with garlands and fafciculi made of the richeft and frefheft flowers and leaves. From the hall were feen many brilliantly-lighted rooms crowded with guefts, whofe garments of diverfe forms and colours, proclaimed the mifcellaneous crowd to be Chriftians, Jews, and Heathens, and of different nations ; all of which gave much beauty and variety to the feftive fcene. jjETttention being afked, the Chanter of the Synagogue an nounced the fecond Epithalamium ; which was then read by him, and afterwards fung by the virgins and youths, in voices of the fweeteft melody. It celebrated the praifes of matrimony the virtues of the wedded pair the folemnity and fplendour of the ceremonies juft ended in the garden the order of the banquet about to follow and efpecially that the happy couple might be blefled with a numerous offspring, for that "children s children are the crown of old men" that Zeba s fons ploughed the lands of Mephibofheth that RhehobTiam rejoiced in his threefcore daugh ters, and in his eight-and-twenty fons that King David had, in wedlock, nineteen fons and Abia fixteen daughters, and twenty- and-two fons : but flill that polygamy fhould now pafs away, and that monogamy is far more happy and honourable than the evil example firft brought in by Lamech : and finally, that Jephthas lovely daughter had wandered over her native mountains, bewailing her unmarried (rate, during quite two months before her father s vow, that was for ever to withdraw her from the outer world all of which do fhow how defirable were marriage and a numerous pro geny, in the eyes of all Ifrael.* J^uch was this fecond Epithalamium ; which was incontinently followed by the ufual cakes of Sefamum^ handed alike to all.f The * See Prov. xviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. ix. 10. It will be here obferved that the ex- preflion ufed by Cartaphilus, in refpeft to Jephtha s vow, clearly indicates the nature of the vowed facrifice, viz. that it was not to death, but the dedication of his daughter to perpetual celibacy, and feclufion from the world. If that be the founder view of this much mooted queftion, and no doubt it is, how much unneceflary fympathy has been for ages wafted upon the haplefs maiden, and how fierce the execration againft the parent for a facrifice to the tomb, inftead of to the monaflery ! If Cartaphilus be right, it is doubtlefs the firit recorded inftance of the monaftic vow polTibly, then regarded as worfe than death but now, confidered by fo many as a voluntary offering, by myriads, meritorious of all praife towards parent as well as child ! f- The Sefamum Orientale, called Semfem in Egypt, is a plant of high anti quity, and was much ufed in various culinary ways, both for its oil, and the farina of its feeds. The popular notion that it greatly promotes fecundity, occafioned its extenfive ufe, in the manner ftated by Cartaphilus, and efpecially among a people the moft devoted to the marriage inftitution, and the pofTeffion of a numerous progeny, of any in ancient times. During the " GREAT EX HIBITION" of 1851, Cartaphilus there placed in my hands a fmall vial con taining the feed of the Sefamum Orientale. xxxv. c&e (KJanlJeung; Jeto* 405 The Marriage Feaft. Bride then was prefented with a diftaff a fieve a peftle and mortar, and with other like things, as might admonifli her of the domeftic virtues. ^he Marriage Feaft was now revealed, in its fplendour and abundance, to the numerous guefts ; and was conduced with great regularity and fobriety the Governors of the feaft being many, that all might be duly ferved, as alfo to check any diforder : for, on that night, no lefs than three thoufand perfons rejoiced at the princely banquet. "rty^hilft the guefts were being arranged for the tables, the muncians chanted in delightful harmony thefe words of Solomon, " Let us Jill ourfelves with cojlly wine and ointments ; let no flower of fpring pafs by us ; let us crown ourfelves with rofe-buds before they are withered!" The fweet fmelling frankincenfe and fpikenard were then fending forth their clouds of perfume ; whilft the unmixed wines became yet more lufcious, as the banquet approached its clofe.* ^J^he feaft being now ended, moft of the guefts retired about the middle of the fecond watch ; whilft of thofe who remained, there were many of the damfels and matrons, and fome of the young, and even of the aged men, who danced for a time, in different apartments, to the great delight of the domeftics and others looking on. The hour for retirement having arrived, Melchior pronounced a benediction on thofe who had remained : and the Bride was conducted to her chamber by her mother, attended by the twenty virgins who, as they approached the door of the nuptial chamber, ftrewed their flowers the contents of their little bafkets, whilft fix fmall youths, attired in fcarlet and white tunics, fhed clouds of incenfe from their cenfers.f * This giving out of the beft wines towards the clofe of a banquet, was con trary to the ufual cuftom, not only in the Eaft, but in Judea; as we find from the furprife manifefted by the guefts at the marriage feaft at Cana of Galilee, at which the like departure from cuftom occurred. See John ii. 10. f The larger part of the guefts retired at half-paft ten o clock the others probably an hour later, until admonifhed that the prefcribed hour had arrived for clofing the palace gates. In refpeit to the dancing, it maybe remarked that our mixed way of blending the fexes feems to have been but little known among the ancients; and probably among the Hebrews, not at all. Homer, however, in the Iliad, book xviii, mentions the Daedelian dance ; which correfponds entirely with our preient mode and which at this time is well known in Greece, under the name of Romaika. Homer thus defcribes it. " A figured dance fucceeds A comely band Of youths and maidens bounding hand in hand ; The maids in foft cymars of lint n dreft, 406 CfjtOniCleiS Of CattapfjllU.S, Century i. The Paftime of ^nis ^fj\ a fliort time after, the Bridegroom was fummoned to follow : and, in an adjoining chamber, were two friends of the wedded couple there to tarry all night, as willing and vigilant minifters, fhould their fervices be needed. ^J^he feftivities were continued during a week ; the guefts, however, gradually becoming lefs numerous in their daily and nightly attendance, until, towards the clofe of the week, the young men and maidens moft valued, were found aflembled with the three families, in one of the fmaller and more domeftic apartments, amufing themfelves, and greatly puzzling each other, with divers curious aenigmas and riddles. , it i s now mv turn >" playfully faid Alcaeus ; " I will give to thee, Julianus, another riddle : and, as we are a11 fomewhat lat ine d H^ a11 ma 7 tr 7- Tt mal1 be the andriddles much-famed aenigma, entitled ^ELIA L^ELIA CRISPIS : and he or me who mall juftly interpret it, during the remaining day of our feven days, will receive from me a tunic of the fined byflus, with clafps of gold and of precious (tones, and with fringes of Tyrian purple, and borders of rich embroidery pro vided, he or me who fails, mail pay only a filver mekel for the poor ! " " Now for the Enigma !" cried they all. " Well, here it is," faid Alczus. Dus MANIBUS. lia Laelia Crifpis ! Nee w r, nee mulier, nee androgena, Nee puella^ nee juvenis^ nee anus ; Nee cajla^ nee meretrix^ nee pudtca^ Sed omnia. Sublata Neque fame^ neque ferro^ neque veritno^ Sed omnibus. Nee c&loj nee aquis^ nee terris^ Sed ub ique jacet. Lucius AGATHO PRICIUS, The youths all graceful in the glofTy veft. With well taught feet, now fhape in oblique ways, Confus dly regular, the moving maze : Now forth at once, too fwift for fight they fpring, And undiftinguifhed blend the flying ring. So whirls a wheel, in giddy circle tolt, And rapid as it runs, the iingle fpokes are loft ! " Among the Hebrews, the fexes not only never danced as partners, but moft ufually in different apartments : the cuftomary dance was then what now would be named a pas feul, but never in the faftiion of a pirouette ! ion xxxv. Cjje ^Bannering 3[eto 407 The Paftime of Enigmas. Nec martins^ nee amator, nee neceffarius^ Neque mcerens, neque gaudens^ neque flens, Hanc Nec molem, nee pyramldum^ nee fepulchrnm^ Sed omnia, Scit et nefcit cui pofuerlt. " Oh, furely, good Alcaeus ! thou art jefting it is full of con tradictions and impoffibilities," exclaimed many voices, fave the Roman. " No, I have heard of it, and it hath ever puzzled wifer heads than ours," faid Julianus, " and therefore rafhnefs would it be in any of us to try, though the penalty be only a fhekel :" fo they all agreed to leave that riddle uneflayed."* " !^3 ut I> m turn / f a d Julianus, " will give thee Alcaeus, another, and belonging to the fame ^Elian family : and you muft all try this, otherwife our crumena for the poor will fhame us." " "(^m^e are afraid of that " ./Elian family," foberly and mildly faid Melchior ; who, feated with Drufilla, had joined but little in the fport. u Neverthelefs, we will hear thee, and try." " <gjj[ell, my Melchior, the terms with this are the fame, as with that by Alcaeus," faid Julianus fave that it muft not be abandoned, but by the payment of a filver fhekel for our abnet and here it is. Hoc ejl fepulchrum intus cadaver non habens^ Hoc eft cadaver fepulckrum extra habens^ Sed cadaver idem eft et fepulchrum Jibi,\ jfome held it to be a fhadow others that it was love others Friendfhip and fome again that it was a cloud ! but thefe all were promptly rejected ; and the forfeits cheerfully paid into the crumena of the damfel that keepeth the gate, (he to diftribute them in alms. 5H.elchior then fpoke ; and, with no fmall confidence, faid, " Surely, O Julianus, naught can it be but Lot s wife ; who, being changed into a pillar of fait, is a fepulchre without a corpfe ; and * This celebrated ^Enigma may be thus rendered. " JElia. Laslia Crifpis ! who was neither male nor female, nor both neither a little damfel, nor a young woman nor an old woman neither chafte, nor unchafte, nor a modeft woman but all thefe. She died neither by famine, nor fword, nor poifon but by all thefe. She exifts neither in air, nor in water, nor in the earth but everywhere. Lucius AGATHO PRICIUS, neither huf- band, nor lover, nor relation ; neither forrowful, nor rejoicing, nor weeping, erected this, which is neither a heap, nor pyramid, nor tomb but all thefe : yet to whom raifed, he knows, and does not know ! " f This senigma may be thus tranflated : " This is a fepulchre having no body within it : this is a body having no fepulchre without it, but the fame body is alfo a fepulchre unto itfelf." 408 C&ronicles of Cartapfriiu0, century \. The Paftime of -^Enigmas. being thus wholly converted, is a corpfe without a fepulchre : and yet are her body and fepulchre one and the fame. All infifted that the true folution had furely been given : but Julianus faid, " No ! excellent as are the words of Melchior, it is but a folution ; and yet not the folution : fo that the queftion now was, whether the forfeit was due by him :" and Julianus held that, in any other cafe fave that of charity, there would be none, and Melchior fmilingly gave unto the damfel the filver fhekel.* " O n nere comes our beloved father Cartaphilus," faid Alcseus, " he will alfo give us a riddle :" whereupon, I joined their inno cent fport, and this was my puzzle. " In very ancient days, fat an aged man at table, before the door of his cave : and there were with him, at an evening repaft of wine and figs, his wives, and his two daughters his two fons and their two fons, there being father, uncle, nephew, wives, daughters and yet butyfo<? perfons in all ! Who was this man, and how can this matter be ? " J-\ laugh enfued : " doubtlefs, venerable Cartaphilus! nine y at the leaft, haft thou named as prefent at the table ; this larger number may include the lefs, but never heard we of the lefs in cluding the greater : we cannot be content with thy five, elfe would thy riddle vex us like the .^Elian ones." Many and long were the trials at this ; but the eyes of the janitrix fparkled as her crumena was fwelled by the fucceffive forfeits of all.f r he hour now being late, they were about to retire, when the unlooked-for prefence of Agbarus delighted us all ; and they prayed that he might for a moment unite in their harmlefs fport, and favour them with an aenigma. * In all Oriental countries, nothing was more ufual than for damfels to be the oftiarite, or keepers of the doors and gates, no lefs for princes and even kings, than in humbler dwellings. When King Ifhbofheth, Saul s fon, was (lain by the fons of Rimmon, and his head brought to David, it is faid there was only one damfel at the gate of the king s manfion. So again, " Et ojliaria domus, purgans triticum, obdormi<vit " " and the damfel at the gate, threfhing wheat, fell afleep." 2 Sam. iv. 5. Thefe words are, however, from the Vulgate, which received them from the LXX ; but they are not to be found in the Bibles gene rally known in Proteftant countries. Alfo in John, xviii. 17, we fee another proof of the cuftom. " Then faith the damfel, that kept the door, unto Peter, Art not thou alfo one of this man s difciples ? " Recent travellers in the Eaft inform us, that this practice is (till often found there. How much light is daily fhed upon the lacred Volume by the refearches of modern travel, is well known to thole who addift themfelves to the contemporaneous reading of the Scriptures, and of the admirable books from travellers of the prefent day. f- This ancient riddle feems to have travelled down the ftream of time, almoft to our own day, for we find it among the Anglo-Saxons, in the fixth century. The folution has no difficulty, compared with the firft ./Elian aenigmaj and confequently the Editor permits it, with others, to remain unrefolved that the youths of our time may exercife themfelves therein; and happily mow more aftutenefs than did Alcreus and the reft. Seftion xxxv. 409 The Paftitne of Enigmas. ^n one fo princely and aged, his prompt and cheerful compliance was valued as a loving condefcenfion. " But, my young friends," faid the venerable Agbarus, " my aenigma is a deep and folemn myftery, to Jew and Gentile alike ; and better fuited, perhaps, for our learned Cartaphilus, than for thefe our children. Before I give the remarkable words, ye mould all know whence they proceed. Learn, then, that in a very remote country at Afia s extremity, where the fun darts forth in glory from his watery couch, dwells a great Nation of extreme antiquity, peopled moreover by hofts as numerous as heaven s ftars and, like the Egyptians, moft wonder ful in their government, institutions, arts, and ftupendous works : but remarkable, above all, for their curious and myftical learning ! To thofe people doth Greece, and poflibly even Egypt, owe much of their philofophy : for tis obvious that the great Pythagoras and equally renowned Plato, and alfo the wifeft among the Romans (if, indeed, they ever go beyond the Grecian track) derived moft of their occult wifdom. " ^ft fo chanced, good friends, that a learned Magian traveller gave unto me lately a pricelefs volume from that far diftant land, written by the great LAO-TSEU, a philofopher of that country, who lived about the time of the famed Pythagoras now quite 600 years ago ! and in this ancient work I found the words, which I propofe as my offering to thy inftru&ive paftime. Do thou, my Julianus, firft try thefe myftic words. That for which man looks, but fails to fee, is called J, That towards which he liftens, yet hears not, is called Hi, That which his hand feelcs, yet feels not, is called Wei, Thefe THREE are infcrutable ; and being united form ONE ! Of them, the fuperior is not more bright, nor the inferior more obfcure ! This is form without form Image without image An indefinable Being ! Go before it, and ye find not a beginning Follow it, and ye dil cover not its end ! s mufed for a moment, and then faid, " Thefe indeed are ftrange words, and are feemingly as contradictory and impoflible as what Alcaeus propofed : but, however, it evidently alludes to the ineffable God but in what manner I wot not." " ,dy Lord Agbarus !" faid Alcseus, " it feemeth to me that the letters named in thy curious riddle, import the Hebrew mighty name JEHOVAH, as it may be pronounced by the people of that remote country fpoken of; but further of thy aenigma I venture not." " r hou haft well faid, good Alcaeus," replied Agbarus, " for truly it doth unfold the three letters J. H. V. of that adorable name. In other languages that blefled word, divined to the Jews, (or 410 Cfjronicle.s of Cartapfrilu0, Century \. The Paftime of Enigmas. derived from a yet more primitive revelation,) hath undergone fimilar variations : but tis plain that the Hebrew Jehovah, or Je-bo-wa, is found in this J-hi-wei y revealed to us by Lao-tfeu ! and yet, my Alcaeus, not with more disfiguration than is found in many other words that have parted from their original fource into various other languages. Thus far, good fon, thou haft unravelled a part onlv of my aenigma, and by far the leaft interefting and myf- terious portion of its full import. Do thou, O Cartaphilus, fpeak thy mind." " ^ have read, and ever with aftonimment," faid Cartaphilus, " what the l divine Plato faith in his Epiftle to Dionyfms where he feems to fpeak of a THREE-ONE-GoD ! To find, therefore, this fublime myftery of myfteries confirmed \\\ this very ancient work of Lao-tfeu is, indeed, as marvellous as interefting. But, my vene rated Prince, this great myftery came, doubtlefs, both to Lao-tfeu and Pythagoras from the fame original fource : for, without doubt, fome Hebrews reached the remote land named of thee, foon after our firft captivity : and Pythagoras, as we all know, fought know ledge in the far Oriental countries, as well as in Egypt, and much about the fame time : fo that, as to me it feemeth, oh Agbarus, that the wonderful dogma, which fome fay is revealed in the very nature of the Chriftus, alfo by the words of his Apoftles, and which others plainly find throughout the Jewifh Scriptures ; and further, which as a tradition hath been brought down among the Gentiles, even from the origin of man, may, as I believe, be found in the words of thy anigma : for they furely reveal a TnREE-ONE-GoD !" " H agree with thee fully," replied prince Agbarus, "and, as thy expofition of thofe pregnant words and letters admits of no doubt, there hath been no forfeit whatever fince Julianus and Alcaeus and Cartaphilus have, each, rendered a part of the juft folution of our asnigma. But, my children, the hour waxes late, and I pray thee all to retire." *f * The aenigma given by Prince Agharus, may be found in the Work of Abel Remufat, entitled " Memoir fur la Vie et les Opinions de Lao-tfeu, PJiilofop/ie Chinois du vi fiecle a<vant noire ere, &c. Paris, 1823" and alib in the very interefting Le&ure of Dr. Wifeman, of Rome, entitled " Connexion between Science and Revealed Religion." It is highly interefting to the Editor of thefe Chronicles, to find fo many collateral proofs of the " Wanderer s" accu racy, as are gradually difclofed in the progrefs of his career ; but eipecially that modern hiftory and travels, and the enlarged philolbphy of our day, fo often harmonize with his pages fhowing that Cartaphilus, paffing through the re volutions offo many ages, ftill permitted not his Curfe to render him indifferent to the oracles around him, and to the perpetual evidences that nature, art, tra dition, and all human knowledge afford, of the infallible truth of the revealed Word. J- The amufement of ftriving to refolve jenigmas, and the like ingenious on xxxv. Cfte bannering Jeto. 41 The Paftime of ^Enigmas He returns to Paleftine. * * * * * * J^ome months had pafled in various domeftic enjoyments. The happinefs of thofe dear friends around me, and our remotenefs from the fcenes of mifery then hourly palling in Judea, had beguiled me into comparative repofe. But alas ! devices, which clofed the marriage week of Alcaeus and Cornelia, was in perfect harmony with the cuftom of thole early days. We find, indeed, this fpecies of paftime ufual in all ages and countries, prior to the fpread of literature and Icience through the medium of the prefs. This afforded a far more extenfive and intellectual means of focial intercourfe, and gave to man a more elevated tone of thought, than when knowledge had but poor facilities for its diffufion. The practice, however, of folving riddles, charades, aenigmas, and all fuch cognate puzzles, is extremely apt to continue, wherever knowledge from any caufe is but partially fpread; and, though a veiy ancient cuftom of a primitive ftate of fociety, it ttill is a pervading one in moft fegregated communities, and in ibme clafles of the fame community, whofe means of enlightenment are lefs ample than thofe of others. Recitations from memory ftory-telling pro verbs apophthegm* fables, and fuch-like means of diffufing knowledge, or amufement, belonged to all the focieties the world ever knew, before the great aera of printing. Solomon was wife and learned, and myriads before and after him were fo ; but fmce that noble invention, the condition of the popular mafs, relatively to the learned few, has wholly changed all have now the means of gaining know ledge ; and books, fo often beyond the reach of the wealthy in former days, are now the commoneft things in life, next to air and water ! As the world once ftood, and ftill is in fome places, amufements became a neceflary ftudy of do- meftic life, elfe its ennui would have become intolerable : and fuch muft have been the dearth of acquirements to grace and enliven fociety, that even the higher clafles were compelled to refort to means of entertainment, quite defpi- cable now in their eyes. When Samfon, on the occafion of his great Feaft of feven days, put forth his celebrated riddle, " Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the ftrong came forth fweetnefs," it was obvioufly in conformity to a then well-known cuftom ; and the unfair manner in which the folution was ultimately obtained, after feven days of trial, mows as clearly a crude ftate of fociety, as does the riddle itfelf. Solomon alfo, from the vaftnefs of his know ledge andwifdom, not only favoured their popular ufe, but became himfelf very fldlful in their folution, and the practice pafled from the Hebrews and Egyp tians, to the Greeks and Romans, and long after, made no fmall figure among all the nations and tribes that appeared after their downfall, coevally and pro- grefllvely with the growth of Chriftianity, until at length we perceive its almoft total difufe, in the prefence of all thofe enlarged and more refined views of modern days and efpecially of our own century of fteam prefles anaftatic printing and of a hundred other facilities, that have placed among the mafles a means of knowledge, that emperors and kings and popes of former days pof- fefled not ! Ne verthelefs the riddle, charade, and rebus, likewife the laconic Sayings of the Wife, and, indeed, all Proverbial Philofophy, ought not, and never will be wholly banimed from even the moft refined and intellectual fociety, by reafon of the now never-ceafing devices of a teemful fteam prefs ! Thefe remnants of former days are ftili fomewhat in favour ; they often are pregnant with brief and deep thought are ingenious and amufmg; whilft they teft the nobler facul ties of the underftanding, and even the varied knowledge of the learned and, 4 1 2 f)tOniCl00 Of CattapfjilU.S, Century i. Mount Olivet The Lament over Jerufalem s ruins. ficlcnefs came, and then the Angel of Death once more ! Still, thefe private griefs muft not engage me now. ^()oth JERUSALEM S lowlineis on the earth her mattes of fmoking ruins, bid me hence in judgment, as well as in feeling ? are the now terrors of my mind, and its confuming fever, for her fake ? Was the Holy City forfaken of Cartaphilus did he peril life and property in her caufe, or "proved he recreant in the hour of her greateft need ? * * * * Oh no no ! myriads perimed fruitleffly in her defence ; and I muft not thus forely accufe myfelf, feeing that Flavius Jofephus hath fo placed that matter, as to allure all that Jerufalem could have been aided by no mortal hand ! Though fallen, I will incontinently fee thee again, O thou City of Ages ! yes, in thy tomb will I behold and bewail Jerufalem that was ! SECTION XXXVI. MOUNT OF OLIVES, T/iamuz, loth day ; A.M. 3831. [Friday, June 19, A. D. 71.] ******* THAT this burning head, and thefe aching eyes were wrapt in ^Etna s eternal fnows and that the raging volcano within my own bofom were quieted, if but for a moment ! then would I the better furvey from thefe heights Jerufalem s fearful defolation, and drink them in as woes, more penal than all my private griefs and thefe now are many. Oh that, oblivious of myfelf, I could is amen f ree ly clrain my eyes for thee alone thou once moft O VKT jeruia- * . . lerns ruins favoured of all the cities !- Jerufalem, the beautiful, is indeed utterly fallen the Holy City of ages is blot ted out it hath been hurled from its giddy eminence, and no more is it God s cherifhed abode, no longer a home even for his little flock, all are forfaken, fave the Nazarenes, who were warned ! when feafonably introduced, muft ever poffefs a great charm, and are far more falutary and abforhing, than very many fashionable paftimes of our age of pro found knowledge and alfo of fuperficial acquirements. In their hours of relax ation, even the learned of the prefent day would be more intelleftually engaged in iblving fome of the better aenigmas and the like, of ancient and modern times, than in poring over exaggerated caricatures, or in divining the tricks of mere jugglers, or in pondering over the funny wood-cuts of the popular herd of living authors or finally, even in Iblving the vexed queftions of Philidor and of Hoyle ! We do not regret, therefore, that Cartaphilus permits his few ancient puzzles to remain u/irejol-ved , as pofTibly they may afford fome of our youths a means of tefting their clevernefs, and fuperiority to the ancients. xxxvr. Cfte 2xUanlieting; Jeto, 413 The Lament over Jerufalerrf s ruins. Oh, how extreme the fin that caufed all this ! Behold the TEM PLE ! fo late the world s delight and wonder, but now a fmoulder- ing ruin leaving naught behind that may declare unto the doubt ing nations of after ages how great were its many glories and how all, all were fwept away, as with a befom of the Almighty s ven geance ! Salem s proud towers her ftrong walls her ftately pa laces, are proftrate before me, and, as a huge unfeemly mountain of craflied fragments, and of fmoking afhes, they are mixed with the blood and bones of many myriads of her people ! At laft, Je hovah s terrific anger, fo long delayed, hath truly come and, with in the walls of a fmgle city, it hath confumed a Nation ! yea, His untiring minifters were Peftilence and fore Famine, and Civil Feuds within thofe walls, whilft, beyond them, the Sword and Fire of ftrangers completed the terrific work ! and yet, of all thefe ap pointed means, none proved fo rancorous and fatal, as the treafon and faction and mortal ftrife that Ifrael waged againft her own, for truly, Self-immolation was our deadlieft foe ! " Q^ weep, Cartaphilus weep for Jerufalem buried, and let thy loud lament caufe Hermon and Tabor and the diftant Libanus to echo back thy griefs ! Oh let thy tears now flow, Ye fons and daughters of Ifrael, till Kedron and Jordan fwell therewith yea, even until the broad waters of Tiberias rife, as fo late they did, with the blood of thy people ! " !O ut a ^ as Ifr ae l hath now few fons and daughters left to weep they have perifhed fiercely in all ways, and myriads are fcat- tered widely into remote lands, fome unknown of them by name ! Thofe who breathe no longer are countlefs indeed the ravens of the valley are even now plucking out their eyes, and feafting deli- cioufly on them : the young eaglets eat of their tendereft parts the beafts that roam at night, though tamed of man, return as fluggards at the dawn of day, to their now forfaken and ruined homes, op- preffed greatly by their unmeafured furfeit, after the long and fore famine that went before ; nay, even the faithful houfe-dogs are thus gorged with the noifome remains, perhaps of thofe on whom once they fondled ! Hath not the Lord, then, who giveth to the wild beafts of the wood their food, and to the hawk the vulture and the eagle their daily prey, now fummoned all from their clefts and high hills, that, in the valley now before me, they may feed upon the carcafes of our parents and children, our brothers and friends ? " O Jerufalem Jerufalem ! how fweet was once thy air with mcenle how fragrant were the perfumes from burning fpikenard, and myrrh, daily floating in thy pure and thin clouds ! but now is thy air thick, and more foully tainted than a hundred Hinnoms ! poifonous is it to man j but to the unclean birds inviting, even from the far diftance ! yea, fo it now is, the breezes that play Chronicles of Cartapirilus;, century r. The Lament over Jerufalem Self-Contemplation. around the ftill verdant heights of Olivet, are no longer fcented with the delicious odours of the furrounding trees and flowers, but are moft vile from thofe that iffue from the fettering mafTes that crowd thy ftreets and avenues, oh thou moft wretched and ruined Salem ! And fo muft it needs be, as more than a million of IfraePs offspring poured out their blood, or were famifhed, within thy towering walls ! " X3 ut t ^ le dead are not our fole caufe of grief ; the living claim our bitter tears : many wretched captives are doomed to galling flavery in ftrange lands to degrading toils in the Egyptian mines ; others are made to grace the triumphs of our conquerors, or be come poor victims deftined to deftroy each other in favage combats as gladiators, or to be caft to ravenous beafts, for the amufement of cruel, or of giddy multitudes ! " j@Qnd what is thy own condition now, O Cartaphilus ! What miferies have ruined upon thee fmce, for a time, thy Hefurveys heart at Edeffa was lulled into peace ! During that lancAofv "con ^ r e ^ period, Jerufalem and all there who knew thee dition. have periftied but oh, my Artemas, ever dear and honoured friend ! thou alfo art in the tomb of thy de- fire, and thy Drufilla with thee ! Agbarus oil will endure but a few days more ; and my long-c berimed REBECCA fighs to be with her fainted mother, and admirable father : but death comes not always at our liking ; and Rebecca s time may be yet far off. Years however, be they few or many health or difeafe the dread of death, or courting of it, feem all alike deceptive as to the grave s near or flow approach each being equally in nature s courfe. Alas ! tis fo with all, fave Cartaphilus ! Strange ! that the moft worthlefs, wretched, and finful of mortals, is left a withered trunk, {horn of its verdure, and yet cannot die, though as thirfting for the tomb as is the fevered tongue for fome cooling beverage ! Oh Death ! how thy grim and ghaftly meffenger doth avoid me, though I would fmile on, and hug him unto my inner heart ! Thou, O Death ! canft depopulate cities yea, whole regions, and yet doft flee from him who fo anxioufly wooes thee ! Myriads of youths and of virgins moft rebellious to thy fummons are, in the very flower of their lives, yea, in the burfting and rich bud of all their hopes, torn rudely by thee from home and friends hurried from off the world, as things moft worthlefs, and many are for ever tomblefs fave in the hungry maws of dogs and vultures ! whilft Cartaphilus, fo covetous of thee in any form, and were he given to the voracious ravens, is doomed inftead to fee Death everywhere around him flaying thofe whom moft he loved, but quitting him ! xxxvi. Cjje ^QanUermg 3(eto, 415 Self-Contemplation Doubts of Free Agency. wn y> O Cartaphilus \ fay death cannot come to thee, if really ibught ? Art thou indeed without volition^ or power to execute it ? Art thou no free agent, and is ,. thy own hand tied down, fo that thou canft not let out the living current, and thus fever foul from body ? Alas \ fo it would feem to be, if that the dying words of Artemas be indeed prophetic and they were thefe ; Have patience, O Cartaphilus \ tarry thou miift, until thy deftiny be accomplifhed. If ivife^ be thou an unmixed and firm believer ; iffoolijh^ blend thy own wild conceits with the true Faith, and be thou then as fickle as the winds : then, of all mortals, wilt thou be the moft wretched of all that yet hath lived, the moft mifchievous, yea, the moft famed of all execrable heretics ! " r ^j^hefe pregnant words of Artemas, together with the myftery that fo weighs me down, even from my natal hour, make life unto me moft odious. Oh, how like a blafted oak on Hermon s fummit do I now ftand ! firmly rooted in its deep foil, yet, with all its branches and leaves withered and falling, that oak is deftined to a flow but fure decay, through long long ages ! but its fellows, and their numerous fcions all around, fhall continue to flourifh under heaven s dews, and all with unminimed glory live out their def tined times ! Not fo with me : already hath the blighting Curfe begun its work my foul is funk my body is a fore burthen to felf and others my faith is become an odious mixture ; and age, with more than wonted infirmities now, is ftill with no monition of a timous death ! How many long-cherifhed friends have left me for brighter realms, whilft the black clouds of that loathed myftery were rapidly gathering around, and poifoning all my peace ! " X3 ut ^ "> t ^ le Doomed One is not yet wholly forfaken : Thaddeus and Cornelia and Alcaeus and Julianus, with Philotera and Melchior and the young Plautius, yet remain. REBECCA, deareft of all, I may not count for, though prefent with us, (he is ftrongly wedded to the fkies. Oh that, with Job, I could now fay to corruption, c Thou art my father, to the worm, thou art my mother, and my fifter ! Thefe few friends pity me with great tendernefs ; but Rebecca alfo mourns over me as a fallen fpirit (he alone feemeth to make the future prefent ! " (ome, then, O Solitude ! Cartaphilus now no other refuge hath if that can be one : for ever muft the world be fhut out ; but agonizing thoughts ftill muft be his ceafelefs tormentors worfe than Bildad and the reft, who fo wrongfully accufed the pious Arabian. To fome unknown cave, or forfaken ruin will I wend my way : I am a man that would not live, and dare not die, and, mould neither faith nor death come unto me foon, oh that 4i 6 CfirOmCleS Of CattapintUS, Century r. Of Jerufalem s DeftruHon, by an Eye-witnefs. Gehenna would quickly do its work, and become in me as incar nate, as was Heaven, they fay, in Jofeph s fon !"* LETTER XXIV. MELCHIOR TO AQUILA [of Ephefus]. EDESSA, Marchefaan izth, A.M. 3832. [Oftober iyth, A. D. 72.] ORE than five years have paffed, moft excellent Aquila, fince my efcape at Artaxata from the murder ous hands of King Tiridates after which, as thou knoweft, I have refided moftly here in Mefopotamia, in the pious families of Prince Agbarus, of Eben- Ezra, and of one Cartaphilus ; with all of whom thou haft acquaint- ~ // ance, fave with that wonderful man Cartaphilus, as deftruttion to whom doubtlefs thou haft heard fomething from detailed by Artemas and others, and concerning whom I (hall an eye-wit- write to thee at a more convenient feaion, the objecl: ne J 5 of my prefent letter being, according to thy requeft, to deal largely with the deftru<5r.ion of the Holy City, and of its Temple, as feen of me all furely in fulfilment of predictions, and not of misfortunes, or through mere human agencies. Oh, it is indeed a tale of woe, fuch as neither hiftorian nor poet hath ever told and fuch as my pen recoils to narrate, it being that of Jehovah s long- declared and long-deferred, but now confuming vengeance ! Let me then conceal nothing, and yet be brief, for the foul muft grieve and ficken at the contemplation even of its outline. ^j-^lavius Jofephus, as we all know, was an eye-witnefs of moft of the complicated miferies of our people in Jerufalem and elfewhere. Now at Rome, he is greatly in favour with Vefpafian, and, as is faid, will prepare a faithful narrative of all thofe terrific wars a hiftory to be fanilioned by the Emperor and his fon, as alfo by Herod Agrippa. My mind pants for further acquaintance with * This tremendous maledi&ion on himfelf feems to have been only morbid and temporary ; for had Cartaphilus really been as diabolical, as thofe words might indicate, thefe Chronicles, if equally faithful, muft have been only an odious and terrific record. Fortunately, however, if the mind, when powerfully excited, may impute to itfelf virtues it poffefles not, fo likewifc may it aft and fpeak more impioufly than aftually belongs to its particular nature ; nor are even infamous actions alivays the refult of thoroughly diabolic intentions God alone is able to fee the heart; and nothing but pure and omnifcKntjuftice can ever arrive at a perfect decifion. Letter xxiv. CJ)e COanUcnng 3leto. 417 Jerufalem s Deftru&ion, by an Eye-witnels. thofe fcenes ; but what I have feen I fhould like for ever to forget, as truly, my good Aquila, very many fights during the fiege of the Holy City were beyond mortal endurance, and greatly difturbed not a few, even among the Romans. X) urm g tnat fearful period, often was I in the Roman camp with Jofephus fuch being the earned requeft of that marvellous Cartaphilus fo long a favourite with Nero, and whofe letters of fafe conduct, obtained for me, bore me harmlefs into the prefence of Titus, and at length into the afflicted City, all affording me occafions to behold, and to hear of many things, without a parallel in all the chronicles of all the ages ! ^ know, good Aquila, thou wilt have thine eye ever intent upon the prophecies, when contemplating Jerufalem s fate : and though thefe were neceflarily clouded during all the previous ages, they are now as clear to our mental vifion as are Orion and Pleiades to the natural eye, when feen through the brightefl empyrean for the prophecies fulfilled, may now be read as hiftory ! *^he HOLY CITY, from the time of Melchizedek, its founder, to the prefent hour now more than two thoufand years ago, ex perienced more viciffitudes, and a larger amount of human fufferings, than any other the world hath known ; and yet it was the favoured fpot upon earth of the MOST HIGHEST ! There muft be an adequate caufe for this ; and that is found throughout its awful chronicles being a truthful picture of God s providence towards man, which is one of fure love and protection for faithful obedience^ and of an equally fearful and exemplary punimment for perfevering wlckednefs. [F^ollow me, then, dear Aquila, through the miferies I am now to unfold as an eye-witnefs : they mail be veracioufly fet forth : for, it is not meet, but fmful, to blend the fictions even of a truthful imagination, with the dread realities of fuch a narrative. r he Jewifh war with the Romans broke out in the I2th year of Nero s reign ; and more than thirty-and-two years after Chrifl had propbefied (though amidft all the maffive grandeur of the Temple, of the walls and their towers) that the calamities Jbould come upon them ; and that, too, before the then generation would pafs away ! ^Vhe war in Judea endured fomewhat lefs than five years, and the fiege of Jerusalem fomewhat lefs than as many months :* but, as to the horrors and varied cruelties that preceded Jerufalem s * The war commenced 8th May, A. D. 65, VJE., and ended with the pro- grefTive fall of the Fortrefs of Herodian, then of Machaerus, and laftly, in the total definition of Mafada, late in A. D. 71 the whole embracing the period of five years and Ibme months. The fiege of Jerufalem commenced on Saturday, ift April, or the 23rd of NiJ an, A.D. 70, and ended, with the deftruflion ot the I. E E C&ronicles of Cartapfrilug, Century \. Jerufalem s Definition, by an Eye-witnefs. agonies and her total deftruclion alfo the progrefs of that war elfewhere, under the procurator Florus^ and under the yet more infamous Gallup of Syria, I {hall pafs them by : nor have I need to detain thee with the proceedings of the great Vefpafian, and of his illuftrious fon, before the awful event I now have fo fpecially in hand : for thou knoweft how well appointed were all their forces, and that they hoped to bring the war to a fpeedy clofe ; nor need I remind thee, in all thofe previous doings, how feverely tefted were Roman power and valour, by Jewifh defperation and fertility in ftratagem, until, at length, all Paleftine had yielded to the bloody conquer!, fave the Holy City the Fortrefs of Herodian, and the cities of Mafada and Machaerus, fo that, not long after, the concentrated energies of the now greatly enraged Romans were brought to bear upon the City of Ages, under the hope that, if flie fell, the other three would fpeedily furrender. ~{j_efpafian s wonderful fuccefTes and toils in Paleftine, chiefly at Jotapata, Tiberias, Tarichaa^ Gadara, Gamala, and at Gifchala^ had occupied him nearly three years : at Jotapata, Flavius Jofephus became his captive, and accompanied him in irons to Caefarea : but at Gifchala, the notorious robber JOHN efcaped him, and fled to Jerufalem, where he and the other factions maintained their wicked power during feveral years : and thus were matters when Vefpafian, then at Alexandria, was proclaimed Emperor, upon the death of Galba, and Vitellius, when he haftened on to Rome, and received the Imperial diadem, more than fix months after the death of the former. Titus, then alfo at Alexandria, fucceeded to the command in Paleftine, Jofephus being with him, freed of his chains, and in high favour with the Imperial forces at Caefarea, but in great odium among the Jews.* jpjfter the arrival of the Gifchalite at Jerufalem, and alfo for . more than a year after the arrival of Titus at Caefarea, The Fafaons j eru f a ] em was i e f t to herfelf a repofe more fatal to her in Jerufalem. J c . r than would have been thnce the force or the beiieging army that afterwards came, for her ftreets flowed with the blood of her children blood {hed by each other s hands; and to this were added countlefs robberies and private murders, with all the horrors of peftilence and famine ! her lofty and proud walls and gorgeous palaces, ah ! Temple, on the lath of Auguft, , the whole embracing the period of four months and eleven days. From the commencement of the war in Judea, on the 8th May, A.D. 65. to the definition of the Temple, Auguft izth, A.D. 70, embraced exaftly 5 years, 3 months, and 4 days. * Probably from June, A.D. 67 to early in March, A.D., 69, VK, or, A.D. 75 of the true asra. Letter xxiv. Cfre COannermg 3[eto, 419 Jerufalem s Definition, by an Eye-witneis. even within her long venerated and once Holy Temple, were now found fuch difcordant and inflammatory materials, as failed not to caufe, at all hours, the moft ferocious and murderous ftrifes ! Union of purpofe and of action among fuch elements, though againft a common enemy, was quite impoflible. In one direction might be feen the friends of the Gifchalite in another, thofe of Eleazar, equally robbers, but not friends of John, nor indeed of any perfon or thing that was good : then came Simon, fon of Gioras, no lefs defperately wicked than the reft, and he the champion of another faction, fome of whom were the recklefs Idumeans, or Edomites ; and thefe under Simon held the Upper City, and like- wife no fmall part of the Lower : to thefe divifions muft be added many Jews of that clafs, who, defpairing of eventual fuccefs, there fore fomewhat favoured the Romans, and again, fome Chriftians, who, from pious motives, had not yet fled to Fella, or other places of refuge, and were hated alike by all : and ftill further, there were fome very moderate Jews ; who, though not on the Roman fide y and defpaired not, were yet in great terror of all the factions, and hence incapable of any action for the common weal. Thefe be lieved that all the factions might eventually come to their merited end ; and that Jerufalem, in time, might rife above her fore cala mities : but, being few in number, and grievoufly alarmed, were chiefly occupied in preferving their own lives and property. And laftly, among the Pharifees and the Sadducees, were perpetual and cruel ftrifes as to fucceflion to the High-Priefthood ; and among the rich and poor arofe continual quarrels as to the rights and duties of each I ^3ut great as was the mifery occafioned by all of thefe jarring and wicked elements, the whole was fearfully heightened by the myriads of foreign Jews aflembled there, with no other ties than as attendants upon the then Paflbver : thefe had become defperate for food ; and, though weakened and hunger-bitten, fome would not abandon the city, and others were forbidden by the factions fo to do. Without arms, moreover, and unacquainted with war, they had come to worfhip at the Temple but found it a polluted fortrefs, and that they were now doomed to peftilence, as well as famine, or to be flain, alike by domeftic and foreign foes ! ^J^hefe numerous factions, whether of war, of fchemes for plunder, or of perverted religion, grew daily more fierce ; and they either robbed and murdered one another, or fet fire to each other s property or, as was the cafe with fome, became the quiet and un- refifting victims of the reft, fo that the broad avenues that led to the very gates of the Temple to its Cloifters and its Courts, were made flippery and nearly impaffable with human blood and flefh ! and, whilft the more pious and adventurous few would ftill prefs 420 chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnels. forward to make their offerings and prayers to Abraham s God, they often were fhot down by infidious arrows, or hurled to inftant death by huge (tones, caft upon them from roofs and other heights ! Hany of thofe foreign Jews had implored the fa&ions for per- miffion to efcape ; but the infatuated people of our doomed City faid " No ;" for they faw not that an avenging God included thefe Strangers, alfo, in what was to come : they had entered the City regardlefs of prophecy, and of all the figns of the times ; many had witnefTed, or heard of the cruel fcene upon Calvary, probably with unbelieving, cold, and unrepentant hearts. They had not come to the Temple to make amends for that foul deed ; but were part of that people who had faid to Pilate, " BE HIS BLOOD UPON us, AND UPON OUR CHILDREN !" and hence was it that the marauders, and others, could not fee the folly of forcibly retaining within their walls thefe countlefs ftrangers, whofe prefence gave no ftrength, but greatly augmented the general mifery ! ^Jut thofe previous horrors will now be pafTed over, that we may at once contemplate the fiege, and its fatal iilue. ^Jefpafian s great fon advanced from Caefarea towards Jeru- falem fcarce a week before our Paffover;* and encamped near the Hill of Saul, having then with him only four legions, and a ftrong body of auxiliaries, but expecting further fupplies, in all, fcarce threefcore and ten thoufand men to deftroy a City whofe army within their walls greatly outnumbered their foes, and who were far more defperate a City, whofe inner, fecond, and outer walls, deep funk in the earth, and rifmg towards the ikies, were guarded by numerous lofty towers of matchlefs mafonry, all as folid as the eternal rocks a City, whofe then population of quite three millions, feared not death (except the ftrangers) in any form, and in fine, a City, the ftrongeft and beft fortified of any in the world, and which, under other circumftances, muft have de fied the concentrated powers of the Empire ! and yet that City, JERUSALEM, hath fallen, and is fwept from off the earth, as a proud forefr of goodly trees is fometimes laid proftrate by a rum of mighty winds ! How cometh this, O Aquila, fave that ftrength vanimeth into weaknefs, when the God of Hofts frowneth ? truly, then, did the victorious Titus exclaim, " From tbefe fortifications, the Jews were expelled by God alone from fuch Jlrongholds, man never could have driven them /" and the triumphant Roman never would have made that fpeech, but that his own comparative weak- * Titus probably founded his fourth trumpet for their departure from Caefarea, five days before the Paflbver of the 24th that is, on Wednesday, agth March or the zoth of Nifan ; and feems to have ftruck his firft blow in the fiege, on Saturday, ift April, or 23rd Nifan. Letter xxiv. cfje COannering 3[eto, 421 Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. nefs, and the furprifing ftrength of thofe walls, and the wonderful bravery of the befieged, and the recklefs indifference to life of myriads, made it quite manifeft that the overthrow of all was the work of an Almighty hand ! ^n thus viewing as miraculous the total defr.ru6r.ion of this ancient City the (laughter of eleven hundred thoujand of her people, and the making captive of nigh an hundred thoufand more, I give due allowance, and no more, for the work of death through the peftilence, the famine, and the civil feuds ! Independently, then, of all prophecy, I am forced to regard the afTailing power as quite too weak to have effected what they did, had not the Omnifcient Ruler of battles taken ftrong fides with the Romans ! Yes, Jeru- falem s days were numbered, and no human prowefs could have faved her. ^JU^hen the Romans were advancing on Jerufalem, the numer ous factions became in a great degree united, fufficiently fo to mani feft the excellence and great ftrength of union, and the certain ruin that muft come to a divided people. But, my Aquila, were not thefe deftrucl:ive j /^/ara5, in themfelves, as miraculous, as the famine, the peftilence, and the fword s appearance at the fame moment ? And all thefe would furely not have come upon them thus, had not they been maddened by extremeft wickednefs ! And here, again, their unnatural impiety feems alfo to have been within their curfe, and as fuperhuman, as their blind incredulity doubtlefs was ; and both were defignedly penal! for, where, in the hiftory of any other people, do we find a judicial blindnefs fo fupreme a wicked nefs fo monftrous a thirft of plunder fo motivelefs a factious rancour fo fiend-like a felf-flaughter fo fatuous and an abandon ment of natural feelings fo truly fatanic ? I think you will agree with me, then, that Jerufalem s defolation is a folitary inftance, ex celling thofe of Nineveh and Babylon, and even the Cities of the Plain its crime being DEICIDE, like its punifhment, unknown before ! ^he operations on Jerufalem were as early as on the Sabbath, the 23 of Nifan [Saturday, I April, A. D. 70.] But, on the fifth of lyar [Thurfday, 13 April] a ram act of Titus muft have coft him his life, had he not been, as Cyrus was, Heaven s protected minifter ! He had approached the walls with 600 of his cavalry, to infpecl: more clofely their ftrength : and being near the tower of Pfephinus, a party of Jews rumed fuddenly out upon him from the gate near Helena s monuments, and feparated him from his little force. Efcape feemed impoffible, the darts and arrows flew about him from every fide ; and though without armour or helmet, he broke through the thick array of his enemies, and found himfelf in fafety, and but little injured ! Some of his attendants were killed, and 422 CfttOntCle.S Of CattapfjilUS, Century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. many wounded. And yet, canft thou credit the ftrange infatuation ? the Jews greatly rejoiced and exulted over what they called Ciefar s flight, feeing in it, moreover, the prefage of a fure victory ! Titus, when he made this perilous adventure, was encamped about thirty furlongs from the city : but, in not many hours after, his forces were ftationed at Scopus^ diftant from the walls only feven furlongs ; and having removed all the beautiful trees and fountains, as allo every other obftrudtion on the plain that intervenes between Scopus and the City, he once more removed his camp, and came in fafety to almoft an arrow s throw of the gates, close to Herod s tomb, and to the Pool of Serpents. ^Quring thofe various removals, and preparations for the fiege, fome fallies had been made by the recklefs Jews from their gates, and generally with fuccefs : but ftill, if they deftroyed a few of the common enemy beyond their walls, their occafional deftructive conflicts with each other, in the very heart of their city, more than countervailed all their gains in thofe impetuous fallies. ^he firft great defire of Titus was to gain the outer wall, at a ,. certain point of its leaft elevation, and where it was ., ii^r-f known to be leaft ftrongly connected with the fecond wall. But, before he would make the attack, he in- ftrutSted Nicanor, his fpecial favourite, to accompany Jofephus to the walls, there to afk of the befieged a friendly colloquy hoping to perfuade them to fave the City and themfelves by capitulation. ^J^he kind offer, fo well intended by the Roman, and honeftly declared by the zealous Jew, was rafhly met only by a fhower of mifliles, one of which wounded Nicanor ! and this was on Sab bath day, lyar the 5th. [April I3th.] No time now was loft; inftant orders were given to fet fire to the furburbs ; the huge bat tering rams were foon after fet in terrific motion againft the felecled wall ; enormous ftones, each a talent in weight, were hurled with deftru&ive force : the people, enclofed by that portion of the outer wall, were ftruck with horror ; for the fiege was indeed begun with an awful violence, that prefaged an early wretched future the wall gave way before it the Romans rufhed through the breach the gates of this wall were foon wide open, and the New City inftantly came into the full pofleffion of the befiegers ! This occurred on the fifteenth day of the fiege, and on the feventh day of lyar. [Saturday, April I5th.] jFfnd here, my Aquila, the humanity of Titus was again mani- fefted : for, inftead of forely prefling the Jews within the range of this firft wall, he proceeded to nearly demolim it, and to remove his camp into the New City, regardlefs of the Jews withdrawal into the Inner City, through the gates of the fecond wall. Letter xxiv. cfje COantJering 3[eto, 423 Jerufalem s Definition, by an Eye-witnefs. next early object, however, of Titus was to attack that wall with great vigour, to refift which, the Tews c , ,, , ii i i n -11 j i Second wall fought with marvellous bravery and Ikill, and making gained: the feveral defperate fallies on our foes : but, in the fhort Lower City period of five days, that fecond fhield of our countrymen entered. no longer afforded any defence ; and the Lower City feemed already vanquimed. But this apparently eafy conqueft was promptly fol lowed by a dreadful battle. Titus was again humane ; he had entered the breach in the fecond wall with a thoufand chofen men, on the I2th of lyar ; [Thurfday, 20 April ;] but he greatly defired to fpare the City and the people : hence he permitted the fecond wall to remain uninjured, fave in the breach made for his entrance. The fturdy refiftance now made, and the terrific battle brought on by the Jews, compelled the valiant Roman to retreat within the firft wall ! and my countrymen were again in full pofleffion of the breach, and of the Lower City ; which they retained with all the exultation of vitors but alas ! only for a few days. 1(Jl_efpafian s illuftrious fon foon reft ored perfect order within the bounds of the firft wall ; and then renewed his refiftlefs attacks the Jews were again driven from their pofts, the fecond wall was now regained and wholly proftrated ; and the Roman eagles once more waved in triumph over the Lower City ! [lyar i6th April 24th.] ^]he condition of the Holy City was now indeed moft alarming, not only to all within the remaining wall, but efpecially to thofe who defended its many towers, againft which the tremendous inftruments were to be fet in motion. But Titus once more yielded to the influences of his nature, and fufpended all further hoftilities during four days hoping and believing that, as fo much had been gained with comparative eafe, and alfo as the famine was daily becoming more fevere, thefe would induce our brave and obftinate people to furrender, if not from wifdom, yet from exhauftion. ()n the fifth day, however, after the Lower City had been gained, finding no intimation from the people, or from any of the factions, as to the hope of furrender, Titus renewed the fiege, which he commenced by raifing a vaft embankment againft the Tower of Antonia ! The battle now raged with fatuous defperation on the fide of our countrymen, and with a fteady perfeverance on that of the Romans. [lyar 22d April 29th.] *^itus, neverthelefs, ftill continued anxious to refcue the city from deftru&ion, but fpecially our noble Temple alike the won der of the Gentiles, and the glory of the Jews and therefore again fent Jofephus near the gates, that he might reafon with his diftraclied countrvmen on the matter of fubmiilion. 424 Chronicles of Cartapfnlu.0, Century Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. that view alfo, Titus permitted vaft numbers, efpecially of the foreign Jews, to efcape : whereupon many fold their property hurriedly for a little money others fwallowed fmall pieces of gold, or filver, and often that they might refcue it from the robbers that furrounded them, and then the Roman camp prefented the re markable fpeitacle of fome thoufands of thole miferable beings, feeking a temporary afylum among their foes, that they might no longer witnefs the horrors within the walls ! ^j^he daring and infamous John of Gifchala, and the wily Simon of Gioras, llaughtered many who thus attempted to efcape ; famine, peftilence, murder, and robbery were ftill everywhere within thofe walls, whilft beyond them Titus had daily become ftrengthened, and now finding that clemency was of no avail, he fcourged and crucified all who ventured beyond the gates. The Jews on their walls beholding fome hundreds of the famiihed deferters almoft daily flain, and by newly invented modes of crucifixion, yet proudly continued to ridicule the admonitions of Jofephus, and madly cried out to him, " We fear not death, nor care for Ifrael, nor for the Temple s fafety the World is God s Temple, and more worthy than that which the Romans feek to deftroy !" They had, fome time before, flain their good high prieft Ananus, and placed in his ftead the ignoble Pbcenias, fo that thefe three afls (had an hundred others been forgiven) feemed to fill their cup of iniquity to over flowing they had become as demons, configned to a fure and fearful delr.ru6r.ion. *"he embankment and other preparations for the great aiTault upon the Tower of Antonia, were now completed, after feventeen days of immenfe toil : and Titus being re-enforced by a large body of auxiliaries, armed after the Macedonian fafhion, and under the command of Epiphanes, king of Comagna, the attack w r as made with great confidence, but was followed by a moft deitru6r,ive flaughter of thofe forces, and a like fuccefs had attended John and Simon in the deftru&ion of one of the embankments, and alfo by the Gifchalites fubterranean works, fetting fire to all of the cover ings made by Titus for the protection of his battering-rams and other dreadful machines, then in operation againft the tower ! The Romans were compelled to retreat to their camps, by the mifliles, the fire, and fulphurous fmoke all around them ; and were even hotly purfued by the enraged and now victorious Jews : but again, our countrymen were foon driven back within their wall, and yet, only after a bloody and rapid conflict on both fides.* next refort of Titus was a bold and efFecStual one. He * Probably from the and to the loth of May, as the Embankment may have begun about the middle ot April. Letter xxiv. Cfje ([OanDering 3ieto, 425 Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-vvitnefs. furrounded the City with a. wall of no vaft extent, but The Wall of of great ftrength, as its main purpofe was to prevent circum<valla- efcape, fo that famine and pefhlence might the fooner tlon - accomplifli a work, which human power ieemed fcarce able to effect. Now this wall of circumvallation, though quite forty-and-nine ftadia in circuit, was all completed in three days ! which, if not miracu lous, was furely a work that none but Romans would have thought of, and none but they could have effected. And oh ! dear Aquila, can even imagination take in, much lefs my pen defcribe, the accu mulated miferies that early enfued ! The dead bodies no longer could be buried even in the rudelt way : the Angels of foul difeafe and of mortal hunger were now too rapid, even had any fpirit remained with the people for the fepulture of their dead, fo that the emaciated and nearly expiring corfes were caft over the walls, in loathing and appalling numbers ! The fickening mafs of death, of moribund life, and of odious putridity, then within the Roman eye, aroufed even their fympathies, and Titus called Heaven to bear him witnefs, that he much defired to fave the maddened people, and their City, but that they would not and therefore that the Jews, not the Romans, were the authors of all thofe terrific fcenes. jft nd here, good Aquila, I afk thee to remember that our Feaft of Fentecoft took place only two days after the completion of that wall of circumvallation, that is, on Swan s yth day ! [Sunday, May I4th.] And oh, what a Pentecoftal day ! The work of cafting over the walls the loathfome bodies, defined for Hinnom, flill con tinued, when Titus again fummoned Jofephus to invoke our crazed multitude to accept of their lives, their City, and their glorious Temple. Flavius promptly obeyed ; but he well-nigh had loft his life thereby, for the Jews fo detefted his prefence and voice, that they inflantly hurled upon him a fhower of mifliles : he was feen to fall fenfelefs on the earth ; and was refcued only by extreme peril. Great and long continued were the fhouts from the walls, as they fuppofed Jofephus flain ; whereas, in a few hours thereafter, the zealous and honeft friend of his country again appeared, and urged his caufe upon them, but alas ! only with an increafed rage againft him, and their foes. I know not how to unfold to thee the fights that followed : thefe I often witnefTed until my foul was fo filled with horror, that, had I been in the prefence of Moloch in the abyfs of Gehenna, I could not have been more overcome ! The ditches were yet full of the peftiferous bodies the dogs and birds of prey were gorged with them the mafs being too great to be thus devoured, but frem ones would come, and they likewife were fated, for their once craving maws being filled, I found them re- pofing at a diftance, as if awaiting the return of appetite ! The air was poifoned with the foul effluvia, and the heart and eye of hu- Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. manity fhrank from the fight with involuntary horror. It feemed as if the loathing particles were vifible and palpable, and as if they forced themfelves upon the very tafte and yet, O Aquila ! man s love of mammon conquered all tbis^ for, canft thou believe me ? my eyes refted upon a crowd of Arabian and Syrian foldiers, deeply engaged in cutting open many of thofe vile and putrid bodies and then fell upon fome hundreds of the yet living and famimed defert- ers, who fhared the fame fate and all this was done, my Aquila, in fearch of fmall pieces of gold or filver, yea, poflibly of ruder coin, fwallowed by the wretched beings ! To the honour of Titus, he inftantly forbade it, and under penalty of death : but, fo ftrong is avarice that the practice ftill went on in fecret ; and very many con tinued thus to perifh, not for the fake of any dangerous life within them, but truly for the gold, which the love of it had placed there, as depofitories of fafety, and which had thus awakened in their ene mies a ftronger longing for their death, than for vi&ory over them in open warfare ! Should I attempt to enumerate, even nakedly, the hundredth part of the dreadful forms in which man s wicked felfifhnefs was permitted to carry out God s vengeance upon our guilty people, I fhould weary thy heart, without adding the leaft ftrength to thy already perfect faith. ^f_n lefs than three months after the fiege commenced, no lefs than 116,000 bodies had been carried out of even one of the many gates of our once profperous and holy Salem ; and it is believed that quite half a million more had parted through the other gates ! Thofe caft over the walls, or difpofed of in divers other ways, can only be conjectured from the miferable remnant of the three million, believed to have been within thofe walls an increafed population caufed by reafons familiar to thee. ^J^he afTault upon the Tower of Antonia (which had been fo unfuccefsful, and which caufed the wall of circumval- The Tower l a ti O n) was renewed foon after the wall was com- oj n onit pleted, and immediately after th.e new mounds were raifed at that tower. And now a fierce conflict took place on the ift of Tbammuz, [Wednefday, June yth,] and, in four days more, at the ninth hour of the 5th of Thammuz, the Tower of Antonia was fully gained her fentinels flain, and the Romans, in hot purfuit, palled into the very prefence of our once holy, but then greatly defecrated Temple ! [Sunday, June I ith.j ^Jut neverthelefs, the remaining forces on both fides prefled into the area between the Tower and the Temple ; and there en- fued a moft terrific flaughter that lafted ten hours ! The area being too fmall for the ufe of darts and other mifliles, the parties were compelled to come into dreadful contact the Jews became as raving hyaenas ; and the Romans were once more compelled to re- Letter xxiv. CFje bannering 3(eto, 427 Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. tire within the walls of the Antonia : but, mark, O my Aquila ! that, on the ijtb ofThammuz, [Friday, the 23rd June,] Titus de- molifhed a part of the tower walls towards Bezetha and, on that fame day the Perpetual Sacrifice to God was ended ! The people s grief at this knew no bounds, but only becaufe they now began to lee God s fure vengeance ; and that the MOSAIC LAW had then expired ! Come with me, excellent Aquila, and contemplate, for a moment, this aftounding fa<5t and we fhall fee therein the com pletion of a moft ancient fyftem the fulfilment of a long pending prophecy ! ^Jjemember that, with only three interruptions, the institution of the .Perpetual Sacrifice had endured quite fifteen hundred years, counting from the time when our Mafter Mofes firft offered it, until now. Forget not that the Law from Sinai ordained " two lambs of the firft year, without blemijh, to be dally offered for a con tinual burnt offering" Now, as all Jews do well know, that facrifice, twice a day, failed not from that time until now, fave when heinous fin brought in the oppreflbr thrice firft, in Ahaz then Nebuchadnezzar, and laftly, in Antiocbus Epiphanes : thefe three, and now Vefpafian s fon, are the avengers of God s greatly violated law. Promifes of reftoration of the Perpetual Sacrifice attended the three firft and thofe promifes were fulfilled : but, my Aquila, I find no fuch promife to be now ours : and do not we now find the " Sceptre departed from Judah ?" alfo, is not the " Temple ivith fcarce one Jlone upon another" and the " Nation fcattercd, as with a ft eve ?" and thefe were the prophecies of ancient date, which now are hi/lory ! And finally, O my Aquila, remember the mar vellous coincidences ! the Perpetual Sacrifice was performed in the firft crude tabernacle, on the fame day of the week as that in which Titus, fo many ages after, ended it in the gorgeous temple ! and here, engrave it upon thy heart, my friend, thofe u two lambs " never failed to come forth, and in all perfection, down even unto the laft moment though Jerufalem, for months, had been famifhed more forely than was ever within man s memory ! But no more lambs, for ever, will now be needed ; the great work hath been accompliftied and no reftorer fhall ever come, until all (hall be of one fold ! jHnd now, my Aquila, let me proceed with this narrative of woes. The little that remained to be done was not yielded to the Romans, with the care they looked for, by Him who guideth all things. The Antonia was, indeed, fully gained ; and the victorious army was in the midft of the City : but ftill the Jews of the Upper City were powerful : they rallied, and turned upon their foes with great fiercenefs, and fuftained themfelves with a lion-hearted valour. 428 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-witnefs. After the battle, moreover, that had followed the ruin of the An tonia, the forces needed repofe, and Titus alfo needed counfel. ^t was foon perceived by Titus that accefs to the Temple was wholly impeded by its connection with the Antonia : Preparation for he con f equent i y ordered, as previoufly dated, its im- an attack upon , . ] n K- \ \ j /- i i the Temple mediate deltruction, which occupied leven days ; and in the mean while he prepared for a vigorous aflault upon the Temple, not however without affuring the Gifchalite of his ftill earneft defire to fave it, and alfo that the daily facrifices might be renewed : this communication was made by Titus in perfon, though at fome diftance- Jofephus being the interpreter. John, however, proved inflexible, and tauntingly replied to the great Roman, as he had previoufly to Jofephus, Ib that hoftilities (bon after were renewed. ^j^he removal of a part of the Antonia, and the conftru6tion upon its fite of the neceffary mounds, paved the way for a direcl: and eafy operation of the battering-rams upon the Temple. The night was dark, and the attack commenced at the ninth hour [3 o clock In the morning. ,] The battle raged with unabated fury till the noon of the following day, but without decided fuccefs on either fide. During the firft hour of attack, the Jews had fufFered greatly, efpecially from not being able to diftinguifh friend from foe : but the Romans had taken fpecial care to give each other the watch-word. j[bout this time, a party of defperate Jews left the city, and attacked the tenth legion ftationed at Mount Olivet whilft, in the city, the Zealots had fet fire to that cloifter of the Temple which adjoins the embankment fo recently erected upon the bafe- ment of the Antonia ; and this was on the 22d of Thammuz, [ Wed- nefday, June 28th,] and, in two days thereafter, the Romans fol lowed their example, and burnt down another cloifter : this was followed, on the part of the Jews, by the deftru&ion of the roof of the cloifter, by all of which means, the area became much enlarged for the ation of the Roman forces. ()n the 2;th of Thammuz, [Monday, July 3rd,] the whole weftern cloifter was filled by the Jews with inflammable materials infide and out and they then feigned to abandon it : by this the Romans were entrapped they afcended to the roof in large num bers and with ignorant confidence, when the Jews rufhed forward and inftantly fet fire to the combuftibles the whole cloifter was deftroyed, and the lofs of the enemy, by fire and fword, was very great ! The Northern cloifter fhared the fame from the Romans, on the following day. Letter x*iv.- C&e ^aulienng; Jefo, 429 Jerufalem s DeftruHon, by an Eye-witnefs. jjjfjnd here, my Aquila, I will for a time leave the proceedings againtt the Temple, that I may detail a terrific perfonal event : for, though it relates but to an individual known ^^dualMi- . r i i r i c erics. Prop/ie- to me, it leems that, by tome law or our nature, even cies fulfilled a deeper excitement of fympathy may arife towards an individual, than is often manifefted, under other circumftances, where thoufands are flaughtered or famimed ! A few fimilar cafes are found in pad hiftory but only where the general wickednefs of the people had become fatanic for fuch cafes do not necefiarily involve the individual in fupreme guilt. This cafe I dwell on, as it fo clearly falls within the very words of a moft ancient prophecy. ^$3 ut > before I relate the fad ftory, permit me to remind thee of the language of our prophets, fo well known to all during fo many ages, and now fo vifibly accomplifhed, as to leave no doubt that prophecy has thus become a terrific reality. (Jvery Jew, from his infancy, hath deeply imprefled on his memory that wonderful catalogue ofbleffings and of curfes, detailed by Mofes in the Book of El-Hadebarim* the one in reward of diligent obedience the other as fore affliction for perfevering wick ednefs. I mall ftate only a part of the curfes. " jfi nd the Lord fh all bring a Nation againft thee, from AFAR, from the end of the earth, AS SWIFT AS THE EAGLE FLIETH a nation whofe tongue thou /halt not under/land a nation of fierce countenance, which Jhall not regard the perfon of the old, nor Jhow favour to the young a nation that /hall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be dejiroyed a nation which Jhall not leave the corn, nor wine, nor oil, nor the increafe of thy kine, or of thy flocks, until he hath deflroyed thee. And he foall BESIEGE thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy land and thou /halt EAT the fruit of THINE OWN BODY the flejh of thy fens, and of thy daughters, in the fiege, and in the Jiraitnefs wherewith thine enemies fljall diftrefs thee -fo that the tender man that is among you, and who is very delicate, he /hall have an evil eye towards his brother, and towards the wife of his bofom, and towards the remnant of his children, fo that he will not give to any of them the flefh of his own children, which he /hall eat, becaufe he hath nothing left in the fiege, and in the Jlraitnefs wherewith thine enemies Jhall dijirefs thee in all thy gates. 1 " TENDER AND DELICATE WOMAN among you, who would not venture to fet the fole of her foot upon the ground for deli- catenefs and tendernefs, her eye Jhall be evil towards the hufband of her bofom and towards her fen, and towards her daughter, and towards her young one, and her children that /he Jhall bear ; for fbe The Book of Deuteronomy. 430 C&ronicles of Cartap?rilii0, century i. Jerufalem s Deftruffion, by an Eye-witnefs. Jh all eat them, for want of all food, SECRETLY in the fiege andftrait- nefs wherewith thine enemy /hall diflrefs thee in thy gates. And ye jhall be left FEW IN NUMBER, whereas ye were asthejiars of heaven for multitude. And the Lord Jhall SCATTER THEE AMONG ALL PEOPLE, FROM ONE END OF THE EARTH EVEN UNTO THE OTHER ; and among thefe nations thou foalt find no eafe, neither fl>all the fole of thy feet have reft."* CT)ore than fourteen centuries have pafled fmce this alarming prophecy was uttered ; and how long and varioufly God hath borne with us, all Jews, and divers other people, do well know. jgain, O Aquila, I would remind thee, for the times now demand it, of Leviticus. " And I will make your CITIES wajle, and bring your SANCTUARIES into defolation and I will bring the LAND into defolation, and your enemies who dwell therein Jhall be aftonijhed at it and I will fcatter you among the Heathen : then Jhall the land enjoy herfabbaths, as long as it lieth dcfclate ; and Te Jhall be in your Enemy s land." f jFTnd moreover, Micah declares thus ; " Therefore Jhall Zion be ploughed as a field and Jerufalem Jhall become heaps." Ezekiel, alfo fpeaking of thefe times, faith, " The fword is without, and the pejlilence and the famine are within ; he that is in the field Jhall die with the fword, and he that is within the City Jhall be devoured by the famine and pejtilence " " My face alfo will I turn from them, and they Jhall pollute my fecret place ; for the ROBBERS Jba/l enter into it, and defile it." J ^J^hefe latter prophecies, my Aquila, are now more than fix hundred years old ; and are only a few among numbers, which vividly paint thefe very times of unutterable defolation : now are they no longer prophecies, but fearful truths, accomplifhed before our aftonifhed and mourning eyes ! And thefe prophecies, fulfilled, have awakened in me, now for the firft time in my life, the wonders of an all-feeing eye, that beholds, as actually exiftent, the minuteft facts, centuries before they become revealed in time ! oh, how wonderful is that foreknowledge, which yet ordaineth nothing, but leaves to man his perfect liberty ! Come we now to glance at the prefent as it was forefeen fo many ages ago ! Are not the Romans a nation from afar, and have they not pofTeffions in the remoteft ends of the earth, as now known to man ? did they not bear upon us with Eagles as their enfigns ? came they not upon us with fw iftnefs ? is not their s a Jlrange tongue unto Ifrael s people ? is nor their countenance moft fierce ? at Jotapata, at Gamala, at Gadara, and all the other cities which they levelled to the earth, did * Deut. xxviii. f Levit. xxiv. \ Ezek. viii. Letter xxiv. Cfje ftOanDettng; 3[etru 431 JerufalerrTs Definition, by an Eye-witnefs. they not difregard the perfons of the old, or did the young find with them any favour? have they not eaten up the fruit of the land, and of our kine, leaving to our afflicted people neither corn, wine, nor oil? did they not befiege the cities in all their gates? are not our fons and our daughters made, comparatively, few in number? are they not become captives, and are they not feat tered from the one end of the earth to the other ? are they not daily fent into remote places, having there no reft for the fole of their feet ? are not our lands defolated by our foes, and after they have deftroyed our cities ? is not Jerufalem in heaps ? hath not thefword, without the walls thereof, deftroyed its thoufands in the fi eld , and have not the famine and the peftilence, within thofe walls, caufed the City to be an acel- dama? hath not God turned his face from his Temple, yea, from his fecret place? and have not John and Simon and Eleazar, with their hordes, been robbers, who entered into it, and polluted and defiled it ? have not our fanEtuaries fallen into defolation, and did not our facrifices ceafe, even before the Temple vaniihed ? ^Jut, my venerable Aquila, we have not only thefe very ancient prophecies fulfilled to the letter ; but we have thofe explicit ones of our Great Mafter, who, fcarce eight- *** m0clern and-thirty years ago, proclaimed the fate of Jerufalem fulfilled* in thefe clear words, " Take heed that no man deceive you, for many jh all come in my name, faying, I am Chrift and many falfe prophets J})all arife, and deceive many. When ye Jhall fee the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, fpoken of by Daniel the prophet, Jland in the HOLY PLACE, then let thofe who are in Judea flee unto the mountains, -for there ftiall be great tribulation -fuch as was not fince the beginning of the world to this time no, nor ever Jhall be" j^-| gain, when the difciples were exprefling their wonder and admiration at the great folidity and magnificence of the Temple, their Mafter faid, " Seeji thou thefe great buildings? there Jhall not be left one Jl one upon another, that Jhall not be cajl down ! But be fore all thefe things" faid he at another time, " they Jhall lay their hands upon you, delivering you up to the fynagogues, and in prifons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name s fake" And again; u When ye Jhall fee Jerufalem compajfed with armies then know that the defolation thereof is nigh! And they Jhall fall by the edge of the fword, and Jhall be led away captive into all nations ; and Jerufalem Jhall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled Verily I fay unto you, THIS GENERATION Jhall not pafs away till all be fulfilled! " ^f^ow, good Aquila, mine own eyes have feen thefe things ac- complifhed, as thou well knoweft yea, alfo, unto the exat letter! Remember that, foon after the dreadful event upon Calvary, and the third of a century before the marvellous fiege, as likewife during 43 ^ C8tOmCl00 Of CattapfrilUS, Century i. JerufalerrTs Deftru6tion, by an Eye-witnefs. its continuance, greatly were we troubled with falfe Chrifts, and many were deceived by them to their ruin. I have feen the "Abomi nation of Defolation " (truly the Jewifh robbers, and the Roman heathens) Handing in the Holy Place! I have (ben thoufands of the faithful flee unto the mountains; for is not Pella, and all thofe countries, filled with thofe who fought refuge from Jerufalem ? I have feen the fword in the field, and the peftilence and famine within the walls, likewife the felf-flaughter and civil wars ! and thefe are the tribulations, fuch as the world faw not before, great as miferies fometimes have been among men ! Mine own eyes have beheld the folid magnificence of the Temple levelled unto the ground, and foon will there be no ft one left upon another Jeru falem is now trodden down by the Gentiles ! And, oh my friend, how many Apoftles, Evangelifts, Prefbyters, Deacons, and converts of every degree, have I beheld perfecuted in the fynagogues, and caft into priibns by kings and rulers, and all for his name s Jake ! I have feen Jerufalem compajjed by armies^ myriads fent as captives into all the nations / and every tittle thereof, as we all do know, hath come about before that generation had pafTed away, unto whom thofe fad words were uttered ! Yes, Aquila, all hath been verified, vindicating thereby, in fubftance and in exacl: form, Chrift s con cluding words, " Heaven and Earth Jh all pafs mvay, but my words Jhall not pafs aivay" by which, as I underftand Him to mean, it is declared that the viftble univerfe hath its period ; it will end at its appointed time ; and in the like manner, will His words be as furely accompliihed, at their appointed time.* am I the better prepared to relate to thee, my good Aquila, the melancholy tale I promifed, and which is The Story oj f Q c j o ^ e a f u jfii ment o f t \^ e prophetic words in Deuter- jVLttry of rcrcci. onomy juft given, and which during fo many ages have been constantly read in all our fynagogues. ^n the fourth month after Titus appeared before Jerufalem s * Early after the date of Melcbior s letter, the prophecy cited by him was additionally fulfilled, in the fal of Jerufalem s being actually ploughed up, as Micah declared it fhould be! Terentius Rufus, afting under the orders of his government, performed this remarkable aft, doubtlefs, without any fufpicion by him, or any Roman, that it was in fulfilment of an ancient prophecy! And we 7tiay now add that then, and up to the prefent hour, the lands continued to become more defolate, and to enjoy their Sabbaths, as predicted, and that the Gentiles have ever fmce expreflcd aftonimment at their comparative rK riliry. In fine, all modern travel daily affords new proofs of the literal truth of all the oracles uttered as to lirael and their country the nncient ones being now quite 3300 years old; and thofe called new being more than 1800 years! Letter xxiv. c&e COannermg 3[eto, 433 Jerulalerrf s Deltru&ion Story of Mary of Perea. walls, the famine had become fo grievous that, even thofe of the higheft rank and greateft wealth, were perifhing for food. [Ab, gth July ifth.] Corn was then felling at fixteen manehs the bufhel; [about I2O/. fterling ;] and, in a few weeks after, could not be had at any price. Their fword belts, and the leathern coverings of their fhields, their fhoes, and various articles of apparel, were eagerly de voured. All the finks, and every other receptacle of vile things, were fearched with avidity and raked up with care, under the hope of finding fomething to ferve the purpofes of digeftion ! The people everywhere were feen frenzied, and were often found reeling through the ftreets, as if drunk with the fore difeafe of famine ! X) urm g that calamitous ftate of things, certain robbers, in the reckleffhefs of their wanderings, parted clofe by a fplendid manfion, and were aftonifhed and ravifhed with delight, at the favoury fmell of food, and of fuch as they fuppofed was nowhere to be found at that time in all Jerufalem. They rumed into the houfe, and with threats accofted a " delicate lady" who was then folitarily brooding over her mifery. They demanded the inftant furrender of the difh of favoury meat me muft have feafted on. With a feeble voice, and an eye of maniacal indifference, me faid, her good friends had come in time, for that me had juft ate one half, and placed the reft afide and then uncovering the dim, behold the remains of her roafted infant ! ^jhe robbers gazed on the food, and then on the mother, with horror, wonder, and pity they were wholly fpeechlefs ! " Eat /" cried the diftracl:ed lady, "for I have eaten ! and are ye more deli cate than a woman more tender-hearted than a mother? or, if ye are too devoutly fcrupulous to partake offuchfare^ leave the rejl to me and begone ! " The robbers withdrew in awe and filence. %)OOR MARY OF PEREA ! I knew thee well, in the day of thy might in the day of thy luxury of thy great beauty and of thy delicatenefs. Oh, thrice wretched daughter of my valued friend Eleazar of Bethezob ! thy youth and lovelinefs and wealth, and even thy devoted love towards thy firft-born, could not fave thee from the loathing a<5l thou haft done. Thy hufband, too, more fortunate than thou, went before thee and thy tender offspring, and efcaped this terrific fight : but thou, maddened by accumulated woes, and daily robbed of the wretched pittance of food that remained to thee, could yield no longer to thy fuffering infant the leaft of fuftenance. In vain did the little innocent ftrive to extract from thy parched bofom its wonted fupply no moifture was there the fountain had wholly ceafed to flow even for the fmlefs fmlefs, but that it was the oft- fpring of one, too fond of life, not to be forgetful of her God ; for, by the parent s fhadow the child is darkened ! And fo it was, that, in fome moment of thy foreft grief and defolation, after the I. F F 434 Cf)tOmClC0 Of CartapfnlUS, Century i. Jerufalem s Definition Story of Mary of Perea. marauders had oft defpoiled thee and it of fuftenance, or, in fome moment of revenge towards them, and of overwhelming hunger in thyfelf, thou didft achieve this moft unholy thing ! But, O my Aquila, I will not, muft not accufe any one let me be humble and judge not; for little doth a ftranger to the unceafing pangs of hunger, and to the madnefs of withering thirft, know what he may not do in fuch ftraits : oh, rather let every one med tears of pity and for- givenefs over the many griefs that environed poor Mary of Perea ! ********* J^er fad ftory (for me was well and kindly known) was fpread abroad, and excited the languid eye and defponding heart of many famimed Jews : even in the Roman camps, the melancholy tale was told, and roufed the fluggifh fympathy of not a few. Dear Lady ! Fare-thee-well. Now art thou alfo numbered with thofe that breathe not, and thou art where thou wouldft be ! Surely, the grave cancelled for thee all earthly griefs, and we muft hope none will follow after. In that great day alone, when all mall be revealed, can the true meafure of thy guilt be known : but countlefs Mothers, in all after times, will hear thy ftory in fadnefs ; and from the inner heart, yield thee a figh from the expreffive eye, med thee an abid ing tear. ^ doubt not thou art now willing, my Aquila, to return to the awakening; events that concern the Temple and vet, O * /" * 7 *^ a Mege oj i le f urg j am ^ t [ lou h a fl. no regret at my fo long dwelling ne-ived. on tne prophecies ; or that Eleazar s haplefs daughter hath fo greatly roufed me. I know thy heart too well to fuppofe, it hath not duly refponded to both. ^he full poffeflion of the Antonia, and the deftruclion of fome of the cloifters, foon left the Romans in the almoft undifturbed occupation of the Court of the Gentiles, that encompafTed the Temple s four fides ; but, as the Temple itfelf was now a ftrong, if not impregnable fortrefs, and as the Upper City yet remained in the hands of the three chief Factions, under John, Simon, and Eleazar, there ftill was much to be effected before the labours of Titus could end. The affault upon the Temple, efpecially againft the maflive walls that encompafTed the Holy of Holies, was vigor ous, and of fome days continuance, but with fmall effect under mining alfo failed the walls were then fcaled, but with an awful (laughter to the Romans, and with lofs of their ftandards ! Fires were then applied, by our greatly enraged foes, to the magnificent gates of the Holy Houfe the heat whereof became fo intenfe that the maflive filver coatings flowed in ftreams ; and the cedar wood burft forth in vaft meets of flame, that continued to rage all that day and night of the "]th of Ab. [Thurfday, I3th July.] The gates Letter xxiv. c&c 2JanHeung; Jetxi. 435 Jerufalem s Deftru6Hon, by an Eye-Witnefs. were now proftrate, and the agonized Jev/s appeared then, for the firft time, to fear that God had forfaken them ! The orders of Titus were ftrenuous for the extinguimment of the fires, and this was effected : whereupon he fummoned a council to decide the fate of the Holy Building but little did even Titus know how wholly he was but an humble inftrument of the Moft Higheft ! ^j^he council of war was divided in opinion ; three of the fix urging that now it was no Temple, but had become the Fortrefs of a mutinous and mod defperately wicked people ; and, as fuch, ought to be levelled to the earth ; but Titus, having fided with the other three, ordered that great exertions fhould be continued for its prefervation. jPlt length, on the loth of AB, {Sunday, July i6/,] (furely a memorable day in our Jewifll chronicles) our fecond Temple (as did Solomon s under the king of Babylonia) became a prey to Roman fury ! Oh, how marvellous are the ways of Abraham s God ! Yes, my good Aquila, this fame tenth day of Ab was the laft of the exiftence of both temples ! ^T^his fecond beautiful Houfe of God, raifed by Zerubbabel, nigh unto 600 years ago, and to whom the Medo-Perfian Cyrus gave no lefs than five thoufand and four hundred facred veflels, and which Temple, fcarce a century ago, was fo highly adorned and added to by the Great, but moft wicked Herod, is now a prof- trate ruin ; and, like Solomon s, it perifhed for our fins and on the fame day of the fame month ! J^ftrange coincidence ! both the abode of the only God JEHO VAH both raifed to His glory, and for his worfhip through fuc- ceflive ages both defecrated by Ifrael s people, and by Heathens alfo and both perifhed by idolatrous hands fo that, even thus early, fcarce one ftone remaineth that hath not been caft down, and removed from its fellow ! * * There feems to be much confufion, and even contradiction, as to the true dates of thefe two remarkable events, both as to the name of the Jewim month the day of that month, and allb as to their correfpondence with the modern name and day of the month. The months of Ab and Elul thofe of July and Auguft the ninth and tenth of Ab the third of Elul the loth of Auguft and the loth of Ab, are all indifferently given, as if refpeftively of the fame im port ! and yet there can be no doubt but that the defoliation of both temples was in the fifth Jewifh month, which is Ab, and on the roth day of that month, which cannot agree with the lame day of the month, at periods fo diitant from each other. The high authority of Dr. Jarvis (in his "Church of the Redeemed" p. 585, which has juft come to the Editor s hands) gives Saturday, July i^-th, B. c. 586, v. JE., as the date of the deftruition of Solomon s Temple and Sunday, July i6th, A.D. 69, V.JE., as the date of the deftruftion of the Second Temple but that, in both cafes, thefe dates do correfpond with the tot/i of Ab. Jofephus gives the loth of the month Lous (the Greek name for 436 C&romcles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-Witnefs. s perifhed the Temple by fire : but, let me now fay a word as to how that marvellous event happened, feeing that Titus fo greatly defired to fave it. Now this, my Aquila, was obvioufly God s own doing ; the Roman had given ftric\ orders for its pre- fervation, and had retired to reft nothing doubting but that Holy Houfe would be fully gained without further injury. A rafh foldier, however, applied the fatal brand ; Titus inftantly arofe from his couch, and gave many fignals for its relief but the foldier alfo had his followers, and the orders of all in command were, in the mad- nefs of the moment, of no avail. ^J^itus and thofe in high command then entered the Holy of Holies ! Great were the riches there gold and filver in vaft piles robes of furprifing fplendour coftly fluffs of every dye veflels of precious metal, and all things of fuch furpaffing magnificence as much wondered them all, and increafed greatly the defire to fave the Temple. But the deed was already done the fires foon afcended to the very heavens, and, looking around me, I beheld at a diftance (for my eyes now loathed the fights around me) the myriads of anxious gazers upon Olivet s heights, who flood with fearching eyes and agonized hearts, witnefling the red and terrific glare of the raging element, that then lighted the fummits of all the hills, yea, even upon Mount Tabor and the far Libanus, were mafTes of people, invifible indeed to us, but gazing with the like horror on the fiery clouds, and black curling volumes of fmoke, that pierced aloft, and illumined the remoteft regions ! ^f^ow the maffive cedar roofs, feafoned by fo many ages, were diflblved into wide fheets of furious and darting flames coming, as if from the mouths of angry ^Etna, or the enraged Vefuvius ! The nine lofty gateways, their ponderous doors, their pofts and lintels, each richly carved in all places, not covered with plates of gold or of filver, were all feen by me fucceflively falling into mingled ruin the toth of Ab) as the fame date for both events: and Melchior, in his letter to Aquila, hefitates not to confirm the coincidence, and to give the icth of AB (which was Sunday, July the i6th) as the day of the final burning of the Second Temple : and, as the Jews commemorate the event by a faft on the 9th of Ab, Buxtorf accounts for the difcrepancy by ftippofing that the conflagra tion commenced on Saturday the ninth, and was total on the tenth. The curious fubjeft ot thefe and other coincidences is mentioned in various parts of thefe Chronicles, by Cartaphilus, as well as by others and alfo upon authorities that cannot be queftioned. The coincidences are many; but thofe chiefly alluded to are the five following : ift, the declaration that no one than an adult mould enter the land of promife, except Jofluia and Caleb 2nd, the deftruHon of Solomon s Temple 3rd, the deftruftion of Zerubbabel s, or the Second Temple 4th, the ruin of Beltar and the flaughter of Barchocab 5th, the ploughing up of Jerufalem in the time of Hadrian : thefe and feveral more are faid to have occurred on the loth of the month Ab. See Note on the fame fubjeft, poft Section Li. and alfo Note * p. 441. 458. Letter xxiv. Cj)0 WmftZtinS Jefo. 437 Jerufalem s Deftru<5tion, by an Eye-Witnefs. and tumbling in all directions into the billowy flames ! And lo ! foon thereafter, from them all, I beheld the now liquid and blended metals pouring down in torrents, mixed with the living coals and burfting fragments of the fnow-white columns, on whofe polifhed furfaces the Sun, during fo many ages, and the foft Moon, had loved to (bed their richeit and melloweft rays which, in turn, were caft back upon the burnifhed gold and filver, or mining Corin thian brafs, that encompaffed many of thofe columns. But alas ! all of thy glories, O Temple of the living God ! are gone for ever : no fun nor moon, for ever, mall vifit them they are confumed by the fierceft of all the elements made yet more potent by the breath of offended Deity ! JH s I ftood for a moment hard-by the Gate of Shuihan, and under the porch of Solomon, furveying the fcene around me, almoft in a trance of ftupifying terror, my 7?^vj? {- 1 eye became fixed upon that fupreme glory of man s Q ate >> moft fkilful art the "BEAUTIFUL GATE!" I watched with feverifh anxiety the progrefs of the maniac waves of fire about to encircle it, and I beheld thofe flames fuddenly envelop ing the much-famed GOLDEN VINE of that Gate ! In a minute after, fpeechlefs and pale and nearly breathlefs, 1 leaned, as it were for life, againft a column of the Eaftern Cloifter : the blood within me, which, from the exceffive heat, had courfed my veins with unnatural hafte, was now fo chilled with horror, that greatly I feared I mould not efcape, for then I diftinctly faw, and alfo heard, the rich and vaft clufters of golden grapes, with all their luxuriant foliage, fuddenly fall, and with a hideous cram upon the marble fteps beneath the gate and there^ with a hijjing noife^ were they quenched in the deep /treams of blood that gufhed from thoufands flain within the Temple ! So impetuoufly ran that blended ftream, as to bear with it many of thofe wretched beings down the fteps, and even the ponderous grapes and vines and foliage of that long-ad mired wonder of our Temple ! ^Jut this fcene became to me flill more overwhelming, from the piercing cries of thofe perifhing in the flames from the thundering noifes of falling walls and columns and maflive timbers from the fhouts of foes and of friends from the lamentations of thofe at a diftance upon the higheft walls from the roarings of the infuriated flames from the harm founds of the catapultae and battering-rams in levelling the proud and folid mafonry alfo from the deep-toned reverberations of thefe congregated noifes, as they rufhed from the furrounding towers and fragments of the Temple and the Antonia and flill further echoed from the hills and valleys that encom- pafs the city ! Surely, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ! for, if his Love be boundlefs and of long con tinuance, is not his Vengeance moft terrible ? 438 Chronicles of Cartapfriiu0, Century i. Jerufalem s Deftruftion, by an Eye-Witnels. ()n leaving my dangerous pofition near the Gate of Shuftian, my attention was again fuddenly arrefted by a moft Individual ap p a iii n g f lght w i tnin t h e Temple s other end ! The Mifenes. rr o o {laughter had become very great within thofe walls moft remote from the raging element : there, in blended heaps, lay the deluded pious, and the once daring wicked the aged and the young : here alfo were found women of diftin&ion, and thofe of low condition mothers, daughters, and children, and, mixed with all thcfe were the dead, or half-expiring corfes of the Zealots, and of the haughty Romans ! ^be impious, and now more than ever recklefs Gifchalite, had juft headed a few of his infamous horde ; and found his way from the outer court of the Temple in fafety, until he reached the Upper City ! The news of his efcape had aftonifhed all, both friends and foes : and, whilft mufing for an inftant as to what mould be his fate, I was roufed from my thoughts by a body of moft ram and frantic priefts, perceived by me {landing upon the loftieft parts of a roof, not yet reached by the flames ! ^j^hefe priefts, with the unnatural ftrength of raging paffions, and yet with the exhauftion of long famine, and wakefulnefs, were feen ftruggling to wrench off certain gilded fpikes, of no fmall weight, that they might hurl them in defiance upon the enemy below ! but, being driven from the mad attempt, and compelled to take refuge upon a narrow wall, beneath which the flames were roaring, they were feen by others, and were fummoned inftantly to furrender. Now, though their efcape was juft as hopelefs, as was their ability impotent, to fever thofe fpikes, or to injure with them their foe, yet they remained filent for a moment, and then fud denly two of thofe wretched men preferred death ; and, to my in- expreflible horror, I beheld Malr, the fon of Belga and Jofepb^ fbn of Delai, plunge headlong into the flames below ! Such def- peration roufed the attention of many, even amidft the accumulated terrors around us ; and we watched, with keen intereft and curi- ofity, fome other of thofe priefts ftill lingering on the fearful heights, feemingly irrefolute as to their courfe and we not well affured they could defcend in fafety, if difpofed. For a time, I obferved them look ing upon vacancy then upon the fiery furges, and anon, their huge forrows yielded to a flood of tears ! A fight like this appeals to the heart, by a law of our nature, far more ftrongly, good Aquila, than when even many are flain before us in the ufual courfe of warfare ; and hence I found a more lively intereft in the fate of thofe folitary priefts, furrounded as they were on thofe fearful heights, by fmoke and flames and falling walls, than as to fome hundreds, who had clung around the altars before the conflagration raged they found not mercy ! Letter xxiv. C&0 WMftttinQ 3[efo, 439 Jerusalem s Deftrudion, by an Eye-Witnefs. __ length a little boy, with haggard eye and emaciated frame, was feen by me on the fummit of a lofty wall. He was ftrongly urged to defcend, and with promife of life and fafety : he complied ; and foon was found alongfide a fountain in the court drinking; as ^ if, for the firft time in his life, he was then confcious of water s worth! This done, he hurriedly filled his veflel to the brim ; looked piteoufiy on the companions he had forfaken, and, with an arrow s fpeed, we found him on the fame alarming heights, (haring liberally with them the cooling beverage ; and, no doubt, as willing to partake of all their defperate fate ! ()n the following day, however, thefe priefts, nearly famifhed by hunger and thirft, craved permifiion to furrender with pledge of life : but Titus then replied that the hour of mercy had now pafled ; and that, as the Temple was deftroyed, the Priefts, for their obftinacy, muft perifh with it they came down, and inftantly were put to death ! jRH ready have I alluded to falfe prophets and Mefiiahs, predicted for thefe times, and as a warning by the only true Mefliah, that we fiiould have no truft in them. Such falfe ones did appear in our Jerufalem during the whole fiege. Thefe were fuftained by the Zealots, by which means the people were taught patiently to await deliverance, by fome mighty temporal Shiloh ! Strange infatuation ! this wild notion brought into the Temple vaft crowds of deluded perfons : and, near the clofe of the conflagration, more than fix thoufand of them, chiefly women, and youths of both fexes, were found concealed in retired fpots of the Temple and cloifters they all perifhed amidft the flames of the Outer Court ! r he treafures collected from the Temple, and elfewhere, were indeed immenfe.* When the fires had nearly fubfided, the foldiers marched in procefiion round the fmoking ruins, and with their idolatrous ftandards flying ! When oppofite to where the Gate of Shufhan fo lately ftood, they offered facrifices, and there faluted Titus as Imperator a title which, as it feems, the Roman army may at any time lawfully confer ! Wonderful Nation ! when (hall thy empire ceafe when (hall Daniel s clear vifion be accom- plifhed ? *^he TEMPLE OF JEHOVAH the only Houfe on earth in which for ages He had deigned to dwell, being now no more, all that fiiould follow in the dread fcene of Jerusalem s men, I looked on with comparative indifference yea, with a foul memorative only of her former glories, but nearly regardlefs of any further miferies in ftore for Abraham s afflicted feed. * It is related that thefe treafures were fo immenfe, that gold and filver de preciated in Syria to one half its former value ! 440 Chronicles of CartapJrilus, century \. Jerufalem s Deftru6lion, by an Eye-Witnefs. CDore than a year hath parted fince all was finifhed : reafon, the child of time, but far more, our New Faith (built upon Calvary s rock, and made certain by the empty tomb, in which the Arimathean had laid the body, and the Jews feahd that tomb) now allures me that the Great Nazarene is ever with his Church, and in all places, and that now all the Earth is his Temple and that wherever truth and fmcerity are found, and faith in Him, there are his temples : furely the outward and vifible temples may alfo, in time, arife and they will as infallibly come, as the dews of heaven feek for the parched earth ! Hence is it, dear Aquila, that I (hall mourn no longer over Jerufalem s fate : once fo holy, it became fo foul and defecrated, that its overthrow was doubtlefs as neceflary, as was the deftrudtion of the old world by the raging waters, or the Cities of the Plain by the fubterranean and celeftial fires ! <gjj[hat now remains to be told as to Jerufalem s utter ruin, may be fhortly faid : for, though full of ftirring events, and Jetty* d ^ S a ^ nn S m ife r i es > n J ew nor Chriftian can remember Solomon s prayer of dedication of his Temple, and alfo the weeping of thofe who witnefled the raifmg of the fecond one by Zerubbabel, without knowing that no other temple will ever fupply its place and that the Wall of Separation is now caft down for ever, fo that the reft of Salem is but drofs, and muft fo remain until the times of the Gentiles be accomplifhed. Judah and Ben jamin, and alfo the other Ten Tribes, muft now alike be wanderers : Zion and the valleys around (hall be defolate, and falfe gods will abound therein ; and the Houfe of Jacob will nowhere be found in ftrength. Marvel not at thefe my words, O Aquila ; for fo is it written in all the chronicles of the paft, and in all the horrors of the prefent. r he Lower City was next configned to the flames, fo that the Upper City alone remained the refuge of the wretched multi tude, and of the few robbers that now had arms. Titus neverthelefs, had fome kind wifties in regard to that portion of Jerufalem, and would have faved it, and ended the Slaughter : but the wicked folly that ftill guided the Sanhedrim, was the fame as that which con demned Jefus : the blindnefs that yet fealed their eyes againft the truth of the Refurrelion the obduracy that ftill clofed their ears to the wonders of the Pentecoftal day and the madnefs that gave them hope for the Temple, until it lay in afhes, make them to the prefent hour ftill hopeful of a temporal Meffiah ! Oh folly, that hath no name ! the beafts that roam and famifti upon fterile moun tains, are not more fierce and helplefs than Man, when heart and mind are without the only God. Letter xxiv. Cfje (^Bannering 3ieto. 441 Jerufalem s Deftniftion Fate of the Gifchalite. 2n Tijhr is fecond day, [Monday , \tb September, ] Titus became r of the Upper City then the only portion that had refilled with hope, after the deftru6tion of the K^ C ^ y Temple.* When I beheld the Roman ftandards float ing on the towers of that part of the city, the now very mixed horde of Jews, Romans, Syrians, Arabians, friends and foes the pious few, and the defperately wicked many, when all thefe were feen of me, I experienced a fenfation of repofe unknown to me for months paft ; for then the conflict was over, and all were feeking quietude; and an almoft deadly filence reigned around ! As birds of various and hoftile natures are fometimes rudely darned about by a long tumultuous hurricane, and fink together upon the earth, panting and exhaufted, are then happy there to repofe in harmony, fo were now all thefe people, after a common danger, difpofed to forget the paft, and not to think of the future. ^he conqueft of the Upper City, as being the laft mighty ftruggle, was gained only by a tremendous flaughter fo much fo, that blood and fire were feen contending for the maftery ! and, when night came on, and the flaying ceafed, the fires were obferved to rage more fiercely ! This, if in part a fancy in the multitude, mows neverthelefs a prodigious wafte of life, and that copious ftreams of blood and the fury that urged each fide, were both awfully great. And now the many vaults and paflages under ground teemed with the living, the dead, and the dying like wife with countlefs treafures, fecreted there by a ftill hopeful and infatuated multitude: and, at that expiring moment of Jerufalem s exiftence, lo ! in one of thofe loathfome vaults was feen John of Gifchala ! and oh how fallen ! He fo famed for daring and haughty prowefs, for artful ftratagem, for undying perfeverance, for indomitable wick- ednefs, now lay motionlefs, toil-worn, and a wretched fufFerer by famine, and now by hopelefs defpair ! John feebly fued for life which Titus granted, but on condition of being doomed to perpetual chains ! jll that remained of Jerufalem was then deftroyed fave only a part of the Weftern Wall, and the towers of Phafaelus, of Hippi- * The ufual date given for this event is the znd of TiJJiri, and, by the moderns, the -jth of September : but the yth of September correfponded with the 5th of Tifhri. It is alfo faid that the Upper City was gained juft one week before the Great day of Atonement : but, as that day is the loth of feventh month, Ti/Jiri, a week added to the 2nd of TiJJiri would bring the day of Atone ment to Monday the gth of that Jewifh month. If, then, the Upper City fell juft one week before the day of Atonement, the 3rd of Tifhri muft be received as the day : and, if the and be taken as the undoubted day of conqueft, it was not one week, but juft eight days before the Atonement, as that was then on Tuefday the izth of September. In either way, the day of Atonement could never come, for God had dertroyed all before that day arrived ! See ante p. 4.33435, antl Note * 442 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Fate of the Georite. cut) and of Mariamne, thefe being preferved as memorials to after ages of the fure exiftence of a City, which now numbers two thoufand, one hundred, feventy and feven years that is, fmce Melchifedek, the righteous king of Jebus, or Salem, firft laid its foundations ! * ^C[ muft not end this letter, long as it is, good Aquila, without informing thee ot the fate of that other renowned robber > Simon f Georas - ^QHgh fixty days had elapfed fmce Jerufalem had become as ct heaps ;" and yet nothing was feen or heard of Simon ! All fought to learn his fate ; but every fearch proved vain. ^JjJ[hen all hope of further refiftance in the Upper City was abandoned, Simon had aflembled a number of perfons, among whom were (lone-cutters and other mechanics : they defcended, with their tools, and with provifions for a long time, into one of the fubter- ranean paffages. Their plan was to continue mining there, until they could rife to the furface in fome remote place of fafety ; and thus effe<5t their efcape, after the Romans mould have evacuated the ruins. The difficulties, however, encountered by them proved greater than were expected ; and they began to fufFer from hunger. Simon reforted at length to a curious ftratagem ; which he hoped to make effectual through the fuperftitious fears of the Roman foldiers on guard ; and that was, to rife from the ground under fuch circumftances as mould alarm them, as being the appearance of fome one rifmg from the grave ! With this view, Simon was clad in a pure white robe ; over which was buttoned a fmall purple mantle. Whilft the guards were repofing among the ruins near the city bounds, and as night was approaching, a tall figure was feen to rife from the ground, filently and with the moft impofmg dignity ! The white raiment and thin purple cloak the haggard vifage and funken eyes the long flowing beard, and curling locks, all fo indiftincTily feen through the evening gloom, failed not to rivet for a moment to the fpot the foldiers attention : but they being too long familiar with fcenes of horror, alfo with the artifices of war, and even with the fupernatural agencies that feemed to mark Jerufalem s downfall, ioon became compofed, and gradually approached the marvellous figure, demanding what it was, or wanted ? J^imon was filent, and in his demeanour myfterious ; but being further interrogated, and prefled for his name, he refufed to give one but bade them inftantly call their captain. Terentius Rufus there upon appeared, to whom he furrendered as Simon of Georas ! t that time, Titus was at Caefarea Philippi, difpofing of his * The tower of Phafael yet remains, though nearly 1800 years have parted fmce the days of Titus and Jerufalem now numbers nearly 4000 years. Letter xxiv. Cj)C WMbtUnQ 31^0* 443 Triumph of Vefpafian and Titus. numerous captives, and calling to the wild beafts fuch as were un- faleable ! The news of Simon s capture was fent to Caefar ; who, when he palled over to Caefarea on the Sea, ordered Simon to be forthwith fent to him, and in bonds. This was done, that he might be referved for the great Triumph expected to be foon celebrated at Rome, in honour of the victories in Paleftine, and of the termi nation furely of the faddeft of all the Roman wars. )] ftill cannot end my letter, without informing thee that the Triumph decreed by the fenate to Vefpafian and Titus, was perhaps the moft magnificent ever exhibited even ^ he ^ lu h in Rome ; and that it was the firft in which father and and Titus" fon were thus jointly honoured ! Of courfe, I wit- nelTed not that Triumph ; but muft detail it as received by me lately here from a friend, who was an eye-witnefs. r he extraordinary variety, rarenefs, number, and richnefs dif- played in that vaft triumphal proceflion, muft indeed have been wonderful, embracing things curious and exquifite in art, and moft fcarce and admirable in nature the whole feledted from nearly every region of the world, and from people of all degrees of civilization ! Countlefs treafures of gold and of precious ftones fome of the facred veiTels, and many of the fplendid prieftly robes, fpoils from the holieft and ancienteft of all the temples a long proceflion of the rareft wild beafts truthful pictorial reprefentations of the fieges and deftructions of cities effected by Roman arms, fome of thofe pictures being fo wide and lofty as to obfcure the fpacious palaces and temples that grace the Forum, through which the Triumph pa!Ted ! alfo the like delineations of flaughtered armies likewife of the aged and young of both fexes, lamenting the defolation of the lovelieft regions alfo thofe that difplayed the rareft beauty bereft of every folace, and thefe ftriving for life amidft ftreams of commingled blood and fire ! temples in conflagration, and vaft malTes in the act of falling, and wide-fpread ruins abounding upon the earth : in fine, pictures that vividly brought to the eye of the myriad beholders, all the horrors of War, of Peftilence, and of Famine, as contrafted with all the lovelinefs of Peace ! fuch were the many and varied objects that compofed only a part of that great triumphal proceflion. Next to all thefe came, in due order, the Book of the Jewim Law the lofty Seven-branched Candleftick the Golden Table the Cenfers the Trumpets, and other coftly facrificial inftruments of our famed Temple ! * Thefe were followed by a long train of * The famous Seven-branched Candleftick, above-named, is computed by 444 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Triumph of Vefpafian and Titus. Jewifh captives, each felected with fpecial care as to venerable old age to the exquifite beauty of Hebrew virgins and matrons and as to the lofty bearing, high diftinction, and eminent prowefs of Jerufalem s Defenders : others were from Jotapata, from Gamala, Tiberias, and from divers other cities of Paleftine, now no more. Such an affemblage, in its completenefs, caufed this Triumph to be, of all others the world hath known, the greateft, and, doubtlefs, the moft awakening. jFt the head of the train of captives was SIMON OF GEORAS ! and, as the gorgeous proceffion parted down the Forum, then filled with a living mafs of proud and exulting victors for each Roman feels himfelf a portion of his country, and individually feems a patriot the fhouts of the excited multitude can only be com pared in loudnefs, to that aftounding cry that fhook the very hea vens, when Ifrael firft beheld the flames of her Temple from the heights of Olivet ! but oh, how different the feelings that caufed the vociferations of the two multitudes ! the one, of unutterable grief the other, of an exultation fuch as Roman victors alone can Ihow. JH t length, the Proceffion flopped at the Capitol there to be inftructed that Rome s glory was now to be completed, by the ex ecution of Ifrael s braveft General in their prefence ; and that this diftinction was the lot of Simon, who, with a halter round his neck, was then fcourged, as the Proceffion again flowly moved ; and, being dragged along the Forum for a fhort time, he was then put to an ignominious death ! ]I^t is faid that a noble Triumphal Arch will be erected in honour of Titus, and will portray his great exploits in Judea, and alfo contain the forms of the more valuable among the facred fpoils of our Temple. It is further faid, that Vefpafian will alfo build a magnificent Temple to Peace ; in which he defigns to preferve all the Jewifh and other fpoils. The Veil of the Temple, and alfo the Books of Mofes and of the Prophets, are now depofited in the Imperial Palace.* Cumberland to have been worth, from its gold alone, 5/6o/. equal to about 28, ooo dollars. It feems that this candelabrum was not caft, but wrought with the hammer: and it is certain that this was not one of the ten candelabra of the Firft Temple but that it was the only one ever afligned to the Second Temple. The ufual dranving of it is, no doubt, fufficiently accurate, it being taken from the fcriptural and Jolephine defcriptions, probably aided by the rather crude picture of it on the Arch of Titus. * The Arch of Titus, which yet remains nearly entire, is the moft interefting of all the monuments of thofe early ages of Chriftendom. The Temple of Peace in the Forum (if, indeed, that fragment be the remnant of that temple) is now an utter ruin. The Ipoils of Jerufalem s Temple continued to be pre- ferved with great care by the Romans : but they were taken by Genferic, after Letter xxiv. Cfje WMbtnn& 31eto, 445 The Spoils of Jerufalem The Arch of Titus. jF[nd now, O Aquila, the promife I made thee hath been per formed, and the fad ftory of Jerufalem s fate been faithfully de tailed. Hoping foon to hear from thee all that concerns thy own doings, and much that refpels the Ephefians, I have only to fay that, when more at leifure, I mail alfo be mindful of my promife to tell thee more as to our wonderful Cartaphilus ; who, of all men I have known, is to me the greateft aenigma exciting in me love, fear, refpecl:, and hatred, fo often as we meet ! love for his un doubted intellectual, and perhaps moral, greatnefs fear, at the awful myftery that hath ever environed him refper. for his dignity and hatred, for his early life, and prefent obduracy amidft fo much light as furrounds him ! FARE-THEE-WELL. MELCHIOR. LETTER XXV. CARTAPHILUS TO FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AT ROME. EDESSA, Tebeth, lyth, Anno Seleucidte, 385. [December 15, A.D. 73.] ONDERFUL are the events, my Flavius, the world hath feen fmce I left Rome, foon after Nero s death, now but little more than five years. X) urm g that fhort period the Roman Empire (now almoft the only one) has been ruled by feveral firft by GALBA, who (though not of noble family, but an experienced Warrior, and of the people s choice even before Nero s death) could maintain neither his power, nor his head, much beyond feven months! then came OTHO, full of vices and debauchery, alfo with the murder of his prince frefli upon his head : and, though his government was very mild, he laded but three months ! After him we had the infa mous VITELLIUS the popular and triumphant Vitellius ; whofe entry into the Imperial City was with voluptuous pomp, mounted on his prancing courfer, with the fenators and Roman people before the fiege of Rome, in A.D. 455, and were (hipped by that notorious Vandal, with other valuables, to Africa. Procopius affirms that Belifarius recaptured them, and they, having reached Conftantinople, were returned to Jerufalem, there to be preferved by the Chriftian churches. If this be fo, it is certain that all further account of them is loft. In the church of St. John Lateran, they (till prof els to have the Ark of the Covenant ! but it is to be remembered that Jofephus makes no mention of this among the fpoils of Titus; nor are we aware of any other author that does ; nor is it to be found upon the Arch of Titus, and the Romanifts, moreover, have ever had a wonderful proclivity to imagine they poflefs whatever they defire to have ; and often make aflertions touching fuch matters, without a madow of hiftorical or other proof. 446 Chronicles of Cartap&flus, Century \. Succefibrs of Nero Works of Jofephus. him himfelf encompafled by numerous waving ftandards colours fluttering in the breeze, and his marauding army following in the rear ! but this Nero-redevivus lafted only eight months, his end being yet more difgraceful than that of his wicked prototype, and quite as rapid as the Aftrologers had predicted before they were banifhed ! In an obfcure corner of the Aventine, this beaftly voluptuary was difcovered, after concealing himfelf from the enraged populace. They tied his hands, placed a halter round his neck, tore his clothes from his back, with favage violence ; and, in that ftate, the loathed wretch was dragged through the Via Sacra into the Forum naked ! With a fword pointed againft his chin, and his hair fcrewed back in the fafhion of the vileft malefactor, this dainty Emperor, after a fhower of mud and filth, received the blows of a thoufand enemies, and his vile body was indignantly caft into the fouleft part of the Tiber.* And thus, in lefs than eighteen months, three of Rome s emperors periftied. ^f3 ut now a word, my Jofephus, as to thine own fhrewd guefs yes, thy admirable political fagacity, in refpecl: to Vefpafian, fo quickly verified upon thy promife to the then feemingly incredulous, but ftill flattered General in Paleftine. In due time, after the death of Vitellius, the Senate unanimoufly proclaimed thy friend Vefpa fian, and all thy words were fulfilled in about twenty-and-eight months after thou hadft firft declared to Jotapata s Buffering people, that thy Conqueror would furely be fupreme in Rome ! Four years have now gone by, fince thy prediction was accomplifhed and Vefpafian continues " Lord of the Earth and Sea and Ruler of the Human Race," as thou, when his prifoner at Caefarea, didft de clare unto him would infallibly come to pafs ! <QJ_uch pleafed am I to hear, O Flavius, that thou art now oc cupied (of thy great experience and refearch) in the or yJJ e ~ writing of our Jewifli wars and antiquities. I doubt P/2US. . & J . 1 not it will be a raithrul hilrory of our always wonder ful, and now ruined country : And as thou haft afked of me a * This probably occurred in December, A.D. 68. The gourmanderle of the emperor Aulus Vitellius was fo extraordinary, as to form in itself a volume in the hiftory of man s phyfical vagaries, were the fubjecl: worthy of the toil. His appetite was fo preternatural that, as Dion relates, befides four regular meals of appalling magnitude, he would regale himfelf at any hour or place where any good cheer might be found ! His numerous favourites were feverely taxed in preparing for him the moft fumptuous prandiums and coenas, none of which coft lefs than aooo/. fter. ! And though Vitellius reigned only eight months and five days, fo exceffive was his profuiion, that he not only ruined many rich families, but fome cities; and he is laid to have coft the Empire about 6,ooo,ooo/. fter., or nearly twenty-nine millions of dollars! Hence Jofephus fays that, had Vitellius reigned much longer, the wealth of all the Roman people would fcarce have fuftained his table. A nation that could tolerate fo beaftly a man, even eight months, may be well fufpefted itfelf of a pervading brutality. Letter xxv. Cf)e (EOanUenttg; 3!eto> 447 Cartaphilus and his Friends at EdeflTa. detail of fuch matters as I witnefTed, or have heard of upon good authority, fince I departed from Judea up to the prefent hour, and that I mould alfo hereafter note for thee fuch Jewifh matters as may be of intereft, I yield a willing compliance, and yet with hu mility, as I confefs, O fage Jofephus, my pen moves flower than once it did admonifhing me that life burns feebly in me, that the dregs of my oil are prematurely mown, and that my many ex citements, of late, have caufed the now fluggim, drops (as with my clepfydra) to tell me the hour is late, and that time may foon end with me, as no ability have I to renew my ftrength, as we can at any time renew the force of that convenient noter of the hours. ^hy firft letter, written to me, as thou wilt remember, early after my departure from Vefpafian s camp, found me at Pella. How deeply my mind was then fet upon Hu ?%* at T / i i 11- i i/-i Edefja. returning to Jerulalem, there to dedicate body and loul to our country s fervice, thou wilt bear me witnefs. But thy wife counfels, and thy fad details awakened me as from a dream ; and I perceived, for the firft time, the awful truth of Ifrael s loft con dition, my friends at Pella, and thofe of Edefla, alfo, thinking wholly with thee, urged me promptly and for ever to abandon Jeru- falem. This I did ; but with feelings almoft of agony, and with a heart overflowing with myfterious and terrific forebodings all of which, as thou knoweft, were more than realized thy eye fully, and mine, in part, witneffing. j^-j fter thy departure from our ruined Jerufalem, for Caefarea Philippi, and thence to the other Caefarea on the coaft, and thence to the Imperial City, I found myfelf at Edefia quite too wretched, from caufes thou haft heard, to remain with the afflicted families. Agbarus early followed his daughter and his fon-in-law to the tomb ; and was depofited alongfide his forefathers, with a magnificence fuited to his princely character, but fubdued fomewhat by his well- known Chriftian humility, which was faithfully regarded by me, on whom moft of that fad duty devolved. <TJl.elchior is ftill with me ; Julianus and his Philotera are as profperous as they could wim to be, having two lovely children a fon and daughter, whilft Alcaeus and his Cornelia are equally blefled. REBECCA yet lingers a noble monument ever lovely and intellectual, and unaffectedly pious ; therefore doth me figh to follow her Chriftian friends. Thefe private matters muft now be parted with, though thy generous nature, my Jofephus, doth yield me a willing fympathy. CDy hope was that Jerufalem s awful fate would have ended the miferies of our deluded people ; and I was not pre- pared for the fturdy oppofition fo daringly made by /MI" Machaerus and Mafada ! The Portrefs of Herodian had wifely fubmitted without an effort ; but Machaerus trufted to her 448 CfcrOniCleS Of CattapfjilUS, Century Deftruftion of Machxvus. inacceflible heights to her rocky battlements her deep ravines her craggy fummits, and to her wonderful fortifications all good defences, indeed, when the ftrife is only between contending earthly foes, but moft impotent, when the Lord of Hofts takes fides with the invading party ! And fo Machaerus found them all, her re- fiftance being fcarce proportioned to her apparent ftrength and boafting confidence, which would have been all real, but that the Roman arm was directed by a power far more than Roman, or even Human ! jfl ftiort time after the fall of this city, which yielded to the arms of Lucillius Bafius, fucceflbr in command when Titus de parted, I vifited the ruins of that once powerful fortrefs, and beau tiful city ; and there I learned a number of details refpecling the forces employed and the defences made, which I now fend to thee in a feparate parcel, being unwilling to difturb my brief narrative by their infertion here.* J^ad this ftrong fortrefs been fituate upon a plain, Baflus would have entertained little doubt of early fuccefs : but the deep ravine which feparates it, on the Weft, from the Jordan, near the entrance of that river into the Dead Sea, diftant from Machaerus about fixty ftadia, rendered an attack upon that fide hopelefs. So alfo, on the South and North, are fimilar though lefs extenfive ravines and on the Eaft is a mountain, between which and Machaerus is ftill another ravine, but of lefs difficulty, fo that BafTus foon determined to form the fiege on this eaftern fide. Strong embankments were then raifed againft the fortifications, and the battle raged with great violence, and with fevere flaughter on both fides. jR"t length the citadel capitulated, by reafon of a circumftance fo remarkable, that I muft not omit to ftate its par- The youthful t | cu i ars> It appears, then, that a youth named Eleazar, azar of high ftanding as belonging to a numerous and much beloved family in the befieged city, had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Romans. Eleazar was wonderful for fkilful boldnefs, and had greatly fignalized himfelf in the various fallies that had recently taken place. It fo happened, however, that during a fhort fufpenfion of hoftilities, he was ftanding without the gate ; and fo deeply occupied was he in converfing with fome friends who ftood upon the lofty walls juft above him, that he perceived not the danger that was nigh, for, an Egyptian prowler from the Roman camp, fuddenly rumed upon the unfufpe6Hng youth, and bore him off" bodily with his entire armour on, and fo quickly too, and with fuch gigantic ftrength and ftrides, that no refiftance could be given before both were within the Roman lines ! * Thefe ftatiftical and other details of Cartaphilns are omitted from our Selections, as unfuited to the purpofes we have in hand. Letter xxv. CfjC WmDttir\$ Jettl. 449 The Youthful Warrior Eleazar. upon the wall looked upon the a6t of the wily and pow erful Egyptian with deep aftonifhment, and great alarm for Eleazar, whom they fo much valued. How great then was their difmay and grief, when, in a fhort time, they beheld the youthful warrior rudely dragged out, naked, and furrounded by fcourgers, in order that before the eyes as it were of all the city, he might be whipped in that fad condition ! The fate of the haplefs Eleazar excited a mournful fympathy over all Muchaerus, and the deep lamentations of many were louder than had been fhown when many lives during the fiege had perifhed for they had met the wonted fate of war ! and fo it often is, good Jofephus ; our feelings, in a multitudinous calamity, are often drowned ; and yet they are feen to gufh forth in unimpeded fway, over the more glaring and peculiar fate of an individual ! ^he Roman general was quick in perceiving this anomaly in man s nature, and hoped to profit by it further. He therefore reforted to the ftratagem of more deeply aggravating their grief, by erecting a crofs diftinctly in view of all from the walls, or any of the heights, at the fame time giving out, that it was raifed for the immediate execution of the youth ! The plan had its intended effect the people of Machserus uttered loud cries of horror and vexation ; and the warriors even of the citadel could not reftrain their grief: fo great and pervading had become the feeling in his behalf, that it roufed the whole city as to him ; and afTured them at the fame time of their own wretched condition, mould the city fall. On every fide, they found themfelves encompafled by appalling difficulties : all Ifrael, as they well knew, now was conquered, fave alone themfelves, and thofe of Mafada ! both might, indeed, hold out for a time yea, for a long time, but finally, the fiege muft pre vail : and, thus forced into reflection, they again raifed their eyes upon the crofs, and the ignoble fate of their brave countryman, and promptly offered to capitulate, on terms of faving Eleazar ! The conditions were accepted the citadel furrendered, and the valorous youth, much exhaufted by the fevere fcourging inflicted on him, was borne off with joyous hearts ! ^J^he ftrangers in Machasrus, and the people of the Lower Town, not being within the capitulation, were left to Roman mercy many of the more defperate effected their efcape, but BafTus flew about feventeen hundred, and made captives of the women and children. U.any of the fugitives from Jerufalem, and now thofe from Machaerus, had concealed themfelves within the dark and tangled foreft of Jardes : thither BafTus purfued them, furrounded the foreft, and fucceeded in putting three thoufand to the fword, with a lofs on the Roman fide of only twelve ! It is, however, to be borne 1. G G 45 Cfjronicles of Cartapfulu.*, Century Deftru&ion of Mafada. in mind, that famine and peftilence (added to their other miferies) had nigh wafted them to the bone; and that their leader, one Judas, fon of Jairas, was early flain. This Judas had commanded a band during Jerufalem s fiege, and was one of thofe who, more for tunate than Simon of Gioras, had efcaped through a iubterranean paflage. jjfjt this time, Maximus was the Procurator of Judea. Orders from the Emperor were received by him and by BafTus, to fell the lands of all Judea ! and further, that the didrachma, or half fhekel, formerly paid annually by all Jews, for the Temple s ufe at Jeru- falem, fhould henceforth be appropriated to the rebuilding at Rome, of the Temple of the Capitoline Jupiter; which, as you remember, was confumed nigh the fame time with ours ! Oh, my learned and excellent Flavius, how wonderful and far-feeing are the coun- fels of Abraham s God how narrow the vifion of all his crea tures ! ^fn a fhort time thereafter, Baflus died, and was fucceeded by Flavius Silva, who loft no time in attacking Mafada, DeJ M U ?T f wh ch was fuftained by an immenfely ftrong fortrefs, Mafada. . n \ -r / and by various circumltances that gave promile of much difficulty to our foes ; for it was not only under the command of the great leader Eleazar, a defcendant of the famed Judas, the Gaulonite, but he and all under him, as their fathers during feventy years before had been, were equally as firmly refolved now, that the payment of any tax, or the leaft fubmiffion to the Roman yoke, was ignoble and finful, as being violative of the Mofaic inftitu- tions ! which opinion, as thou knoweft, lay at the very root of nearly all the revolts, and fturdy oppofitions of the Jews againft the Roman fway. [^ASADA, if poflible, was even more ftrongly fortified by nature, as well as by art, than Machaerus from which it is diftant, to the fouth, about ten parafangs,* and lies on the weftern fide of the Dead Sea. ^3erched on a mafs of cragged and lofty rocks, begirt with deep chafms on nearly all fides, through which even the Zebi and the wild Goat dared fcarce to venture, the Fortrefs of Mafada in proud defiance overlooked the Roman forces, then actively engaged in building a wall around the entire citadel, to prevent the egrefs of any of the befieged. The Mafadans alfo beheld their foes on the White Promontory, towards the weft, fimilarly occupied in raifing a mound, not lefs than twenty-five Arabian poles in height, f which was followed by another embankment of ponderous ftones, upon which were placed their battering-rams. On a fmall and beautiful * About forty Englifh miles. f Equal to about 350 feet! Letter xxv. Cfje 2Banticrmg: 3ieto. 45 Herod s Palace at Mafada. plain of fingular fertility, in the rear of the fortrefs, flood Mafada, encompafled by a wall the fourth of a parafang in circuit* de fended by thirty-eight ftrong and lofty towers, each fifty cubits high. From this fmall and once lovely city, runs a narrow and rocky path down to the ftiores of the fea, purfuing its tortuous way, quite four Roman miles, along fearful precipices on either fide, and which, from its narrownefs and perpetual windings, hath well been called the Serpent. ^he palace on the weftern fide of the city, built by the firft Herod, is connected with the fortrefs by fubterranean ways ; and was a ftruture of furprifing magnificence. . s m fS" ~ T ii i L a /IT/- n ficent Palace. In all its glory was it, when firlr 1 faw it a ihort time before my earlieft vifit to Rome, now nigh thirty years ago ; and well do I remember that, when I afterwards compared it with fome of thofe even of Imperial Rome, its fplendour and admirable union of all the ftrength of a fortrefs, with the gorgeous richnefs and comfort of a palace, forced me loudly to applaud the tafte of that Herod, whofe character, in all other refpecl:s, I fo much abhorred. Its four towers, fixty cubits high, one at each corner, the exten- five cloifters, fupported by pillars in fingle {hafts, and of aftonifhing magnitude the vaft rooms and halls paved with marbles of divers colours the beautiful fountains and baths the lengthened and devious and narrow pafTages of accefs the deep and folid refervoirs, ever filled with copious fupplies of living water and, moreover, the abundance of rich furniture that garniihed all the chambers and apartments of this great caftle-manfion, caufe me now to mourn deeply over the fad calamity that befell them all ! J remember, alfo, the vaft ftores of provifions treafured there by the ever-provident Herod the wine and oil and pulfe and dates, which I then beheld, all in perfedl prefervation, though nigh feventy years had parted fince that careful Idumean had placed them there ! and my furprife was much increafed when informed that the Ro mans found the fame in great abundance, and (till well preferved, though thirty more years had elapfed fince my firft vifit to Mafada ! I likewife bear in mind the almoft countlefs weapons of war the quantities of brafs, of iron, of tin, and of other valuable metals, and, in truth, of everything that could render the fortrefs beyond the reach of human deftruclion : and yet, O Jofephus, all, all have utterly perifhed, and fallen a prey to what they call Roman prowefs and arms, but which, doubtlefs, was the refiftlefs might of the only God of Armies ! H^ow the war raged between Flavius Silva and Eleazar, I will not here recount : but the matchlefs and wonderful addrefs of this * About one mile. 452 C&ronicles of CartapJrilus, Century \. Eleazar s Speech to the Mafadans. Eleazar to the chief men of Mafada, whom he affembled in the palace, after all hope of effectual refiftance was gone, urging them all to felf-immola tion, I now will endeavour to give thee, and in the molt authentic form I am able, fmce it is moft worthy of pre- fervation worthy of fo great a man worthy of a crifis fuch as no other captain ever experienced, and as it is more perfectly adapted to its end, than any other that ever hath met my eye ! jH rnidft the terrors that overhung Mafada, Eleazar ftill abhorred the thought of fubmiflion, of flight, or of capitulation upon any terms ! In the prefence, then, of his chief men, he craved their filent and patient hearing; and thus he fpoke. " CTfry valiant and generous friends ! fmce we refolved, long ago, ty . , never to be the flaves of Rome, nor fubmiflive to any triotic SteecA P ower > f ave tnat f God, who alone is the true and juft Lord ; the time hath now come that compels us to put in practice this our firm refblve ! Let us not at this time, bring upon ourfelves reproach for felf-contradiction ; fmce, when we made the avowal of abhorrence to flavery, we were then in little danger, but now have to fear, not flavery only, but the moft intolerable of punifhments I mean, my friends, if we are taken alive ! Ye all remember, We were the very firft to raife the ftandard of revolt, and We are now the laft that fight againft them ; and I cannot but efteem it God s fpecial favour, that ftill it is in our power to die bravely, and as freemen, which hath not been the cafe with others. It is now quite manifeft we mall be taken, and that we cannot hold out more than a day longer ; but we have the choice now, to die in a glorious manner, and with our deareft friends. Of this, even our enemies cannot deprive us, though ever fo anxious to take us alive. Better, indeed, would it have been had we earlier con jectured refpecting God s purpofe, when we were fo defirous to defend our liberties, and when we experienced fuch fore treatment from one another, and yet worfe from our foes ; better, I fay, would it then have been had we been fenfible of the fact that the fame God, who of old had taken our nation into his favour, had then condemned us to a fure definition ; for, had he either continued favourable, or been in a lefs degree difpleafed with us, he had not overlooked the deftruction of fo many Jews, or delivered his Holy City to be demolifhed by our enemies. We, indeed, have vainly hoped to preferve ourfelves yea, ourfelves alone, and in a ftate of freedom, as if we fpecially had not finned, nor been partners with thofe who had ! Wherefore, confider ye, how God hath aflured us that our hopes are idle, by bringing upon us fuch complicated .miferies, fo much without our expectations ! for, the nature of our fortrefs, in itfelf unconquerable, hath not proved a means of de liverance ; and even whilft we have abundance of food, of arms, Letter xxv. Cf)0 W&nbWm$ 3[efo). 453 Eleazar s Speech to the Mafadans. and of all other neceflaries, we are openly deprived by God bimfelf of all hope of efcape ; for, ye all did fee that the fire directed towards the enemies, turned back upon our walls, and not of its own accord, but through God s anger for our manifold fins againft Him and our countrymen, and which punifhment, let us now receive, not from the Romans, but from God himfelf, as executed by our own hands for thefe will be more moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they are abufed, and our children before they have tafted of flavery ; and after we have flain them, let us beftow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preferve ourfelves in free dom, as an excellent funeral monument for us all ! But firft, let us deftroy all our treafures, and the fortrefs by fire ; for I am well affiired, this would be a great grief to the Romans, that they fhould fall upon our dead bodies, and likewife fail of our wealth ! And, let us fpare nothing but our provifions as a teftimonial when we are dead, that we were not fubdued by want of neceflaries ; but that, according to our firft refolution, we have preferred death to flavery." ^r^his fpeech of Eleazar produced a wonderful effect many were eager to feize upon death as a great good ; but the remem brance of their wives, and daughters, and infants, rufhing upon their minds, brought with it a flood of tears, and with them great de- O O jecliion ; and, at length, dijjent to the propofal. Eleazar, however, was not difmayed ; and, knowing how great is the power of the Soul s immortality to fubdue the terrors of death, he fixed his eye upon the weeping affembly, and thus renewed his fpeech. u ^[[fuly was I much deceived, in thinking thus to afllft brave men ftruggling hard for liberty, and refolved to live with honour, or elfe to die. But, I find ye are people no better than others, either in virtue, or in courage ; and that ye fear death, though delivered thereby from the greatefr. miferies, whilft ye fhould neither have de layed this matter, nor awaited any one to give ye this advice. The laws of our country, and of God himfelf, have ever taught us ; and our reafon, confirmed by the opinion of our forefathers, and by their practice, has fuftained the doctrine, that life, not death, is a calamity to man for, this laft affords liberty to our fouls, and fends them, by a removal from earth, to their own place of purity, where they (hall be infenfible to all forts of mifery : for while fouls are tied down to a mortal body, they partake of its miferies and really, to fpeak the truth, they are themfelves dead, for the union of what is divine, to what is mortal, is difagreeable. It is true, the power of the foul is great, even when imprifoned in a mortal body ; for, by moving after an invifible fafhion, it caufeth the body to be a fenfible inftrument, and makes it advance further in its actions, than mere mortal nature could otherwife do. However, when it is freed from that weight, which draws it down to the earth, and is there con- 454 Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, century \. Eleazar s Speech to the Mafadans. necled with it, it obtains its own proper place, and doth then be come a partaker of that blefled power, and of thofe abilities which are then every way incapable of being hindered in their operations. To the eyes of men, indeed, it remains invifible, as does God him- felf ; for certainly, the foul is never feen whilft within the body being there after an invifible manner; and, even when freed from it, it ftill continues to be unfeen. It is the foul which hath one nature, and that an incorruptible one ; but yet is it the caufe of the change that is made in the body fmce whatever the foul toucheth, that will live and flourifh ; and, from whatever it departeth, that muft wither away and die ! fo great is the degree of immortality that is within it ! Suffer me to produce, as a proof of what I now utter, the irate of fleep wherein fouls, when the body doth not diftrat them, have the fweeteft reft, and hold fweet converfe with God, by their alliance to him ! Souls, then, go everywhere, and foretel many futurities, long before they become realities. And, why are we afraid of death, while we are fo much pleafed with the re- pofe we have in fleep ? And how abfurd a thing is it to purfue liberty, while we are briefly alive, and yet to withhold it from our- felves, where and when it will be eternal ! We, therefore, who have been brought up under a difcipline fo much our own, fhould become an example to others of our readinefs to die. Yet, if we do ftand in need ofjlrangers to fuftain us in this matter, let us look upon thofe of India, who profefs the exercife of philofophy; for thefe good men undergo the period of life but unwillingly, and look upon it as an unavoidable fervitude ; and, therefore, haften to let their fouls loofe from their clayey tenements ! Nay, when no misfortune prefTes upon them, nor drives them upon it, thefe Indians have fuch a defire of immortal life, that they tell other men beforehand that they are about to depart ; and there is none to hinder them, but all think them moft happy, and give them letters to be carried to their familiar friends who have preceded them, fo firmly, and certainly do they believe that fouls converfe with one another in that other world ! So alfo, when thefe men have received all fuch commands, they deliver up their bodies to the fire ; and, that their fouls may be feparated from the body in the greateft purity, they yield them up in the midft of fongs of commendation, made unto them by thofe around them : for their deareft friends conduct them to their death, more readily than do many thofe who are departing on a long journey. They weep, indeed, on their own account, but regard the others as moft happy, being fo foon to be made partakers of the order of immortal beings. " jQ]re not we, therefore, afhamed to have lower notions of Death and the Soul, than the Indians ? and thus, by our own cowardice, to leave fo bale a reproach upon the laws of our country, Letter xxv. c&e (KJantiering 3jeto. 455 Eleazar s Speech to the Mafadans. which are fo much defired and imitated by all mankind ? But, fuppofe we had been brought up under another belief, and had been taught that life is the greateft good of which men are capable, and that death is a real calamity the circumstances which now fur- round us, ought to be a fufficient inducement to make us bear the calamity of death courageoufly, fince the will of God, and necefiity, would now bring us to die. God hath aforetime, as it doth now appear, iflued his decree againft all the Jewiih nation, that we are to be deprived of this life, knowing, as he did, that we fhould not make a due ufe of it. Ye do err, if ye afcribe our prefent condition to ourfelves, or if ye fuppofe the Romans are the occafion of this war being fo deftructive to us all. All this hath come to pafs, not from their power ; but a ftronger power hath intervened, and caufed us to afford them the occafion of feeming to be our conquerors. What Roman weapons, I pray ye, were thoie by which the Caefarean Jews were flain ? On the contrary, when they were in no way difpofed to rebel, and were keeping their feventh day feftival, and did not fo much as life up their hands againft the other people of Caefarea, yet did thefe Caefareans rife in might againft the Jews, and cut their throats, and murdered their wives and children, and this, too, without the leaft regard to the Romans, or their authority, by whom we were never before looked on as enemies. But fome among ye may fay that truly the people of Caefarea had ever fome quarrel againft thofe that lived among them, and that this was but an outbreak of that rancorous fpirit. What then will ye fay to thofe of Scythopolis, who ventured to wage war on the Jews, on account of the Greeks ? Nor did they do fo through revenge upon the Romans, when they acted in concert with our countrymen. Wherefore, ye may plainly fee how little our good-will and fidelity to them profited us our people were flaughtered our families flain in the moft inhuman manner. But time permits not a detail of the deftru6tions brought upon us ; and ye cannot but know, that there was not one Syrian city which did not flay their Jewifh inhabitants, and were not more bitter enemies to us than were even the Romans. Nay, even the people of Damafcus, when they were unable to allege any tolerable pretence againft us, moft barbaroufly flew not lefs than ten thoufand of our people, with their wives and children. And, as to the multitude of thofe flain in Egypt, and with torments, too, no lefs than fixty thoufand fell : they, indeed, were in a foreign land, and without protection, were flaughtered as I have mentioned. As for thofe of us, who have waged war in our own country againft the Romans, had we not fufficient reafon for fure hopes of victory ? We had arms, and walls, and fortreffes, fo ftrongly prepared, as not to be eafily taken and courage, alfo, not to be moved by any dangers in the caufe of freedom. But then, thefe advantages fuf- 456 Chronicles of Cartap&ilus, century \. Eleazar s Speech to the Mafadans. ficed but for a time, and only raifed falfe hopes, which really Teemed the fource of our greateft miferies for all we had hath been taken from us, and all hath fallen to our enemies, as if thefe advantages were only to render their victories the more glorious, and were not for the prefervation of thofe by whom all thefe ample preparations had been made. " jjEfnd as for thofe already dead in our wars, it is reafonable we fhould efteem them bleffed for they died in defending, and not in betraying their liberty : but, as to the multitude who are captives, who would not pity their condition ? and who would not make hafte to die, before he would fufrer the fame miferies with them ? Some of them have been put upon the rack, and tortured with fire, and whipped fo that they have died. Others have been half de voured by wild beafts, and yet have been referved alive, to be de voured in the whole ; and this, too, for the amufement of our foes ! Some, again, that are yet alive, are the moft wretched of mortals being defirous of death, and yet cannot reach it. And where now is that goodly city, once the metropolis of the Jewifh nation ? a city fortified by fo many walls which had fo many fortrefles, and large towers to defend it a city that could fcarce contain the arms of defence, and the multitude of its defenders ! Where is now the city that was believed to have God himfelf dwelling therein ? it lies low on the earth demolifhed to its very foundations, and having no other monument than the camp of its deftroyers, guarding there its ruins, and keeping out thofe, if any, who would raife it from its degradation ! There, alfo, may frill be feen fome unfor tunate and devout old men, and a few women ; who, repofing upon the afhes of our Temple, are permitted to remain alive, and there in folitarinefs to dwell, that they may be to our nation a bitter fhame and reproach. Now, who among ye that revolves in his mind the things I have uttered, can yet bear the fight of the fun, though he may live free of all danger ? Who is there fo much the enemy of his country, or fo unmanly, and fo adhefive to life, as not to repent that he yet breathes ? For my part, I cannot but wim we had all died, before we had feen that Holy City levelled by our foes, or the foundations of our Holy Temple fo profanely rooted up ! But, fmce it was a generous hope that hath deluded us, caufing us to think we were able to avenge ourfelves but which hope hath now become a vanity, and hath left us alone in our diftrefs, let us haften bravely to die : let us pity ourfelves, our children, and our wives, whilft yet we have the power to pity them for, we were born to die^ as were thofe whom we have begotten^ nor can the happieft of our race avoid it. But miferies, flavery, the lofs of wives after an ignominious manner, the deftru6r.ion of our children, thefe are not fuch evils as are natural, and necefTary among men. And yet, thofe Letter xxv. c&c OTautiering; Jeto. 457 Effeft of Eleazar s Speech. who prefer fuch miferies to death, when the choice is theirs, muft fufter through their cowardice even both. Our revolt againft the Romans was with high preteniions to courage ; and when, at the very laft, they invited us to preferve ourfelves, we would not do fo. Who, therefore, doth not plainly fee how great their rage againft us will be, if they fucceed in taking us alive ? miferable then will be our youths^ whofe vigour will enable them to endure long-con tinued torments ! miferable, alfo, will be the condition of our old men^ who will not be able to endure fuch calamities as our children can bear ! Here will be heard the voice of the fon imploring help of his father and there will be feen the fame father with his hands firmly bound ! But, my friends, our hands are yet unbound and we have each a fword ; let them all be willing minifters to aflift us now in our glorious defign ; let us die, rather than be flaves to our enemies and let us depart from this world freemen, together with our wives and our young ones. This is but to redeem our obliga tion to the laws and this, even our wives and children now crave at our hands nay, God himfelf hath brought this neceflity upon us ! our foes looking anxioufly on, left we fhould die before we are made their captives ! Haften, then, and inftead of affording them fo much pleafure, as they hope to reap from our being their captives, let us leave them an example that mail at once caule them aftonim- ment at our death, and admiration at our valour."* ^Q>o fooner was the venerable Eleazar feated, than, quick as lightning reaches the earth, or the found of its thunder afiails the ear, the affembled auditors were feen vying with each other, in eager preparation for the deadly work ! Nor did their ardour (as if moved * The Editor has not hefitated for a moment, as to the propriety of retaining in his Selection, this famous fpeech of the laft of the Jewifli Warriors, though it has extended through fome pages. It feems to him one of" the moft remark able in thought, eloquence, and occafion, of any fpeech recorded in all hiftory; and is probably the moft intenfely interefting. Nowhere elie do we find re corded fo clear an expreflion of the Jewifli crude opinion, at that time, as to the foul s immortality the Oriental philofophy of thofe days, on the fame point the true ends of life the juft contempt of death the deep convi&ion, which came at laft, that divine protection had then abandoned them ! Nowhere do we find fuch an eloquent expreffion of exalted human courage fuch a mafterly appeal to the conflicting fprings of human action fuch a thrilling invocation to terminate at once every human tie, to difiblve every relation that binds us to earth, and fuch a refolute determination to render to God, and not to the Roman, the fole honour of perfecting the terrific punifhment, decreed by the Moft High, againft the deftroyers of the long-promifed Mefliah ! How this fpeech, as recorded by Cartaphilus, differs in fome particulars, rather of language than of thought, from that given by Jofephus, the reader may eafily fee ; and we doubt not, he will greatly prefer that given by the living Cartaphilus, to the one fo ineloquently rendered by Whifton, in his translation of the Works of Jofephus. Vide Jew. War, Book viu. 6, 7. 45 8 Chronicles of Cartapfulus, century i. Effeft of Eleazar s Speech. by fome fudden demoniacal fury) fail them in the leaft, when the work itfelf was begun ! tenderly they embraced their wives be dewed the cheeks of their infants with hafty and burning tears kifled their blooming and lovely daughters bade farewell to their noble fons, and loving friends and, with a nerved arm, and, as it were, a paffionlefs heart, ftabbed them to the very centre of all life ! Not one fhrank from the murderous office ! ^he wives, and daughters, and youths, and infants being now all {lain, the furvivors tarried not a moment to deal, in like manner, with themfelves ! they feemed to think they would wrong the dead, mould they in the leaft delay to follow them ; and, heaping the bodies together, in numerous piles, to which they added their coftlieft treafures, they fet fires around the hideous mafles, and quickly all were confumed ! ^]en, only, had been felected by lot, to conduct this horrid and loathing deed of felf-immolation ; and now thofe ten were to be difpofed of, the miferable remnant of the once happy Mafada ! and they caft lots as to who mould be the furvivor but for a moment, and he, then, to flay himfelf ! Nine fell by each other s hands and the remaining one (nothing doubting but that the work had all been done) inftantly feized a lighted torch, and haftened to Herod s palace, which he fired in numerous places, and then, with un flinching arm, thruft his fword deep into his own heart ! ()n the following morning early, the Romans entered the city, and oh, how deep was their aftonifhment, when they found all things there as filent as the grave ! Not a found was heard, fave from the dripping waters of the fountains and the refervoirs and the occafional falling of fome parts of the gorgeous palace, not yet quite confumed ! jFTt length, a loud fhout was heard in the diftance, uttered by fome Romans, at the fight of two women, and five children, who fuddenly had appeared from an aqueduct, where they had concealed themfelves they, the only living teftimony to the dread tranfac- tions I have detailed ! Thefe were women of high note, and of great prudence and learning, who, difapproving of all that had been propofed, fucceeded in effecting their efcape. From them were collected by me, with much care, the painful relations already given. jjC[nd now, O Flavius ! my foul is full of wonder, and recoils at the ftrange coincidences I am about to mention and the firft coin cidence is found in the terrific deftruclion of Mafada, which ended with the felf-immolation of nine hundred and fixty of her remaining people the laft, fo to fpeak of our Nation, though not of our people! (for, Ilrael is no more this war of calamity this war of defolation, and of unexampled punifhment, is now quite over) Letter xxv. c&e SBantJering 3(eto, 459 A remarkable Coincidence The Evangelifts. Mafada, I fay, perifhed at the ninth hour of Nifan s fourteenth day the very day, yea, the very hour, in which the dreadful tragedy on Calvary occurred, then juft thirty-and-feven years before ! Mark it well, O Flavius, for it is pregnant with much meaning, and can be no cafual thing. Ifrael though ftill a numerous multitude, is no longer a Nation on that day and hour, fcarce a generation ago, the decree of ages began its fearful execution, and the remnant of God s once favoured people is now an outcaft over Earth s wide domain ! A vengeance hath gone forth a2;ainft a whole people, more fearful than that againft Cain a vengeance, not delayed for feven generations, as in his cafe, but vifited upon the fame genera tion ! Our laft hope was in Mafada it was our only fortrefs Jacob s feeble remains, as a united people, were wholly within her walls ; and all perifhed there on that fatal day a day, by Carta- philus, never to be forgotten a day, engraved for ever, on his me mory a day, eternally prefent to his mind, and so muft remain, though he mould mix his fighs and tears with ages upon ages ! ^Jut, good Flavius, there is another coincidence I muft not pals by, one equally folemn : for, never can we forget that our Holy Temple, defecrated as it was by me, and yet more by the Gifchalite, and by him of Gioras, our Temple, I fay, was deftroyed on the very fame day of the month of Elul, in which our firft Temple, fo many centuries before, was deftroyed, by the like decree of Abra ham s God ! Strange, that Solomon s great Temple mould perifh, and our Nation be led captive into a diftant land for feventy years ; and that, after many ages, on the fame day of the fame month, our fecond Temple fhould likewife perifh, and our Nation be fcattered abroad, even unto the twelve winds ! and all this, too, in fo fhort a time after that wonderful Nazarene had openly declared that it foon fhould infallibly come to pafs ! ^f know not, O my Jofephus, whether thou haft ever feen them, but I have lately read fome wonderful Narratives, written with great fimpliciry, and evident faith, by three of the Nazarene s difciples, whofe names are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In thefe narrations, each doth detail many particulars concerning the birth, fayings, deeds, death, and refurreclion, of that very wonderful man ; and, in them I find the following prophetic words of this Jefus. After declaring that the maflive and goodly ftones of the Temple would all be caft down, fo that one fhould not remain on another that Jerufalem, and even our Nation fhould perifh, he then fays, " Verily I fay unto you, THIS GENERATION Jhall not pafs away till all be fulfilled!" Here, then, are his words, and we all now know their perfect and terrific accomplifhment ! ^f, my Jofephus, faw not his miracles nor the refurredlion of that myfterious man ; and, becaufe no eye-witnefs of them, I could 460 Cf)rOniClC0 Of CartapfrilUS. Century r. Cartaphilus feeks an unknown Solitude. not yield to the arguments of thofe who were. Artemas Prifcilla Aquila, and others pleaded in vain with me. But, no longer can I now doubt as to the wonders recorded of him nor as to his re- furre&ion ; for, I have been compelled to witnefs a miracle that hath in part, endured continually on, ever fmce the hour he was flain on Calvary, and which, in the fad fate of Mafada, is not com pleted ! for, where now is Ifrael ? fhaken as duft in the air, among the Gentiles ! But all this belief in me, Artemas calls an unfaving and mere biftorical faith, that avails nothing, and muft prove my ruin ! jfjnd now, my Flavius, I muft end this long epiftle. Should life and health remain, look for me Qiortly at Rome, though now in my fixty-and-ninth year. Edefla and all Mefopotamia, yea, even all Palelline, have become painful, nay odious to me and it may be the fame even in Rome, fhould I ever reach it ; for, much do I fear the caufe is nowhere, fave in my own diftra&ed and ruined mind. Should this become my convidlion, expe6t me not ; but do thou then inquire after me in fome gloomy cave or in fome fuch place as Hinnom, as better fuited to my hideous thoughts! poffibly, among the ruins of Jotapata, or of Mafada, thou mayeft then find the wretched Cartaphilus. FAREWELL. CARTAPHILUS. LETTER XXVI. TO THADDEUS. ANTIOCH, of Syria. Nifan, i8th day; Creation, 3837, [A.D. 77. April 7th.] IGH three years have pafled, my beloved brother of adoption, fmce our excellent Cartaphilus fuddenly dif- appeared from among us, in a ftate of unutterable mental agony, and whither he fled has efcaped our long-continued and ever-anxious fearch. generoufly ample were the provifions he then made for us both ; as alfo for Julianus and Plautius, and not Carfabhilus f r g ett n g tne gd Melchior ! Thefe endowments, fo thoughtfully and nobly beftowed on the five, (in whofe veins flow not a drop of his blood,) muft for ever com mand our gratitude ; and thefe, together with the large fum fo feelingly and delicately appropriated by him, (in melancholy an ticipation for a fplendid tomb at Ramoth-Gilead to the memory of Rebecca, when the fides fhall receive that of her which pe- rifheth not,) were found to exhauft quite two-thirds of his great pofiemons : but, as he left Edeifa with the refidue, we ftill nouriih the hope that he yet lives, poflibly in no very diftant land, but one Letter xxvi. Cfje 2xI3antiermg; 3|eto. 46 The Search after Cartaphilus. more genial to his gloom. Still, mould his noble mind be fpared to him, his few remaining years can never fail to be marked by an en larged beneficence, the more lovely now, as his earlieft friends inform us, is fo different the habit of his youth was wholly diffe rent: for they fay he then loved Mammon overmuch ! buttheylike- wife fay he was then very poor, and forely dealt with by his kindred. No doubt, dear Thaddeus, thou doft well remember how fpecial were his inftructions in regard to the fpot of Rebecca s future inter ment : for Ramoth-Gilead was mod facred to him, no lefs from her vows of undying affection towards him being there firft revealed, than from her fixed refolve, alfo there unfolded to him, never to wed with him, or other, for reafons to us wholly unknown and painfully myfterious. And yet, my Thaddeus, we both know that her refolution in this regard diminifhed not his tendernefs towards her ! fuch ever being the unfelfifh and immaculate nature of genuine love. Jf.ut the matchlefs Rebecca ftill continues to blefs us with her prefence ; to cheer us with her counfels, and to aftonifh and de light all who witnefs the lovelinefs of her example. And oh, how deeply doth fhe yet mourn her lofs, and ours, often giving no let to the gufhing torrent of her tears ! Can time, even with its flow- eft abrafions, ever wear from our memory the now bright remem brance of Rebecca s grief, when firft we read to her the parting words of Cartaphilus the hour after his aftounding departure. Oh, never ! She feemed to drink in their founds with ravifhed, though agonized ears, and wholly to yield up her heart, diffblved in the melting influences of her grief and then, anon, with the rapture as of a youthful maiden, fhe dwelt with oft-repeated kiffes upon the Claudian papyrus that contained his forrowful words ! And, dear Thaddeus, remember with what timid bafhfulnefs fhe then hur riedly enfhrined herfelf in the ample folds of her veil, feeking to hide from us her fuffufed cheeks, and flooded eyes, exclaiming, " heed me not look at me not, for weep I muft !" Ah, never can we forget a devotion fuch as hers a holy confecration, that none but woman knows how for ever to cherifti ! How tenderly did fhe urge upon us, and Melchior, and Julianus, to fpeed inftantly in fearch of Cartaphilus and to difpatch meffengers in hafte in all di rections, after the loft one ! This hath been faithfully done by us all and yet no intelligence have we had, nor the leaft clue where with to guide us, fave at this very hour, in a letter received from Flavius Jofephus ; which reveals the fact that, in the month of Tebet, more than three years ago, Cartaphilus had clofed a long epistle to Flavius, with an intimation that, if his gloom {hould mi tigate, he would vifit him at Rome, though then To far advanced in age but, if otherwife, he {hould then for ever leave the haunts of 462 (Eftfonicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \. The Search after Cartaphilus Antioch on the Orontes. men ; and poffibly, that he might then be found for burial among fome forfaken ruins, fuch as thofe of Jotapata, or of Mafada ! Do thou, then, O my Thaddeus, haften to the former place ; and I will to the latter, for he may yet be living, and in great mifery, though he departed with fome comforts, and alfo with ample treafures. now, my good Thaddeus, as I have been in Antioch fe- veral weeks, and thou haft never feen this great city, Antioch upon i_ i i u T -n i the Orontes. nor t ie * ove v country that environs it, I will endea vour to gratify thy anticipated curiofity, by devoting the reft of my letter to fome account of what I have feen and heard during my brief fojourn here ; the imperfections of which, however, thou muft in fome part lay to the charge of my truly miferable pa pyrus ; which, I allure thee, is neither the Liviana nor the Fan- nlana but, doubtlefs, fomething far more like the vile Emporetica ! but, fuch as it is, I muft fill it with a few matters in regard to this moft famous of all thcjtxteen cities, having that illuftrious name !* * The Romans were accuftomed, at this time, to ufe a paper manufactured from the plant, now botanically known as the Cyperus Papyrus a fpecies of rum that grows on the borders of the Nile, and alib on fome of the low grounds of Syria, near the Euphrates. The fmall thin layers of this rufli, that lie be tween the outer bark and its pith, were carefully feparated ; thefe were then fpread out upon tables, and were moiftened, preffed, and fun-dried. Upon this were laid feveral other layers; to which was always added fome gelatinous mix ture, and all being well preffed and dried, formed the ufual papyrus meet for writing, and other ufes, which varied in quality and iize, according to the ex cellence of the materials fele&ed, and the care with which they were combined. There appear to have been nine varieties ot this fpecies of paper. i The firft, in chronological order, was the Hieratica, in ufe from the earlieft period of the City, provided the ftory recorded by Pliny be true, which is, that certain books were found by one Tarentius, in his vineyard upon the Janiculus, depofited in a marble cheft; and that in this cheft were likevvile the bones of Numa Pomplliusl If this be fo, then Varro muft be in error in afcribing the invention of the papyrus paper to the age of Alexander the Great, which was four centuries later than that of Numa, for the books difcovered by Tarentius are admitted to have been of that material. This firft fpecies of papyrus continued in ufe up to the age of Auguftus ; but feems to have been applied only to the making of facred books. In the time of that firft Roman Emperor, however, fome one manufaftured this hieratica in much greater perfe6Hon ; and having dedicated it to the monarch, it then took the name of Auguftana, and came into veiy general ufe. It was eleven inches broad, and of any length required. The third fort was known under the name of Liviana, from that emperor s wife, Livia ; and was effentially the fame article, but enlarged to thirteen inches in breadth; and was alfo fomewhat fuperior in quality. A fourth fort was the Ampkitheatrica, fo called from the locality where made, near the Flavian amphitheatre, now known as the Colifeum. It was much inferior to the two preceding, and pro bably was little elfe than a reftoration of the hieratica. It was, however, only eight inches wide ; but, a certain Fannius having fomewhat improved it, and given to it two inches more in breadth, it then took the name of Fanniana , and forms the fifth fort. The fixth was the Saitica, fo denominated from Sais, Letter xxvi. cjjc ^Bannering 3(eto, 463 Antioch Hiftory of Roman Paper, &c. j[ntioch is beautifully fituate on both fides of the Orontes, dif- tant from the Great Sea about twenty miles ; and owes its name to the filial regard of Seleucus Nicator towards his father Antiochus. But this " Queen of the Eaft" is, in truth, four cities combined in one and hence is alfo juftly called by many, Tetrapolis^ for each hath its diftincT: wall ; and around the four walls (each enclofing a city) is a great wall that encompaffes the others at a convenient in terval, and which is flanked with numerous towers of great ftrength. The firft city, only, was built by Nicator the fecond by the foun ders of the Syro-Macedonian empire the third by Callinicus and the fourth by Antiochus Epiphanes. In confequence of the jus ci- vitatis conferred by Nicator upon all who dwelt there, the Jews early flocked to Antioch ; fo that the Greeks and Macedonians and Armenians, as alfo those from beyond the Euphrates, are here feen dwelling with the Syrians and the Jews ! About 220 years ago, as their chronicles inform us, a certain Demetrius, a moft cruel and in Egypt, the city where it was firft made. It was coarfer than any of the others, and was only feven inches broad. Another, yet more vile, and of the fame width, was known as the Teneotica, and was made of the rougher parts of the papyrus reed, near the rind : this feventh variety was fold more by the weight than quality, and comparatively at a very low price. The eighth in order was the Emporetica, only fix inches broad, a ipecies of wrapping paper, and often ufed in making the covers of books ; but feldom, if ever, for writing upon. The beft qualities, thus far, of their paper were the Liviana Augujlana and the Fanniana. But, in the time of Claudius, fome polite and nattering paper- maker fucceeded in manufacturing the papyrus in a manner greatly fuperior to any previoufly known ; as it retained all the whitenefs and fmoothnefs of the Liviana, with far greater firmnefs and fubftance, a matter greatly needed, efpe- cially for public documents, and indeed for all who defired to be particular with their papers. This laft kind, therefore, which took the name ofClaudiana, became the fafhionable paper; and failed not to be ufed in all tender addrefTes, or where the perfon written to was particularly regarded and hence is it that Alcaeus takes care to mention that the farewell letter of Cartaphilus was of the Claudian papyrus. But the Auguftana was (till much ufed for Imperial letters, and the Liviana kept in demand among the plainer people, or for the ordinary letters, &c. of the day. It Cartaphilus will pardon a feeming digreflion from his chronicles, the Editor (in connection with thefe remarks upon the Roman paper of thofe Imperial days) will now detail the other various means adopted for the recording and preferva- tion of writings. Before the invention of the papyrus meet, and long after its adoption, there were many other fubltances ufed for this purpofe, and for other objefts than the literal tranfmifiion of thought; and among the earlieft, for all thofe purpofes, was the palm leaf: then came into ufe the thin and inner rind of various trees, fuch as the elm, iycamore, am, and the alder. This rind, which lies between the cortex or bark, and the lignum or wood, that thin rind having previoufly the name of liber, the paper made from it was alfo called by that name ; and hence the written book itielf, in the Latin language, became univerfally known by the word Liber. This fpecies of paper (the thin rind of trees) being in long rolls, the book formed from them was alfo called Volumen, or a volume. The 464 Chronicles of CartapMu.s, century Antioch on the Orontes. licentious Syrian king, compelled the Antiochians to a revolt. The king fought aid from your Jonathan, one of the Maccabees and, with no great force, attempted to gain the city for himfelf, and to chaftife the revolters : but he only inflamed them the more ; fo that no lefs than 120,000 flew to arms, and inverted the royal palace, in order to deftroy the king. The Jews, however, foon came to his refcue, carried defr.ru6t.ion everywhere, deftroyed with fire and fword nearly 100,000 of its people, and laid in allies a large part of this fplendid city. "(jJU^hen Syria was conquered by the Romans, Antioch, ofcourfe, became the abode of their governors and fhortly after, as we all know, the Gofpel, which never for a moment had fhrunk from the light, or hid itfelf in fmall places, came boldly forth ; and, in this moft populous city, its propagators invited the learned, and the re fined of all nations to examine its claims. In Antioch was it that this Gofpel forced conviction upon the Heathen mind there an in fant Church was foon eftablifhed there Barnabas and Saul, directed by the Holy Spirit, commenced their travels through Heathen lands, to publifh the glad tidings to a benighted world and there was it that the difciples of the Great Meflias firft took the name of CHRIS TIANS, inftead of their former names of Galileans and Nazarenes, other fubftances chiefly ufed for writing on, were thin fleets of lead ivaxed clot/is and the thin (kins of animals, called Pergamenum, (becaufe firft fo ufed at Pergamus, in Afia,) which now is called parchment, and the finer fort vellum. This, which is of very ancient ufe, eventually triumphed over all others, until the invention of rag-paper, by the Arabians, in the eighth century. In the eleventh century, this invention of rag-paper pafled with the Saracens into Spain; and, in the thirteenth century, it came into much ufe in Italy, France, and Ger many; from which, (breading itfelf over the world, it became the only article for printed books, and nearly fo for an infinite variety of other ufes. In very ancient days, befides the palm the papyrus-leaf parchment, vel lum, &c., nothing was then more ufual than writing upon thin --wooden tablets, as is found in the few Runic books that have reached us, as alfo in fome of the earlieft of the Chinefe books. The Greeks did the fame, and alfo upon leaden tablets ; and the Romans, having coated their wooden plates with a flight cover ing of wax, wrote upon them with an inftrument called aftylus and hence the exprefllon " Sape Stylum Vertus" and hence alfo the origin of our word Style, from the fact that the Stylus was eafily turned for the era/ion and correction of errors in compofition. Inftead of this inftrument, other nations ufed fmall reeds, particularly that of the calamus; and with this they ufed fome liquid, and wrote with more rapidity than with the ftylus upon wax and hence the expreflion " currente calf/mo." The thin plates of wood being laid upon each other, the whole took the name of codex, from its refemblance to the layers of the trunk of a tree, in Latin called code x ; and from this we derive our word code. In like manner, the "leaves" of a book take that name, from the fa6t that the leaves of various trees were often ufed to write on; and our word "book" is itfelf but an expanfion of the Saxon word hoc, which was their name for the Beech free, the thin bark of that tree being in great ufe by the Saxons for that purpofe. Letter xxvi. Cjjc (KHanDeung; 3feto. 465 Antioch on the Orontes Grove of Daphne. ufed by many then, and even now, more, however, as names of reproach than of honour. "he walls of Antioch are of great folidity, and have much furpriied me by their 400 fquare towers, each furnimed with a ciftern ! Now that Jerufalem lives no more, Antioch is probably thejlrongejl of all cities, as it is certainly, next to Rome, the molt populous^ enlightened, and magnificent of any in the whole Empire, it being now fully two parafangs and a half in circumference, and the refort of the wife and learned of all lands ! Here lived Theo- philus, to whom the Evangelift Luke, not long fince, addrefled his writings refpe6ting the origin of our holy faith and fome report that Luke was born here, but with what truth I have not yet heard. ^-\ ntioch claims, and perhaps juftly, a much higher antiquity than the 370 years that have now elapfed fince Nicator s days ; for, it is faid that, nigh three hundred years before that time, it was called Riblath, in the land of Hametb ; and even further, that it is the fame place in which Nebuchadnezzar tarried, before he laid fiege to Jerufalem ! Be all this as it may, Antiochla Eptdaphnes, as it is likewife called, is quite old enough to have within its walls all the varieties conferred by great magnificence, a large population, exten- five learning, vaft wealth, much wickednefs, fome Heathen, and many Chriftian virtues, and all thefe are found in fufficient extent to make a refidence therein extremely awakening, and to caufe me to rejoice and to mourn alternately ! ^he furrounding country is beautifully verdant, and garnifhed with many flowers of various hues, and with many goodly trees as the cyprefs, mulberry, and olive; as ^ luxur ous ir u L /i i r r> T c -i Gr&ve of alfo with the molt luxuriant figs. But I muft not fail Daphne. to tell thee of an excurfion I lately made to that moft famous place in its vicinity, called DAPHNE. Often had I heard and read of this Daphne but my mind had never realized the exiftence of any place on earth, fo entirely dedicated to the volup tuous pleafures, as this truly is. Let not the gentle Cornelia, how ever, or even thyfelf, good Thaddeus, fear for me the fedu&ive in fluences of this earthly Paradife for, if man belong to Earth alone, then furely this place might fo be called but, as he truly doth not, as he afpires to far higher joys to thofe that pall not, and which being wholly without fin, are therefore wholly different from thofe of the infamous Daphne, I have looked upon all I there examined, only as means of learning how the more effectually to avoid, and heartily to loathe them all. I acknowledge, dear Thaddeus, the danger and extreme difficulty of greatly admiring the beauties of nature and of art, when they happen to be intimately aflociated with many fedudtive moral deformities for when the recipient is I. H H 466 CltfOmCleS Of Cartapf)ilU0 Century r. The Luxurious Grove of Daphne. lovely, the poifonous contents are too apt to be confidered as in nocuous. ^OAPHNE, then, is fituate fomewhat more than a parafang from the city, and nigher to the fea. It hath many lovely villas and gorgeous palaces and gardens of fupremeft beauty. I patted through many endlefs windings, infinitely variegated with man s moft curious and beautiful devices in ftatuary, and with nature s choiceft fhrubs and flowers. Thefe meandering paths often led me through denfe ambrofial groves, where the Laurel and the Cyprefs the Balfam and the Rofe-tree invited me to repofe under their {hades, and to quafFthe delicious perfumes that everywhere environed me. I then gazed with delight upon the rich and diverfely coloured foliage of the Terebinth, whofe leaves of green, red, and purple, blended with its juicy fruit that hung in luxurious bunches, reminded me of Ifrael s prophetic benediction, when to his fixth fon he faid, " NAPHTALI is a fpreading Terebinth, producing beautiful branches ! " My eyes next refted upon the lofty Firs and then I thought of the great Pfalmift, who fang of the fir-trees, as inviting the ftorks to make in them their habitations, and feeing that hundreds of thofe birds were then feeking alfo the umbrageous oaks, the green poplars, and the lovely elms, under which they might reft their weary limbs, I found, in the words of Hofea, that it was truly " becaufe the Jhadows thereof are goodly." Indeed, the infinite variety of trees and flirubs and flowers which abound at Daphne, was not fully imprefled upon my mind, until I afcertained that this much-famed grove is nothing lefs than two and a half parafangs in circuit, and that in it are to be found all the trees that may delight the eye with their beauty re- frefh the fenfes with the riches of their perfumes and charm the palate with the delicacy, or lufcioufnefs, of their fruits ; whilft alfo from its flowers, in endlefs profufion, the air was redolent far and wide abounding in varied and exquifite odours, much beyond all the fweets produced by man s moft artful diftillations ! Amidft thefe cool and fweet-fcented and delicious {hades (the fultry fummer, elfe- where, being here perpetual fpring) is erected a moft gorgeous Temple, dedicated to Apollo and Diana, with both of which deities, as thou haft heard, I had the misfortune in early life to be more familiar than I even then defired and until, at Athens, our much-honoured Cartaphilus refcued me from them, and placed m e among thofe who worftiip Him whofe Temple is the Univerfe, and who demands no other facrifice than faith, and a contrite heart ! HF^rom the hills which furround Daphne are brought, in won derful concentration, a thoufand ftreams of the pureft and cooleft waters, which diffufe their influences through all the foils giving to everything that grows therein their utmoft perfection and to Letter xxvi. cfje COannermg: 3Ieto, 467 The Luxurious Grove of Daphne. the fcented air around, a frefhnefs and a foftnefs of temperature fur- pafling all conception. Mufic, which Teemed to commune with the furtheft planets founds that, iffuing from the fountains and cafcades, feemed of themfelves to be cool, becaufe the waters, that caufe thefe gentle noifes, are fo the fweeteft notes from every tree, made vocal by all of the feathered tribe that fing aromatic odours from fhrubs and fruits and flowers, all heightened by incenle from the caflia and myrrh and frankincenfe, and from the other precious gums, which the numerous votaries of the mrines are ever offering, To intoxicate the fenfes, and bewitch the imagination, that the youthful judgment is early diffipated in delight the waning luftihood of mature age is there foon reftored and even the privations of fenility are in a meafure renovated ! Here dwell Venus and Bacchus here reign luxury and love ; here pleafures, under the garb even of religion, are made to fafcinate beyond the reach of abftracl: imagination ; here the proc ejjional pomp of many devoted victims decked with gar lands generous libations from golden veflels clouds of incenfe curling in the air from jewelled and carved cenfers the dignity of manly beauty, habited in flowing veftments of fineft texture, and of many gorgeous colours the witchery of female lovelinefs in thin robes of fpangled white, and finally, the joyous concourfe of count- lefs people, difplay a fcene that bewilders the foul inflames the paflions and turns the ftouteft mind from the purefpirit, to mere earthy and finful matter ! And, to fo great an extent hath this fplendid and refined voluptuoufnefs advanced, that DAPHNE is now famous, and infamous, too, even to a proverb with thofe only, however, who ftill have ftiame ; and even that endures not long with thofe who vifit its groves more than once ! To live after the fafhion of Daphne " Dapbnicis moribus vivere " is equivalent to the reproach of living moft difTolutely and debafmgly. Well, there fore, did the Roman Caflius proclaim to his foldiers, under the fevereft penalty, that they muft never be found within its limits : and yet myriads from all nations refort to its fedu&ive bowers to its boundlefs feats of love and maddening joys all more perilous to age as well as youth, than are ftorms and quickfands to the benighted wanderer, and yet thefe, fo called, holy grounds are at this time, perhaps, more largely fuftained by Imperial and other munificence, than at any other period and, doubtlefs, it far excels in enervating and debafing, though pompous luxury, any known refort of pleafure, either of ancient or of modern times. Surely Aftier, and haughty Elam (had not their proud wings been clipped) might, from Daphne, take leflbns in artful and in lavifh fin ! nor would the famed doings at Baiee, nor even thofe at the Milvlan in Nero s days nor at the Canopus of Alexandria, have been to their people half fo fatal, as 468 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Genealogy of the Goddefs Daphne. are the exceffes in thefe bewitching groves of Daphne, not to the Antiochians alone, but to the votaries flocking there from places, reaching from the rifmg to the fetting fun ! ^Q)ow, it is quite pofiible, my good Thaddeus, that, as Judea and Mefopotamia have been the boundaries of thy narrow wanderings from the fpot of thy nativity and as the volumes of Greece and of Rome are not as familiar to thee, as they were to thy learned and accomplimed father, this goddefs Daphne^ to whom the fpot is de dicated, may yet remain to thee fomewhat, if not an entire ftranger. Educated as I have been from infancy in a Heathen land, thefe gods and goddeffes, of human creation, are old, though now difcarded, acquaintances of mine : and, as I fince have learned to deteft them all very heartily, I do not regret my thus knowing them, as it enables me the more effectually to caution others againft them. Know, then, that Daphne, as the fable goes, was a nymph, the daughter of jP/ #^.r, king of Theffaly, and of the goddefs Terra ! An arch little god named Cupid, taking fome offence at Apollo s prefuming to defpife his darts, (for Apollo, tis faid, was then exulting in his con- queft over the great ferpent Python,) caufed him to become greatly enamoured with this Daphne who, rejecting Apollo s love, avoided him by rapid flight ! This filver-bowed, and golden-haired fon of Jupiter and Latona, would not endure the thought of her efcape, but purfued the timorous and flying nymph fo clofely, that, in dan ger of being caught, me earneftly implored the aid of all the other gods ; who, as fhe ftood upon the river banks in fight of Apollo, kindly changed her, inftantaneoufly, into a laurel ! The difappointed god at once crowned himfelf with its leaves, and commanded that the Laurel tree mould be for ever facred to bis divinity and fo this confecration hath remained in many countries, even unto this day ! ^Jut, deareft Thaddeus, I would by no means have thee fup- pofe that the numerous ftrange ftories connected with nearly all the Heathen divinities, mean literally what upon their face they import. Oh, no : finful as is the worfhip of any other than the One only God, I ftill learned a fomewhat better leffon in beauteous Greece, than rank idolatry ! Many of thefe ftories are doubtlefs merely allegorical - many had their origin in faffs of very ancient times, which, through the lapfe of ages, have been much perverted and greatly mifunderftood, others may have been the inventions of ingenious men, myftically to convey fome hidden philofophy, fome great moral or phyfical truths : and the whole, as a fyftem, I cannot but think, has within it more of wifdom, and even of divine truth, traditionally and corruptly handed down, than may be at firft apparent. But, whatever all thefe once may have been, the fcheme, as now known and practifed, is idolatrous, and often extremely and fometimes odioufly corrupt, fo much fo, that the truly wife and learned Letter xxvi. Cjje OHan&enng; Jeto, 469 The Plain of Efdraelon The Region of Lebanon. among nearly all the people, can now fcarce fupprefs their ridicule even of this their only and national religion ! a ftate of things, my Thaddeus, than which nothing can be more lamentable, unlefs, in deed, it be regarded as the daw n of a change, that {hall bring in a luftrous day of far greater purity one that (hall command the ve neration and love of man, as well as their falutary fears. It is this ftate of things, my Thaddeus, which infpires me with a ftronghope, that the preient follies and corruptions of the old religion (attended as they are, only by the half-fupprefied ridicule of the wife among them) may foon prove a broad foundation upon which we fhall raife the fuperfirucliure of Calvary s faith ! ^Q>ow, before I end this long letter, I muft tell thee that my fearches after our honoured Cartaphilus brought me through the Plain of Efdraelon, and alfo over the whole region of Lebanon. How great is the renown of Efdraelon ! Upon its broad furface, what deeds have been done there by the nations ! Hath not that great plain in all the ages been fought by kings and princes, and by all the power ful and ambitious, that they might achieve thereon their victories, or there meet deftru&ion ? Oh, what blood of myriads hath been poured over its lovely furface ! On Efdraelon it was that Sifera waved his banners, and marfhalled his hofts there the deep mourning of Hadadrimmon was uttered there Jofhua perimed there did Judasa twice yield to her fad deftiny and there alfo was it that the loud fhrieks and cries of embattled armies, and the fierce rejoicings of the victorious were heard, whilft the rocks and forefts and fliades of Hermon and of Tabor re-echoed the loud and mixed founds.* ^Ji-\ nd now a word, in conclufion, as to Lebanon. Great and majeftic and lovely is all this mountain and valley region ! What words can fet forth the beauty of its varied glories ? Lebanon s towering heights, white with eternal fnows, mingling with their native fkies ; and, nearer earth, for ever green with the heaven- piercing cedars of Noachic days Lebanon s blooming and flowery valleys, the foftnefs and fweetnefs of its airs, that come laden with the richeft perfumes the purity and frefhnefs of its waters, and the varied garniture of all nature there, yield to the whole an ex- * But Efdraelon (as Cartaphilus now holds) will fee far more portentous events than all thefe a conflict muft yet be witneffed upon its broad and lovely extent ; one more awakening and deadly and glorious than all before : for there, in that fame plain alfo called Megiddon, is to be waged that great and final war, that mall arife between the hofts of Eternal Darknefs and thofe of the Ever-enduring and Ineffable Light! Then and there will theftrife be ended between the Anti-Chrift and the Lamb : and then Efdraelon will mine in glories, the renown of which muft caufe to vanifh all that heretofore hath given it fo great a name. 470 Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, Century The Family of Alcseus. cellency and power far beyond language to portray, and which brightens into a dazzling mafs of light, compared with the fmful and vaunted beauties of Daphne upon the Orontes. Which of the two, thou, and my Cornelia would prefer, I will not afk. FARE- THEE-WELL. ALCJEUS. LETTER XXVII. ALCJEUS TO CORNELIA. BETHLEHEM, a6th Nifan; Creation, 3837. [April 1 5th, A.D. 77.] HUS far only, am I on my anxious journey home ward ; and much doth it grieve me to tell thee, oh jewel of my heart, my faireft Cornelia, and all who at EdefTa loved Cartaphilus, that my diligent fearch for him among the ruins of the devoted Mafada, proved wholly bootlefs ! Nothing could I even hear as to our beloved father by adoption ; who, as I fear, is for ever loft to us. Write inftantly, however, I pray thee, my pricelefs pearl, fhould our Thaddeus, at Jotapata, happily prove more fortunate. And now, as to all who call thee mother the tendereft of names ! and me father which to them is next in value, fay unto them, my thoughts are ever on them. Xl, ow are our three beft gifts that God beftows on man our three good and healthy and fenfible children? our The family of tWQ ^ aU ff^ ters f o j^g tne i r mother from top to toe ! AlcatUS, i V r i- i r i i and our onlyyow, lo true a little copy or his princely grandfather, the ever-venerated Agbarus ? As the violets, that dip their tender buds in the living fountains that grace the palace gar dens at EdelTa, and rife therefrom in watery frefhnefs, and in all the lovelinefs of full expanfion, fo will our daughters blefled by thy tui tion, bloom gradually from the modeft budding virgins they now are, until they become the frefheft and brighteft of Mefopotamia s fair ones ! and our fon, as an eagle piercing the clouds with his yet tender wings, will rife at laft, far, far above the drofs of earthly deformities, until he attain the loftieft excellencies of all the Chrif- tian virtues ! And thou^ my fweet Cornelia ! whofe face is yet as like the rofe and jafmine combined, as when firft we wedded whofe foul is now as cheerful, as on the night we fo joyoufly fpent the hours in refolving indiffoluble enigmas and whofe form and jftature are ftill fo like the graceful cyprefs ! thou, and thefe all, will unite to make our loves perpetual. Will they can they ever dwindle ? oh no they will grow ceafeleffly on ; and, at life s faint- Letter xxvn. Cjjc (KJanDering; 3|eto. 47 1 The Family of Alcaeus The Glories of BETHLEHEM. eft ebb, will be juft as frefh as dewy hyacinths, in the morning of their bloom ! <^j[ell my gentle DrufiUlna that, although her eyes may become as the flowers of the narciflus her lips as red and mining as rubies her teeth as fnow-drops her form as the unufed javelin ; yea, that if me grow altogether lovely in things external, it yet will avail but little with truly wife men and far lefs with God, unlefs to them be added, in ftricl: proportion, every virtue of heart and of mind. And, to my fon, the noble little Dionyjius, pleafe fay to him, he can only equal his loving father s expectations, when fimilar in all things to his name-fake, the Areopagite : and to the infant Cornelia (The being now too young to be counfelled)y^y nothing but look everything as, with fuch tender ones, mind communes with mind, before language gains its power ; and alfo as, J am quite fure, me will prove to me as ineftimable as her mother is a confummation perfect, only as my wifhes are ever modelled after thee ! ^j^hou, my Cornelia, haft been a lovely flower known only to thy natal foil, but fpreading there a fragrance as fweet as mufky odours as delicious as rofes and mar- ff ? joram and fweet bafil, borne upon a gentle evening p ro j\ e ^ zephyr ! In foreign lands thou haft never travelled ; and hence I would now, in continuation of my former letters to thee, and to Thaddeus, fay fomething further as to what I have feen during our long and painful feparation. I now write to thee in fight of the Lord s manger ! ^JETHLEHEM ! thou holy fpot, where Jefus in his humanity firft law the light who can behold thee, " though thou be little among the thoufands ofjudah" without feeling that now thou art the greateft, fince from thee came forth the RULER, that is from everlafting ? I declare to thee, my beloved Cornelia, this little village, fix Roman miles from Jerufalem s ruins, afforded me far more delight in rambling through its humble ftreets, than ever I experienced even in the proudeft of all the cities of my native land yea more, than even in the much-famed Athens ! he very name of this place feems to announce, prophetically as it were, its deftined glory, and that from it would come the bread of everlafting life : for this word, Bethlehem, fignifies the " houfe of bread" and in it were born Ifrael s king, David, which name imports " well beloved" and likewife Chrift-Jefus ; which words announce the " Anointed-Saviour /" Strange coincidences! that David, an evident type of that Mefllas, and alfo his earthly pro genitor, mould have been there born in obfcurity, and then become a great and glorious earthly king ! and yet more wonderful, that the fon of Jofeph and Mary, both then fo humble, but of the fame 47 2 C&ronicleis of Cartapfrilus, century The Glories of Bethlehem. royal line, near one thoufand years after David s time, fhould have had for his infant dwelling, nothing but a rude ftone manger, and yet hath become a great and glorious fovereign over a fpiritual kingdom, whofe beginning is now, and whofe end {hall be only with the end of time ! *^/~ou may be fure, my Cornelia, I was not long in feeking out the rocky and cavernous tenement, which the Virgin-Mother was com pelled to feek ; that, from its damp and gloomy recefles, me might give to a benighted world, Him, who would enlighten all dark places in the human heart ! I found it a houfe for beafts to dwell in, being an excavated rock, as is ufual in this, and in other warm countries ; and in it are ftone mangers in one of which had laid the infant Jefus ! ^Jethlehem is yet, indeed, a place of humility ; but I tell thee, deareft Cornelia, the days may well come, when this little one, among Judah s thoufands and this lowly houfe, will be more honoured more fought after by Principalities and Powers, by Kings and Emperors yea, by an admiring and grateful Chriftian World, than are the now proud maufoleums of the greateft among the mighty dead ! CHEOPS may crumble to the earth, CEPHRE- NES become unknown, and MEMPHIS, with her myriads of devices for perpetuating the memories of thofe who were born, and who died, may all dwindle away as the morning dews, till no particle mail remain and yet, the little rocky dwelling, and rude manger of Bethlehem will rife in endlefs glory, fhielded from time, by the un dying affe&ions of a Chriftian world ! This is no ardent fancy of mine, excited by the holy fpot I lingered upon an hour ago ; oh, no for, if God s vengeance hath been lately mown in laying the mighty walls, and towers, and palaces, and tombs of the once holy Jerufalem level with the earth, will not his glory raife the humble Bethlehem to the higheft honour ? furely it will and that honour may lie, not in making a gorgeous city out of a poor little village, but fimply in the holy rays caft around it, and in the outpourings of millions of thankful hearts that mail vifit it, and love to utter there their adorations ! iilJL nen nex t I write to thee, it will be from Ramoth-Gilead, where thy letter will reach me and then for Pella ! thefe two fpots will have many charms for me, fince the excellent Rebecca, and the lamented Cartaphilus fpent their early years at Ramoth ; and found a refuge at Pella, when Jerufalem forfook her holinefs, to become the abode of robbers ! From thence, on the wings of love, I will haften to Edefla ; and, until then, FAREWELL.* ALC^US. * The Editor would gladly have made a larger feleftion from the letters of the accomplimed Alcasus to his wife Cornelia, and his brother Thaddeus, had Letter xxvm. cfje ftHan&ering 3(eto. 473 Roman mode of Dating Love of our Natale Solum. LETTER XXVIII. JULIANUS TO PHILOTERA. ROME, u. c. 850. vr. Idus Martiae.* [March roth, A.D. 97.] ANGUAGE would fail me, were I hereafter to re count in thy dear prefence, and ftill more would my pen now refufe its office, were I to attempt a defcrip- tion of the crowd of agitating emotions that have prefled upon me, fince my arrival in the City of my fathers, after an abfence of nigh thirty years ! Oh, my Philotera, how fweet is even the flavifh air of our native land ! Can the foul he not feared that the voluminous Chronicles of Cartaphilus, through fo many ages, though greatly curtailed, would ftill be fwelled beyond convenient bounds. * The reader will here obferve that this is the firft inftance in thefe Chro nicles, of dating according to the Roman mode : and, as fome may not be fa miliar with that method of reckoning, the Editor prefumes that a brief expla nation of it may not be unacceptable, efpecially to his more youthful readers. The Roman or Julian year is precifely our own, as to months, days, and names; but there is fomething very peculiar in their fafhion of dating. It is to be ob- ferved then,^r/?, that they did not reckon the days of the month in an uninter rupted feries, as we do, that is, from the firft of any month, and fo daily on to its end whether the joth, jift, 28th, or 29th but each month was divided into three fixed points, the firft of which had the name of KALENDS the fecond was called the NONES and the third the IDES of each month ; and all the other days of the month were reckoned in reference to one or the other, re- fpeftively, or thefe three points. They begin with the Kalends of the current month, then to the Nones of that month, then to the Ides of the fame and finally again to the Kalends of the enfuing month. In the fecond place, the reader will obferve that the Kalends (now more ufu- ally written with a C than a K) was always the ift day of every month but that the fecond point, or the Nones of each month, was either on the fth of the month, or on the yth, and that the third point, or the Ides of the month, was either on the i3th, or on the ifth. In eight of the months, the Nones was always on the 5th of thofe months ; but, in Marc/2, May, July, and October, it was on the yth : and fo likewife, the Ides, in the fame eight months, was on the 1 3th of the month, and in the fame four months, on the ifth. The word calendar, as alfo calends, is derived from the Latin calare to call ; becaufe, on the firft of each month the people were called, or fummoned, to the Capitol, to hear the proclamation of the appearance of the new moon. Upon that day, alfo, the payment and execution of contrails were ufually made. The word Ides is fuppofed to be derived from the Etrufcan word iduare, to divide, becaufe the i3th or i5th of a month nearly divided it into equal parts. Hence the Romans, by the ufe of the three fixed points, of Calends, Ides, and Nones and alfo by the ufe of the expreffions priaie calendas, pridie idus, and 474 C&tOniCle.S Of Cartapf)iiU0, Century i. Love of Country Loyalty. ever be won from the thoufand afTociations allied to thofe thrilling founds " my country?" Though born a flave, and under Nero, too, Rome s greatnefs then filled my young heart to overflowing, and, though I hated the man, I loved the emperor for, in that office are feated the majefty and empire of the world ! And, now that I have returned after fo many years, my foul clings yet more unto even the mountains and the valleys the rivers and the ftreams the glorious monuments of art ; yes, my excellent Philotera, thefe all, and every grove in which I had wandered, every tree that had fhaded me in youth, every pillar in Nero s palace, againft which I had fo often reclined when a boy yea, every fhrub and flower that now graces the borders of its avenues, feemed to rum upon my heart with numerous melting influences, and caufed me to exclaim, " Oh,furely that country alone is great and glorious ^ in which every man is a patriot ! " ^|^_ear me not, my gentle dove, if Rome henceforth be my only country for thou (halt ever be to me the only Eden in all this land. Quickly mail I be with thee at EdefTa, to bring thee here. Now, as a freedman, and with many honoured relatives around me, all of wealth and of power yes, kindred, who, like me, have gradually become emancipated, and blefled, moreover, with what thefe pridie nonas, obtained fix fpecific names whereby to defignate fo many days in each month. By fimply mentioning the word Calends it defined the firft of the month fo pridie calendas was always the loft of the month. Idus gave with equal certainty the thirteenth, or the fifteenth ; and pridie idus the twelfth, or the fourteenth; and fo Nona gave thejift/z, or thefe<vent/2, and pridie nonas gave the fourth, or thejixth of the designated month. With thefe preliminary remarks, it will be eafy to underftand their mode of reckoning the days of each month, in reference to either of the three fixed points of a month, and alfo how our mode of counting all the days coniecutively on, may be made to correfpond with the Roman calendar. Thus, whenever the Romans had to refer to any day other than the three fixed ones, of calends ides and nones or the three others that preceded them, when the word pridie was ufed, they then counted to one of the three fixed points in future, whereas, we reckon from a paft point, evenly onward to the end of the month. We fay, the i ft, znd, 3rd, &c. of January ; but the Romans laid Calenda; Januarii, mean ing the i ft Quarto ante Nonas, meaning the and Tertio ante Nonas, meaning the 3rd Pridie Nonas, meaning the 4th and Nonte, meaning the 5th, where the Nones are not of the four months we have named. Having now parTed the Nones, they counted proipeftively on to the Ides, and the 6th of January was the OElo ante Idus the eighth before the Ides becaufe, from the Nones or fth of January, to the Ides or i ^th of January, were eight days; and having patted the Ides of January, they then counted on to the Calends of February ; fo that the i4th of January was the i9th before the Calends of February; and the laft of January was called pridie calendas Februarix. With the foregoing explanation, the following Table in the Appendix D, will be eafily referred to for the Roman dates of all the months, correfpondent with our own. Letter xxvm. Cfjc ailantietmg: 3ieto. 475 Chriftian Patriotifm Narrative of Roman Affairs. Heathens would call Fortunes kindnefs but which we, Chriftians, love to name as the providence of JEHOVAH, or the only One-God, let us all now unite in ferving Rome in the beft, and only way we can for, with our religion changed, our worldly power muft vanifti, for a time at leaft, and no wealth can here give influence, if Rome s gods be not ours which can never be. For, my Philotera, we know that Rome hath no gods they all are falfe ones, or rather, they exift not ! Let us, then, water and nourifh in this Imperial City, the feeds of Chriftianity, however few they be that now are fown here let us, even to the peril of all that life pofiefles, prove to Romans that, if hitherto in Athens and in Sparta, and likewife in the once kingly, then republican, and now Imperial Rome, patriotifm hath moftly been aflbciated with deeds of arms and of murderous war, its higheft and moft enduring office, now, is that ofuniverfal kindnefs yes, deareft Philotera, of that Chriftian love of country, whofe " ways are pleafantnefs, and whofe paths are peace I " ^Jut, m y foft-eyed, and ever love-infpiring Philotera, if fun- beams play around the gilded portals of my prefent imagination if vifions of brightnefs dance among the turrets of the lovely palace of my now warm fancy, think not that the dangers we muft encounter have had no entrance there. Oh, no, I fee them all, my love, and count them but as drops of wo, amidft a fea of joys ! Good mujl eventually flow in upon this glorious, though now Heathen land, from fuch Chriftian toils as will hereafter every where abound. We, indeed, may ungratefully perifh as fuppofed worms of mifchief hundreds more may {hare our earthly fate, but, will they not likewife fhare our heavenly deftiny ? will they not yield up their lives, in the higheft and moft patriotic of all endeavours, that of re forming the religion and manners, not of Rome alone, but of a fallen world ? doubtlefs, this muft be the cafe. I argue thus with thee, not from any doubt of thy firm piety, or of thy Chriftian courage, even unto martyrdom ; oh no ; for thou wilt come with me in this, as thou haft ever done where virtue was the ftar of thy hope, and the admirable Rebecca thy daily exemplar. I fometimes think that deareft of women is permitted thus long to remain with us, that me may be an angel of brightnefs, in the dark and dangerous paths that may yet environ us ; for, in Calvary s caufe, fhe hath already proved as indifferent to life, as the proud and famifhed fteed is of the grafs beneath his feet, when the battle rages ! *^J^hat I may prepare thee for thy coming here to Rome, I will now briefly relate the more ftriking events that have ^ arrat i^ e O f taken place, from the time Vefpafian was made em- R oman affairs. peror, until the prefent hour, I think about feven-and VESPASIAN. twenty-years. 47 6 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century i. Vefpafian The Barbarians The Temple of Peace. ,o fooner had the legions proclaimed him, and his general An- tonius fully gained Rome, and alfo, whilft his fon Titus was waging his deadly war in Judea, the new emperor was forely troubled by violent commotions in the German and Gallic provinces, and by the traitorous defigns of his fon Domitian ; who, hating his brother Titus for the lofty fame he was hourly gaining, would now have turned the arms entrufted to him for the fuppreflion of revolt, againft his father s empire ! And, at this very time, a fierce and powerful horde of people, called Sarmatts, pafled with hafty ftrides over their boundaries, into Mcefia, where they deftroyed fome Roman garri- fons, and laid wafte the furrounding country with fire and fword*. ]^3 ut Roman arms prevailed everywhere with equal celerity - Jerulalem was laid low, and the victorious father, elfewhere, and the fon, in Judea, returned from their conquefts to the Imperial city; and they both triumphed there, in a manner unequalled even in Roman annals ! ^j^hefe being ended, Vefpafian reformed many abufes and cor ruptions cultivated the arts of peace reformed the armies cor rected the evils that had difgraced the courts of judicature ; and, whilft he moderated the expenfes of his government, he failed not to embellifh Rome with many fumptuous buildings ; and among thefe, my eyes have juft repofed with delight upon the great Temple of Peace, which is clofe upon the main Forum, and there, my Philotera, I beheld, with gloom and joy combined, many of thofe facred vefiels and rich fpoils brought by Titus from the greateft of all temples. ^ likewife dwelt, but with unmingled pleafure, upon the Claudian Temple, on the Caelian Hill ; which the emprefs Agrippina had com menced, but which that monfter Nero had nigh demolished. By the liberality and tafte of Vefpafian, it is now, however, finiihed ; and it is indeed a lovely ftrulure. I next vifited the Temple of Pal las, another name for the goddefs Minerva, who is fabled to have flain the giant Pallas, and covered herfelf with his fkin ! This, of courfe, is only an allegory ; for Pallas is faid to have been the fon of Tartarus and of Terra ; and, as Minerva is the goddefs of wif- dom, it may import that wifdom s province is to conquer the many evils that flow from thofe two fources of all fin Hell and Earth ! * This was among the earlieft of thofe eruptions of the Northern barbarians, which, in fome ages after, were deftined to overrun and deftroy the moft exten- five and refined empire the world has ever known. Little could Julianus have then imagined (when fo incidentally noting this event of the croffing of the Scythians over the river Ifter, into the Roman province) that this was the firft link of that vaft chain of events, deftined to diflblve Roman fupremacy; and which laid the foundation of the gradual uprifing of thofe numerous powers, that now form civilized and Chriftianized Europe ! Letter xxvm. c&e ftcUanBering 3ieto, 477 Vefpafian The Temple of Pallas The Flavian Amphitheatre. temple of Pallas, now fcarce rimmed, is one of almoft matchlefs fplendour. Its workmanfhip is fo rich and exquifite, that it reminded me ftrongly of fome things I witnefTed in Jerufalem s Temple. The furpaffing excellence of the inlayings of the carv ings, and of the paintings that abound in this temple, the latter un known to the Holy Temple of Judea, has made this one of Rome fo famous, as to attract daily thither men of diftinguifhed tafte and fcience ; who come from all parts of the earth, that they may not only delight their eyes, but improve themfelves by copies taken of it, fo that they may compare this triumph of the arts with all that may be feen in other lands. ^fj>or muft I fail to mention the ftupendous Amphitheatre, proba bly the moft folid and enduring ftrucSture of human art, faving the Egyptian pyramids and which are only fo by reafon of their pe culiar form. In converfing yefterday with Flavius Jofephus, he af- fured me that this mafllve pile was well nigh finifhed by Vefpafian and Titus, in the wonderfully fhort period of four years ; that it was commenced immediately after the triumph was defigned to commemorate their fuccefTes in the Jewifh war and that, when not quite complete, Titus, at its bloody dedication, exhibited games and gladiatorial combats, during nearly one hundred days, in which no lefs than five thoufand wild beafts were flain ; and that many of the Jewifh captives were forced to combat there, fome unto death, for the amufement of the myriads prefent !* In addi tion to thefe vaft and brilliant works, Vefpafian reftored very many of the Regifters of the Empire, which had fallen under the recent fires. Three thoufand Tables of Brafs, containing the fenate s de crees the ordinances of the people the treaties with foreign nations, and the privllegia of the corporations and of individuals, together with moft of the remarkable chronicles from the founda tion of the city, were reftored, and thus perpetuated, as derived from all of the beft attainable fources. ^Q[efpafian, however, was not regardful of his Roman fubjefls alone but extended his foftering care to even his remoteft pro vinces. Rebuilt many cities; repaired others, made extenfive roads, pierced the Flaminian mountains, fo as to give a fafe and commo dious paffage through them. Nor was his generally eftimable fon Titus lefs active all the while. He fuccefsfully repelled the invafion * From this account of the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre, now more generally known as the Colifaum, the opinion of the French architect Defgodetz, that the folid parts alone occupied 1 5,000 men during ten years, is incorreft. So likewife, the idea of Evelyn that 30,000 Jews were fet to work upon it, is ftill more improbable ; as but few of the captives reached Rome, beyond the feven hundred brought by Titus to grace his triumphal proceflion. 47 8 Chronicles of CartapFrilus, Century i. Vefpafian The Barbarians Julius Sabinus. of the Alani, another Scythian nation that invaded the provinces of Media and Armenia, and were near deftroying King Tiridates, (the fame ferocious prince who perilled the life of Rebecca put thee in jeopardy of perpetual flavery, and who faw the venerable Meifalcus perim, after the fortunate efcape from his hands of our dear Mel- chior !) I cannot but think that, had the good Vefpafian and his worthy fon known this wicked Tiridates, as well as thou doft, and had he alfo known Rebecca and thee, my Philotera, only half as well as I do, he would have fuffered the Barbarians to caft him headlong into the den of lions, among the bones of the ill-fated Chriftians, caft by him into that den of lions, as was alfo his firft defign to do with our honoured friends, then of Pella, late of Edeffa. The clemency and even tendernefs of Vefpafian, are Jofephus delight to dwell on. He lately told me an interefting anecdote of the emperor, witnefled by himfelf, which I muft tell thee ; as it fuits no lefs thy own foft heart, than my own love of elevated patriotifm. There was a certain notorious rebel, named Julius Sabinus, who was fo audacious as even to proclaim himfelf Ccefar ; and appealed to arms in maintenance of his title ! Being brought a prifoner, however, to Rome, fome interceflion was made for the Emperor s pardon : but chiefly by his wife, who appeared at court in deep mourning, at tended by her two young fons ; and thus briefly pleaded for her hufband s life, and the fafety of herfelf and family all of whom were involved in the effects of the daring treafon. " Ob Cafar! I have given birth to thefe two infants, and have nourijhed them, to increafe the number of thy fupplicants and to enlarge the bounds of thy clemency." The Emperor in tears replied, u Thou and thy infants, and thy property are all fafe but thy hufband is Rome s enemy, not mine ; him I cannot fave." Noble fentiment ! he would not enrich his treafury, nor go one iota beyond the law s ef- fentials, in remembrance of his perfonal wrongs : but, that his country s welfare and honour could never be loft fight of, appears in this cafe, and in others, alfo related to me by his admiring Jofe phus. Among thefe, I may mention that the Praetor, Helvedius Prifcus, would never falute the Emperor, but by the bare name of Vefpafian ; and this, too, even in his official edidls ! He went fo far at laft, that proceedings were had againft him, but without the emperor s knowledge ; and, when made known to him were in- ftantly countermanded : for, to Vefpafian s noble mind, thefe were but idle littleneffes in Prifcus, and fuch perfons, that fullied in no degree the Imperial luftre. And fo, again, when the Parthian king thus addreffed our Emperor, " Arfaces^ KING of KINGS, to Flavius Vefpafian" Rome s fovereign took no offence, but replied to the faucy barbarian thus ; " Flavius Vefpafian to Arfaces, KING of KINGS." Now thefe, and very many others, related of Vefpafian, Letter xxvm. Cfjc W&r\ftzni\Q 3lto 479 Death of Vefpafian Titus Emperor. are naught but what every virtuous and high-minded man mould do ; but, in kings and emperors, they are really higher virtues, be- caufe fuch difplacency towards abfolute power and plenary dignity, is a higher infolence than ufual and alfo becaufe monarchs have fo rarely been able thus to curb their pafiions. To me, moreover, who, from my earlieft infancy witnefled the bloody deeds of Nero, and heard fo much refpecling thofe of Claudius and Caligula, the generous acts of Vefpafian and of Titus feem like guming ftreams of living waters, patting through fome foul avenue, leaving all things fweet ! ighteen years have now patted fmce Jofephus loft his friend Vefpafian, for his reign endured only about ten years. The Empe ror being in Campania, and apparently but ttightly unwell, he was heard fuddenly to cry out, after the fafliion of his Heathen education, " Methinks I am going to be made a God! " and then retiring to his fummer eftate near Reate, his complaint grew constantly worfe. At length, rifmg one morning from his couch, he exclaimed, u An Emperor Jhould die Jianding on his feet " and inftantly expired in the arms of thofe around him ! Vefpafian, the tenth emperor, was the fecond who died a natural death and the firft who was fucceeded by his fon ! J^n the arts of war, he was fecond only to Julius Caefar in thofe of peace, fuperior to Auguftus ! ^he Roman people unhefitatingly, though not joyfully, re ceived TITUS as his fuccefTor : and no one thought of difputinp; his high claims, but his wicked brother Do- Ktwfucceeth I j .. n.- \T r to the Em- mitian ; who impotently attempted to queltion Veipa- ^ fian s Will, in favour of the eldeft fon, Titus, by al leging that the will had been forged by his brother ! No one gave the leaft credit to the accufation ; but a flight coldnefs towards Titus was fomewhat vifible in the people, who feared him, not only on account of his recent voluptuoufnefs, but from fome ails that favoured of cruelty. But all apprehenfion vanifhed foon after he attumed the imperial diadem ; and even his devoted paflion for the illuftrious Jewifh beauty, Queen Berenice, whom the people hated, was voluntarily and promptly abandoned ! Such, indeed, became his virtues and winning manners, that all hearts were foon his own he was hailed as the " Love and Delight of mankind" and feems well to have heeded the fage advice of that wonderful man, Apollonius, of Tyana ; who bade him, would he be good and famous, " merely follow Vefpafian s footjhps, as then he could not fail " jHs women are apt to feel a peculiar intereft, either in the way of admiration, or of cenfure, towards thofe of their fex who have been remarkable for virtue or for vice, I will detain my gentle Philotera, only 480 Cfjronicie0 of Cartapfnlus, Century i. Titus and Queen Berenice. for a moment, with one, whom I am fure me will not admire I allude to the much-fpoken-of BERENICE but in whofe fate there is {till, for tender hearts like thine, much to awaken deep regrets. Like all of her Idumean race, this Jewim Oueen was highly gifted. Her beauty was fo matchlefs and enduring her manners were fo fafcinating and irrefiftible and her intelligence was of fo high an order, that although me had been married to her uncle Herod, king of Calcis then to Polemo, king of Pontus, whom file abandoned and was then, I fear, too juftly fufpecled of an habitual inceftuous connexion with King Agrippa II. yet Titus had become fo enamoured of her, (and Vefpafian likewife,) that, although fome years had elapfed fince their firft acquaintance, they could not refift receiving her at their imperial court with the moft diftinguifhed honours and the fon even promifed mar riage, and would have made her emprefs ! Berenice was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. the fame who beheaded the Apoftle James and imprifoned the holy Peter ; and me is the fame Berenice who, with fo much pomp at Caefarea, united with the procurator Feftus, in hearing Paul s noble defence, when fent down for trial from Jerufalem.* Her brother, Agrippa II., who joined Vefpafian and Titus during Jerufalem s greateft peril, accepted from the former an increafe of territory, and alfo a praetorfhip, but refided moftly at Rome a bafe and fplendid vaflal of the empire as indeed were all of that Idumean family; which, with all their magnificence, were ever Ifrael s bane, and worft of enemies : but this laft of the royal Houfe of Herod died, about three years ago, as he had lived a refined voluptuary, and an ignoble recreant to Ifrael s caufe; which he forfook, not from any worthy principle, as did Jofephus, but as a felfi m parafite of power, and a wicked imitator of all the vileft inftitutions and famions of foreign lands ! jffs for his beautiful and diflblute fitter Berenice, me had nigh loft her life fome years before Titus firft faw her. It feems that, with better feelings towards the Jews than Agrippa often had, me undertook to interfere with the cruel proceedings of Florus ; whofe love of plunder and blood, however, were not to be flayed even by the petitions of fo much dazzling beauty, and though coming from queenly lips ! The caufe me efpoufed greatly endangered her life ; for the foldiery hated the Jews ; and they alfo knew that Florus could not endure them. It fo happened that, at this time, Berenice was engaged in the execution of the Nazarite vow at Jerufalem, which required of her, during thirty days, to go with naked feet and morn hair to offer many facrifices, and to abftain moftly from food, and wholly from wine. She then heard of the mercilefs * A.D. 63. A6ls xxv. xxvi. Letter xxvm. Cfje OTantJeting 3ieto. 48 The extreme beauty of Berenice Anecdotes of Titus. ravages of this brutal Florus ; and promptly haftened, in her then weak and miferable condition, before the tribunal, and implored the Procurator to fpare the Jews ! But the obdurate Roman had no ear for pity, no reverence for her dignity, no regard for her furpafiing lovelinefs, no fympathy for the ftate into which her vow had brought her. He difmilTed her with coldnefs ; and me was then moft happy to efcape with life from the rude treatment of his barbarous men of arms ! ^JJJ^hen Titus and Berenice firft met, me was older than he by feveral years ; he being then nearly forty : but thofe who faw her at the time inform me, that her eyes ftill beamed with all the luftre of a fprightly fawn, when feen through the dark foliage of Mount Sora&e that her curling hair fhone as burnifhed and carved ebony that her cheeks yet glowed as with the tranfparent ruby-blufhes of life s fremeft aurora that her teeth vied in fnowy whitenefs with the pureft ivory ; and that her polifhed neck and fwelling bofom caufed even the pearls, placed there as garnifhment, to figh with envy that they were fo little feen ! And yet, dear Philotera, Titus, in after times, great as was his infatuation, was prompt to furrerider, at his country s bidding, all this little world of perfonal lovelinefs ; and, that he might fecure his own faithfulnefs to this great felf- denial, me was fent by him forthwith from Rome, together with many others, who had been the chief inftruments in promoting this and other deftru&ive paflions in him.* ^5y numerous a6ls of public and of private beneficence, Titus foon became the people s idol ; and he was fo conftant in doing and promifmg good, that he was fometimes -Anecdotes of reminded that he might have promifed more than he Titus. would be able to perform ; to which he modeftly re plied, " This may pojjibly be fo but no fubjefl ought to depart forrow- ful from the prefence of his prince" And it is farther related of him that, on being told one night, he had done no acl: of kindnefs that day, he deeply fighed, and exclaimed, " Am ici ! diem perdidi" " my friends ! I have loft a day." Upon entering into the office of Pontifex Maxim us, he earneftly declared he did fo, " that he might keep his hands pure and unde filed from blood; and that be would greatly prefer death to himfelf, than InfliSt it upon others." ^Jut the exemplary goodnefs of this emperor was no fhield againft the treafonable plottings of his brother Domitian ; whom * The cauftic Juvenal, who flourifhed about the date of this letter, fatirifes Berenice, not only for her inceftuous amours, but likewife for her rigid obferv- ance of the fevere Jewifh penance (he had voluntarily aflumed. She is aifo alluded to by Suetonius, by Tacitus, and by Sextus Aurelius. When (he came to Rome, (he muft have pafled her fiftieth year, but was ftill wonderfully beau tiful ! I. I I 482 Cf)rOmClC0 Of CattapfrilU0, Century i. Anecdotes of Titus Eruption of Vefuvius Pompeii. he would not banifh, though greatly urged fo to do : on the contrary, he conferred upon him the title of Afibciate and Suc- ceflbr and with much feeling faid to him, " Oh Domitian! at tempt not to gain by treafon and fratricide, what fo Jhortly may be wholly thine without a crime, but let us now live as brothers ." ^he fhort and brilliant reign of Titus was not, however, exempt from thofe calamities over which man can exercife no control. In the very year that he came to the throne, ix. kal : Sep. [24 Augt. A. D. 79] and in the year of Rome 832, the fad intelligence was brought to him that the fire-mountain, Vefuvius, had fuddenly burft forth with terrific fury in flames, and melted ftones, and boiling waters, blended with fulphurous fmokes and burning afhes ; that thefe dread elements had fpread themfelves far around, and overwhelmed many of the Campanian cities ; that Pompeii, one of the largeft, fituate but a fmall diftance from the mountain, between the river Sarnus and the fea, had been entirely covered by the fiery afhes and the boiling waters, but, happily, that moft of the popu lation had time to efcape, though feveral thoufands had perifhed, not only by the continual fhowers of fcorching afhes, and the thick mafTes of fulphurous fmoke and boiling waters, from the mountain itfelf, but chiefly by the raging fea that flowed in, and alfo by the troubled waters of the Sarnus, that could not keep their channels, but raifed a barrier againft the people s flight ! all of which, in mid-day, had fo darkened the air for a time, that efcape in any direction, fo eafy at firft, now feemed impofllble. Eighteen years have pafTed fince this great calamity happened and yet we know a city is there entombed the loftieft houfes now lie buried beneath a fea of afhes all is ftill a wide wafte, and for ever may fo remain, though curiofity and the hope of plunder do fometimes invite a few to the tafk of unveiling the myfteries that are below ! But, my Philotera, I muft no longer fpeak of Pompeii ; as a far greater calamity, at leaft to human life, foon after occurred to the imperial city itfelf; the effects of which are even yet feverely felt. I allude to the dreadful peftilence that broke out in Rome, and deftroyed, nearly as rapidly as Vefuvius did, far more people than were con tained within all the walls of Pompeii ; for, as I am allured by my good friend Jofephus, in fome of the days, not lefs than ten thoufand of her people perifhed by this raging malady ! And, to thefe miferies were ftill added a moft terrific conflagration, which raged with violence during three days, and as many nights ! Well do I remember, though then quite a youth, the horrors of that greateft of our conflagrations, in Nero s time, and doubtlefs, too, by his con trivance, which deftroyed the larger part of Rome. ^hefe complicated miferies, of cities overwhelmed in the ad joining region of a loathfome and mortal plague, and then a Letter xxvm. C&e 3Jan&enng 3(eto, 483 Britannia, or Albion Cornelius Tacitus Agricola. devouring fire, at home, greatly agonized the feeling heart of Titus : but his fympathies were promptly made known by actions, inftead of mournful complaints ; and he at once affumed upon himfelf the whole lofs occafioned by theyfr^, and, as to the peftilence^ lives could not be recalled ; but I mould only weary thy ears and thy affections, were I to enumerate even the tenth of thofe generous decrees to which the Emperor reforted, for the mitigation of the daily horrors, and for eventually expelling from the city the foul deftroyer ! ^f^ut, if Titus had many caufes of grief for his country at home, he derived great fatisfa&ion from the noble achievements abroad, of his renowned lieutenant, AGRICOLA, then in the beautiful ifland called Britannia, and by others Albion ; which, you my Philotera, as being a Greek, may underftand how to derive from alphon white, there being many high and chalky cliffs upon its border : and it may alfo be taken from the Hebrew word alben, which imports the fame. This extenfive ifland was difcovered by Julius Casfar, about a century and a half ago ; but was not known to be an ifland until recently ; when Agricola failed entirely round it ! I have been much interefted in the accounts given me concerning this Agricola ; who, only about four years fince, died at the rather early age of fifty-four, leaving a name of furpafling luftre ; one that muft grow brighter and brighter in all coming ages ; as then, it will be compared with thofe of his cotemporaries, with more impar tiality than now and likewife with thofe who lived before, or who may live after him.* ^ft was my good fortune foon after my arrival here, to become acquainted, and intimately, with the illuftrious CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS, who married the lovely and only daughter of Agricola. My friend s beautiful portrait of his diftinguifhed father-in-law, puts to the blum the happieft efforts of the painter s, or of the fculptor s art yea, of thefe combined ; for they may moulder, be broken, and loft to us for ever, but the " Life of Agricola^ from the pen of Tacitus^ will pafs through all time will be infinitely numbered will repofe in every library will be pondered upon by minds of every form ; and then will be ftill as frefh, as in the hour it firft faw light ! Delightful privilege of the pen of genius ! Tacitus will live in that, and his other works, when bronze, and marble, and even golden ftatues and other fculptures, have wholly perimed ! The charming apoftropbe to Agricola, which Tacitus read to me with deep feelings, and a moiftened eye, I will now tranfcribe for thee, knowing how refponfive thy tender heart ever is to all the noble fympathies of our nature. To me, this pathetic lamentation was * Cneius Julius Agricola died 24th Aug. A.D. 93. 484 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu0, century Apoftrophe to Agricola. extremely abforbing and, when I know that my Philotera {hares that intereft with me, mine will be doubled for I live in her ! And now for the Apoftrophe, which I will not put into Greek, as the Latin is now fomewhat familiar to thee. " What aggravates " mine, and your daughter s forrow, befides the lofs of you, is, that " we have not had the opportunity of fitting by you in your fick- " nefs, fupporting you in your faintings, and enjoying the fatisfaction u of your laft looks and embraces. Then we fhould have received " from you thofe commands and counfels which would have been " perpetually fixed on our memory. This is a great caufe of our " regret : you were loft to us by four years abfence from us. It " is certain that you, beft of fathers ! wanted nothing fuitable to " your character and circumftances, fmce your tender wife was pre- " fent with you ; but you mould have been lamented with other " tears than hers ; and in your laft moments your eyes were be- " reaved of the fight of fome who were very dear to you. If there " be any refidence for the manes of the virtuous ; if, as philosophers " think, the fouls of the great are not extinguifhed with their bodies " may you reft in peace, and recall us your family from too weak " and womanifh lamentations for your death, to the contemplation " of your virtues, which it is very unreafonable to regret. Let us " rather honour you with a juft admiration. This is the true ho- " nour, and the beft inftance of piety which we your neareft rela- " tions can fhow you. This is what I (hall reprefent to your " daughter and your wife, that the former would revere the memory " of her father, and the latter that of her hufband, by revolving all " his actions and words in their minds, and reflecting more upon the " character and idea of his foul than thofe of his body. Not that I " would, in the leaft, oppofe erecting to you images of marble or " brafs ; but as the bodies of men are perilling and mortal, fo like- " wife are their ftatues : but the form of the mind is eternal, and " can never be preferved or exprefled by any foreign materials or " art, but only by the real character and behaviour of the perfon " who imitates it. Whatever we loved or admired in Agricola ftill " remains, and will for ever remain in the minds of men, and in the " everlafting fame that attends noble actions. Many of the ancients " will be funk in oblivion, without the leaft remain of fame or re- " putation, but Agricola will be tranfmitted to pofterity, and furvive " in immortal honour."* * It will be feen, in the above extraft, that the Editor has chofen to adopt the well-known beautiful tranflation of this charming apoftrophe, in preference to the original, or to any verfion he or others could give, or have given. With the exception, then, of fome very unimportant variations, it will be found to be Mr. Murphy s tranflation. How foundly Tacitus judged, in faying that neither brafs nor marble can outlive the written delineation of a virtuous cha racter, is conclusively illuftratcd in this very cafe. Letter xxvm. c&e CftJanneung 3feto, 485 Julianus and Tacitus converfe. r the reading by Tacitus of this beautiful addrefs to the de parted fpirit of the virtuous Agricola, (undoubtedly the greateft cap tain of his age, fince duty, not ambition, ever fwayed him), Tacitus faid to me, "My dear Julianus, all loved his noble fpirit every Roman honoured him in their deepeft affections, fave one, and he was Rome s unworthy Emperor ! Domitian loved him not, being more jealous of Agricola s vaft reputation, than of the danger of his power or ambition : and we accordingly find that, in a very few years after this cruel and ridiculous Fly-Catcher came to the throne, he recalled his admirable governor from his fplendid and ufeful career in Britannia, under the fpecious pretence of favouring him with the appointment of Praefet in Syria ! So cautious, how ever, was Agricola to add no more fuel to the idle jealoufy of Do mitian, that he entered Rome with marked humility; and even vifited the Imperial palace by night, fo that the people fhould not lavifh honours upon him, which might prove unpleafant to his un grateful fovereign ! The Emperor ftill received him coldly, and allowed him to mingle unobferved, if poflible, among the crowd of courtiers and then to retire for ever into unnoted privacy." Here Tacitus ceafed fpeaking for a moment, and feemed much agitated ; the caufe I knew not then, and now tis but my conjecture, which I will prefently mention. " Had Agricola," continued Tacitus, " during the twelve years of feclufion which followed, been in the leaft imprudent, he muft have fallen a facrifice to Domitian s filly jealoufy but fuch was his fevere caution that, when the proconful- fliips of Afia and of Africa were to be difpofed of even by lot, and matters were fo that one or the other of them muft have come to Agricola, great was the fatisfaclion as well as furprife in Domitian, when Agricola came forth and folemnly requeued to be excufed from the honour of being a candidate, pleading as his apology the great love he had for retirement ! " Here Tacitus was obferved by me to heave a figh, and then faid " but death, in three years after this, removed the excellent Agricola, and thus quieted the ignoble fears of the wicked tyrant." The truth, as I afterwards learned, is, that Domitian hath been violently fufpected, by fome at leaft, of having had foul recourfe to poifon ! and this thought may have dif- turbed my Tacitus, whilft thus communing with me. ^he kindnefs of this excellent friend towards your Julianus, hath been occafioned by his fondnefs for my father ; who, as I have often told thee, was truly learned ; and, when a Have, often was moft kind to the youth Tacitus. In his great old age, and the free dom enjoyed by him for fome years, he gradually became the ad mired counfellor of Tacitus ; who, at this time, is fcarce my own age, being little more than forty. ^Qut now to return to my narrative concerning the late emperor Titus ; which will occupy me only in a few words more. The ex- 486 CJ)tOniCle0 Of CartapfrilU0, Century i. Domitian s charafter and reign. ploits of his governor in Albion had greatly pleafed Titus ; and, as Agricola had reaped much fame, fo the emperor failed not, on his account, and by that reflexion known only to fovereigns, to receive therefrom the higheft honours ; and, for the fifteenth time, the people hailed him as Imperator ! But, after a reign of only two years and a few months, the fpirit of Titus was fummoned away, and he ceafed to rule in the forty-and-firft year of his age. Now, though this good Emperor declared that, " In the whole courfe of his life, he knew of no atJion but one that he ought to repent of" yet, fuch is man s inftin&ive recoil from death, that even he grieved at its approach, and mourned that " he flwuld be taken off thus early y and fo undeservedly!" and fuch, O Philotera, are the narrow views, even of the wifeft and beft, among the Heathens ! "(Jm^hen fpeaking of Titus, as the friend of Agricola, Tacitus further remarked to me thus ; " Yes, my Julianus, this truly good emperor belonged not to an age fo corrupt as ours, he was all light Domitian all darknefs : the elder brother was capable of any kind of dignity, as even his fweet and majeftic countenance fhowed, but the younger brother was for ever grovelling in the earth ; and his countenance, at leaft for fome years paft, was as devoid of fweet- nefs, as his aclions were of true dignity." ^f, dear Philotera, I have delighted myfelf in thus detaining you with fome account of Roman virtues, and efpecially of that Titus > who > whilft we were at Pella and Edeffa > caufed us all fo much grief and terror, as God s meflen- ger and avenger on a moft guilty nation, I now fhrink with abhor rence from the details I muft give you of his fucceffor, the infamous Domitian ; who came to the throne upon the Ides of September, in the year of Rome 833.* ^here can be no doubt that Domitian s wicked ambition when he was a mere youth, would have prompted him to the facrifice alike of father and of brother, to haften his own attainment of the fupreme power ; this fa6t, and fome recent circumftances, have caufed the belief in many that the untimous and unlooked-for death of Titus, was of Domitian s procurement ; and the grounds of the ugly fuf- picion are even ftronger than in the cafe of Agricola s death : for, if we even wholly difregard the perfonal motives he had for their removal, what, O Philotera, may we not juftly impute to Domitian, whofe innate love of cruelty was fo great, as to have daily led him from the throne fecured, into a private chamber, there to amufe him- felf for an hour or more in catching flies, and piercing them with a Jharp and tiny bodkin ! Smile not, my fweet and gentle fpoufe, at a wickednefs fo fupremely ridiculous for fuch is only the prefage of * Sept. 1 3th, A.D. 81. Letter xxvm. Cfje (KEJantiedng Jeto* 487 Domitiarf s character and reign. a far more weighty and terrific (laughter, and he who can revel in the agonies of a poor infeft, would not be flow in torturing his own fpecies, even to the utmoft verge of Satanic conception ! and doubtlefs, the humorous old Crifpus fo thought of Domitian ; when, with more fun than fear, he ventured to reply, upon being queftioned whether anybody was then with the Emperor ? " No not fo much as afly!" JTjt is now eight months fmce this monfter ceafed to live ; and, upon my arrival at Rome a few days after the happy event, I faw fo many Domitian remains^ that I could fcarce help thinking his reign muft have endured quite fifty, inftead of only fifteen years ! for his vanity, like his cruelty, was fo unbounded, as to caufe his ftatues, infcriptions, and name, to be ceafeleflly in view ; and to appear in fuch truly impofing forms, as made him as omniprefent in Rome, as he vainly fuppofed his Godfolp was in all other places ! Great, however, was my fatisfadtion in foon finding, as if by fudden magic, that Domitian s memoranda of himfelf were nowhere to be feen ! for the Senate s joy at his death was fo exceffive, that they quickly aflembled, and decreed that his images, fcutcheons, and names mould forthwith be torn down and utterly deftroyed : and further, that no more honours mould be allowed at his funeral than to any common ruffian that his name mould be erafed from all the Regifters of Fame, and that his memory mould be for ever aboliflied ! J^aving thus briefly ftated how he became emperor, and how he ceafed to reign ; I will now fhortly recount his a6lions Epitome of from which thou wilt perceive that even Nero and Domitian j life Caligula have had their equal ! Such was the inordi- andattions. nate arrogance of Domitian, that he did not hefitate as his earliefl: acl: to declare, in full fenate, that the fovereign power he now wielded was merely a reftoration on the part of his father and brother of his own unqueftionable right ; and which they had en joyed only by his permiflion ! He then caufed himfelf to be ap pointed conful for ten years, that, by adding thefe to the feven confulfliips under Vefpafian, he might vaunt of an honour hitherto unknown, of being feventeen times conful ! He alfo increafed his liilors from twelve to twenty-four caufed himfelf to be proclaimed, during his reign, Imperator twenty-two times, though in facl: he had been almoft always defeated uniformly appeared before the Senate in his triumphal drefs aflumed the furname of Germanicus^ though continually unfortunate in his battles with thofe hardy people gave the fame appellation to the month of September, that being the one in which he had come to the throne ordered the month of Octo ber, in which he was born, to be called Domitianus infcribed his name upon all the edifices he had rebuilt after the great fire of the 488 CJjrOntCleg Of CattapMlUS, Century i. Domitian s character and reign. preceding reign but without the leaft notice of their previous founders filled Rome with his ftatues, allowing none to be erected to himfelf in the Capitol, unlefs of gold, or of filver crowded the ftreets, forums, and avenues with triumphal arches of victories, never achieved by him haftily retreated from the German people called the Catti, and yet claimed a triumph, appearing at that time in vaft pomp, and with hired perfons fuitably habited, to perfonate his captives aflumed the furname of Dacius, and had a further triumph for a war with the Dacians, but which, in truth, was ended by a difgraceful peace and treaty was conveyed from place to place during his wars, in a litter, and was likewife then attended by a moft ridiculous and effeminate luxury. But thefe were not even the chief Domitian follies, difcontented with the titles even of " Lord," and of " Mafter," fo modeftly rejected even by Auguftus and Tiberius, he impioufly afTumed that of divinity itfelf, caufmg temples to be erected to his honour, and divine worfhip to be therein paid to him as a God ; and was moft wickedly accofted by the licentious and fhamelefs poet Martial, as Dominus Deusque Lord and God ! And finally, that he might derive to himfelf a peculiar fame, and to his reign an infamous notoriety, he delighted to refort to unknown, or wholly obfolete punimments fuch as the burning to death of Veftal virgins ! *^]hefe are fome of the cruel, blafphemous, filly and oftentatious acts of this monarch, more than my Philotera can endure to think of; and, were his other follies and enormities merely enumerated, many rolls of my papyrus would be filled by the loathfome catalogue. A few particulars, however, and then let us leave Domitian to the execration of a far more virtuous pofterity than will people Rome in our brief day. Ijjjjrjtnefs, good Philotera, his mercilefs conduct at a late fea- fight, which he exhibited in an immenfe lake that he caufed to be made adjoining the Tiber ! The crowd was unexampled, and had convened to flatter the emperor, more than to amufe themfelves : and yet, when a driving rain came on, Domitian amufed himfelf with forbidding any one to feek the leaft melter, fo that many perifhed from the fevere colds which their long expofure had given them ! But his diabolical character is further revealed by his favourite maxim ; which, ftrange to fay, fome have afcribed to thy countryman, Demofthenes ; and that hateful maxim is that " dif- truft is the people s fafeguard again/} tyrants and the tyrant* s fafe- guard again/I all!" truly a faying of infamous origin, and of moft devaftating influence, if much practifed. Witnefs ftill again, his murder of many Stoic philofophers, and of fome aftrologers and likewife his decree to banifh them all from Italy : among thefe, as I remember, were the great Epifletus, the philofopher and Tele- Letter xxvm. c&c ^lantJeting 3[eto, 489 Domitian s charafter and reign. sj the poet. I may alfo mention his putting Lamia to death, merely for ufmg fome old and innocent jefts alfo Lucullus, for per mitting fome new fort of lances, called by him Lucullians and yet further, the fenators -Prifcus^ Rujticus^ and Senecio, who were exe cuted on the moft idle fufpicions, fuch as their being poffibly cogni zant of Antoninus rebellion ! {Civility from Domitian was often an alarming prefage of fome coming evil ! as, for example, in the inftance of his kindly fummon- ing to his chamber the Comptroller of his houfehold, caufmg him to be feated in his prefence, converfmg moft frankly with him, dif- miffing him moft cheerfully, fending him that night a favourite dim from his own table and then crucifying him on the next morning ! r hefe enormities, great as they are, ftill feem to fade into un importance compared with his cruelties praclifed upon the harmlefs Chriftians, without regard to age, fex, or S p^ c ^ r Q f condition. This, my Philotera, is the fecond great the Chriftians perfecution of the followers of our Faith. The caufes of Domitian s fpecial ire againft them are faid to be two ; firft, as he would not, or could not diftinguifh between Jews and Chriftians in general, there having been, unfortunately for the latter, fome withholding by the Jews of the tributes due to the national fife, and, in matters of revenue, Domitian was never lenient and fecondly, as he had liftened with jealoufy to fome vague rumours concerning a Meffiah, who would rule over all, and who was to come from Judea ; which caufed him to fear that fome of the lineage of King David might arife to difpute with him the throne ! Upon that idle furmife, fo little underftood by him, that man of fupreme power and of no confcience, decreed that all of King David s line mould be diligently fought after, and flain : whereupon, two grandfons of the Apoftle Jude being brought into his prefence, their humility and poverty were fo evident that, added to their declaration that Chrift s kingdom was not, and never would be, one of this world, he dif- mifled them with obvious contempt ! But the perfecution raged on, and an order was iffued that, " No ChrijKan brought before the tribunal Jhould be exempt from punijhment^ unlefs upon renouncing his religion." Should the captives refufe to take the teft-oath, death followed ; but if they confeffed themfelves Chriftians, at all, how little, my Philotera, could Domitian expel from them an abandon ment of their faith ! but he learned to know them better. During the few years of this perfecution, very many perifhed. DIONYSIUS, the Areopagite, an early friend of our Alcaeus, became a martyr at Athens. At Mediolanum we hear that Gervafms and Protafius met the like fate ; and at Ephefus, our dear and honoured TIMOTHY, as I learned only within thefe few days, was cruelly flain by the votaries of Diana. The account I have of that matter is, that 49 Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, century \. Domitian St. John s Book of Revelation. whilft the Heathens were celebrating their feftival called Catagogeon^ the venerable bifhop Timothy met the proceflion, and warmly re proved their abfurd folly ; this fo exafperated ibme of the lower order, that they inftantly fell upon the pious old man, and beat him to death with their batoons ! This news cannot yet have reached our cheriihed Rebecca ; who, from her long refidence at Ephefus, became much attached to this excellent man. It feems, however, that the good Aquila ftill lives there in fafety, in his now greatly advanced age ; for, though Timothy thus perifhed, our holy faith hath made no fmall impreflion at Ephefus. fjn. the perfecution under Domitian s decree (which I fuppofe is now wholly ended even in the provinces, his fucceflbr during the part eight months being quite friendly to our people) there alfo perimed many others known to thee, at leaft by name. Among thefe were Simeon^ once bifhop of Jerufalem, and he was cruci fied; alfo Nicodemus^ who was beheaded at Rome, and Cle?nens, even though a coufin-german of the mad emperor ! Domitian alfo banifhed Domitilla, wife of Clemens, to the ifland of Pandetaria, alfo Flavia, daughter of a Roman fenator, to Pontus. H[ need dwell no longer on this terrific proceeding, than to mention that JOHN, the apoftle and evangelift, who is Revelations now g reat ty advanced in age, alfo fell under the early operation of this decree, but only to the extent of his banimment to the ifland of Patmos, where he remained during the whole perfecution. It feems, however, that he has lately been re- leafed ; as fome Chriftians here with whom I have converfed, have a rumour that John, upon leaving Patmos, went to Ephefus, and there hath given to the Church a wonderful " BOOK OF REVELATIONS," concerning things that are to come to pafs, from the prefent time, even unto the end of the ages ! This moft interefting volume I have not yet feen, there being fcarce time for it to have reached Rome. Melchior promifed to be here as foon as he can well leave Athens, which may not be for a year or more ; and doubtlefs he will bring the Book of Revelations with him, or fooner fend it, as he is in conftant communion by letter with Aquila at Ephefus. ^ am pleafed that I may here end what I had to fay of this odious perfecution ; but I cannot yet part with its author, as fome ftrange things are faid to have preceded his death, which, whilft they Ihow the terrors of his guilty confcience, equally manifeft either the powers of Satan, or that God fometimes permits to Heathens, as well as to Chriftians, a faint infight into futurity or laftly, which is the more probable, in the prefent cafe at leaft, that what I have to relate has more of fabrication than of prophecy. ^]hou muft often have heard our good and now fainted friend Prifcilla, and others, fpeak of that remarkable man Apollonius of Letter xxviu. c&e 2j0antiermg 3(eto. 491 Domitian Apollonius of Tyana. Tyana, not only as a philofopher and magician of great note, but fo great, that fome have impioufly likened him to the Meffiah ! It feems, then, that in fpite of Domitian s averfion to the aftrologers, magicians, and philo- fophers, he could not refift giving an audience to Apollonius ; who, as the ftory goes, performed many wonderful feats of magic before him and then inftantly vanifhed clean away ! Now, this fame magician happening to be at Ephefus, at the time that Domitian was flain at Rome, was heard by many fuddenly to cry out, " Strike the tyrant home courage my brave Stephanus ! Strike him home. All now is well; the Tyrant is no more he is juft now Jlain ! " And all this was faid, as was afterwards afcertained, at the very inftant that the mortal blow was given ! This, dear Philotera, is furely wonderful, if it be a truth. It is further faid that the Chaldean aftrologers continued their predictions refpe&ing Domitian s death, which greatly tortured him : whereupon he fent for one of them, named Afeleterion, and demanded of him whether he had publifhed any prediction refpe&ing his death ; and the aftrologer replying in the affirmative, Domitian faid, " O Afeleterion ! dojt thou know thy own fate, and what will be thy death?" and his inftant reply was, " Tea, Domitian, 1 Jhall be devoured by the dogs ! " The Emperor ordered him to immediate execution, hoping to convit him of im- pofture, by flaying and burning him with all poffible care ; but, whilft his officers were actively engaged in performing their truft, a fudden tempeft arofe, which blew down the funeral pile, and caft off the body when lo ! fome dogs that were prowling about, quickly feized upon the lifelefs body, and devoured it ! r hat there is fome foundation for this tale, I queftion not ; but, my Philotera, how eafily are falfehoods blended with fome truth all may have occurred, except the two predictions ; and indeed, as to the firft, had Afeleterion pronounced even confidently on Domi tian s death, there furely was enough in the then political atmofphere to enable him fo to do ; and, at moft this would have been but a ftirewd guefs from pregnant circumftances and, as to the fecond, it is far more probable that Afeleterion made fome general remark thereon, which Domitian defigned to falfify. ^j^hou doft remember a certain Epaphroditus, of whom Carta- philus fo often fpoke as being Nero s fecretary ? This man, grown old in the fervice of emperors, was at laft cruelly murdered by Domitian, for no other caufe than that he might imprefs upon thofe around him, the danger of aiding royalty to die, even fhould death be coveted ! for this Epaphroditus had been faithful to his mafter Nero, and merely affifted the feeble ftroke that the timid monarch defired to inflict upon himfelf, and yet Domitian, after twenty-and- eight years filence thereon, bafely flew him, that he might teach a 49 2 CbrOniCleS Of CattapfnlUS, Century Domitian s Prefentiment of his death. leflbn to his own domeilics, never to meddle with royal blood, even mould it be weary of life, and to fave it from the ruder ftabs of his foes ! ^Jut, whatever may have been the power of the aftrologers their falfehoods, or the additions and after-thoughts of others, it (till is undeniably true that Domitian himfelf had very ftrong prefenti- ments of his approaching fate ! PRESENTIMENTS! What, deareft fpoufe, is this myfterious glance into futurity whence doth it fpring and to what extent doth it really exift ? I will not argue, nor refolve thefe queftions, but only fay that, he is no philofopher, who, taking the many authentic cafes of perfons whofe death fpeedily followed their ftrong anticipations of it, mould in all fuch cafes blend the fentiment with the event, and regard them all as divine premonitions ! and he, on the other hand, is perhaps (till lefs of a philofopher, and no Chriftian, who habitually rejects all alliance be tween the foul s impreflions and their accomplimment, and coldly afcribes the feelings and their realization to naught but chance, or poflibly to the mere operation of a ftrongly agitated mind upon a feeble and then perifhing body ! to me, each of thcfe feems alike an extreme, for, who can doubt but that the foul, when upon eternity s verge, yea, even when the body is not difeafed, is fome- times permitted to fee dimly through the thin veil that divides the prefent from the future ? I cannot doubt it, my Philotera. fj\ Domitian s cafe it is quite certain that, during fome flames of lightning more terrific than ufual, he was heard to cry out, " Let Jupiter Jtrike whom he pleafeth ;" and foon after, having ordered fome choice fruits to be prepared for his ufe on the next day, he alfo faid with much feeling, " If it be my fortune to ufe thefe fruits then" and it is equally true that he faid to his attendants, " To-tnor- row fome fatal thing will happen^ and that will prove the difcourfe of all the world!" Now, this feemingly dreaded day, was that upon which he was affaflinated ! ^Jefore midnight of that day, Domitian leaped out of his bed in great terror ; and afking the hour, was falfely told by his attendants that the Clepfydra had already noted midnight. This being an hour later than his prefentiment had counted on, the emperor was greatly relieved thereby, and confidered his danger as now paft, upon which he haftened to refrefh himfelf with a bath but, in going thither, was met by Stephanus^ who plunged a dagger into him, which was followed by many others, inflicted by confpirators of his houfehold ! <^hus perifhed Titus Flavius Domitianus, a man odioufly il- luftrious, whom no one loved, fave the Praetorian Guards fo often the wicked inftruments of his cruelty, and the only beings upon whom he had lavifhed kindnefles ! Thefe Praetorians, with an Letter xxvm. c&e ^antJeting 3|eto. 493 Nerva s reign Authors of this Century. equally wicked confiftency, were the only ones who now defired to do his memory honour and they would have canonized him as a God ! With Domitian expires the Vefpafian family he being the twelfth of the Caefars, and the ninth of them who came to an unna tural end ! 5HARCUS COCCEIUS NfiRVA, now in the feventieth year of his age, hath been emperor during the eight months fmce I am here ; and what he may eventually prove muft " et "v a jbf- yet be hoped for, as the beginning is no fure prefage of m pi re an emperor s reign : but it rejoices me, dear Philotera, to fay that thus far he has given ftrong indications of great worth ; and having been much honoured by Vefpafian and Titus, and hated by Domitian, who banifhed him to Tarentum, give me great aflur- ance that Rome in him will have repofe. Great muft have been the joy to hear, that the firft aft of Nerva s reign was the revoca tion of the edicts againft the Chriftians, their permiflion to return to Rome, and freely to exercife their religion.* JH Ithough Domitian liked not the Hiftorians of his time, fmce he would have no one praifed but himfelf, and he feared their cenfures far more than he expected their appro- Roman au - bation, yet Flavins Jofephus had the good fortune to ^7 retain his favour, and to be permitted to finifh his " Hiftoryof the Jewifh Antiquities," which appeared near four years ago, that is, in the early part of the xiiith of Domitian s reign. His firft work, as you well know, is entitled the "Wars of the Jews," and appeared about four years after the deftruction of Jeru- falem.f * Nerva s reign continued a very mild and equitable one ; but endured only about eight months after Julianus thus writes of him ; and, in all, juft iixteen months and nine days. The Praetorians gave him fome trouble, and convinced him that more energy of body as well as of mind were now required than in one of his age, which caufed him to adopt Trajan as his affociate and fuccefTor a moft fortunate feleclion, as will be hereafter feen, for the glory of Rome, and the repofe of the Church. f As Julianus makes no mention of but thefe two works, the firft of which was publifhed A. D. 75 and the fecond A. D. 93, it is probable that the others ap peared a few years after. His autobiography doubtlefs was given to the world at the clofe of his eventful life; which was probably in the ivth of Trajan, A.D. 101 ; when Jofephus was in the 65th year of his age. His two books againft Apion are an appendix to his " Antiquities;" the fecond only of which is refpon- five to the calumnies of Apion the firft being a mafterly vindication of his main work, and deligned as a reply to the incredulity of the Greeks refpeh ng all Hebrew hiftory ! and both were probably publifhed in the year preceding his death. It is fuppofed by fome that this work was written in Judea, he hav ing retired, in the early time of Trajan, to thofe Paleftinian eftates that had been made to him tax-free by Domitian. The Difcourfe addrefled by Jofephus to the Greeks, concerning the nature of Hades, is as curious as interefting. In 494 <f)rOmCleS Of CattapfrilUS, Century i. Seneca The Plinys Jofephus Quintilian. CDy prefent wifh, dear Philotera, is to bring to your notice only fome of the many works of the great philosophers poets orators and hiftorians, who have adorned Rome fmce my departure upon Nero s death. This muft be very mortly done ; for their works will be better recommended to thy regard by their careful ftudy, than by my moft elaborate praifes ; and, when thou malt be with me here in Rome, how delightful will it be for me to advife and confult with thee, as to what mall be nourished, and what avoided for all, truly, may not be read by chafte minds, be they Heathen or Chriftian. |TTet me, then, firft mention the numerous writings of the younger SENECA, in Nero s time all of which are for the heart ; and alfo the works of PLINY, whom Vefuvius deftroyed, about eighteen years ago, when Pompeii was overwhelmed, and all of whofe writings are for the mind, as they treat chiefly of corporeal things, in all their boundlefs varieties and riches, but in which this Pliny could fee no evidences of a God ! Born at Verona, he be came one of the moft learned of all the Romans, as is deeply mown in his Hiftory of Nature, in xxxvii books, replete with all the wonders of creation and yet without their chief ufe, thofe marks of defign and of providential goodnefs, which Pliny could not fee ! He is alfo the author of one hundred and fixty volumes of Annota tions upon various authors ! So boundlefs, indeed, were his ac quirements, and fo great the value of thofe Annotations, that, as I am informed, a certain Lubinius offered him no lefs than five golden talents for them ! which, not needing money, he promptly de clined.* J] muft alfo fpecially recommend QUINTILIAN ; who, like the elder Seneca, was a Spaniard, and a famous rhetorician. Domitian fuffered him to enjoy a peaceful retirement ; and there he wrote his admirable " Inftitutes of the Orator " which even young maidens fine, the writings of this diftinguifhed Jew are an ineftimable treafure as works of great refearch in Greek authorities, many of which have perifhed ; they mould be found in every library, and efpecially of thofe whofe faith in the Jewifh and Chriftian chronicles, whether political or religious, is, from any caufe, feeble and wavering, for he muft be an inveterate fceptic, who can refift the mafs of teftimony given by Jofephus teftimony, not by any means derived from Jewifh fources only ; but mainly from profane authorities then well known ; and, as to the exemplary deftruftion of the Jewifh nation and institutions, de rived from his own ocular evidence; vouched, likewife, by Vefpafian, by Titus, and, not to forget, by Herod Agrippa, all of whom were fo prominent in effefting that wonderful cataftrophe. * Thefe five talents amount to 3,24.07. fterling or about 14,500 dollars. None of the works of the elder Pliny are now extant, except his Natural Hif- tory; of which there is a French tranflation, in 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1833 and in ii vols. 8vo, after the original, edited by Lemaire. Paris, 1832. Letter xxvm. Cf)e (KBan&ering; 3(eto. 495 Quintilian Silius Italicus Statius. would read with great advantage, but which every Roman and Greek mother mould not fail carefully to ftudy ; for Oratory, my Philotera, is truly a divine art, and its feeds fhould be planted in the mind during its tendered infancy ; for words and their intona tions, and all the graces of gefticulation that give force to artificial language, may be imparted to children at a very early age. In this delightful work there is much that unfolds the elements of fpeech, its philofophy, and the fources of thofe feelings which energize and give expreffivenefs to diction. Hence is it that I now recommend this work to thee ; for, when our little family are eftablifhed in the Imperial City, you, my Philotera, though a Greek by birth, will be a Roman matron, in all thofe virtues of heart and of head, that fo ufually have diftinguifhed the daughters of Rome ; and to thefe thou wilt add, as I know, the much brighter and more enduring principles of our holy religion. J^ince the time I left Rome with our lamented Cartaphilus, there have alfo been fome poets, of no little note ; and among thefe I would mention only two ; namely, SILIUS ITALICUS, whom I well remember as a lawyer of fome eminence, and as Conful at the time of Nero s death. His poem relates to the Second Punic War ; and though not a production of a very high order, is much fuperior to many we now read, for his poetical defcriptions are faithful to nature ; and the narrative is not only highly veracious, but is replete with vivid and extremely interefting delineations of men and things. ^he other poet is PAPINIUS STATIUS ; who was born at Nea- polis, and is now refident, as I believe, in Rome. I was made known to him by Tacitus, and alfo by Jofephus, neither of whom, however, admire him much, either as a man, or as a poet, not as the former, ever fince his venal adulation of Domitian ; which alfo manifested impiety and not as a poet, becaufe their own tafte is too pure to admire his fmgular affectations his bombaft his declamations and his too often departures from the imaginative regions of poetry, into thofe of the dull realities of mere narrative hiftory : and yet Statius is now a very general favourite, which either fpeaks not well for the pervading tafte of our age, or fhows that favour may be purchafed by circumftances, little dependent upon real merit. Still, the THEBAIS, in xii Books, and his ACHIL- LEIS, in ii Books, or rather, in one book, the fecond being quite incomplete and laftly, his SYLVJE, in vii Books, are by no means to be difregarded.* * It feems that the poet Statius died only a few months before the date of this letter, in his 35th year: but of which, it is, perhaps, not furprifmg that Julianus was then uninformed. 49 6 C&tCmiCleS Of CattapjriiUS, Century Early Martyrs and Confeffors. , my very goodnatured Philotera, I muft now end my very long epiftle ; which, I fear, hath fufficiently tried even thy bound- lefs patience ; and only aflure thee that at EdefTa will I be in a few months hence : until then, think of me always kifs our beloved children often in my behalf and fail not to read the Seneca, and the Quintilian, which I am now fo fortunate as to have it in my power to fend to thee, by the trufty tabellarius, named Catiline. FARE-THEE-WELL. T JULIANUS. LETTER XXIX. MELCHIOR TO AQUILA [at Ephefus]. ATHENS, Elul 3rd; Seleucida:, 413. [Aug. 1 3th, A.D. ioo.] WAS happy, my venerated Aquila, once more to behold thy well-known fignet to a few lines from thee, giving me aflurance that, though now in thy ninetieth year, the infirmities of age do not yet prefs forely on thee : and I have rejoiced to hear that the Church has had peace ever fmce the melancholy fate, three years ago, of our juftly beloved Timotheus. I am fure it was in him a moft holy zeal that prompted the indifcreet admonition of the people, at the moment they were engaged in their idolatrous feaft of the Catagogion, then fo ill-timed, becaufe of Domitian s decree againft the Chriftians, then only proclaimed in Ephefus ; and alfo as the people always endure admonition better in private than in public, efpecially when they happen to be occupied in their own religious and fuperftitious exercifes.* ^he fifteen years that have pafTed fmce I parted from EdefTa, have been fpent by me, as a wanderer in far diftant regions, feeing what fmall good I might effect in the Church wherever found : and though I have endured great calamities, and fome perils of life and limb, during quite thirty and eight years, yet none have grieved me fo much as the fearful perfecutions by Domitian in the laft year of his terrific reign : for in it, I loft many precious friends. * At the time of Timothy s death at Ephefus, in A. D. 97, it is probable he was in his 6gth year; and had furvived Paul about thirty years. His age is inferrible from the date of Paul s Firft Epiftle to Timothy, (the afcribed dates of which have been either A. D. 58, or 64.) at which time the age of Timothy is veiy generally admitted to have been about 30 : and if of that age in A. D. 58, (the more accurate date of the Firft Epiftle,) Timothy was in his 69th year at the time of his martyrdom at Ephefus. Letter xxix. c&e cKEJanDeung; Jeto* 497 Early Martyrs and Confeflbrs. n I caft my eye through the vifta of the laft twenty or thirty years, I am aftonifhed and mocked to find how much thinned by martyrdoms are the ranks of thofe Ear ^ m " r *y r3 holy meflengers who commenced our great caufe ; "* and yet, my Aquila, neither toils, nor perfecutions, nor deaths, ftay it in the leaft ! but the modeft ftar of Calvary is becoming a warm and bright fun Calvary will furely rife far above Pifgah ; and the greateft of all revolutions the world hath known will fpring from the labours begun by a few obfcure, defpifed, and now perfecuted and Slaughtered Galileans ! Scarce any of them, indeed, remain to encourage us ; but we know they have reared a numerous progeny deftined, as we believe, to fulfil every promife made by IfraePs God to our great father Abraham. Of the crucifixion of our honoured Jude, at Lunie, of Perfia, thou haft doubtlefs heard ; as alfo of Simon Zelotes, who, after having proclaimed the Gofpel in Egypt, in Mefopotamia, Lybia, and in Perfia, was there flain, with his beloved companion Jude ! It has been ftrangely rumoured by the ignorant that Simon Peter, whom Nero deftroyed, had vifited the remote Albion : but this I believe to be not poflible : that benighted ifland is faid to be peopled by a fine race ; and from the genial fertility of its foil, and its many infular advantages, it may become one of the greateft of all the Roman provinces. ^f\ was my misfortune, O Aquila, to witnefs the death of Dionyfius, one of Domitian s victims ; and the melancholy news I promptly detailed to the excellent Alcaeus, at Edefla, the great Areopagite having been moft kind to him, when Alcaeus was a poor orphan at Athens. As to Luke, the phyfician, and great Evange- lift, no doubt he died a natural death in Achaia, in the 84th year of his age, fo that the rumour we heard of his being fufpended by the neck, on an olive tree, by certain idolatrous priefts in Greece, is quite fabulous. ^OHN, whom Jefus fo much loved, I am rejoiced to hear, is living with thee at Ephefus, full of years, and honours. Old age, good Aquila, feems to border upon eternity, it is then that the fpirit of prophecy is clearer, not in the Seer only but poflibly in all good men. Marvellous, indeed, are the " REVELATIONS " vouchfafed to him, when an exile at Patmos ! The copy juft received of thee has been read of many ; and in all of us with a fearful wonder : what it imports, in many parts, we wot not but coming ages will doubtlefs know. The interefting narrative you alfo fent me, refpe&ing John s tendernefs towards that amiable but mifguided youth of Smyrna, had been previoufly rumoured here ; and thy confirmation of it gave us all great joy making that moft venerated Apoftle yet more dear to us. I doubt not but that I. K K 49 8 CJtOmcI00 Of CattapiniUS, Century i. Education among the Primitive Chriftians. the youthful robber himfelf (fo ftrangely refcued by John) will now remain not only ftedfaft to our caufe, but, in time, may prove a great captain of falvation to others.* ^3 ut > venerable Aquila, if the account of the reclaimed youth heightened our affections towards that aged Apoftle, Chriftians we were 7 et more grateful to him from the detail in thy laft letter regarding his great exertions in the mat ter of educating our Chriftian youths ; and efpecially for his daily toils in building up at Ephefus a fchool, wherein are taught, not only all that belongs to facred erudition, but equally all that is ufe- ful in mere human learning : fo that, whether its pupils be def- tined to ferve at the altar, or only in matters of worldly concern ment, they may each be well qualified for their refpeclive duties. That great Apoftle, taught from on high, and, before his call, but little verfed in human knowledge, now knows that fuch exalted gifts as were vouchfafed to himfelf, and to the other founders of our holy religion, are not deftined to be thus miraculoufly given and continued to all who mall follow. Man muft ftill continue, as be fore, to toil for knowledge of both kinds ; and John doubtlefs re members that before his preternatural illumination, his own mind needed much even for his own daily wants : and that had he re mained fo, he muft have proved, at his then age, an unprofitable teacher, even of the fimple and beautiful truths of Chriftianity which, though level to the minds of infants, is yet fo boundleflly expanfive that the wifeft will never exhauft it ; and which in the hands of bad men, is by their cunning artifices, and falfe views, fo prefented to young or ignorant minds, as fhall need educated men to refute them : and fuch, for example, was the late Apollonius of Tyana. Hence John s dedication of his few remaining days to the great matter of Education, (hows his deep regard for the growth of the newly-planted Tree ; and his conviction that human knowledge ought to be made a powerful auxiliary to thefacred; and that, as allies, they are effe&ual againft ingenious infidels ; and become an exhauftlefs fource of convictions, a copious fountain of eloquence, * Melchior here, no doubt, alludes to an affefting ftory recorded by Eufebius, in Book in. chap. xxm. The Apoftle John died about a year after the date of Melchior s letter, in the third year of Trajan the Saint being then in the looth year of his age. The narrative concerning the Smyrna youth feems to have been extracted from Clemens Alexandrinus, who lived only about a century after the Apoftle s death, and about another century before Eufebius. The ex alted character of Clemens for piety and fcholarfliip is ftrong voucher for the authenticity of the ftory, fo confidently relied on by himfelf as true. Clemens thus commences the interefting narrative. " Liften to aflory that is nofiEtion but a veracious hiflory, handed down, and carefully preferred, refpefling the Apoftle "John" Letter xxix. Cjje 223anDeting: 3[eto 499 Apollonius of Tyana. and of impreffive oratory, and plant our religion deep in the under- Jlanding, as well as warmly in the heart. And that our holy caufe is by no means deftined to repofe alone upon the pious zeal of an un learned mlnijiry, is not only thus demonftrated by John s care for education, but alfo by the like regard manifefted by the excellent MARK ; whofe early zeal prompted him to eftablifti at Alexandria the Catechetical School. So alfo the learned Paul, in all of his labours, never avoided the due ufe of human knowledge ; for furely the teachings he received at Tarfus (a great city, and afterwards at the feet of the illuftrious Gamaliel) caufed his teachings to reach alike the head and heart ; and imparted to his words great delight, as well as power. And moreover, now that the emperors Nerva and Trajan have revoked the wicked decrees of Domitian, I can not but joyfully anticipate the revival and eftablifhment of many fuch fchools in Rome, and in all the other great cities of the em pire being firmly convinced that, as Satanus will not fail to avail himfelf of all the artifices of a perverted human and facred learning, the duty of all Chriftians becomes the more imperative, that they be well fortified to meet thefe artful fubtleties and this can be done only by a thorough union of divine and human learning.* jf-|nd this view of the matter has been ftill more imprefled upon my mind, by reafon of my frequent interviews with that dangerous man Apollonius of Tyana ; who died very y omus i i t i / r i !/ T.yan<eus. recently at an advanced age and whole eventful lire has been decidedly mifchievous, no lefs to true philofophy than to found religion he having been highly gifted, and deeply learned in all human things both of which he fhamefully abufed, by dedi cating himfelf, with no fmall zeal and eloquence, to his own felfifh purpofes of mere worldly and temporary fame. jFTs I have feen and alfo heard a good deal of that extraordinary man, (but with whofe proceedings, whilfr. at Ephefus, I muft afk of thee, my Aquila, the particulars,) I fhall now briefly detail a few of the events of his life elfewhere, as known to me during his laft twenty years. f {&iJl. nen Domitian came to the throne, Apollonius was in Egypt : and having ever been a great admirer of Vefpafian, and of his fon Titus, but an equal hater of Domitian, (whofe jealoufy of his elder brother, and whofe meditated treafon againft his father, caufed * That the views of Melchior were alfo thofe of the primitive Chriftians generally is obvious, from the early eftablimment of feminaries of Chriftian phi lofophy, and of fecular learning, which, in a ftiort time were found at Rome, Antioch, Edeffa, Nifibis, Caefarea, Seleucia, and at many other places. f For the early hiftory of Apollonius, fee ante page 35*, in Prifcilla s Narra tive; and alfo in Letters xxvii xxxv. 500 Chronicles of CartapWlu.s, Century i. Philofophy of Epiftetus. Apollonius very juftly to deteft the morals of this Domitian,) he took fo active a part in exciting a fedition againft Domitian, and in favour of Nerva, that it had nearly caufed him the forfeiture of life. As to his participation in that fedition, there can be no doubt : but, by what artfully-contrived magic he was refcued from the fangs of Domitian, it is not eafy even to conjecture : his thorough know ledge of human nature, however, and his deep acquaintance with the myfteries of the occult fciences, and of the ftrange arts in the remote Eaft, together with his winning manners, and likewife the prevailing hatred againft that tyrant, were doubtlefs the chief caufes of his wonderful efcape : for, when Apollonius was ordered to be feized and brought to Rome, he promptly repaired thither of his own accord ; and appeared fo little to dread a trial, that even Domitian might have deemed him innocent of the charge, and himfelf groffly deceived by his informers ! The examination of the cafe was entrufted to the praetor Elian ; who feems to have fpeedily acquitted him ! ^^ut Apollonius was too experienced in mankind generally, and knew Domitian too well in particular, to continue in Rome : and in a few weeks thereafter, I met him in Athens it being there I firft faw him ; and, as might be expected from his character, I then found him, and almoft ever, a zealous attendant on fome one or other of the numerous Temples, Gymnafia, Lycaeums, or other feats of education, or of religion, with which Athens fo much abounds. *J\ fo occurred that, ftiortly after I reached Athens, I was ftand- ing clofe to the portal of Pan s Grotto, then converfing E&tus with E P^ etus of Hierapolis, the great Stoic philofopher, who had juft been exiled from Rome by Domitian. Our converfation refpedled the foul s immortality ; in which Epic- tetus, in common with his feel, is a firm believer. " But how comes it, O Epicletus!" faid I, "that the Stoics^ who value the foul as an ever-enduring entity, and, confequently an emanation from Deity, and hence placed within the body by Him, for fame fixed purpofe, how comes it, I fay, that the Stoics mould ftill regard the foul as fo far within man s control, that he may fever it from its earthly refidence, when, and as he lifteth ?" " X[n this, good Melchior," replied Epicletus, " I differ from my afibciates Suicide I deem unlawful ; for I cannot but think that, if the body hath been fo artfully contrived, and wonderfully fafhioned as the foul s tabernacle, and yet perifheth in due time, and not of its own accord, the man who, by felf-immolation, haftens its deftruction, and thus dares to return to its Maker the difem- bodied fpirit, before HE hath called for it, commits an act of fupreme impiety : for furely, the body hath been given in tritjl to the foul ; and whilft the health and perfection of the former are to be ftudioufly Letter xxix. c&0 ftUanUermg Ueto. 501 Philofophy and Religion of Apollonius. guarded by the latter, the foul s affections are to be equally watched nay with a much livelier care, left the mere troubles of life, de- figned to make us grateful, ihould make us but cowards and in- grates." jfjt this moment approached APOLLONIUS of Tyana, whom Epi&etus well knew ; and having named me to him, as Melchior, of Jerufalem that was. Apollonius joined A P oll niu * <&f- r i , c i ii- j courfes upon in our converfation with a cheerful dignity and, at the God Pan length, he mufingly, and in a whifper, faid, " But why do we abide here fo long before PAN S GROTTO? doth the like fear of that God, whom Domitian feems to dread more than all others, bring us three here at his very portal, and to do him homage ? " and then, with a raifed voice, he further faid, " Thou and I, my worthy Epicletus, are in no good grace with that mad tyrant of the Roman world." " Nor is Melchior in any better plight," rejoined Epictetus, " who, as a Ckr iftian, hath fpecial caufe to fear him much and far more than he doth the god, whofe image is above us." " jFnd yet, if PAN be rightly understood," added Apollonius, " none is lefs truly a worlhipper of that univerfal god, than Domi tian : doubtlefs, he fears him greatly, as do many others whofe confciences make cowards of them ; but fear is no juft wormip of even Pan.* Behold the ftatue of the god, which is here over the entrance \ It doth reprefent him as, in part, a goat he hath horns his face is vivacious his complexion ruddy ; and on his breaft is a ftar, and with ftars is his robe befpangled : he holds in his hand a pipe of feven reeds his legs are hairy, and his feet are alfo thofe of a goat \ There is much, O wife Epicletus, and thou, O Chriftian Melchior \ that is bidden beneath all thefe, which are but fymbolic of his true nature, and yet the impious and foolifh world have groflly perverted them all they feeing in Pan little elfe than the chiefeft among the Satyrs^ arid the caufe of terror in every country ! " %) erm it me then, good Melchior," continued Apollonius, " to raife for thee the thick veil, which time and ignorance and wicked- nefs have caft over Pan : for thou art from Judea ; and, like other Jews, may poflibly view all this as foul idolatry and coarfe fuper- ftition but Epicletus needs no counfel in this wife from Apollonius, and knoweth how fadly corrupted the glorious wormip of Pan hath become. * The fear of the god PAN has pafl ed into a proverb, as indicating that caufelefs alarm, which often feizes upon multitudes, as well as individuals, and which wicked, or nervous men experience without fufficient reafon : hence a "panic, " or "panic-fear" Signifies to this day, an inordinate apprehenfion or terror, from ideal or inadequate caufes. 502 Chronicles of Cartapjrilus, Century i. Philofophy and Religion of Apollonius. then that, in all nature are only two eternal principles the Atfive and the Pajfive : the former embraceth all mind, and is called the Demiurgic Intelligence the latter all matter, and is known as Chaos, otherwife Rhea. Both principles are neceflary, and, of courfe, eternal. But all matter hath been fa/hioned, not merely CREATED, by the Demiurgus whofe five attributes, viz. wifdom power activity goodnefs and jujllce ftill maintain it. " ^n the great work of fajhioning the rude elements of Chaos into the moft fkilful and beauteous forms, the Active Principle is reprefented by thofe whom we call Vulcan, Minerva, Vejia, Hecate, and Nemefis : and Epictetus will join me in alluring thee, O Chriftian, that the Greeks regard not thefe five, and other fubordi- nates that might be named, as diftinct and fubftantive gods ; and that, whatever may be the crude opinion of the inconfiderate and vulgar many, the philofophic and confiderate few admit not poly- tbeifm, ftridtly fo called, but fee God everywhere ; and that, fb far from worshipping thefe as diftinct deities, we receive them not even as agents of the great Demiurgic Intelligence ; but merely as names of his varied modifications, in the great formative procefles, whereby beauty and order arofe out of Chaos. " ^ft is indeed true, O Melchior, that to each are afcribed nu merous acts of power, of wifdom, of goodnefs, and of juftice; and that to them have been attributed marriages amours and pro geny : it is true likewife, that the religion of the firft ages hath been much allegorized and corrupted by fables, through the lapfe of time, and in various countries, but ftill, I declare unto thee that VULCAN can import nothing but the formative power of the Active Principle operating upon inert matter that MINERVA, who is faid to have iftued in full maturity, and in perfect armour, from the brain of Jupiter, (which is but another name of the Demiurgus,) and alfo to have been fought in marriage by Vulcan, ftill can fignify only the perfect: wifdom with which all things are fafhioned out of the Paflive Principle ! " ^pn like manner VESTA, whofe temple is ever without an image, and in its own form doth reprefent the world, and within which temple is ever burning a pure flame that can be approached by the immaculate alone Vefta, I fay, whofe prieftefles are the chafteft of virgins, and who remains in her temple immoveable, whatever revolutions may difturb the univerfe, and though all the Gods and Demons (hould attend the fummons of Jupiter this Vefta, I fay, ftill continues the fource of all motion that imprefles matter and to her are afcribed all life and beat and elementary fire and thus doth She aid Vulcan ! " !^3 ut tne P ower -> ivifdom, and acJivity of the Demiurgus are further made efficient by his goodnefs ; which is reprefented by HE- Letter xxix. c&e (HJatttietmg 3(eto, 503 Philofophy and Religion of Apollonius. CATE. From her are faid to fpring all the bleffings of heaven and of earth and the avoidance of all the evils of the infernal world and hence is flie called Diva triformis^ me having the three names of Luna, in the heavens of Dlana^ on the earth and fea and of Hecate in hell ! " JS*^ m y Melchior, all thefe attributes would have been im perfect, were there not a fifth, and that is juftice, which is repre- fented under the name of NEMESIS ; whofe province is to punifh impiety, and to reward virtue, in this life, as well as that after death. In thefe five deities, O Chriftian, thou mayeft recognize but the modifications of the Demiurgus perfonified ; and, when freed from the corruptions of ages, refolves itfelf into the worfhip of a Supreme God !" " X3 ut > mv l earne d Apollonius," faid I, " thou haft fpoken of VESTA as remaining in her temple immoveable, though Jupiter himfelf ftiould fummon all the deities of heaven and of hell ! Is not this too ftrong a perfonification ; and will not man neceflarily regard fuch perfonifications as fubftantive exiftences, co-operating with a God, who needs their fervices, and who is not omnipotent^ if any one dare neglel his fummons ?" " TX nou 5 g 00 ^ Melchior, haft ingenioufly faid," replied Apol lonius ; " but ftill, thofe who more clofely reflect will only find, that this can import nothing more than that the Demiurgic Intelli gence refpecls his own nature^ and the various forms thereof; and alfo that every attribute of that Great Intelligence is often exerted to counteract man s wickednefs, flowing from the operations of the Paflive Principle for matter is the fource of all evil, and of all fin!" " jFTnd now again, O Apollonius," rejoined I, " if inert mat ter be the fource of all evil and of all fin, how can Jupiter, or the Demiurgus, befitpreme? there then would be two gods one the fource of good, the other of evil !" The philofopher, however, feemed not to liften ; and proceeded. " X3 ut > mv Melchior, I muft now fay a word refpe&ing this PaJJive Principle^ and then of the union ofboth y which will bring me round again to PAN, who hath caufed me thus to difcourfe con cerning the true import of the religion fo prevalent over the world. " Cften have not been content," added Apollonius, " with thus perfonifying the modifications of the Active Principle, but have equally done fo with the various forms of the Pajjive : and thefe are reprefented by LATONA, or night, by RHEA, or chaos, by VENUS, or order and beauty, and by LOVE, or the caufe of perpetuity ! Thefe, all, flow from the Paflive Principle, or rather, conftitute its eflential nature. whom the Romans call A^* and the Greeks La- 504 CitfOniCleS Of CattapfjllU.S, Century i. Philofophy and Religion of Apollonius. tona, is coeval with Rhea, or Chaos ; and is the mother of all things. RHEA fignifies matter in its primordial or confufed ftate, before the Active Principle difpelled darknefs, through the agency of Vefta, and before Latona found a refting-place in her long wan derings through the wide univerfe, from the time fhe firft came from the frigid and gloomy regions of the remoteft Hyperborean ! It was only after fhe had found repofe that Latona (brooding with extended wings over Rhea) deposited the Great Egg of Night in Erebus which was fecundated by the igneous goddefs Vefta, and from which egg fprang the World in matchlefs beauty ! Light then burft forth in torrents life was diffufed throughout illimitable fpace day and night fucceeded each other with inflexible regula rity the heavens were garnifhed with their ever-mining jewels earth and fea teemed with living wonders and over all this mafs of lovelinefs prefides VENUS, who, contemporaneoufly, gave birth to LOVE ! In Venus and in Love we find the fource of all order of all beauty, and of the ardent defire to perpetuate like for like through univerfal nature ! In thofe golden days, beauty had no alloy love no fatiety ; and all was innocence, fo long as man faw in Venus only the fource of elegant thoughts, of orderly pleafures, and of deep gratitude to the Demiurgus for all the bounties and beauties with which the Univerfe teems ! and likewife, fo long as man faw in Love (her charming fon, who is called Cupid) nothing more than the fweet protector of legitimate indulgence, and for the only wife purpofe originally defigned by that mother and fon, in obedience to the will of the great Demiurgic Intelligence ! " ^Q>ow, m y Melchior, having faid thus much as to the Active Principle, or Mind, and of the Paffive Principle, or Matter, I would have thee behold the Univerfe now, as it were, a living being, by reafon of the union of thefe two principles for, in this GREAT WHOLE, thou wilt find the GOD PAN ! Look again, I pray thee, at the Image over this portal ! His goat feet and his hairy legs denote the rough earth, with its rocks and mountains, its woods and its herbage : his horns indicate the fun s rays his vivacious and ruddy complexion portrays the brightnefs of the heavens, the {tar upon his breaft, and his fpangled robe reprefent the fplendid canopy above us his feven-reeded pipe fymbolizes the beautiful order of the feven planets and the mufic thofe reeds may utter, denotes the harmony of the fpheres ! In Pan we alfo fee the em blem of fecundity ; and in him are aflembled (by this perfect union of mind and matter) all that is found in nature, after Rhea or Chaos had fprung into life, light, warmth, beauty, and love ! " !0 ut m y to mc lulgent Melchior, and thou, my excellent Epiftetus, I muft crave thy pardon for fo long difcourfing. The fun now waxes dim in the heavens, and foon will be loft behind Letter xxix. cje (EUatHiermg; 3(eto. 505 Roman Affairs Nerva Emperor. yonder blue waves." Here ended Apollonius ; who then bade us farewell. ^ confefs to thee, O Aquila, I was charmed by his voice and words but in nowife deceived thereby : all that he faid may have been, in fome fenfe, true ; but to little purpofe is it now to eftablifh that the Greeks and Romans, or other Heathen nations, were not originally polytheijls ; fince, whatever the fcheme may import to a philofophic mind, in our day it is a moft impious and corrupted re ligion, and a vaft fyftem of fenfelefs idolatry. Nay, even if it could be brought back to that purity of which Apollonius fpoke, it would ftill be a poor fubftitute for what is now offered not by numerous fymbols, but by the unerring word of Holy Scriptures no line or tittle of which will ever fail. 2C fawmuch of this Tyansean philofopher for feveral months, in various parts of Greece ; but loft fight of him when we parted at JEgea. ^JjJ^hen next I heard of Apollonius, it was, that on his leaving Athens he went to Olympia, there to confult with the priefts of the Temple of Jupiter; from thence he departed for the cave of Tro- phonius in Arcadia next, that he was for a time eftablifhed in Ephefus ; and there, as thou knoweft, he eftablifhed a fchool, and taught much of the Pythagorean and Heraclitean doctrines, blended with fome of his own peculiar views. It is ftated here in Athens, and by fome believed, that he had predicted in the prefence of his fcholars at Ephefus, the death of the emperor Domitian, and at the very time, too, that the deadly blow was inflicted by Stephanus ! But far more probable is it that he was in fome way connected with that event. In one of my laft colloquies with him, I remem ber he urged upon me his favourite doctrine, that the infinite va rieties in nature are but modifications of the one Univerfal Effence and that all things are fo neceffarily and immutably allied by a fixed law, that a wife man, carefully obfervant of nature, can pre- dil future events ! t, m y venerable Aquila, no longer will I detain you with Apollonius ; as I have yet fome things to fay, and defpair of vifiting thee at Ephefus : and, moreover, as 1 muft haften hence for Rome, to join my valued friends Julianus and his wife Philotera ; who now are there fettled, and probably for their lives. ]^ have not forgotten your ftrongly-exprefled defire to hear from me of matters in Rome, as they have been detailed to me in many letters from Julianus, and efpecially fince the death of Domitian. I now will haftily detail them, and in fewer words than by Julianus. tranfition of the Roman people, on the xiv. Thai. Oc- 506 C&ronicles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Nerva s Adminiftration and Charafler. tober, u. c. 849 [i8th September, A. D. 96,] from the wanton and mercilefs reign of Domitian, to the orderly and mild fway of Nerva, was like the genial repofe of nature after a terrific ftorm. The black clouds charged with awful lightnings the quick fuc- ceflion of cradling thunders the impetuous torrents of rain and hail that followed every peal and the infidious occafional funftiine that infpired fallacious hopes even from Domitian, had now all fud- denly fubfided when the tyrant fell and gave place to clear fides, and a balmy atmofphere, in which even the minuteft infects were feen to revel, fearing nothing ! And now, O Aquila, whence is it that the world hath been fo perpetually curfed by tyrants why do rulers delight in the mifery of their fubjects ; and was there ever one of thofe defpots who reaped either peace or fecurity for him- felf ? Not one ! and yet, age fucceeds age, no vicious monarch ever profiting by the fate of his predeceffor ! for policy and wifdom and experience feem but poor prefervatives againft the paflions. Marcus Cocceius Nerva was fixty-four years of age, when the Senate invited him to the throne, and by acclamation. Having been feveral times folicited to take Domitian s place, he had thereby encountered great peril, though his refufals were no lefs prompt, than manifeftly fincere. No marvel then is it that, a few days after the tyrant s death, an idle rumour that he was alive, and had only adopted this as one of his murderous artifices, caufed even Nerva to tremble in each limb ! But the filly tale, of courfe, foon parted off; and Nerva s firft aft was one of mercy and kindnefs, even to the hated Chriftians his next was one of almoft boundlefs liberality to the poor and this was foon followed by the repeal of all odious taxes the encouragement of learned men the reftoration of divers things to their refpective owners who had been forely robbed by Domitian to grace his palaces and finally, by the making happy of very many decayed citizens of worth, by beftowing on them fuitable pofleflions ! Thefe acts of genuine beneficence were fol lowed by a folemn declaration that " no fenator of Rome Jhould ever be put to death by his command^ though ever fo juft an occafion Jhould be given !" and this he fo religioufly obferved that, when two fena- tors had confpired againft his life, the Emperor ufed towards them not even ftrong reproach, but merely fummoned them in attendance at the theatre, where he placed each by the fide of himfelf prefenting to them each a dagger, faying, " / have heard of thy traitorous defigns ; prove now the goodnefs of thefe weapons upon my body ! " And fuch were the continued acts of clemency mown by Nerva, that, canft thou believe it, my Aquila, the people began to actually mourn over his leniency feeming to imagine that much loofenefs and corruption muft enfue though they could not fay why, nor point it out and even FRONTO, a man of eminence, Letter xxix. cjje ftftanlienng 3!eto* 507 Nerva s Death. went fo far in this notion, as openly to upbraid the good Emperor, in thefe words, " // is furely a great misfortune to live under a monarch where all things are FORBIDDEN but yet Jlill worfe to be under one who ALLOWETH all things ! " This, though in the ab- ftracl: philofophically true, is moft falfe in the concrete as to Nerva ; who was not angered, but diligently fet himfelf to rinding the caufes, if any, of juft complaint, and the means of quickly remedying them. jFmong the wife laws enabled by Nerva during his very fhort reign, I fhall note only a few. He prohibited marriage between uncle and niece, which was firft permitted by the emperor Clau dius : he prohibited the making of eunuchs he took the privi lege from flaves of becoming informers againft their mafters, as it tended greatly to fuftain the fufpicions of tyrants, and to weaken the truft that mould ever exift in that relation he forbade any ftatue to be creeled to his own name and removed every gold and filver ftatue of Domitian, fo far as they had been fpared under the prompt decree of the Senate the proceeds of all which were dif- pofed of by the confiderate Emperor to various ufeful purpofes. jjfjt length the infirmities of age, and other caufes, admonimed this good Emperor of his duty to leek for a fucceflbr ; and in this, he confulted only the interefts of his coun- try, disregarding equally the ties of relationmip, and the urgent folicitations of friendfhip ! J^erva made choice of ULPIANUS TRAJAN, a ftranger to him and his family ; but a man of fuch lofty character, as forbids all apprehenfion. Trajan was fummoned from his government of Lower Germany ; and was at once adopted by Nerva, publicly in the Capitol, and made Caefar by him in the Senate. In a few months thereafter, Nerva died, after a reign of only fixteen months and nine days ; but before Trajan had reached the city. The late Emperor being deified after the cuftomary form, his remains were depofited, alongfide of other emperors, in the magnificent Maufo- leum of Auguftus.* * The ruins of this vaft and fplendid maufoleum are (till vifible, near the Piazza del Popolo ; or, as Suetonius fays, " inter Flaminiam Viam ripamque Tyberis." The extenfive grounds around the tomb of the firft of the Augulli, were full of groves and of fhady walks and of fountains, dedicated to the ufe of all the people. Thefe grounds occupied much of the fites of the prefent churches of S. Maria di Monte Santo and S. Maria dfMiracoli, as alio of portions of the three ftreets called the Corfo Babbuino and the Ripetla, which branch off from the Piazza del Popolo. This circular Maufoleum was compofed of three lofty ftories, each, after the firft, of diminifhed diameter leaving a broad belt, or circular platform, around each ftory ; upon which flourished perpetually the moft beautiful evergreens! On the fummit was a colofTal ftatue of Auguftus. The bafement ftory is 220 feet in diameter, and contains the fepulchral chain- Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, Century i. Trajan. has been emperor now about two years ; and never hath any one given to Rome fuch large affurances of Trajan s life TT u c i and char a3er a P r ip erous reign. He was born in bpam, at a place bordering upon Seville ; and is at prefent in his forty- and-fourth year. J^is firft at was to fummon to his Court, as his confidential counfellor, that great and virtuous philofopher and biographer, PLU TARCH of Chaeronea ; who, from his extenfive learning and varied travels, is moft worthy of the exalted truft. r he admirable letter addrefled by Plutarch to the Emperor, in reply to the fummons, is worthy of prefervation in letters of gold ; and mould be treafured by all virtuous rulers to the lateft pofterity. Thus far, Trajan hath proved to Rome an equal bleffing with Nerva ; and being ftill in the vigour of manhood, and deeply fkilled in war, the Empire will have no caufe to fear any diminution of her power during his reign : nor need me apprehend any evil from in ordinate ambition, for Trajan is as virtuous, as he is wife and fldlful. T^he Emperor has juft returned to Rome, from among the Dacians^ after having borne the victorious Eagle far beyond the Danube. He entered Rome in glorious triumph, and received from the Senate the furname of DACIUS ; which the vanity of Domitian had rather plundered, than earned, from the Senate. now, my venerable Aquila, my papyrus whifpers me to clofe this long letter and fo FARE-THEE-WELL.* MELCHIOR. bers, difpofed entirely around the wall : and in the centre was a fplendid rotunda of 1 30 feet in diameter, the fides and vault of which were rich in gorgeous paintings. In front ot the entrance were the two noble Egyptian obelifks of red granite; but which now are to be feen, the one near the church of S. Maria Maggiori the other in the Piazza di Monte Ca<vello. This once proud ftruc- ture is now reduced to its bafement itory ; the fepulchral camera have been de- fecrated as (tails for horfes ; and the rotunda has become an amphitheatre for the rudeft fpeftacles ! The commingled afhes of the Imperial families are faid to be deposited behind the Palazzo Corea, near the church of S. Rocco ; and the fplendid marbles which encrufted the entire building, have been either made to figure in the facades of various palaces and manfions of modern Rome, or have been converted to the more ignoble ufes of ordinary time ! * The further great doings of Trajan, to the clofe of his illuftrious reign, will be found in the Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative, pofl. Letter xxx. c&e ^OanDering 3[eto* 509 Rebecca s Admonition to Thaddeus. LETTER XXX. REBECCA TO THADDEUS. EDESSA, and Tifri ; Seleucidtf, 4.12. [September 10, A.D. 100.] HY laft abfence from EdefTa, fo long extended, has much grieved us all, my good Thaddeus : thy fifter Cornelia, and her valued fpoufe Alcaeus greatly de plore thy roaming life, which fcarce hath known in terruption fince the fad and myfterious departure of our Cartaphilus, now nigh unto twenty-and-fix years ! And yet I confefs unto thee, I do not (aged and infirm as he then was) realize his death, for reafons quite unknown of thee, but well known unto thy fainted mother, and ever honoured father, many years before they repofed in their tombs. ]J[ am now near my eighty-fourth year ; and can write to thee but fparingly ; and that, too, only fomewhat to chide thee for three things all within thy power ; firft, for thy now uncalled-for abfence of more than five years, counting from thy laft departure from Edefla fecondly, that thou haft fo feldom written, and ever as if thou wouldft conceal from us the caufe of that abfence, the nature of thy doings, and the place of thy now abode ; and laftly, that thou haft fo ftrongly difregarded the urgent folicitations of all who love thee here, to return to us, and to wed as is thy duty : for, when the furrowed brow doth come, and the dark locks begin to blanch as foon they will even with thee it is no time for man, or woman to wed ; and a fingle life is one as little in harmony with our own nature, as with the command of Him who formed it. <QJ_uch do I rejoice, neverthelefs, O Thaddeus, at thy fteady Chriftian faith, and that thou haft efcaped through all the perils that environed thee during the fevere perfecutions under the wicked Domitian ! H^t would feem from thy occafional letters, that much of thy time hath been fpent fomewhere among the cities of Campania one of them bearing date from Neapolis, and another from that now ruined city of great antiquity, called Cunuz, and thy laft, from a place unknown of me, called by thee Poffidonia and Paeftum. The account, moreover, given of thee concerning a place once known as Pompeii, which twenty years ago was buried by the fiery afhes of Vefuvius, greatly interefted us; and efpecially where it tells of a portion of that ill-fated city having of late been refcued from its covering, by the removal of the afhes, where light and not very deep, 5 io Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Thaddeus and a Stranger s Arrival at Rome. and of the wonders thereby revealed ! From thy narrative it would feem much to be feared, that the people of that devoted place were as deep in fin as were thofe of Sodom and Gomorrah Admah and Zeboim ; which, in the days of Abraham, were in like manner wholly overwhelmed, but yet in a more obvious way of God s fearful vengeance as thofe fires defcended upon them from the very heavens ! and then they funk into a profound abyfs of fait and fulphurous waters ! Their deftruftion, likewife, was expreffly de clared unto Abraham to be on account of their exceeding wicked- nefs. But, as to Pompeii, our Chriftian hope ftill is, that their calamity doth not import an equal amount of fin. CI>y pen, dear Thaddeus, moves now but fluggiftily : and, whilft there is fmall ability to haften it, I am admonimed that I am myfelf haftening to the fweet repofe of the tomb. Be quick therefore, wouldft thou fee me again ; and haften to cheer us all with thy prefence. FARE-THEE-WELL. REBECCA. LETTER XXXI. MELCHIOR TO ALC^EUS. ROME, u.c. 856, xii Kal. JuL [June i8th, A.D. 103.] IME here in Rome, my good Alcaeus, hangs not fo heavily on me, as when laft I wrote to thee from Athens : for, upon my arrival here, a few days fince, judge of my furprife and delight at meeting our greatly beloved Thaddeus ; who will now haften home to Edefla ; and will be accompanied by our equally dear Julianus and Philotera ; who, with myfelf, fo ardently defire again to behold the ever admirable Rebecca, and thy Cornelia; and from all of thy warm hearts to receive the glad welcome that awaits us. We count the hours that muft yet intervene : and we fhould not tarry a day longer, but that the ftrong affection Thaddeus nurtures for a moft interefting and learned perfon, fcarce of middle age, and furprifingly handfome, who weds him here : for, as it feems, they have been of late much together ; and we marvel not at his deep affection towards the ftranger, whofe winning manners have indeed enchained all our hearts. ^haddeus is moft urgent that his friend mould join us in the vifit to Edefla and we have earneftly united in the perfuafion ; but I fear with no fuccefs his heart being now fet upon fome re mote land, and even upon the little known Albion ! The devotion of Thaddeus to him, and the warmth with which it is returned, Letter xxxi. cjje ^anDetmg: 3(eto, 5 1 1 Their Departure for Edeffa. grieve us much ; but only as we dread their reparation, as Thaddeus will not delay his haftening to Edefla : and why Tacafulriph (for that is his very ftrange name) fhould thus ftoutly hefitate, doth much furprife me, feeing that his parents no longer live, and that Thaddeus hath promifed that if he will but fojourn with him a year at Edefla, he will thereafter travel with him the world over, mould he require it ! * * * * 5T have delayed my letter to add the joyful intelligence, that we have at length prevailed on our new friend to journey with us, fo that we all mail be with thee early in the month of Elul, [Augufl^\ as our journey will probably confume nigh two months. FAREWELL.* MELCHIOR. * The refult of that vifit to Edeffa muft be deferred, until Cartaphilus has detailed his own adventures, from the time he wandered from Edeffa, until thofe various parties met at Rome, as above ftated, and refolved to haften on to Edeffa a period of nearly thirty years, which is embraced in the following Retrofpec- ti ve Memoir. CHRONICLES OF CARTAPHILUS, THE I. L L I BOOK THE a SEVENTH \ CHRONICLES OF ,tl)e BOOK VII. His Wanderings from Edefla. RETROSPECTIVE MEMOIR OF CARTAPHILUS, FROM THE RUINS OF P^ESTUM. SECTION XXXVII. From Si<van A.M. 3834 to lyar, 253863. [From June, A. D. 74. to May 10, 103.] WENTY-and-eight years have gone by, fince I abandoned home and loving friends at rr , Edefla, and became, for a time, a f rom Edeffa Wanderer in mifery, and then a me- and reaches lancholy reclufe from all the haunts Nicephorium. of men ! thofe years were fpent, until I lately reached Rome, and now am bound for Edefla again, not as Cartaphilus with hoary locks, but as the unknown youth Tacafulriph, muft now be faith fully chronicled. * # * * * n t h e feventy-firft year of my age, I became a nearly maddened and voluntary exile from Edefla, and from thofe fo dear to me there not knowing whither I was going my mind then raging as a troubled fea, and without a ray of hope that one fo deep in wretchednefs and in fin, could ever find repofe, I haftened reckleffly onward, heeding and feeing nothing, until the gates of Nicephorium, at the clofe of night, received me. ^)his city, on the fouthern banks of the Euphrates, is fituate fouth of Edefla, a long day s journey. Exhaufted by mental ago nies, I had forgotten all nouriture fince the early dawn ; and my ftrength being now nearly gone, I fuddenly bethought myfelf to feek only a night s fhelter with the worthy Artaxias of Nice phorium. him I had often communed, during his frequent vifits to 5 1 6 Chronicles of Cartapfriius, century i. Nicephorium Artaxias, the Magian. Edefla, when his deep learning, efpecially in the philofophy of the Magi, had greatly won me to him. Being, moreover, at the time I abandoned Edefla, tormented by many new and unfettled faiths, among which were fome inculcated by the great Artaxias, I felt in- fenfibly attracted to his dwelling, he being alfo the only perfon known to me in all that region. JM rtaxias had refided fome years in that city, much engaged in teaching the dogmas, fcience, and peculiar arts of the Magians : and there being a great Temple there, dedicated to the hateful Ve- nus-Tanals, he was fometimes involved in dangerous conflicts with its priefts, in which cafes, he had been accuftomed to confult me at Edefla ; who, though in nowife a Magian, at that time, was well known by him to be moft hoftile, as he truly was, to the rites and religion of that voluptuous temple. jH rtaxias was among the ftricleft of the difciples of Zedhurft, alfo known as Zoroajler, the great reviver of the Magian faith ; and he being, moreover, an Archimagus of that religion, I had al ways experienced great fatisfaction in converfe with one fo deeply inftructed in its myfteries : for furely that faith is one of the moft ancient and wide-fpread of all the religions found in the eaftern countries, and Artaxias was one of its moft illuftrious teachers. CDv friend, on perceiving my approach towards his manfion, was alert in opening wide his gates to my heavily burdened vehicle: and, as I fluggifhly entered his veftibule, he fondly embraced and welcomed me, but inftantly, his furprifed and anxious looks re vealed, even to my then hebetated fenfes, that his obfervant eye had been quick in perceiving that, to the infirmities of my age, were now added a deep gloom, that fitfully ranged upon the very con fines of madnefs, nor was he flow in the kindeft endeavours to minifter to body and fpirit fuch folace, as an hofpitable roof and the moft varied wifdom might afford. H^ had departed haftily and furtively from my dear friends of Edefla, as one who defired never more to fee the hu- Magian Phi- man f ace . but Artaxias difcourfed fo fweetly on the yop y a wonders of the ftarry world on the refearches of his Religion, -n it n 1-1 r i r l 1 r great Matter in the philofophy or mind and of matter on the myfteries revealed by the four elements through the pro found arts of the Magi and chiefly on FIRE, as the great emblem of the Supreme Being yea alfo, on the influences of night s fhin- ing orbs, that my mind was much refrefhed thereby ; and having previoufly been ftrengthened by his fimple though ample repaft, we retired at a late hour each greatly more pleafed with the other, than upon my arrival within his gates. jfft the morning-dawn, however, I fought to refume my jour ney, though I knew not whither, for the current of my unhappy on xxxvu. Cfte aHanlieting; 3feto, 517 Philofophy and Religion of the Magians. thoughts had returned upon me : to this, Artaxias would in no wife confent, fo that, inftead of a night s (belter, I tarried with him many days enjoying the bounties of his rich and varied ftores of knowledge, which feemed nearly vifible and palpable from the thorough intellectuality of his foul for that foul would pierce the moft recondite of nature s wonders, and would remove the thick crufts that fo often envelope them, with feemingly as much eafe as if every mental operation were with him but as an infallible mani pulation ! ^j^he marvels and glories of the Magian philofophy and religion were the frequent topics of our difcourfe. My acquaintance with them was then fmall ; but, in the hiftory of the Medes and Per- fians, I well knew it had exerted a great and enduring influence ; and that at Baflra the priefts of the great Magian Temple there had, for many centuries, maintained a faith that bound myriads to a far purer worfhip than that which obtained in any other of the Gentile nations. From Artaxias I learned that the inferior priefts guided the popular ceremonials of their religion that the next in dignity prefided over the facred Fire ; whilft the High- Prieft, or Archimagus, exercifed over the whole a fupreme autho rity, his throne being vifited by crowds from far and near, and with great folemnity ; fo that every one failed not to repair thither certainly once during life ; and thofe in the vicinity attended with exemplary conftancy. No images or ftatues were known to the Magian worfhip ; but prayers and facrifices only. ^j^heir fupreme divinity is MITHRAS ; and two fuhprdinate and derived gods exert conflicting powers the one called Oromafdes^ being the Active or Good Principle the other, known &<> Arimanius ^ being the Paflive, or Evil Principle. The emblem of Oromafdes is Light the fymbol of Arimanius is profound Darknefs. ^n the perpetual and violent contefts between matter and mind between the paflive and active principles, Mithras is the great and controlling Mediator, Nature is greatly mixed ; the power of Arimanius is held to be great ; but the time will come when he mail be wholly deftroyed then will a Golden Age, or that of uni- verfal happinefs, come forth, and mankind will form but one fociety all languages will then be refolved into one aliment will no more be needed the ethereal body will become fupreme, fo that no man will even cajl a Jhadow ! and then will MITHRAS become all in all ! Such, in fubftance, were the words of Ar taxias. " ^^ut, my venerable and moft learned Artaxias," faid I, "when {hall thefe things be for the Jews have a very like tradition ?" " To Mithras, ages are but as hours," refponded Artaxias, " but to man, they feem very long fcarce two thoufand years more, and 5 1 s Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century \. Again wanders Reaches Palmyra. Its then Condition. all will be accomplished !" " Much do I approve thy rejection of male and female gods, worthy Artaxias," rejoined I, " but I have to wonder at, and abhor greatly, that mother and fon are permitted under thy law to wed !" " O Cartaphilus !" anfwered the Ma- gian, " thine is the error for what natural tie is fo holy and tender as that of mother and child, and why, therefore, fhould they not render the alliance clofer, and more enduring ?" We argued this ftrange matter, after the fun was veiled by night, and until the ftars began to grow dim by the midnight moon but with no change of opinion : and intending to purfue my journey by the morning-dawn, the weary eyes of the " Curfed Wanderer" were foon clofed by fleep for even the bittereft gall of fin muft fometimes yield to that fweet balm. SECTION XXXVIII. N leaving Nicephorium, I remembered the condition upon which I had promifed Flavius Jofephus to vifit him at Rome : but, as my mind, though fomewhat calmed by the good Magian, ftill involuntarily fhran from the haunts of men, and efpecially from fo teeming a metropolis as Rome, and where I was fo extenfively known ; I at once abandoned all thought of going thither. I alfo He vifits Pal- b ore j n m j n( j tnat m y va i ue d friends of Edefla would not fail to feek me among the ruins of Jotapata, or of Mafada, as imr poflible going to the one or other had alfo been in timated in my letter to Jofephus, and hence thofe Paleftinian ruins, though fo genial to my foul, were no fit place for me, would I evade all fearch. ^)ALMYRA, known to me only by report, lay but a fhort dif- tance fouth of Nicephorium ; and thither I wended my folitary courfe, I knew not why ! Now, though this " Tadmor of the de- fert" is a far more goodly city than Nicephorium, I thought, on reaching it, I fhould be eafier there, as knowing and known of none : and moreover, it feemed as if it muft be a folace that the deferts were fo near and would, at leaft, be all around me ; for my then morbid foul was panting for the fterility of thofe arid fands, within my daily reach ; and I then longed for them, as doth the parched body for refrefhing ftreams ; or, as the fever-worn limbs, in a fultry morning, figh for the mountain moifture, or as the yet blooming flowers rejoice amidft the crevices, to be there fhaded in their folitary places ! 3n an obfcure and yet lovely abode of Palmyra, I was flickered for a time ; but I could not then value it according to its worth for, to the foul, the outward world is only of that colour, of which on xxxvm. c&e aiJantJermg; 3[eto, 519 His retired Life there. the veil is through which it is feen ; and that to me then was pale, and yellow and dingy, fo that, in all Palmyra, nothing could aroufe me fave its great antiquity ; and upon that I loved to mufe ! Strange ! that this love of antiquity doth thus purfue me : for, in thefe my Chronicles, the like hath often been noted ; and yet, till now, never with a fufpicion that this doth fymbolize that I, alone among mortals, am deftined ever to have antiquity and actuality and futurity before me, and thefe all fo thoroughly blended, that my very nature feems to rebel againft their feparation ! Oh truly, none can fathom the depths of man s myfterious being, but the Su pernal Intelligence ! yea, the .Univerfe is but a feries of aenigmas and, of them all, Man is the leaft refolvable ! HTJitde fuited for inquiry after men their doings and things, was the mind that brought me within Palmyra s walls, and hence nothing have I now to chronicle as to this moft ancient city. Books were my abiding and only companions there ; in them I fometimes found a thin veil to fubdue the odious light of remem brance : for happy is the finner when he can forget ! SECTION XXXIX. UT there was no long reft for a folitary outcaft a miferable wanderer, more guilty than Cain, and more -curfed than he ! Palmyra, in H ,e retires to i j i j- A. u the ruins of turn, had become odious to me, though p a a um an alien to every being within its ample walls, and though I had feldom crofted the veftibulum of my lonely abode. No fharer in its toils or pleafures, yet, even from the diftant hum of bufy life, which obtruded upon my ears, my mind involuntarily recoiled ! ftill, whither to fly where to feek another refuge, I knew not. ^f3 ut oh, how ftrange is the law of mental aflociations ! if in deed, in that fitful, vagrant, and moft wonderful of intellectual ope rations, there can be any law that guides them. Yet thus the matter was. * * * A fweet youth (afligned to minifter to my wants) entered my apartment ; and refpe&fully, but joyoufly pre- fented to me many frefh and blooming rofes, wet with the dews of morning, and rich in their own delicate odours. Thefe, taftefully bound together, he handed me, faying, " I pray thee, my venerable mafter, receive thefe they are fragrant as beautiful, and will re- frem thy too drooping fpirits they mall often be renewed for thee : and, ftiouldft thou tarry with us fix months hence, I will have for thee fome that will be yet more lovely, and from the fame ftock as they fail not to bloom for us twice in the year ! Inftantly, there 520 C&romcles of CartapJrilus, Century i. Why he abandoned Palmyra Reaches Paeftum. rufhed through my mind the " Biferique rofaria Paefi" of Virgil ; and fuddenly, as doth lightning defcend to the earth, the thought alfo ftruck me that I might find a fecure fhelter, if not happinefs, among the long-forfaken temples of that ancient ruined city of Lu- cania by the Greeks called Pofidonio, and now by the Romans Pteftum! The thought was moft condolatory to me. I remem bered its balmy air its clear blue fkies the beauty and frefhnefs of its rofeS) that bloom twice a year, and die unfeen amidft its nu merous ruined habitations, and time-worn temples ! I alfo remem bered the happy hours I had fpent among thefe majeftic and ancient temples, when Nero, in one of his fportive humours, fet me to chafing the harmlefs and brightly fpotted lizards, as they bafked in the glowing fun ; or as they gambolled from one fragment to an other of the fallen-in roofs ! ^his mufing upon the folitarinefs of Paeftum, fo ftrangely re vived in my mind by the fafciculus of rofes the youth had juft given me, alfo brought with it a thoufand other remembrances of yet brighter days, which, as a flood, filled me for a time with cheering hopes that this, of all earth s retired fpots, was indeed the beft fuited to my then urgent wants ! ^ dallied not a moment longer in Palmyra ; but haftened on to Heliopolis thence to Berytus, and flopped not until I reached Joppa, there to take fhipping for Neapolis, fo nigh unto Paeftum, that a few hours more would then realize my longing hope : and all this was done by me with fuch fpeed, as my then age and infir mities permitted. 2 remained at Neapolis only fufficiently long to procure fome few comforts, in addition to thofe I brought from Edeffa ; and likewife to purchafe (and then fecretly to manumit) a young and active flave, who might faithfully ferve me. This was foon accomplimed ; and with the aid of the kind and fenfible youth, named JULIANUS, our travel was early ended ; and I found myfelf at Paeftum the abfolute monarch of the vaft Central Temple ! A portion of this was, in a few days, partitioned off" into three apartments ; each compara tively fmall, and therefore an ample range was left within the walls, to be ufed by us during the heat of the day, or other weather that demanded fhelter.* * It will be perceived that Cartaphilus merely calls this the Central Temple. The ruin, now arbitrarily called the Temple of Neptune, together with the other two, at fhort diftances upon the fame line, and which are alfo gratuitously called the Temple of Ceres, and the Bafilika, constitute the chief remains of this ancient city of the Sybarites and Lucanians. Though thefe temples were interefting and forfaken ruins, even in the time of Auguftus, they are yet among the belt preferved remains of fuch remote antiquity, to be found in all Europe. They are, however, probably in a far more dilapidated ftate at this time, than when the unhappy Wanderer of Centuries felefted one of them for his lonely abode. ion xxxix. ci)e bannering Jeto. 521 Julianus, his Slave Their life at Paeftum Study and Prayer. Jn^appily, we found the roof of this temple yet in tolerable pre- fervation ; and the wide plain, once fo populous, and not now wholly forfaken,yet could furnifh us with no comforts: but various fmall towns in the diftance, efpecially Salernum, were fufficiently contiguous to enable Julianus to obtain our needed fupply. 2fn this deep feclufion, fo congenial to me, feveral years pafled on to me, generally in fadnefs, and often in pain ; but to my Ju lianus, as fleetly as the rofeate hours of a feftal day ; for he loved ftudy, was young, healthy, and cheerful and above all, innocent ! jTT)y library, though not extenfive, was extremely choice ; but the volumes had been moftly pondered over by me fome of them during more than thirty years, at Jerufalem, Rome, and EdefTa ; whilft others of more recent date had been nearly exhaufted, during the four years that now had elapfed fince my coming to Paeftum. I refolved therefore, though then in my feventy-and-fixth year, to make a fomewhat fecret vifit to Pompeii, to Herculaneum, Nea- polis, and to other adjacent places there to replenim, and largely, my thus minimed ftock of books they being now my only friends, fave the faithful Julianus a flave of more value than a fcrinium of many volumes. All paft experience, moreover, had allured me that books (to one that cannot pray with fervency) are the only available means to mitigate, in any degree, the pangs of a wounded, though uncontrite fpirit. PRAYER is, indeed the foul s natural ali ment ; and he who doth pray, if even mechanically, hath yet fome life within him ; he is not utterly famimed : but he who quite for- fakes fuch food he who faith he cannot pray, and a<5ls thereon, is fure to languilh in extreme mifery ; and foon becomes dead in tref- pafles and in fin ! But, Cartaphilus ! both thefe bleffings are ftill thine in fome degree : thefe aliments of happinefs -Jludy and prayer have never quite abandoned thee ; and remember that happinefs is for ever comparative only ; and that its very nature is to be on the increafe^ or on the decreafe ; for, like fin, it can never be fta- tionary ! Be grateful, therefore, for what thou haft ; and know that, if happinefs may be conftantly enlarged in this world, and in finitely fo in the one beyond the tomb, fo, in both, may it be infi nitely diminifhed ! ^rMius did my expected vifit to Pompeii, feeble as I was, greatly agitate me, and caufe me to ponder deeply, and earneftly to figh for fome frefti volumes efpecially the great work of Flavius Jofephus, on the Jewifh Wars ; which, as I doubted not, was by that time published. But, fearing I fhould not find it at Pompeii, or, indeed, any very folid or even moral work, I defpatched my Julianus forth with to Rome ; as I would not now venture there, being unwill ing to have the leaft communion with thofe, at one time fo highly in my regard, and I in theirs. 522 Chronicles of Cartapfnius, century They vifit Pompeii Events there Vefuvius. faithful Julianus accomplifhed this million for me in a few weeks ; and delivered the precious volumes to my eager grafp. How I devoured them, can only be likened to the ravenous appe tite of a famifhed lion, that hath fuddenly pounced upon a frefh flain leopard ! but happily, I had much the advantage of the royal beaft ; for my viands, unlike his, were not thofe ques ipfo ufu confu- muntur, fo that, when I had devoured all, I readily returned to them after no long paufe, and with uncloyed appetite ! and this de tained me for fome months after the return of Julianus, from my defired journey to Pompeii and the Campanian cities. SECTION XL. T length, on the third day of the month of //, and of the Creation, 3839 which anfwereth to Auguft 22, u. c. 832 [A. D. 79.] I left Pasftum, before the ftars of the morning were dimmed, and reached Pompeii on the night of that day having on my way pafled through Salernum a town of the Picentini, on the mores of the Tyrrhenian fea, but not of fufficient note to caufe He vtftti Pom- me to tarr y or to chronicle any of its particulars. Pen: ivnat be- TXT-L-I/L rr i_ i L T r j fell him there *Vhillt palling through that town, 1 was forced to re mark, and with fome uneafmefs, occafional flight tremblings of the earth, and that this was alfo obferved by the people of Salernum : and, as I gained the country, I alfo noted that various animals, browfing in the furrounding fields, feemed confcious of fome diforder in nature, and gazed with a vacant ftare, and timid afpe6t, as if they poflelTed better means of anticipating danger, than thofe vouchfafed to man ! jf-tt firft, I was unhappy that I had not left my poor Julianus at Pa?ftum, mould any calamity happen during our abfence : and this was increafed as I journeyed onward : for, as I came nigher to Vefuvius, I doubted not that the more remote we were from its fmoking and fiery mouth, the fafer we probably mould be as white and red and black mafles of fulphurous fmoke, with occafional terrific burfts of melted lava, rofe into the air to a great height ! ^he fun was now buried in the waters of the Great Gulph, as I entered the eaftern gate of Pompeii. A black and heavy cloud hung over the weftern horizon the waters of the Sarnus were much fwelled the Great Sea was more agitated than had been known for many years and the numerous velTels in the fouthern and weftern harbours, were with difficulty kept to their moorings. *^he night, however, though pafled in fafety, gave us dreadful prefages, and was full of terrors to many. The multitude, never- XL. )e anJetmg e, $23 Pompeii as it then was The Chriftians there. thelefs, were keen as ufual in the gratification of their darling plea- fures ; and though nature fcowled with angry threatenings, 1 found the ftreets filled with crowds in purfuit of gain, of vice, of folly, and of voluptuous enjoyments whilft a few were feen, furtively, as it were, creeping into the temples, and offering to the gods a feeble lip-fervice, or a hideous outcry, from exceffive alarm. On the morning of the fifth of Elul, the fun rofe with his ufual luftre ; the black and pregnant cloud had nearly vanifhed j the fea was greatly calmed ; and the angry mountain was giving but an occafional moan a fitful and much diminifhed volume of fmoke and fire : but alas ! all this was only the forebodement of an infi- dious and awful outbreak ! ^Ouring fome hours of the paft night, and feveral of the follow ing day, I traverfed through moft of the ftreets of this modern Sodom, in my narrow and clumfy vehicle. I found in them not a little magnificence much fqualid poverty and fome odious and galling mifery, with occafional evidences of learning, and of a ftill more fparfe and feeble piety, both of which were truly as grains of wheat amidft many ephahs of chaff, fo that, when found, we faw them encompaffed by fuch daring profligacy, fuch crude fuperftition, and grofs ignorance, as to be quickly loft fight of. " J^ere is the much famed Temple of Ifis" faid the loquacious but intelligent guide, who had attended me from fun- rife ; " and many vile doings are had therein, if we may believe thofe ftrange people called Chriftians, or Naza- renes : nay, even our own rabble declare fo ; and they fbmetimes defire to pry mifchievoufly into fuch things ; for they ever hate what is forbidden to them ; or which if revealed, are little underftood of them." " < he Nazarenes in this matter, and even the rude people s fufpicions," replied I, " are doubtlefs not without juft caufe : for this filter and fpoufe of Ofiris at times called Serapis hath of late much degenerated, and now {hows her mere earthy nature, if ever me were anything better. This Is is, by the Greeks called 70, hath, as I remember, a temple in the ifland of Philae : and there, as everywhere, have I heard of her doings, that fuit only man s moft beaftly nature ; and which, if report be true, would find fpecial favour in Pompeii loft as it is in all vilenefs ! " CDy furprifed guide was filent for a moment, and then faid, " Art thou a Nazarene ? if fo danger attends thee here never from me, good ftranger : for, of thefe people called Chriftians, I know much good, and no harm ; but there are people now in Pompeii, who would hunt thee out as a favage beaft, and flay thee with flow tortures ! " " Bene, duttor mibi, carpe viam" rejoined I, " and now, let us hence to other fpots." Chronicles; of Cartapfnlus, century \. Some Paintings there The Tombs Books. <JUl e then proceeded to all the other temples, to the theatres, baths, fountains, tombs, and ftatues ; moft of all which are in the ufual manner of provincial towns often coftly, without tafte voluptuous, without refinement, and extenfive, without much oc- cafion for fuch expanfion. The private houfes, in many inftances, occupy far more fpace than in larger cities ; for the foil cofts lefs, and the magnates of fuch towns have a power, and difplay a pre- tenfion, greatly more than is correfpondent to their real wealth ; and, having fewer occupations, they often indulge in a coarfe luxu rious life, that might furprife an Agrippa ; or which the like Roman purfe could ill fuftain, feeing that all things are far more coftly in the gigantic Metropolis, than in any of the fecluded and little frequented towns of Southern Italy. CDy guide now refted before the portal of a goodly houfe : and as we entered the pothyrum^ the ftrange admonition there was, " Cave Canem " " Beware of the Dog ! " This was kind, but, methinks, more hofpitable would it have been had the dumb beaft not been there at the very entrance for the ftony delineation was that of a very fierce black and white dog, with a red collar, in the act of fpringing upon the incautious gueft ! The owner, however, of this ftately manfion was generous ; and promptly furnimed our guide with all the facilities as to which he had made the call : after which, we carefully examined the pictures that graced his walls. One which particularly commanded my admiration, was that of Achilles furrendering Briefes to the Heralds, that me might be conducted to Agamemnon. The original is a work of extraordinary merit, this one being a beautiful copy, that might challenge a place on any wall of even Imperial Rome. So, alfo, the Leda and Tyndaris the Sacrifice of Iphigenia, and likewife the Venus and Cupid fifhing, are all moft pleafing pictures ; the walls were alfo richly decorated with tafteful defigns, and the houfe everywhere manifefted wealth and elegance. <HBC e next proceeded to the largeft collection of Scrinia that Pompeii affords ; and made purchafes of books to a fmall extent ; for a provincial town, and fo diflblute an one, yielded but a ftinted choice of the clafs that was fought of me. r he many beautiful tombs and cenotaphs, in the midft of life s realities, fo ufual in Pompeii, is a cuftom of doubtful utility, and lefs to have been expected in Pompeii than elfewhere ; and yet was more needed there, than in more decent places, could fuch memorials lead the minds of the living to contemplate the fate of the dead. But thofe people were accuftomed to think of all things, rather than of the Manes, of Mors and of Pluto, of Minos and /Eacus : and, though they lived under the eternal threats of Vefuvius, which had fome- times poured its fiery clouds over greater diftances, and then feemed XL. c&e Cdantiermg 31eto, 525 Pompeii deftroyed His fubterranean life Its wonders. more angry than ever was known before, yet thefe Pompeians feldom permitted their eyes to reft upon any of the numerous tombs around them ; but perpetually gazed upon all the fenfuous pi&orial delineations and ftatues, that everywhere met their gaze. ^jQMght came on, and with it an hour was dedicated to my Chronicles, in obedience to my long habit, as well as from the gloom that had nearly overcome me : for the condition of the Mountain was now becoming very alarming, and our great defire was to haften on our road that night, if poffible, or by the early dawn of the morning. * * * * Wearied became my eye lids, and unto my couch I repaired for reft, Vefuvio volente ! P^STUM, Idus Sext. u.c. 838. [Auguft i3th, A.D. 85.] NEED not recount the manner in which I became buried quite fifteen cubits beneath the aftiy mowers of Vefuvius, which ceafed Hi f K S ttad ? , j j /- i the a lies of not entirely to pour down during leveral p om p e a days ; nor can I defcribe my agonies when the incumbent weight increafed upon me, and as I gradually became more and more confcious that life defigned not to leave me; but that I was deftined to exift under a load of unimaginable tortures how long I could then in no wife conjecture ! Jj^appily for me, all this was preceded by a marvellous change of all that was corporeal in me, and with little, if any, note of time; for the years I lay there were, as to time^ but a dreamy exiftence ; and yet, in all other things, with the fame vivid fight and confciouf- nefs, that often belong to man during the brighteft vifions of the night ! jjt firft, all around me was black and palpable darknefs but foon, great was my wonder when a mild and comparative light, if fuch it might be called, flowly beamed in upon me, and more as if it found its fource within me, than anywhere without! for all things, after a while, feemed to become parts of myfelf attended, moreover, by fuch a preternatural increafe of my vifion, that even nature s minuteft objects their moft intimate organization, and their very eflences, were glaringly before me, and foon thereafter became to me, either odioufly, or delightfully familiar, according to their very diverfe natures ! XX OW mighty and perfect and varied are even the fmalleft, yea, the wholly invifible things of earth, of fire, of water, and of air, when contemplated with the eyes of man s inner, unfeen, and mere ethereal body ! and fo was it now with me : then, things wholly unknown 526 Chronicles of Cartaplrilus, century i. The Minute World revealed. to the outward and vifible eye of man, fuddenly ftart forth, as if by a new creation ! then, doth the ethereal body (which, with the foul, is immortal) caufe the world of minute things to rife before us in their infinitude claiming fellowfhip in fize and fafhion, even with the beafts and birds, the fifties and infects and reptiles, that are hourly known and ftudied of man ! Wonderful indeed are the works of thy hand, O God of Nature ! and doubtlefs, when all fhall be diftinctly revealed to the utterly difembodied fpirit, then everything that mortals, in their now ignorance, regard as "fmall" and " great," muft become co-equal ; and the, fo-called, tiny-invi- fible world, will then difplay the fame marvellous perfections, as everywhere meet the eye in the, fo-called, great vifible world thereby teaching man that with the Creator, nothing is really great, or fmall ; but that all is formed in matchlefs wifdom ; and hence to be valued and preferved with care, as co-equal proofs that all things are " very good," and that the minuteft of them are full of wonders and of greatnefs ! *^]o my then ethereal and piercing vifion, all nature around me teemed with life ; and the aftounding fact was revealed to me that nearly all matter, which, to the natural eye is fo inert and lifelefs, is perpetually quickening into animation, and burfting into active ex iftences or, finking into death there to aflume other mutations, again fpringing into, or fuftaining life ! Here was it that I firft learned to know that, in all creation, there exifts a vaft connected chain of being an infinite progreflive feries of animation filling all things, and giving breath, yea thought, and hence, the power and duty of pratje to Him, who alone is the Fountain whence they Ipring, and whither they muft all return each at its appointed time ! Thefe countlefs breathing exiftences, fo infinitely minute to ufual vifion that man knows them not, were now found by me revelling in their various and appropriate, though tiny enjoyments, each equally tenacious with other entities, by man called fmall, of all their habits alfo prefervative of life induftrious methodical, and cautious in their toils ; having, moreover, a fixed dominion, laws, public as well as private and each enforcing thofe relations, often with a more inflexible exactitude, than man is wont to do ! *^hefe exiftences, fo unknown to, or little regarded by our pre- fumptuous fpecies, were alfo found by me moft provident, and fo regardful of the future, as feldom to perilh by famines ftoring up their nouriture for times in which, as they well know, neither they nor their helplefs young can toil, alfo cultivating attachments manifesting diflikes, and even waging fierce wars, or individual re venges the fame as do beings familiar to us yea, as we find them either when proudly roaming in the forefts, or diving in the ocean depths ; or, as we fee them on wings, piercing the boundlefs fkies ! Seftion XL. CfcC (EHanDeting 3(eto. 527 The Minute World revealed. All around me was life, and in forms innumerable each little cre vice, to the world invifible, being filled with myriads of moving things fo wonderfully fmall, that, even in the mafs, our keeneft and moft a/lifted vifion would in no way have grafped them ! and yet each particular infect, reptile, or other breathing entity, was found by me perfect in organization ftudious of its afligned nature and purfuits, regardful of its daily toils, and occafional enjoyments ! Nay, even the folidefr. lavas and flints, and other ftones that prefled around me, were not devoid of their own moving and peculiar living exift- ences if not in actual life, yet in embryo : fo that, at laft, the vo luntary, or involuntary motions everywhere feemed to me as if all matter were naught elfe than life! The incumbent afhes were momentarily difclofmg to my marvellous vifion their crowd of wonders ; and if my then inward eyes fo largely ferved me, how much greater would the revelations be, were they wholly freed of matter, like unto His who fafliioned them ! then, poffibly, the boundlefs matter, fo familiar to us, would nearly vanim, or become fecondary only, and the Univerfe be found primarily naught but a congeries of living, breathing, and thinking exiftences ! Oh, who mall unfold the wonders of creative energy who fathom the mi nute world, and place it alongfide the interminable regions filled with things called vaft, and the totality of which doth take the name of Univerfe ! for then Cartaphilus came to know, what Solomon probably did not know, that, if we have forefts abounding with leaves and feeds and fruits, and all thefe inftincl: with organized living entities, in relative proportions, and all thefe even upon the foft down of things we daily eat, confuming thereby a world of little beings, how (hall Cartaphilus ever again prefume to call a vifible atom fmall or even the glorious fun large? for that SUN may be an invifible atom compared with God s univerfe ! years I had thus unconfcioufly pafled, as to time, beneath thofe afhes, were often occupied by me in contemplating all thofe awakening things that then encompafled me alfo in reminifcences of the hateful paft, and in forebodings of the yet more odious and terrific future ! Thefe mufings flitted through my mind, exciting it to the keeneft curiofity and then fubduing it with wonder. At other times I found myfelf earneftly engaged in noting the habits and fafhions of life, among the infinitely various and fmall beings that moved and gambolled and died around me ! And, as I now remember, when Vefuvius was cafting forth more than its wonted volume of fire and fmoke, I perceived that the earth was every where penetrated with a moft odious and peftiferous aura, charged 528 C&ronicles of Cartapfrilus, century The Minute World revealed. with fulphurous and arfenical particles, and with other metallic poi- fons ! But great indeed was my wonder on beholding that, when thefe noxious, though extremely attenuated effluvia, were piercing thoroughly the earth, accompanied with fudden and tumultuous motions, far and wide, thefe were followed by a rum from the earth, into the air, of countlefs myriads of thofe inconceivably mi nute infe&s, then fo hideoufly augmented to my vifion, but which to man would continue unfeen, were even an hundred million of them united into a fingle mafs ! Thefe little beings, neverthelefs, were intenfely venomous for their volume ; and when breathed in by man or beaft, have often proved the caufe of many foul difeafes of plagues, and of numerous unknown maladies, to baffle the fkill of every Hippocrates, and prove fo mortal to our fpecies ! Thofe life-killing infets are often wafted to great diftances by fud den and refiftlefs currents of air, caufing ficknefs, or death, even in the remoteft regions, and ever in the ratio of the denfity of their numbers; and in places, too, where Vefuvius, or ./Etna, is yet ut terly unknown ! ^Qut I found alfo, that it was not the invifible infedts, and other living creatures around me, which alone were thus expelled from their abodes by the foul airs generated within the deep caverns of thofe fiery mountains. On fuch occafions (but how long after my interment I wot not) I alfo beheld ants, of the ufual form and fize, in countlefs numbers; fometimes locufts the canker-worm, and the palmer-worm the beetle and the caterpillar, and at other times, hordes of fmall land-crabs, fcarce larger than fmall fpiders ; and all thefe, opprefled by the airs of Vefuvius, would feek the fur- face in hafte fome foon to perifti there, but the moft to return and dwell again in their dark abodes, fo foon as the fulphurous effluvia had fubfided. jg$o again, on another occafion, my attention was powerfully awakened by numerous fiery phenomena ! The earth would nau- feoufly quake ; fmall lines of varioufly-coloured fire would rum in devious courfes with the rapidity of thought, and feemingly as the fhooting and irregular lightnings : fubterranean detonations would then enfue, and thefe be followed by crafhing founds in the air above me ! J^ow many days, or months, or even years, had elapfed fince the awful night that witnefled Pompeii s burial and mine own, I could not conjecture : many of my own fpecies were around me but none breathed, fave Cartaphilus, many moments after the heated afhy mowers flooded upon us. In a fhort time, as I now fuppofe, my confcioufnefs of exiftence became far lefs dreamy than at firft ; and, to my exceffive furprife, I perceived that I was ma- nifeftly deriving confantfujlenance and health from the encompafT- XL. c&c bannering 3|eto, 529 The Minute World revealed His Efcape from the afties. ing earth ! Every pore of my body feemed a&ively engaged in abforbing the earthy nutriment ! Then was I reminded to afk myfelf, " Were we not formed originally mere earthy tabernacles, into which was breathed the divine afflatus, and have we not ever fince been nurtured by thefe terrene produces are they not the fource of all aliment, of all difeafe^ and of all healing? nay, is there not the clofeft alliance between the animal economy and functions, when in full life and health, and all dead things whatever ? And muft not death refolve them all into mere matter^ ere they can be nouriture ? " So I now think and comprehend ! 3 then alfo, for the firft time, came fully to know and experi ence the reviving and purifying qualities of certain virgin earths : and from my long and healthy abode amidft thofe afties, and other foils, I have learned, not only the antifeptic^ but the allmental qua lities of all pure earth ; and thereby I alfo learnt that difeafed living bodies may be wholly purged of their foul humours, by the partial interment of the body, for a time, in fome pure foil leaving the man or beaft freely to inhale the furrounding air ! In the like manner was I taught, by the leflbns I then received, to know that dead zndjpoiled flefli, yea, living and difeafed flefti, maybe reftored to perfect fweetnefs, if buried fome feet beneath the ground ! for then will the earth abforb therefrom the putrefcent airs, that dif- folve its texture, and deftroy its fweets ! jQQnd here I muft further reveal (all as the refults of meditation on the teachings I had when under the afties) that thofe labouring under the malady called pkthifis^ may have their moaning lungs in fallibly reftored, by thus daily breathing and abforbing, for a time, the aura that cometh from fome cavity in the earth : and likewife that many putrid fores, leprofies, dropfies, fcrophulas, and the like difeafes, may thus be made to vanifli, if the body, in fuch cafes, be preferved from unequal temperatures, and the fele6led earth be of no vegetable decay neither loamy-black, nor clayey-white, but quite pure, and retentive of its own fweet odours ! Much other ex perience, or principles, did thofe foils vouchfafe unto me, during that wonderful imprifonment at Pompeii : but thefe will be no further chronicled here. I eventually efcaped from my earthy ftrong-hold, and emerged once more to hail the blefled light of heaven, and to in- fpire its balmy air, with a more freftiened fpirit than when I entered Pompeii s walls, need not be told further than that fome plunderers came and feduloufly dug over the very fpot beneath where I lay ; but having fearched in vain, after removing much of the earth above me, they left my body almoft vifible ! As night approached, the I. MM 530 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, century \. His return to Paeftum The Slave Julianus. moifture, and the rufh of frefh and vital air into my lungs, fo long a ftranger to it, gave me an awakening fenfation, and foon a con- fcioufnefs of a returning power of locomotion ! The blood now began to courfe rapidly through my veins ; and fuddenly aroufmg myfelf, as with a convulfive ftruggle, I bounded upon my feet into the open air where all around me were filence and the darknefs of a moonlefs night ! (f[)y ufual vifion was inftantly reftored ; and early did I expe rience a longing for food ! Vefuvius, as ufual, had a few fmall ftreams of burning lava down its fides ; and by this was given me the direction I would go, fo that, before the dawn of day, Carta- philus was again among the living, and fuitably clad, at the " Otiofa Neapolis" where, after nourifhing the outer man during fome days, he procured a fmall vehicle, and haftened on to his beloved abode at Paeftum, after an abfence of juft fix years, lefs ten days ! And here in Paeftum, three days thereafter, I recorded this portion of my Chronicle. SECTION XLI. UT the ftory of the marvellous paft is not yet quite told. * * * The fate of my Julianus after his hafty departure from Pompeii, at my requeft, on the firft cock-crow of the morning of that ever-memorable day that buried cities, continued to occupy my thoughts intenfely during my journey towards Paeftum; and with alternations of hope and of defpair as to his fafe return. ^ doubted not that the mower of afhes that had fallen in tor rents during feveral days and nights, muft have reached even far beyond Paeftum, though in greatly diminiftied quantity, and of lefs deftru&ive nature : for, on the whole road, as I haftened from Neapolis, continual proofs were given me of this. My foul was greatly agitated by ruminating upon the chances of his efcape, and the ftrong probability that he had fought fome other home : but my heart well-nigh ceafed to beat, when, on reaching Salernum, I was told that the Central Temple was ftill inhabited ! by whom, my informant could not fay. A few hours more, however, brought me into the arms of my faithful Julianus ! whofe aftonifhment and delight at feeing me knew no bounds, and fcarce can even be imagined. J^e had efcaped from Pompeii uninjured, and alfo with my fealed Polychronicon, as was my wont : and after fome difficulties, he reached Paeftum, with little hope of ever beholding me again but where he continued a folitary dweller in the Temple during thofe many years being all that while the confcientious guardian of my c&e (EHanDeting; 31eto. 531 Colloquies with Julianus Books from Paeftum. property, mourning over my almoft certain lofs, and yet with fleet ing hopes, at firft, for my fafe return, but which gradually yielded to defpair as the years rolled on. ^()uring that long period, my Julianus (I was moft happy to now find) had indulged to the full his love of reading, and of foli- tude ; which, in the four years we had been together, with thofe added fix of our feparation, had made the youth a man, and fome- what a fcholar. The truth is, I had taken no fmall pains during my years with him, to make him as like myfelf, as poffible, in all things but fin ; and hence his devotion to folitude as well as to books. Great, then, was my now delight at the fignal proof I found, no lefs of his keen love for both, than of his elevated morals, in thus watching over my pofleffions fighing for, and then hope- lefs of my return ! # * * * *|^ n a f ew d avs a f ter Paeftum had thus received me the fecond time, and when my marvellous efcape from the volcanic covering had been pondered by me, until my brain was fevered ; my own indomitable longing for books returned upon me in full force and Julianus was charmed to find me again in my mufeum, compofedly unfolding the volumes dufting fome of the Scrinia and fometimes indulging in a tafte of my favourite Ouintilianus, or Flavius Jofephus. At length faid Julianus, " Dear Mailer Carta- philus, fome years have more fluggiihly rolled on than Lethe s ftream, fince laft thou wert on that feat : I pray thee to inform me of thy perils, and efcape, and as to where thou haft fo long been ? " and with intenfe curiofity, he began to queftion me clofely of matters unfuited for me to anfwer, nothing doubting but that replies to all would follow but my deep filence, fo much at variance with my known love for him, and my ufual confidence, did greatly puzzle him : and finding himfelf the only interlocutor, and that my lips feemed likely to remain fealed upon all that matter, he renewed it no further. " ]^a ! my good Julianus," faid I at length, " great is my delight to find thou didft not only refcue thy dear felf, but all thefe volumes we procured at Pompeii : tell me more J~ of thyfelf how didft thou get on with that cumbrous f r0 mPomteii vehicle that brought us thither, and thee homeward did it ferve thee throughout ? " " (^Cxcellently well, venerable Cartaphilus ; for the vehicle, though ill adapted for flight, proved often an excellent fcreen to me, when the afties in more than ufual thicknefs flooded the fkies for then, hugging the earth, and beneath the vehicle, I was fafe, but forely pitied the poor animal, as he patiently endured the great an- Cjjronicleis of (ZEartapfrilus, Century \. Books from Pompeii Julianus lent to Rome. noyance : but this fubfiding, we reached home through many toils, and often with perils of fuffocation ! " X! we ^ knew, I confefs to thee, that if thou wert not fpared, thefe volumes, to which I had fo fondly clung, would greatly com fort me ; for I felt as if my heart would break." " ^hou didft rightly judge, my faithful Julianus, as to the drowning potency of books, when the foul doth mourn : but, let me now haftily examine fome of thefe volumes, mirabiliter recu- perati) quafi ex flammts et cinis ! doubtlefs by this time thou haft well digefted them all. * * * Here is Philodemus de Vitiis atque Oppofttis Firtutibus his fubjecl: is truly a good one but, my Julianus, I know him not : for furely, it can fcarce be that Philodemus whom Horace mentions, and, as I remember, Cicero likewife, in his treatife de Finibus ; for that one was a lafcivious poet, and would be little inclined to write of the Vices, and of their antagonift Virtues! and here is * Crijippi De Provldentia - and Epicuri De Natura* both ftrange books to be found at all in Pompeii ! and fo I then thought, and more fo now. Ah, here is c Colotis in Lyfidem Pla tonis ! I do remember one of that name : but Plutarchus accufeth him of ignorance^ which, in nowife will do for a commentator upon the divine PLATO : but, my Julianus, I do now remember me to have heard of another Colotis, a wife difciple of the young, though wife Epiftetus, as to which Colotis I knew not, until thy occafional gatherings of knowledge at Saler- nurn brought him to us and that Colotis may well have been this commentator. Lyfts^ moreover, was himfelf a Pythagorean, and a bright man ; as he it was who formed Epaminondas ; and fome do even fay he is the author of the famed c Golden Verfes. What Plato hath faid of him is well known ; but what this Colotis hath to unfold of him, and of Plato likewife, we prefently muft fee. " X3 ut m y Julianus, we now muft to other bufmefs. I would have thee inftantly depart for Rome, and fetch me intelligence whether Flavius Jofephus yet lives : and be fure that thou write to me from thence, by the meflenger that co mes to Salernum, as to the many things there done fince Titus hath the reins. Do thou ad- drefs me by the name of Tacafulriph and as of Salernum." And here our converfation ended. Julianus was foon on horfe ; and a few weeks thereafter brought me the following letter : * * We find Cartaphilus elfewhere explicit in ftating that the deftruftion of Pompeii and Herculaneum in A.D. 79, was confequent upon that great eruption from Vefuvius and in this all modern opinion, with but one exception, has Letter xxxn. c&e SjOanUetmg 3!eto sss Were Herculaneum and Pompeii deftroyed at the fame time ? LETTER XXXII. JULIANUS TO TACASULRIPH. ROME, m Nan* Sept. u.c. 838. [September 3rd, A.D. 85.] HIS letter I fend by the Nuntius for Salernum there to await thy prefence, in obedience to thy requeft. I found no difficulty in afcertaining all that relates to Flavius Jofephus ; who (during the ftiort reign of Titus, which lafted but a little more than two years, as alfo of his wicked brother, Domitian, who hath now been ruling juft four years) hath enjoyed an enviable diftin<5tion ; and is refiding at Rome in perfect health ; but much occupied in the preparation concurred. It has been doubted whether Herculaneum and Pompeii fuffered contemporaneously, or indeed whether Pompeii perifhed at all in A.D. 79, and the fole ground given is the omifiion, by the younger Pliny, (who fo eloquently records the death of his uncle,) to notice either. It is certainly fomewhat ftrange ; but furely far from being fufficient to juftify the opinion advanced. We mall not controvert it by any elaborate argument but we regard the following hints as quite fufficient to reftore entire confidence in the correftnefs of our Chronicler. i. The manifeft, and perhaps only object of Pliny, and indeed his natural feeling, (efpecially in a letter,) was to record merely the circumftances of his uncle s death. z. T\\zfat of the deftruftion of thofe cities at that time was too notorious to need any record of fuch a fa<5t and particulars of that kind would be fome what foreign to the purpofes of his letter. 3. The omiflion to record an efcape of thofe cities, had that been the cafe, would be juft as furprifing as the failure to ftate their dejiruElion, 4. The deftruftion that enfued from the eruption, was, no doubt, occafioned by aflies and water only : the inhabitants had moftly efcaped ; the town of Pompeii was one of little note, and of no great intereft in Imperial Rome. For thefe reafons and others, that might be ftated, Pliny may juftly have adhered to a naked ftatement of thofe circumftances eflential to a faithful account of the calamity that befell his relative the letter, naturally afluming that all elfe was known. As to Herculaneum, if it perimed at the fame time, (and it will be obferved that Cartaphilus here makes no mention whatever of Herculaneum, poflibly for the like reafon that aftuated the younger Pliny,) it is quite certain that it alfo then perimed by afhes and heated water ; and that the lava now found there was by fubfequent eruptions. If the deftruction of Herculaneum was by lava, and con temporaneous with that of Pompeii, the little or no lava at the latter would be altogether marvellous, and indeed impoflible, as it is fo much nearer the fiery mountain. It is therefore quite probable that both perimed by the fame caufe, 534 Chronicles of Cartap!)ilu0, Century i. Jofephus and his Works His Wives and Sons. of another work ; which, as I learn, concerns the Antiquities of thy wonderful country. r hou doft remember that Jofephus, though a Jewifh prieft, was yet induced by Vefpafian to wed a captive ; which troubled him much, as being againft the law of thy great legiflator Mofes ; fo that he wedded again in Alexandria ; and having divorced her likewife, (in neither inftance, as they fay , fine querela^} he at length found in Crete one wholly worthy of him, (he being of Jewifh parentage, extremely opulent, and of exalted virtue. Jofephus hath now three fons Hyrcanus, by her of Alexandria and Juftus and Simonides by his prefent wife. He received me moft kindly, as of thy former acquaintance, he fuppofmg thee now deceafed but nothing of thy abode did I communicate to him, as being againft thy prefurned wifhes, inferred by me from thy aflumed name. ]J^ likewife hear that fome of his countrymen lately accufed him, in fuch a manner to Domitian, as might have involved him in fear ful difficulty, but even the cruel Domitian fo greatly refpe&s Jofephus, that he gave a moft willing ear to his defence ; and thereupon feverely punifhed his malignant cenfurers : and tis fur ther ftated to me, that Domitian has confirmed to him all the lands that Titus had granted him in Judea ; and exempts them from all taxes ! It is further faid that Titus permitted Jofephus to retain the perfect copy of thofe HOLY BOOKS, fo juftly valued by thy nation ; and which were refcued at the time of Jerufalem s de- ftruction. is at this time one "Jujlm^ of Tiberias, who is now and at the fame time. The people of thofe countries were then not very in- quifitive, nor were they as minutely hiftorical as perhaps elfewhere, or as the people of our times would not fail to be. And, moreover, how furprifing is it that thefe two buried cities, in the vicinity of Naples, and not far from Rome, remained unknown and unthought of for centuries ! The Neapolitans had loft all knowledge that there were buried cities near Vefuvius : and the world re mained wholly ignorant of their reipeftive localities during nearly fixteen cen turies ! and the more wonderful is this, as Pompeii was beneath a thin covering of afhes only, fcarcely exceeding fifteen feet anywhere : and our furprife is further augmented by the faft that, in the fifteenth century, a canal was dug, leading from the town of Annunzeata, and parting under Pompeii ! And yet more than two centuries more elapfed before the awakening revelation was made that above that canal lay the ruins of Pompeii, and all the riches of domeftic life, as we fee them in the Mufeo Barbonico ! And why (even in this far more enlightened day) both thofe cities ftill repofe in comparative darknefs is in deed truly furprifing. On the very day of our Wanderer s departure for the remote Eaft, as is ftated in his laft Letter to the Editor in September 1852, he intimated his intention, at no very remote day, to awaken the people of the Weftern Continent to the enterprise of a thorough difmterment of thofe cities, upon fuch terms as the then Italian powers might concur in. Cf)0 QBanueting 3[eto. 535 Juftus, the hiftorian Domitian Pompeii. alfo occupied in writing a hiftory of thy nation : and it is rumoured that he is a great enemy to Jofephus ; and much defires to under value his late work : but this he will find difficult ; as thy country man hath obtained from Vefpafian and Titus, as alfo from King Agrippa, ftrong teftimonials of his rigid veracity, and perfect accu racy ; which, from all accounts, is more than Juftus can obtain from any one. ^ think I clearly find here that thy Jofephus is greatly won dered by all that he hath heard, and thought of, touching the mighty Nazarene, of whom we have fometimes communed. He feems not to dare take any decifive ground for or againft him : the heavy debt of gratitude he owes to Vefpafian, and to Titus me mory, and his dread of Domitian, would forbid : but my opinion is that Jofephus would not fay aught againft this Jefus. "J^ have been in Rome fcarce two weeks ; and yet it would ap pear, in that fhort time, that this Domitian is nothing elfe than a wild beaft, let loofe upon an unrefifting flock ! How wonderful is it, O Tacafiilriph, that a whole nation can ever be brought to fubmit their necks to the frenzies of a fingle tyrant ! but, as the world at all times hath been fo full of this, thou wilt juftly fay, it cannot be fo wonderful, as lamentable, f * ^ fhall leave Rome next week, and haften to thee with fome volumes fele&ed by me ; which, as I truft, will be to thy mind : and among thefe is a little volume on the Pompeii s par- deftru&ion of Pompeii, and other places ; and alfo gnt l ^ n contains fome account of attempts made at various times, to difinter portions of that ill-fated city ; and to recover fbme of the more valuable articles buried by the afhes in a way too well known by us. The author of this libellus thinks, and I fuppofe juftly, that by far the larger number who perifhed, met their fate without the walls, and largely by the fudden influx of the fea likewife by the gufti of the waters of the river Sarnus and alfo greatly, by their taking wrong directions in their hafty panic flight : and we are witnefles that moft of the valuables were re moved from the city, before the fatal morning of the xxivth of Auguft. The writer of this fmall volume computes the deftruftion of life within the walls, as fcarce exceeding two thoufand ; and fays that many of thefe were criminals captives and foldiers, the duty of the latter often forbidding their efcape ! There were likewife many priefts of the various temples ; and fome whofe f The Editor deems it proper here to omit all that part of Julianus letter which relates to Roman affairs, during the preceding fix years ; as other letters have fufficiently brought down that hiftory to the period of Trajan s firft war with the Dacians. 536 C&tCmfCleS Of CattapfjilUS, Century i. Joyful return of Julianus. avarice detained them, in the face of even that moft awful peril ! Thefe claffes of perfons periflied ; but, as he thinks, few others within the walls. ^ have only to add that Domitian is now about to eftablifh, what are to be called the Capitoline Games to be celebrated every fourth year. And now, moft venerated Tacafulriph, until we meet, I bid thee FAREWELL. JULIANUS. SECTION XLII. ULIANUS returned to me on Tifri s fourth day [September I2th] and fuch is man s facial nature, that during his abfence at Rome, I felt as one cut off from the only tie that bound me to humanity. The hours that feparated us became as years ; and hailed his return with an emotion I could not reftrain in which, however, an idle and unworthy mame at Man s facial emotion flitted acrofs my mind ! " But. it is Nature. c r-j T / i n 11 vain for man, laid 1 mulingly, " to undervalue fuch emotions, or to affect indifference to his fellows, or to live wholly in folitarinefs fuch cannot be long endured by any one, and would only betoken fome difeafe of body, or of foul or heart. From the focial principle of our nature proceed both primary and civil focieties ; hence arife marriages, friendfhips, tribes, and other affociations and then political governments, fyflematic laws, and all the highly policed focieties. In and by all thefe is it, that the native moral bud doth foon become a full-blown flower, redolent of every precious odour, and lovely in all rich colours; for truly fociety is man s only vital and natural element, as it alone gives expan- fion and worth to all his faculties : without fociety we languifh and degenerate and die, as furely too as do the creatures that dwell in the waters perifti, when removed from their life-fuftaining element. In focial converfe, all the bland and generous affections of the heart, and thofe that refrefh the mind, receive their due expanfion ; but thefe are all enfeebled when we withdraw from it into folitudes. And, even during my marvellous prefervation at Pompeii, was not life there only to be endured, by reafon of the never-ceafing com munion held by me with the crowd of living and moving things around me, even though fo different from my own nature ? During thofe fix years of imprifonment under the afhes of Vefuvius, what fo much fuftained me as my contemplation of the actions and habits of the myriad tiny beings that revelled in their diverfe and pecu- on XLII. Cfje Bannering 3[efo, 537 Qiiintilian The Hifpanians Helvetians, &c. liar focieties each ftill fhowing God s great law of fympathy and affociation ? Nor can I forget that after forfaking Edeffa, like a morbid hater of my own fpecies, and feeking for caves and folitary ruins as my congenial abodes ; yet, when from my friends only one day, I involuntarily found refuge with Artaxias of Nicephorium ! and further, that now, during the fhort abfence of my Julianus, my foul fo mourned over him, that I counted each moment that fepa- rated us ! Oh, how feebly doth man know man s inner nature ! " * * * J^ uc h were the mufings awakened in me by joy at the return of my faithful flave : but, deep as thefe were, and fin- cere, they pafled from me, after a time, as do the morning vapours on Carmel s heights body and mind again became morbid ; and the mere thought of returning to Edefla was as odious to me as ever ! J^ome few years more patted fluggifhly on when, in my nine tieth year, I commenced the careful reading of the InJJitutiones Oratorio of Ouintilian, brought for me from Rome, which had then been lately publifhed. So charmed was I with this mafterly work that, had I been fome years younger, I mould certainly have vifited Rome, for the fpecial purpofe of cultivating acquaintance with fo great a teacher. " hefe Hifpanians J communed I with myfelf, " muft furely be canopied by a genial iky; for, hath not that country, befides Quintilian, given to republican and imperial Rome many of its greateft names ? long would be the lift, beyond the bright names of Martial, Seneca, Lucan, Columella, the immortal Trajan, Pom- ponius Mela, who only now urge themfelves upon my memory. " jf-jnd though they all may flock to the proud City, that rules the world, at the earlieft period of their lives, yet their natale folum feems to have imparted to each far more than the punffum faliens of their after-greatnefs : the ftrong Hifpaniany?^ remains ever vifible in all their actions, and in all their writings, however long and varied their foreign deftinies may have been ! " ^X ow different moreover," continued I, " are the Alemanni the Rhteti the htadi and the Helvetii^ from thefe Romans, and all thefe from one another ! and then again, how different they from the Lugduni, the Belgte, and from many others of Gallia ! So likewife, thofe of the remote Albion, are they not ftrongly marked, and fo nationalized by inherent and native characlieriftics, that their imprefs fades not away by tranfplantation, nor yet by even much cultivation in alien, and in more genial regions, and amidft a far more refined people ? But the JEWS ! how diverfe are they, and ever, from Greeks or Romans, in bodily as well as mental features ! And yet doubtlefs, all the nations that cover the earth s furface, however diftinguilhed by features, temperaments, colours, languages, 538 Chronicles Of CartapfrilUS, Century i. Claffes and Varieties of Men All from Adam. habits, and inftitutions, are ftill from the only one original ftock having ADAM for their fole progenitor ! Marvellous indeed is this ! But, is it not alfo thus with the beafts, and birds and reptiles yea, even with the vegetable world ? Have they not each and all, within their refpeclive clajfes, the moft diftinctive varieties ? Doth not the long habitus of every nation of people impart to it fuch diftinctive lineaments and fuch an uneffaceable individuality as enable us to pronounce with confidence that this man is a Briton that one a Gaul, and the other a German, though he utters no word of his own language, or be clothed in the fame habiliments as thofe around him ? And, in like manner, do we not fay, this is a lion of Mauritania that of Perfia and that again of Syria, or of Greece ? nay, even that this rofe is of Etruria, that of Damafcus, or again that one of Pasftum ? It is all even fo ; and yet, originally, neither man, beaft, bird, nor flower, was created with thofe diftinclive marks ! but how, and when, they obtained their feveral indicia, Cartaphilus can but conjecture ; and that conjefture^ or pofjibllity is, that all fuch deep and fpecific differences, as are not mere varieties eafily impreffed by phyfical and moral caufes on men, and other things, but were mi- raculoufly given, when, from Babel man was diffufed over the earth, and then for the firft time, with divers languages ! for, until then, fpeech, colour, form, and other differences, varied not our race : but, when fentenced, as by a curfe, to dwell in every region, and to feparate into tribes and nations and empires, thofe indicia of the outer man, and alfo of tongues, and of the mental ftatus, were gradually imparted : andlikewife animals fynchronoufly endured many changes, fo as to conform them to their now varied climates, and to render them prefent as before, and ufeful everywhere to man which could not have been, had they remained unchanged, and as at firft created and fo, alfo, as to the vegetable world ! " * * * ^nto fuch involuntary mufmgs would my mind often lead me fo that, even this wife Spaniard Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, could not arreft my meditation, but was nearly forgotten, though fo much to my mind of liking for he furely is a great teacher, and a pleafing one. Julianus then roufed me from my oblivion, and began his cuftomary reading of that Orator s great work ; and feveral weeks were thus delightfully occupied in alternate reading and reciprocal comments. His tenth and twelfth books were fpecially attractive; for they abound in found remarks upon Greek and Roman authors in many valuable and interefting details of the literature of by gone ages and in numerous topics that difclofe his elevated ideas as to the real province of Oratory. " ^^ruly, if thefe rules of Quintilian were duly obferved," re marked Julianus, " ORATORY would then become as a bright and darting beam from heaven melting all hearts, and convicting all 3leto. 539 True Sources of Oratory. ftubborn judgments ; for it is the province of that great Art to excite the affeflions, whilft it wins the under/landing ! And much do I admire his opinion that none can be a true orator, if not an honejt man." " ^j^his, my good Julianus," replied I, " is extremely beautiful in theory ; and, perhaps, (in its ultimate refinements,) equally fo in practice: but all experience hath mown that what Paterculus (whofe volume is now before us) fays of Curio, that l he was ingeni- oufly wicked and eloquent, to the deftru6tion of his country, (inge- niofijjime nequam, et facundus malo publico,} hath been true of many befides Curio : but ftill it is doubtlefs true, that genius and learning give much additional force, and derive their power and principal charm from virtue; and alfo, that he who would impart a luftre and efficiency to his knowledge and genius, muft cherifh all the amiable affections of the heart." " ^outh as I was," rejoined Julianus, " when at Neapolis, and before I changed my firft mafter for thee, O Cartaphilus, I had often heard of, and even witnefTed, the commanding powers of oratory either to good, or to evil purpofes : and my after-readings have imprefTed me with the opinion (which differs, perhaps, from the general one) that the tajle of ORATORS is more frequently formed by the genius of the people they addrefs, than THEY are by the tajle of their orators ; for the moral, intellectual, political, and even phyfical condition of a people, demand from their fpeakers a correfpondent order of eloquence and of oratory." " *hy obfervations, my worthy Julianus," replied I, " are perhaps in the main found; but ftill, as to me it feemeth, the better opinion is, that they reciprocally acl: upon each other ; and, pro bably, that the influence of the Orator is far the more potential, and that, whilft the Audience, from their comparative ignorance their vices and their paffions, (or the reverfe, as the cafe may be,) may corrupt, or may purify their orators fo, on the other hand, wicked, or virtuous orators may, in time, produce upon their audi ences the moft enduring impreflions of evil, or of good." ^n the like converfe, we often pored over divers volumes, and beguiled the many hours of my tedious years, which, happily for the innocent Julianus, were years to him of nearly unmingled hap- pinefs. How admirable, then, is it, that Abraham s God doth permit the curfe of one, to be a blejfing to another ! 540 Chronicles of Cartapfrilug, century Thaddeus and his Stranger-Friend. SECTION XLIII. T length, upon one of lyar s lovelieft evenings, in the year of the City 849 [May, A.D. 96] .my door was gently tapped but not by the well-known knock of Julianus ! Such an occurrence had never before hap pened fmce my firft coming to Paeftum, juft twenty years before ! I therefore approached the door with feeble limbs, Arrival of and with fome alarm and fainted in the arms of my a Stranger, beloved THADDEUS my honoured fon by adoption ! XlP on my revival, the gum of furprife, of feeling, and of love, inflantly renewed in me a train of long fubdued remembrances ; they were too powerful for my then mattered frame, and exhaufted mind ; and I wept aloud, as doth a child on the bofom of its tender parent ! ^ had left my Thaddeus a youth graceful as Apollo, blooming as Ganymedes ; but now he was care-worn, part middle age, and with fome blanched locks, which told me that his more than waning manhood had been prematurely caufed by means, other than his only double fcore years and that Cartaphilus had chiefly caufed this decadence ! ^he warm-hearted Thaddeus had, at various times during my abfence, (pent fome years in fruitlefs fearches for me: but, at length meeting with the Magian Artaxias, at Nicephorium, he obtained from him the knowledge that, if alive, I might be found at Pasftum: for, foon after my wonderful refufcitation at Pompeii, I had written to Artaxias which was the only letter indited by me fmce I wan dered from Edeflfa ! In vain did I urge upon my excellent Thad deus his early return home; and with no mention there of my exiftence ; but he infifted on continuing with me ; and foon re covered in health and fpirits : and though he wrote often to his loving friends at Edefla, he carefully avoided any allufion to me, or to the place of his own refidence. * * * * * My converfations with Thaddeus were often, long-continued. J^o powerfully exciting were they that, on one occafion, when he left my chamber, my mind feemed wholly gone vr - I" a e was weary of me death I mourned for, as would an d Innocence, & . / the ramilned hyaena Jong tor rood and yet thought would irrefiftibly prefs on me, as if there were no body exiftent, or, as if mind confifted of thought alone f The guilty are deftined to think and even the innocent can feldom avoid the odious current for the SOUL S very eflencc is communion with itfclf, and as 03anBeting Jeto 541 A Muling upon Sin and Innocence. ceafeleflly, as is the BODY S perpetual mutation, from an endlefs flow of invifible earthy particles ! ^J|e know that foul and body are ever fubjedt to deflexions from their healthy movements the only enemy of the former being Sin, that ends in fpiritual death and the only foe of the latter being Pain, that ends in phyfical death : and both of thefe dread enemies are as infinitely varied, as are leaves on the frofted trees of an autumnal morning! for, we alfo know that, whatever diverts the foul in any degree from its onward path towards the celeftial light, caufes Sin ; and that whatever brings a bodily function into any difarray, caufeth Pain ; and that each, if long continued, or if bold at firft, muft end in death the one of the foul the other of the body. Cartaphilus, then, hath learned the value of happinefs the difficulty of fecuring it and the fweetnefs of hope, and even of any fleeting enjoyment. ()h ! with what eagernefs have I grafped, and how tenacioufly have I retained, any even cafual or momentary blifs for God doth caft thefe feeming accidents in our way, purpofely to reveal the boundlefs wealth of virtue. Sometimes, though but for moments, I have imagined myfelf crimekfs ! How delightful was that heaven- infpired thought, though as fleeting as an air-bubble, when wafted on too rude a zephyr ! At fome other time, I have found myfelf gazing with rapture upon fome little child^ and drinking in, as it were, its own feraphic purity ! then would its playful innocence, its guilelefs joy, its ftrange unacquaintance with all moral deformity, fo ravifti my foul, that, from this momentary heaven I was moft unwilling to part : and would have clung to the fweet illufion, as doth the parched traveller, when the bounteous and limpid fountain of a defert is fuddenly found before him ! But alas ! fuch ftolen innocence could not long be retained by me purity and guilt are unnatural allies a child s holinefs and man s wickednefs foon re pel each other ; and, like fire and water, they inftantly mortify one another ! and hence it comes, that Heaven cannot endure the pre- fence of Sin, nor Gehenna abide that of Virtue ! jfft fome other time, as now I remember, my vexed and guilty fpirit would be refrefhed (as is the drooping flower by the evening moifture) when beholding fome lovely virgin^ juft blooming into womanhood, and as immaculate in thought as (he was beautiful in perfon, fuch being her ignorance of all fin, that her tranfparent foul, like the dews of Hermon, had no mote that could for a mo ment dim its brightnefs ! Joyous in her own thoughts, fhe feemed to me as the petted lamb, when it gambols over the fields, it knows not why ; and fhe, moreover, as little fufpe<tful of the pre- fence of evil, as Eva wa%in Paradife, when in the prefence of Be lial ! Then would that boundlefs purity of hers pour into my dif- 542 Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, century r. A Mufing upon Sin and Innocence. tempered foul fuch a flood of light and joy, that her fpotlefs foul would feem, for a time, to pafs wholly and infenfibly into mine own for then I was as innocent as herfelf ! thofe inftants of purity, thus vouchfafed unto me, were indeed as the odour of heaven to a benighted foul ! they bore healing upon their wings-^-the troublous frream of life was huflied for the moment ; and joys fo new to me, reigned as triumphant in my foul, as if no foul fiend could ever again refume dominion over me ! This rapid contem plation by me of Woman s earlieft and frefheft innocence, proved to my then difeafed foul more precious than would much oil to aching wounds yea, like icy waters contending with the fevered blood, or like the almoft vifible withdrawal of foul humours from the body, when the purple current is abundantly let out from their fretted channels by fbme fkilful Hippocrates for fuch is the eafe the foul may gain, if virtue, from any caufe, can momentarily prevail ! jjCfgain, at fome other time, have I noted that my fin-difeafed mind would tafte a fugitive blifs, by the like earneft communion with virtuous and venerable old age : for he who, from boyhood to the tomb s protracted verge, hath dedicated that long life to his Creator s fervice, compels our veneration and love, though wholly unlike ourfelf ! Oh, how the eye of fuch an aged one doth fparkle with a divine intellectuality with a mild celeftial hope with heaven s bright reverfion fwelling before him ! His mind is em bodied ferenity nature, in fuch an old age, is full of grace and beauty ; to him, the paji needs no oblivious veil he fears no re- trofpeftion ; the prefent is inftindl with fruition in quick purfuit of yet brighter anticipations as to things even of this nether world whilrt the ^&.\i?\ future^ piercing beyond the grave, is alfo to him as a wide and verdant plain, full of lovely and odorous flowers, and his keen vifion, piercing yet further through regions of boundlefs hope, ftops not until it reaches the ineffable prefence of Jehovah ! Communion, I fay, with fuch pious venerablenefs, hath fometimes fo charmed my foul into peace, that my own loathed condition was wholly merged in the fplendour of his : no envy then afTailed me no jealous repining at mine own, in contraft with his happy lot no remorfe, with its hideous train, came in to mar the extatic vifion ; but, for that brief time, / lived in him and breathed of his own heavenly empyrean, as oblivious of the paft, and unapprehenfive of the future, as if fin were to me unknown ! Strange illufion ! Mar vellous the kindnefs of Heaven ! for fuch I am forced to regard it. But alas ! the flood of memory could not long be thus ftaid it would return upon me j and the fweet dream was but as the morn ing s fleecy mifts before an effulgent fun L Then would follow, in fearful fucceflion, my own black deeds : all the hateful />#/?, became Cjje 2xHantJenng 3ieto, 543 Origin and Progreis ot Pasftum. a revived and vifible wow and, in the long pious and hoary-headed man before me, no longer could I find a folace the vifion was clean gone ; and, in lieu thereof, were crowded on me ten thoufand agonizing denunciations againft a life of frivolity of fin and of daring crime, fuch as mine ! SECTION XLIV. IHADDEUS, before he faw Artaxias, had fcarcely ever heard of Pte/tum, even by name ; and we at length began to feek, from Some account o o QT rtflium. our poor fupply of volumes, fome further acquaintance as to its origin and hiftory : but our in quiry ended in little that was fatisfactory. ^JjJ^hen firft founded, even tradition hath fcarce more than whifpers ; but certain it is that the Sybarites a colony of Greeks of very remote antiquity, and afterwards of wonderful notoriety for their voluptuoufnefs, founded a republic in Lucania ; and there built their goodly city now called Paeftum. Thefe Sybarites ex pelled the inhabitants into the Calabrian mountains ; and event ually became fo powerful in arms as to poflefs a ftanding force of fifteen fcore thoufand fighting men, and dominion over twenty-and- five cities. But their great renown hath been that of opulence and unheard-of luxury a fenfuality that became refined and defined by rules of State, the exa<St reverfe of fumptuary laws ! for thefe Sy barites would endure no trade or craft within their proud walls no noife that could difturb their repofe no crowing of a cock to moleft their {lumbers nor was any dyer of purples, nor fimerman who fupplied their tables, ever to be taxed golden crowns were awarded to thofe moft diftinguifhed for fplendid entertainments the inventors of a new luxury were to poflefs a monopoly for one year heralds were appointed to proclaim the names of the moft fenfual, as public benefaftors! So coftly were the robes of their women, that the Carthaginians are faid to have purchafed one of them for fivefcore talents ! A year s notice of bidding to their en tertainments was their cuftom ; and their guefts in coming to them, were fcreened by veils from the fun j and moved in fuch ftate, as to confume fome days in that mort journey made by others in as many hours ! No marvel, then, if the fair daughter of Clifthenes, king of Sicyon, when to be wooed by Smyndrides, the chiefeft of all thofe fenfualifts, appeared at Sicyon with hunters and cooks, that numbered juft one thoufand ! and lefs marvel is it, if the renowned MiloofCrotona, with only one-third the forces of thefe effeminate Sybarites, put them nearly all to the fword, and inundated their city, by diverting the waters of their rivers upon them ! The Lucani- 544 C&ronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century L The Firft TRANSFORMATION of Cartaphilus. ans faw themfelves revenged : but then came the omniprefent Ro mans ; who changed their then name of Pojldonla^ for that of Paeftum, in the fifth century after the building of Rome ; and after the Sybarites had poflefled rule there quite three centuries before : and hence this Paeftum may now number more than eight hundred years ! * SECTION XLV. THE FIRST TRANSFORMATION OF CARTAPHILUS. |HADDEUS had now been with me nearly eight years ; during which he would never be perfuaded to leave me even for a day. jt length, on the night of the twentieth of Adar, and in the year of the Creation 3863, and of the City 856, [A. D. 103,] I was fuddenly feized with certain myfterious and unearthly feelings of mind, as well as of body ! the like of which I had never in the leaft experienced before ; and which, at firft, I fuppofed might be thofe of death to me then fo much longed for. But, as thefe fenfations were quickly followed by others wholly different, and of even vigorous health, and of all the joyoufnefs of youth, and then, anon, by the return to me of torturing pains, and of the fame myfterious feelings that at firft aflailed me, I became much alarmed, there being no one with me ; and moreover, I was compelled to recognize in thefe al ternate fymptoms, the fure approach of fome mighty change in me, deftined to fulfil that marvellous doom which feemed to hang over me from my natal hour ! The portentous dream recorded by me, in an early part of this my Polychronicon, then greatly difturbed me, and gave aflurance that no ordinary event was coming on. ^he quick alternations between the feeblenefs of extreme age, with the almoft mortal pains of body and mind, and the fo different ones that followed, of vitality, and the joy of adolefcence, were too wonderful to be for a moment unregarded ; and compelled me to remember that, fhould I live but ten days longer to Nifan s firft day (that of my birth) I mould then number juft one hundred years: and alfo that, mould I reach the fifteenth day of that month, (the * Paeftum may probably now claim 2,500 years ; and has not yet wholly vanifhed ! She continued in glory many years after the Romans conquered Lucania, about u.c. 4.80 or B.C. 273. It was, however, a magnificent fcene of ruins in the time of Auguftus ; and lingered on until the beginning of the tenth century, when Mahommed s followers almoft annihilated it. Nothing of Pseftum now remains but the three temples, portions of the city walls, and gates ; and though not quite forfaken when Cartaphilus poffefled his Temple, it was, as he ftates, nearly a folitude. XLV. c&e Manneting 3leto* 545 The Firft Transformation of Cartaphilus. faddeft of all my days, as being that on which I was curfed at the Valley Gate) I fhould then have pafled through feventy years, fince thofe awful words were uttered there by the wonderful Nazarene. ^he night of my attack, the 20th of Adar, was pafled by me in watchful counting of the fluggifti moments: thefe were as hours; and were then fucceeded by thofe of health and joy, and even of hope ! Anxioufly did I defire that the looked-for event, whatever the change might be, mould happen upon Nifan s firft, and not fifteenth day: for the remembrance of Calvary was far more ter rific to me than all that I had heard, or could imagine as to the def- tiny, fhadowed by the revelation to my parents on the night before I was ufhered into light. jfj few days more, however, pafled off; and then, at the early crow of the cock, I fummoned the good Thaddeus to my bed-fide, and thus addrefled him : " Cfty excellent and dear fon, dearer than any one ever had by adoption ; I have long grieved that thou wouldft never, for thine own good plealure, leave me for an hour, even to vifit Rome, fo attractive to all elfe. Thy folitude during the many dull years thou haft been with me, would have been more tolerable to thee, hadft thou feen lefs of the miferable Cartaphilus : but thy love towards me hath ever banifhed gloom from thy brow, and covered thy face with fmiles ; though fuch deep retirement as this ill fuits thy years and focial temper. I pray thee, therefore, and it is now my earneft wifh and requeft that,/0r me, thou wouldft inftantly to horfe ; and depart for Rome there to tarry a week or more, during which time, fail not to write to me concerning all fuch greater matters, as have arifen in the paft ten years among the rulers and the people of that Myjlerious Babylon, that will be a City, I tell thee, O Thaddeus, that muft become far more wonderful than it yet hath been yea, more fo than the Oriental one more fo than even the Holy City of Paleftine, and its laft fate as fure, and even more terrific !" ^j^haddeus gazed wildly upon me, at thefe feemingly prophetic words as to the Imperial City for fuch my words appeared even unto myfelf to be they having then been ftrangely impreffed upon my mind, during thofe dreamy hours of my paft night s exiftence, which, though paffing off, had caufed me to bid my Thaddeus there. CDy fon, however, was prompt to obey my wifh, but greatly at a lofs to conjecture why one of my age and infirmities, fhould con cern himfelf fo anxioufly about Roman affairs ! The truth alfo was, that my fenfations were altogether too remarkable, not to aflure me that fomttbing was rapidly coming over me, which I pre ferred that Thaddeus fhould not witnefs. I. N N 546 CfjtOmde.S! Of CartapfrilU0, Century i. The Firft Transformation of Cartaphilus. CDy fon was early upon the Appian Way ; and Julianus, foon after his departure, became greatly alarmed at the fudden change that hourly was taking place in my appearance. The marvellous feelings, before mentioned, returned in yet greater force, early after my fon s departure ; and, on the fourth day, I no longer was able to rife for a moment from my bed, and thenceforth I refufed all nouriture. ^n that ftate I lay during fome days more : my agony had be come indeed intenfe and the paroxyfms were daily more violent, and without any return of thofe juvenefcent feelings at firrr, expe rienced by me ; and this confirmed my fufpicion that they had been merely premonitory of the wonder that was about to be wrought within me ! j?Jt length the momentous night came on. Julianus, exhaufted by continual watchings, had fallen afleep. I remained confcious of exiftence confcious of the heavy breathings of my faithful Juli anus but my brain would often feem as if it were whirling with more than the velocity of the potter s trochus myriads of grotefque and horrific phantoms paffed quickly and fitfully before my mental eye and my body felt as if it were rapidly cafting off all grofs and feculent particles : when lo ! I beheld thefe minute atoms, with a fpeed truly inconceivable, flying from me in every direction, as would beams from a globe of light ! With an extreme energy, thefe effhevia were ifTuing from ten thoufand fally-ports, feemingly of a now lingering and almoft unfeen life ! I imagined I could fee around me everywhere, or really faw, and with an enlarged vifion, millions of corporeal and morbid particles, flowing from every pore rifing into thin clouds, that muft have been quite beyond the grafp of ufual vifion ! But oh, what was my loathing horror, when my eyes refted upon innumerable little, misfhapen, and greedy fprites, guided by that great Serpent, who hath been named AZ.RAEL, and who is faid to be " Lord of Flem and Blood," and likewife is called " Prince of this World," all flocking fuddenly around my grofler, but then vanifhing and periming body ! Then was it that my fpirit feemed to be gradually finking into a kind of trance ; and yet with remains of confcioufnefs : for I faw Azrael and his minions {till voracioufly devouring thofe clouds of noifome and corrupt atoms, fo long as they iflued from my now almoft lifelefs, and nearly weight- lefs body ! jM s thefe loathfome mifts became more attenuated, and gra dually were fubfiding, my trance proportionately diminimed ; reafon was faft refuming its throne the numerous hideous little imps of corruption, that had been fo actively flitting about me, now feemed gloated with their foul repaft ; and Azrae l was then diftinclly feen of me bidding them hence which fummons they all incontinently obeyed ! 3[eto, 547 The Firit Transformation of Cartaphilus. ^ then lay for fome hours in fweet repofe, Julianus ftill being in profound fleep near me. My body, then wholly relieved from the prefiure of Azrael, and of his ugly hoft, became inftantly en veloped in a bright cerulean cloud, redolent of all fweet perfumes the blood feemed courfmg through my veins with its wonted motion, and was foon in the healthiert and moft reviving a&ion ; my refpiration was like that of boyhood I was encompaffed by many blifsful vifions myriads of lovely forms gracefully fported around me, pointing to the celeftial orbs, and prefenting to me faces that ever fmiled Heaven itfelf, as if in purpofed contraft with the fo recent Hades that had environed me, now feemed within my view and reach, and, in the ecftacy of that delightful moment, I leaped involuntarily from my couch, on Nifan s fifteenth day and ftood firmly upon my feet, in the prefence of my former, but now greatly minimed and recumbent body a Young Man, of pre- cifely the fame form and ftature, and feemingly of the fame age I was, when, at the Valley Gate, thofe aftounding words were uttered by Him, who, fo foon after, was Calvary s victim ! (gJJTjthout delay, I clad myfelf in robes fuited to my then con dition, and haftened forth into the frefh and vital air of that lovely day. All nature was then blooming with the beauties of Nifan s early and lovelieft offerings of Spring and which in this fweet cli mate, are quite equal to thofe of Judea in the fame month. In continently I took to my horfe ; who, in a few hours, had borne me to one of the moft retired and delightful fpots I could felecl: in all the vicinity of Salernum. There I continued a few days, anxioufly looking for the return of Thaddeus, who, as I knew, muft pafs not far from me on his way from Rome to Paeftum. J^foon after my hafty departure from Pseftum, (as I afterwards learned,) Julianus awoke; and finding mycurioufly light and lifelefs body, he had it prepared for interment, and with all that decorous funereal refpet which his own deep devotion towards me prompted, and which he knew would be fo congenial to the wifhes of my fon. Julianus mourned over the long abfence of Thaddeus, which feemed as an age ; and was greatly troubled to decide whether he mould not inter the body before his return, as already he had waited five days, in all the wretchednefs of eager and momentary expec tation. ^haddeus at length being feen of me, at a diftance from my new abode, as he flowly approached Salernum, I quickly took to my horfe, and joined him on the road towards Paeftum. After the cuftomary bene mibi and bene tibi, I obferved that he eyed my animal with no little aftonifhment : and being no longer able to fupprefs his wonder, he faid, " Surely, that beaft belongeth to Paeftum ! " ftill gazing upon the horfe and rider with the keeneft 548 Chronicles of CartapFrilus, Century i. The Firft Transformation of Cartaphilus. curiofity. " It truly doth, Stranger, and to one Cartaphilus," was my prompt refponfe. His amazement was by this ftill further in- creafed ; for he well knew that my name had been revealed to no ear, within all that region, and likewife that no one could have become honeftly, or otherwife, poffefled of the animal. " I pray thee," exclaimed he, with agonized feelings, " tell me, who art thou, and whither doft thou go ? " " I know, oh Thaddeus ! that thou art bound from Rome to Paeftum, to fee this Cartaphilus ; and alfo one Julianus, a moft honeft flave of his but thither I muft not go with thee," faid I, with a hafty utterance : but, per ceiving my beloved Thaddeus too alarmingly moved by my fpeech, I fuddenly gave him my hand, with its uiual prefs which he re cognizing, as alfo the well-known fignet on my finger, the gift of Rebecca all was at once revealed to him ! ^ charged him to fpeed on inftantly to Paeftum there to aid my Julianus in all things ; and then to deliver unto him (as he was homo de lapide emptus) the parchment of manumiffion, executed by me at Neapolis, on the very day I purchafed him ; and further, to prefent him with an ample fum in gold, for his comfortable fup- port through life and by no means to remove his firm belief, that his late mailer had been fummoned to his fathers as I would not that my fecret fhould be known to any beyond Thaddeus, the fon of my honoured friend Artemas and now mine own by adoption. ]J^ returned to my place of refuge nigh to Salernum, and there continued, until Thaddeus again was with me, giving me afiurance that Julianus was by that time, without fail, at Neapolis -for ever, an honoured Ltbertus and with no dominus^ or even patronus to moleft him. "i^m^e then returned once more to Pseftum ; and what there pafled between Thaddeus and myfelf, before we departed from the Temple that fo long had fheltered us, was too intenfe in feeling to be chained by any words and muft not be revealed, even to the veracious pages of this my Polychronicon fave that all ended in our raifing a Cenotaph (if fuch it may be called) in memory of that Cartaphilus, and with an Infcription ; which, though it reveals nothing of my deftiny that may be comprehended by others, yet it hath not lied to God or Man ! ^he monument is placed within a few feet of the pronaos of the central Temple, and confifts of a fhaft of travertine, inlaid with an oval flab of white marble, both being fragments found there, and prepared at Salernum, under my fon s direction. XLV. ^Bannering 3feto, 549 The Cenotaph of Cartaphilus, at Pasftum. Infcription, written by myfelf, is in thefe words : Here Repofe The GrofTer Remains of CARTAPHILUS. Son of Seraiah a fon of Naazar. Born at Jerufalem that was He will revifit Jerufalem that is to be. The SouL perimeth not, Neither doth the INCORRUPTIBLE Body, Both will arife, In the laft day ! The Purer, but ftill Corruptible Body, wilj, for a time Wander around this Tomb and elfewhere, Till it, with the Grofler Body, herein contained, mail be relblved ! > HOC SIBI FECIT MONVMENTVM. A.M. 3863. A. U. C. 856. f * This Infcription, except the concluding lines, was in the Hebrew language 5 and has been rendered by Cartaphilus fo as to meet the fpirit of the original, as far as may be. From other parts of his Polychronicon, omitted in the prefent " Selections," Cartaphilus appears to have been at the time of his firft Tranf- formation, deeply imbued with certain Pythagorean and Magian notions, re- fpefHng the hovering after death of an extremely attenuated body, near the grofs and corrupt remains of that one which has perifhed the former enduring for a fhort time, and being the fource of apparitions, whilft the latter becomes the food of Azrael, the, fo called, Great Serpent, and of his hateful Minions ! So popular, indeed, was this notion with the Hebrew-,, as well as with the Orientals generally, that Cartaphilus encountered no rifk of exciting inquiry refpecling himfelf, from the words of his Infcription allufive to a purer body ftill wandering near his tomb, or elfewhere ! It was upon the bafis of that idea, that the ancients often confumed their dead bodies, fo as to deftroy at once thofe more ethereal particles which, in after ages, were known as the radical moifture, fuppofed to fuftain the Et/tereal body that furvived death, and which gave rife to ghofts or apparitions ! This AZRAEL is called, in the early Scriptures, the "Prince of the Deferts,"" and feems to be alluded to in Genefis, when the Serpent is thus con demned " duft flialt thou eat all the days of thy life." St. Paul alfo, in his fub- lime addrefs to the Corinthians, diftinguifhes evidently between the t c wo bodies, f Thefe dates, in the foregoing Infcription, correfpond with the Chriftian A. M. 4103, and with A. D. 103, of the Vulgar era. 55 C&romcles of Cartapfrilus> century Tacafulriph and Thaddeus repair to Rome. SECTION XLVI. HE letters fent to me by Thaddeus from Rome had reached me at my refuge in Salernum, a few days before our meeting on the road towards Pasftum j and imparted to me the delightful intelligence that my other Julianus, with his wife Pbilotera^ as alfo Melchior^ were all then refident in the Imperial City. I hefitated not to go inftantly thither with Thaddeus; but under Cartaphilus tne ana g- ramat j c name of TACASULRIPH, as that of and Thaddeus ^ , 9 , , , r u i repair to Rome. Cartaphilus would not anfwer in their prefence, al though neither of them could have recognized me they knowing little of the myftery that fo long had hung over me, and knew me only when advanced in life. I remembered, more- viz. the natural body, \yhich being fown in corruption, in weaknefs, and in difhonour, perijheth; and the fpiritual one, which is raifed in incorruption, and continues immortal ! The foul materials of the groffer body lie in the grave, as the food of the Serpent; and from it will arife that ethereal body, which, " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," when the laft trump mall found, be comes victorious over Death and the Grave ! Elias, Enoch, and poflibly Mofes, were thus tranfmuted and tranflated, inltantaneoufly : and, when Michael, the Archangel, difputes with the Devil concerning the body of Mofes, it would feem that Satan, or AZRAEL, was angered at being deprived of that natural body the fecret burial of which, by God s command, being deemed by him an invafion of his long conceded privilege. Thefe matters, we confefs, are deeply myfterious : and yet, no one, in the leaft addicted to fuch inquiries, can arile from them with any other convictions, than that thefe wonders, however great, are, in the main, infallibly true ! Cartaphilus, however, by no means inculcates the idea that his renewed body was of that ethereal and incorruptible kind, at the moment of his transformation, to which St. Paul alludes ; but merely that, in every man, there are two bodies the one outward, grofs and corruptible, the other, an inner one, inviiible, and which eventually grows yet more refined wanders here, for a time, and then becomes immortal. In this procefs from difeafed old age to youthful lufti- hood, therefore, Cartaphilus beheld myriads of grofs particles flowing from him, that formed the cloud confumed by Azrae l, whilft others, far more pure, were famioning themfelves into that new body that gradually became vifible ; and, growing apace, imparted to him another, in lieu of that which the Serpent in part, and the tomb, for its larger remains, had received. It may further be remarked, in reference to the Infcription, that the line Vi vus hoc fibl fecit monumentum, could not have excited any furprife ; as nothing was then more ufual than for the living, to raife in anticipation their own tombs, or cenotaphs : and never was there, nor will there be, fo remarkable an inftance of a monument fo truly half tomb, and half cenotaph, as the one ereCted by Cartaphilus ! It will be further obferved by the reader, that Cartaphilus, in the Latin ter mination of the Inlcription, makes ufe of the digamma j, inftead of the modern V and alfo the V inftead of the U, which he probably derived from his friend, the Emperor Claudius; who was fo much taken with the yolic digamma, as to publifh an eflay upon the propriety of its adoption in the Roman alphabet. on XLVI. Cfje (KHanlJeung 3(eto* 551 Joyous meeting of friends. The Stranger Tacafulriph. over, that even my Thaddeus in nowife recognized me at Salernum, being only filled with wonder at feeing the animal, he knew fo well, in my pofleflion, and ftill further, only when I pronounced the names of Cartaphilus and Julianus, mowing him alfo the ring given me by Rebecca. jPJll things were foon in readinefs for our departure from Paeftum. We reached the Imperial City on the 20th of April, and Thaddeus was foon in the arms of fome of his loving friends of EdelTa fo opportunely then in Rome. Their furprife and joy at feeing him knew no bounds, for Thaddeus had not met them, but only heard of their prefence there, during the Ihort vifit made by him at my requeft, on the approach of my recent illnefs. fl|.y own introduction to them early followed and as a granger of fome diftant land the dear and honoured friend of Thaddeus met by him in his travels, and whom he valued highly for learn ing and worth, though younger than himfelf; and yet more fpecially regarded by him, as being deeply verfed in Jewifh and in Chriftian matters ! ^hey all received me with a moft endearing kindnefs as do Chriftians ever, not only one another, but ftrangers. My heart had fo long been eftranged from the ufual fympathies of life, that thefe generous feelings towards me, and from thofe who knew me only as the friend of Thaddeus, filled my foul to overflowing with tendernefs towards all mankind and I began to figh for the charms of focial converfe, and to count the hours that would ftill feparate me from my beloved Alcasus, and his Cornelia, but efpecially to yearn for a parting look, at leaft, on Rebecca; who, as we were told, ftill lingered on a bright exemplar of Chriftian ferenity and of aflured hope. * ^Jut alas, my cruel deftiny ! thofe deareft of friends were to be communed with by me, only as ftrangers I to them wholly fo and yet they to me all fo well known ! ^Qrufilla, the much honoured relic!: of my admirable Artemas, was long fince with him in the tomb ; fo that the palace of Agbarus now contained but few of thofe dear friends, who, twenty-and-eight years ago, had fo much honoured and cheered me. CDy new friends at Rome united with Thaddeus in entreating me to accompany them on a vifit to EdelTa : and though my heart fo ftrongly echoed their wifhes, the ftruggle was great in me to re- The faft is that, with the Romans, the V was ever a vowel, and hence the necefTity of the digamma, operating in its ftead as a confonant : and therefore Quintilian (fo carefully ftudied by Cartaphilus, as we have feen) juftly fays that the confecutive vowel forms, as in the ufe of V and U, alongfide of each other, ought not to be tolerated, as one muft then become a confonant, and hence requires the digamma, in lieu of the V. 5 5 2 C&rOtriCle0 Of CartapflU0, Century ii. End of the Retrofpeft from Paeftum. EddVa. folve fo to do, but only as I feared the remembering and deeply- fearching eye of Rebecca ; who could not fail to fee her Cartaphilus in the ftranger, Tacafulriph, fhould fhe be permitted to behold me undifguifed for, in truth, I was now much as I was, when we roamed together on the Kedron s green banks, and often among the flowery and rocky heights of Ramoth-Gilead ! jFft firft, I refolved, fhould I journey with them to EdefTa, that my Thaddeus fhould prepare Rebecca s mind to receive me and then to urge my ftrong defire that my fecret fhould remain for ever with her and Thaddeus. tUJl e at length decided to leave Rome for Edefla, on the firft of July, hoping to be there late in the month following. _y-C nd here muft end my Retrofpe&ive Chronicle, of the laft eight-and-twenty years, from the day of my departure from Edefla, to that in which I am about to return to it. What may be here after recorded by me, I dare not now permit my mind to conjecture : the prefent hath ever been fufficiently exciting, to make me recoil equally from the paft and future. The Century juft ended hath had many and varied forrow s and yet a few joys fuch, at leaft, as weak and wicked men moft do value. If other centuries are indeed my fixed deftiny, ftill, oh let it be never forgotten, that HOPE yet lives in me, and that no fure and fatal PRESCIENCE of future woes hath ever been permitted to vifit me : all, then, that is certain are the paft and prefent ; and, as thefe have had their full charge of miferies, twere wife to be grateful for the boon of ignorance of coming events and to permit hope and futurity to be the clofeft poflible allies. ^Ej^EBECCA I will fee once more ! and that might prove a century of blils, comprefled into a few of thofe particles of Time men call Hours ! and yet, O Tacafulriph ! doubt it not, that, of all mortals, Rebecca might prove unto thee the laft and greateft of all thy fcourges never of her will but of thine own remorfe ! SECTION XLVIL Palace of Alcasus, near EDESSA, Creation, 3863 ; Elul vn. [Augult aoth, A.D. 103.] N the third of the prefent month our domeftic party arrived near Edefla ; having been juft forty-and-feven days on our journey from Rome : and oh, with what joy did Alcaeus and Cornelia rufh into the arms of Thaddeus then into thofe of Julianus and of Philo- tera ! On Melchior, alfo, they lavifhed the warmeft embraces and laftly towards me, as the cherifhed friend and expected gueft of Thaddeus, their welcome was rnoft kind and gracious. But this XLVII. Cfje (KJantJeiing; 3jeto, 553 Meditations before feeing Rebecca. Palace of Alcaeus. ended, we were all deeply grieved to hear that the excellent and fainted Rebecca could continue with us, poflibly, not TacaCulrith many hours longer that her time of blifsful departure arrives at was as nigh as {he earneftly wiflied. My friends there- Ede/a. Death fore foon left me for her chamber ; where their afliduity / Rebecca. and forrow manifefted an affection, ftrengthened by the many years that had illuftrated her noble career ; whillt her now exemption from all pain, and the joy of her countenance, mowed how calmly the Chriftian refigns this world, and looks triumphantly on death, when Heaven is in view ! ^Ouring the abfence of my friends with Rebecca, I had fome hours of meditation on the many well-known objects that met my view, and on the beloved family from H ts f" tar y which I had been eftranged fo long. Thefe awakened hef^Rebecca my attention, and revived a thoufand recollections that had been latent and almoft erafed from memory s tablet. I now faw with joy that my Alcasus, and his ftill lovely wife, were far more youthful than I could well realize he in his fifty-fecond year me in her forty-and-fixth. Oh, how my eyes lingered in voluntarily upon them, until Rebecca s door mut them from my view ! If there be indeed unmixed blifs in this life, it muft furely be when congenial fouls are thus united when hearts are made angelic by the diflblving influences of the only religion that has fub- dued man s fierce nature when their minds, too, are richly em- bellifhed by the varied and folid learning of our day and when to all thefe are added healthy, beautiful, and pious children: fuch, then, are the bleflings I now find in my dear Alcaeus and Cornelia ! J^fo happy a family never have my eyes refted on, as that now afTembled in the lovely little palace built for them by the long vene rated Agbarus fhortly before the ikies received him. It is fituate on the border of the limpid but fmall lake near EdefTa, and com mands a delightful view of that city, and of the ancient palace and varied gardens of the late Prince Agbarus. All thefe are now like- wife theirs, as a more abiding refidence than the fmaller one upon the lake ; and alfo that, in the city, they may the more readily minifter to the many wants of the poor of EdefTa : but the fummer heats had now urged them to the lake and its tafteful abode. ^JJJ^hilft feated on the portico in folitary contemplation, I gazed with melancholy intereft upon the rich and varied profpecl: before me. In the diftance I beheld the Euphrates that parent of living waters, forcing its way through the pyla of the mountains alfo the long chain of the Taurus on the left, which fkirts the horizon even to where Melitene, then on the right, and Amida on the left, were dimly feen. Behind me lay the green and luxuriant valley that ftretches on towards Nicephorium. Watered by many ftreams 554 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century n. Meditations before feeing Rebecca. that meandered through the valley, their banks were enlivened by flocks of wandering meep, whilft others were feen by me repofmg under the made of the palm and the cedar that grace the lovely plain. More in the foreground were numerous afles, fome camels ; and anon a fprightly gazelle would flit joyoufly by them ; whilft three tamed elephants, with fluggifh motion, would approach the camels, and furtively play their well intended, but too rough antics upon thofe harmlefs animals, whereupon the afles pricking up their long ears, and cafting up their hind legs with feeming contempt, but real fear, were, like the gazelles, foon out of fight. ^Q^early under my eye rofe the beautiful little city of Haran, that lies on the ftream which empties into the fmall lake alongfide of which is the palace of Alcaeus, in which we now are ; and further on, diftant a few miles, lies Edefla. Upon that city my vifion was at length riveted ; for the lofty cyprefs and other trees that line the fpacious avenue and encompafs the central fountain of thofe gardens of Agbarus once fo familiar to me, were now diftinclly in my view, the atmofphere that intervenes being fo tranfparent ! My mind could not but dwell with intenfe feeling upon the many happy fcenes which years ago had there taken place, when my Alcaeus was united to Cornelia. There it was that Melchior and I firft met there, that I witnefled the firft Chriftian marriage there, that we whiled away, fo innocently, many hours in folving riddles and asnigmas and there it was alfo that the princely Agbarus, as a father over all, difFufed his many bleflings, and charmed us by his venerable courtefy but alas ! it was there alfo, that Prifcilla and Artemas had fo prophetically announced to me in their laft words, the infallible deftiny that mould await me : and it was likewife there that both fighed for the grave, then eager to clafp them to its flickering bofom ; but which, as they declared, would (brink from me y until the- time of the Gentiles mould be accomplifhed yea, until SHILOH mail come again ! thoughts as thefe but too clearly pafled through my dif- turbed mind as I gazed upon the goodly fcene that then encompafTed me : but mufing more deeply, and with my eyes clofed upon all nature, thus I mentally fpoke " O thought infupportable ! O def tiny, moft myfterious ! muft I, of all God s creatures, live to fee earth emptied, perhaps a thoufand times, of all its myriads ? muft I alone, as a living pyramid, ftand in the great defert of time, con tending with its rude buffets yea, with the whirlwinds of capricious fortune, and behold nations and empires rife and culminate and fink with years and then perifh, even to memory, whilft I outlive the generations and their monuments ? Muft the curfe of God ftill linger, from age to age, upon me, and muft this imperiihable body grow old and feeble and full of pains, and then be agonized with XLVH. c&e SBanticrmg Jeto, 555 Meditations before feeing Rebecca. more than Death s pangs, only that it may fpring into youth and luftihood again but alas ! that it may ftill endure a loathing repe tition of life s cares and woes ! Oh, if this be indeed fo, fain would I fay Perijh the thought for /WILL die! , O was a time, O Cartaphilus ! when, with the foolifh Sadducees, thou didft think them moft wife in their conceit that all our actions are fubmiflive to our own control, and that deftiny was but an idle figment of the wicked Pharifees ! The fins of both thofe fe6ts are now, as then they were ; but doubtlefs, in this matter of free-will, the opinion of the hated Pharifees was right, and thou, with the Sadducees, wert wrong for DESTINY now gazes fearfully upon thee perljh thou canft not, neither in body nor in foul j nor canft thou ftay thine own wafting, burning, tormenting thoughts ! * * * * But why, O Cartaphilus, thus torture, as if willingly, thy much belaboured foul ? canft thy deep murmurs cure, or mitigate a fmgle woe ? can thy phllofophy concocl: any balm ? oh no : better, then, were it to turn thy mind outward^ and joyoufly gaze upon the rich and lovely bounties of nature that here encompafs thee better were it to freely ufe them all, and with lively gratitude to the Giver of them, than to clofe thy eyes on fo much lovelinefs, and poifon thy foul with repinings and with impious thoughts far better were it to bow thy ftubborn head and knee, and even mechanically move thy lips in prayer : for even fuch poor offerings, though with little of the heart, leave Heaven s door ftill fomewhat open. " ()h, how often do I fay, Prayer is the food of the foul 4 Prayer can alone change the black current of the foul. Soon mail I behold Rebecca ! SHE knoweth how to pray. Oh, beft of Ifrael s daughters ! the weeping with weeping, for my fins towards thee, fhall be as ceafelefs as the drippings at the fountains : fummer may refufe its fruits, and the vintage deny its juices, but thy Cartaphilus will never withhold his inward tears : Niobe wept for her children, as doth Egeria ever yield its cryftal drops to all the furrounding verdure ! Oh Daughter of Ifrael, who, as Jephtha s, was never to be a mother ! thy griefs have known no let, fmce Judas and Carta philus firift met in that fatal league ! Whilft Tabor and Horeb mail abide as mountains yea, as faithfully as Carmel fhall ftretch herfelf by the fea-fide, fo muft the Wanderer mourn for thee his only love." my blended meditations, while feated in the then for- faken portico at one time keenly furveying the crowd of beauties around me and then, anon, looking inward on the many odious things of a greatly troubled foul. jjfjlcasus and Thaddeus at length entered. They both perceived 556 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century The Laft Scene with Rebecca. how much was my brow difturbed, and my eye wildly flitting. Alcaeus, of courfe, could not fufpecl: the caufe ; but my Thaddeus read diftinclly in them the volcanic fires that had been raging within me. He took me affectionately afide, and thus whifpered to me. " I would have thee quickly fee Rebecca, Ihe learns that Tacaful- riph would be a Chrijilan ; and is eager, ere me departs, to counfel with us all ; and would by no means have us fuppofe her parting words could be withheld from thee, our greatly beloved gueft." " ^haddeus, I will not fail to accompany thee," I replied, 11 but 1 would not have her eye reft upon mine : oh no ! let me quaff the melody of her laft words and take to my bofom her fweet counfel, but {he, my Thaddeus, muft not be difturbed in her now ending blifsful moments, by the known fight of a wretch like me ; for furely fhe would know me, were I to appear undif- guifed before her." " ^ thought it was thy intention," faid Thaddeus, " to fee her alone, as Cartaphilus, praying her that thy fecret may die with her, and with myfelf as thy adopted fon ? " " That was my firft wifh, good Thaddeus," rejoined I, "but my now defire is to fee her with thee all to hear her, but to remain then and for ever unknown : and for this purpofe will I change my attire, and fo difguife my voice, that fhe in nowife may obferve me." jJt the appointed hour we were all afTembled in Rebecca s chamber. My drefs was of the Oriental fafhion, fave that I fo wore a portion of my caracal, that it mould ferve me as a cowl, and thus conceal my face. The fcene that followed is too impref- five to be clothed but feebly in words and to me was far the moft thrilling I have ever experienced. Ages may be diffolved in the all-confuming menftruum of time and I may learn to forget the tortures of my burial at Pompeii, or the agonies of my feeming death at Paeftum, but never can the vivid recoiled/lion of the laft hour I fpent with Rebecca fade from my burning memory ! <mj^e were all feated round her couch, whilft fhe, nearly half erect, was fupported by many cufhions. I fighed His interview involuntarily when the filvery tones of her voice firft <witn Rebecca. , . J ,. , . . , , reached my ears tones that were Jittle changed ! and, matching an unobferved gaze upon her feraphic countenance, I found her lovely even in old age, and upon the tomb s verge. Her dark locks, but little blanched, were ftill contrafted with a clear complexion and a hectic fuffufion that mantled on her cheeks. " Surely the ferenity and piety of heaven," mufed I, " have fo taken their lodgement with her, as to refufe all alliance with mor tality s ufual decay ! for never have my eyes witneffed fo great a famenefs, after fuch a lapfe of time, as is now in her !" ffi^ebecca s fhort and energetic addrefs to us was the eloquence 557 The Recognition. Death of Rebecca. of a difembodied fpirit, and this was followed by a prayer for us, fuch as never yet hath reached the ears of mortals bafed as it was upon that perfect faith and ajjured confidence, which betokened that Heaven was then prefent with her, and no longer in reverfion ! She was much exhaufted ; and raifing her voice, ihe faid, " Is Jefus of Nazareth precious to thee^ as the true and only Shi /oh that was to come? " They all promptly replied, u He /j, and fo we believe" ^f^ebecca was filent for a moment, and then faid " But thy GUEST S voice I have not heard every foul is alike precious : doji thou, O Stranger! fo believe? My feeble anfwer was, " I BE LIEVE JESUS WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE PROPHETS THAT YET HAVE COME." She heaved a deep figh mournfully ftretched out her hand, and prefled mine, then gently drawing me towards her, foftly whifpered in my ear, " Oh^ Caftaphilus, LOVE S ears are keen thy VOICE reveals thee I die" then gently dropping my hand, me inftantly expired ! SECTION XLVIII. ROME, in Non* Jun. u.c. 857. [June 2, A.D. 104.] HADDEUS and I, accompanied by Julianus and Philotera, had remained at Edefla only long enough to depofit the dear remains ^ s retur to of Rebecca in a plain but ever-endur- > Rebec ~ . ca s Monument. ing larcophagus, and alio to lee pre pared the tomb for its reception ; which was executed in all re- fpecls after the directions left by me with my friends of Edefla upon my fudden departure from them fhortly before I fought a fecret home at Peeftum. The receptacle for Rebecca s honoured remains being then left in charge of Alcaeus and the worthy Mel- chior, they foon departed for Ramoth-Gilead ; there to raife the tomb on the very fpot which, as they faid, " Cartaphilus had himfelf felecled full twenty-and-eight years ago, when he had fo myfte- rioufly departed as a wanderer." Thaddeus, at thefe words, eyed me with deep emotion, but was filent. ^JJe then parted from our friends with many tears they for Nicephorium, and thence for Ramoth-Gilead, we for Antioch, and thence by (hip for Rome. * * * * * * A decade of months have gone by fince leaving Edefla, poffibly for ever ! for my beloved fon Alcaeus by adoption, and his Cornelia, admirable as both are, had become painful to me, fo foon as I realized the dreadful facl: that they could never know me but as Tacafulriph the Stranger! The tomb to Rebecca had been vowed by me before my firft departure in madnefs towards Nice- 55 8 Cj)rOniCle0 Of CattapfrilUg, Century n. Rebecca s Monument. Return to Rome. phorium. Thaddeus had given Alcaeus and Melchior the Infcrip- tion for Rebecca s Monument ; which, before their departure for Ramoth, he reminded them had been written by Cartaphilus fo many years ago fave only as to the period of her death. This epitaph was to be fculptured at Ramoth : few words doth it con tain ; but they are as truthful now as when written and thefe are the. Love s Offering after Death ! CARTAPHILUS, The Unfortunate, to REBECCA The Bleffed of Heaven ! Ifrael will never know but one Cartaphilus ; THE WORLD Can never fee but one Rebecca ! The firft, a fon of fin the fecond, a DAUGHTER of INNOCENCE. Her Remains repofe within this Tomb. Obiit, Elul in. A.M. 3863 4103. ^tatis LXXXVI. V. S. L. L. M.* recent awakening events that flooded upon my ever Tacafulripk myfterious life, now opened new avenues of intenfe and Thaddeus thought, which rendered the garifh things of daily life travel into bar- too odious to me longer to remain in Imperial Rome. bariclands, j t now f ee med indeed that Cartaphilus hath no longer " a nail" in Edefla, or in Paeftum, or in Rome no fettled abode hath he anywhere no " wall in "Judah" or elfewhere is his he muft wander ! * The five initial letters are no doubt allufive to the folemn promife Carta philus had made to himfelf that Rebecca s tomb mould be raifed by himfelf and the words Votum fol<vens libertijjime merito import that his vow was moft willingly and dutifully performed. ton XLVHI. Cfjc ftHatttienng; 3|eto. 559 Travels in Barbaric Lands. was the afliduity of my Thaddeus to afluage my growing; melancholy, but all in vain. We refolved therefore forthwith to travel, and for many years, in remote and barbarous lands, beyond the reach of thofe with cultivated fympathies and yet with thofe having fuch features of humanity, as might refrefh by their novelty, and excite to the ftudy of our fpecies, under afpels fo frefh and various to us both. We now craved to behold man poifoned by neither Greek nor Roman luxuries and criminal refinements ; and though, as we knew, they could have little or no acquaintance with the Paleftinian faith, either of ancient or of modern times, yet were they as Heathens better fuited, than the Roman ways, to the views of Thaddeus, whofe Nazarene faith was ftrong, and perhaps to mine own, which need much ftrengthening for I knew I was at leaft no Idolater, though but a forry Jew, and a yet feebler Chriftian. (Dy worldly means had now become very ample, as well from the large accumulations that arofe from my nearly thirty years of folitude, as from thofe derived to me by the rich donatives received at various times from Claudius and from Nero. Thofe likewife of my Thaddeus were now large ; in part, from my early fettlement upon him; but mainly from his co-heirfhip with his fifter Cornelia, of the great eftates of their father Artemas, and of their grandfather Agbarus. And moft of both were to be now entrufted to the care of Julianus and Philotera at Rome, but under the name chiefly of Thaddeus. ^JJJT^e both had heard much of the fingular cuftoms of the bar baric nations of the north and weft ; and efpecially among the nu merous tribes of Germania Gallia Helvetia; and particularly thofe of the remote Albion and Hibernia iflands of great note in the yet unexplored Oceanus Atlanticus. We doubted not that in fuch regions we muft encounter many hardmips, and probably fome fearful perils : but thofe rude nations are ftill faid to have their vir tues ; and fuch, too, as feldom forfake that infant ftate of fociety, and which doubtlefs it were better for the peace and happinefs of the world, if Romans and Greeks (who fo rafhly claim exclufive worth) were in fome things more clofely to imitate thofe children of Nature. J^uch rude people, on the other hand, could be taught by us, were any exertion made, much that would be ufeful to them ; and add largely to the honour of ourfelves, and to our intereft in them furely, far more than by enflaving, murdering, or brutalizing them, as is fo often done by us ! But, unhappily, the Barbarian, even when not thus feverely dealt with, is more apt to learn our vices and odious luxuries, than our true refinements, ufeful arts, and our foul-expand ing fciences : and hence, as I often have obferved, the Romans, through their intercourfe with thefe Barbarians, become favages 560 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, Century Travels in Barbaric Lands. whilft the latter, forfaking their only native excellences, fink into animals more degrading than the brutes of their forefts : for, when the Roman, or Greek, dwells in thofe wild regions, he fails not to neglect the fterner virtues of thofe people, either from a falfe eftimate of their daring and brilliant vices or from a delufive and bewitching fondnefs for a nomadic life that feeming to their mif- guided imagination as fweetly exempt from the factitious reftraints of fociety and laws, and as fo expanfively natural, as to fymbolize, as it were, the boundlefs regions over which thofe Nomades wander ! But condemned of all found philofophy are fuch views : for I cannot but think that thefe Barbarians, as we call them, though faid to live in a ftate of nature, and hence a law unto themfelves, are yet as much fubjected to reftraints of their fpecial kind, as are we, amidft our mafs of endlefs habits, and of our vaunted civilization for, if fuch reftraints be fewer, they are ftill as onerous, and are quite as many in proportion to the compafs of their minds, as were thofe in the days of the Emprefs Poppoea. Man cannot, and doth not live without laws, exprefs or implied ; nor is it fitting he ever fhould : and, if the artificial and pampered Greek, or more voluptuous Roman, finds his focial, civil, and political rules and habits irkfome, a favage and nomadic life would only vary the form and name, without fubftantially changing the nature of the real or fuppofed burden : for it will be found that no nation, tribe, clan, or family is lawlefs ; and that every individual barbarian is amenable to fome powers and fanctions that keep him within the periphery of a falu- tary rule. Be all this, however, as it may, Thaddeus and Tacaful- riph are in purfuit of no vifionary exiftence of no condition of fbciety or of life, exempt from rules ; but are refolved, whilft pene trating into the depths of thofe primeval regions, to obferve all things with an unprejudiced eye nothing doubting but that we mail find therein many laws inftitutions and habits to improve the mind, enlarge our hearts, and make us better men, if not better Romans. And, that we may not be wholly loft to the, fo-called, Civilized World, or it to us, we have arranged with our friends at Edefla, and thofe of Rome, that we fhall often hear of each other our letters being forwarded to the various Roman Stations : and this has been effected through the kindnefs of Cornelius Tad tut, to whom Thaddeus was made known by Julianus the great Annalift being well known of me in all the time of Nero : but now, as Tacaful- riph, my lips were fealed, and I to him as a ftranger ! This arrange ment has made us far happier in the profpecl: of our new enterprife than we could have hoped for, if parting from Rome for fuch un frequented regions, and among people of fuch rude and warlike habits, we had been without the means of making our condition known to our friends. 3[eto. A Century paffed by, for the prefent The SECOND TRANSFORMATION. On the Kalends of July, in the year of the City, 857 and of the World, 3864, we commenced our travels when to return, the Fates, if fuch there be, muft alone determine for Cartaphilus feems but the foot-ball of Deftiny ! * SECTION XLIX. LuGDUNUM,f iv Idus Marti*, u. c. 955. [March 12, A. D. 203.] SECOND TRANSFORMATION OF CARTAPHILUS. Mihl mortem minatur Omnes morti obnoxii, extra te unum, O RIEVOUSLY tortured hath the " Curfed One" been, and by more pains than are known to many deaths : but they all were welcomed, from the fweet hope they might bring him to the tomb : delufive and vexatious threats only were they for all may die, fave him who at the Valley Gate was doomed, and whofe crime was as fingle as is the horror of his deftiny ! ^Q^ifan s firft day is juft paffed : and two centuries are now ended, fmce the fon of Mariamne firft breathed. Thefe fad years have merged their hours in eternity : they are irrevocably gone Deo gratias ! and, O that no more hours, for ever, could vifit him ! fed aliter fancitum /?, et ego meas non queror fortunas DESTINY * The Wanderer commenced his travels July i, A.D. 104 A.M. 3864. of the Hebrews, and A.M. 4104, according to the Chriftian fupputation. After fojourning for a time among the Northern Barbarians, and for very many years in the then almoft unknown Britannia, he returned full of years; and eftablifhed himfelf at Lugdunum in Gallia, now known as Lyons in France. His adven tures in Albion or Britannia, and alfo on the Continent, are omitted ; and little is noted refpefting him until after leaving that Ifland, when he meets at Lugdunum with the then aged Rabbi Ifaac; foon after which his Second Transformation from the decrepitude of great age, to the luftihood of youth took place as will be feen in the enfuing feftions. j- This is the ancient name oi Lyons in France, a city near the junction of the Rhone and the Saone, formerly called the Arar. It was named Lugdunum by the emperor Auguftus, when he made it the capital of Celtic Gaul. The origin of the word is probably unknown : but, as the Celtic word dun fig- nifies hill, and as Lyons is encompafled by hills much frequented by ravens, (which are faid to have flocked around thofe firft engaged in founding the city) Plutarch, and others, called Lugdunum the " ra<ven-hill-city" and have been juftified in deriving the name from two Celtic words the one referring to its hilly locality, the other to thofe ominous birds, fo often feen there. The fituation of the modern city has been mainly changed from the Weft to the Eaft fide of the Rhone, and at the exa6t jun&ion of the two rivers. On that fpot formerly ftood, in comparative folitarinefs, the famed altar raifed in honour of the emperor Auguftus, faid to have been the work and homage of no lefs than fixty ot the Gallic nations! I. O O 562 CfjtOmCleS Of Cartap&llUS, Century m. Again a Youth His agonizing Meditations. EXISTS ! and in this our Pharifees were more wife than the Sad- ducees : no longer will I doubt it. In the two paft centuries how much hath my own life realized the wonders vouchfafed my parents in their myfterious dreams, before their fon had feen the light ! and thofe vifions of the night fhadowed forth the awful Tranf- formations their fon was doomed to endure the fecond of which (thanks to the Ruler of all theDeftinies!) is juft ended, though with more than the agonies of a preternatural birth a fecond birth ! fo may I well call it yea, a fearful parturition, that endured quite fourteen days, each of which caft pains upon me more varied and fevere, than all endured by me at Pompeii and at Paeftum com bined ! The eventful moment at length came, and fuddenly I rufhed into a new and even ecftatic exiftence into a joyous boy hood of all phyfical fenfations ; and outwardly fo frefh to look upon, as would fcarce entitle me to be regarded by others as fui juris ; and yet of fuch full mental ftature, as greatly wondered me : for I at once found myfelf vividly retentive of all my former know ledge, and of the whole varied refults of my dicentennial expe rience ! (^QARTAPHILUS, then, is a youth once more! oblivious of nothing freed of all flefhly pain, but oh, how full of terrors and of loathings as to the long future, left fuch repetitions of life mould prove naught but the unmitigated exaggerations of his former woes, and until all the dread vifions (hall have been exhaufted, that were feen by his parents before his natal hour ! Even the remote con templation of thefe brought them both to an untimous and fynchro- nous tomb, and their guilty fon to feek for one, as his fole refuge. " jffnd can it be that I, a worthlefs unit, in a boundlefs and beautiful creation, am alone deftined, through aeons He meditates U p on aeons, to have that life of fin and mifery indefi- condition m te ty renewed a life fo odious to my remembrance and now fo crufhing in the mere thought of its repeti tion ? Shall the fweets of veritable death, and the repofe of the folitary tomb, never be mine ? Shall life s bitter waters flow con tinually on for me alone of all the fons of men ? Shall eternal extinction (the quietnefs of which my foul now craves, as did Hagar and Immael water in the parched defert) be denied to me, though all things elfe are loft in mother earth ? and fhall exiftence in Gehenna, or in Paradife, be the boon of all the fons of Adam, fave Cartaphilus ? Terrific thought ! How many generations have al ready mouldered into duft before me, and are now as if they never were ! Already have even many goodly cities rifen in defert places, and others expired with age or met fome fudden ruin and yet I live in body and in foul ! Already have monuments of hardeft marble fallen from their ftations under the keen edge of time, and on XLIX. c&e ^Bannering; 3(eto, 563 Contemplations on the Paft and Future. yet Cartaphilus remains intact by years, or by accidents, or even by man s fierce and often murderous doings ! He now ftands as one of yefterday yea, fo full of youthful luftihood, that nature would prompt to him an ardent feeking of life s choiceft pleafures, were it not that mind and heart are fickened at the future, by an odious retrofpeclion. Oh, what a mockery of vitality is this ! the body young the foul difeafed unto naufea, from the foul deceitfulnefs of all the ages ! And why fhould the future be lefs inftincl than the paft with bitters ? why fhall any thing good for him be more enduring ? The folideft arts of man are periftiing around him the cities of the dead are more crowded than thofe of the living and yet I ftart into frefh exiftence, memorative of all the ugly paft, and am forced to witnefs the hated prefent, and to anticipate the no lefs hateful future ! Mountains may fall in avalanches and difmtegrate in the plains below rivers may become dry, and the lordlieft trees of the foreft languifli and moulder quite away, but Cartaphilus knows no change, fave that, from age to youth he pafles on and from youth to age again ! and yet is he ever the fame fon of Seraiah and Mariamne the fame accurfed Wanderer, always blending, in odious mixture, the remorfe of the has-been, the tedium of the now, and the dread of the coming! " ^f-\ nd, moreover, amidft the myriads upon earth, Cartaphilus is but an ifolated One unlike all others and unknown of all ! Edefla s dear and little people Pella s domeftic and pious few thofe of Ramoth-Gilead the multitude of clafllc Athens, and of Rome s far greater horde, all fo valued by him three half centuries ago, are now repofeful in their tombs : but the Victim of the Valley Gate dies not refts not fleeps not; for what is fleep with dreams? it ftill is but life, and worfe, as being without control of aclion, or of thought. And his pains of mimic death ! do not they but reju venate him to an exiftence that doth but drop him here on earth, as if from fome cold and diftant ftar, and upon a defert world to him, without tie or fympathy yea, even namelefs amidft his fellows ! Oh, far worfe than even this ! for, though countlefs are the offspring of his former friends, in all the lands, and in all the times, yet, with none of thefe dare he claim acquaintance : for how can youth fpeak with knowledge, as to times and peoples, known but in the chro nicles of the long paft ? The hated lineaments of the JEW, more over, are upon his countenance : and the Nazarene or Chriftian name, if taken, is often ftill more odious whilft the myfterious youth s great wealth doth often caufe foul fufpicions, feeing that no known progenitors, or cognati of any fort, can be by him invoked ! and alfo, where the aged Cartaphilus is beft known, there Tacafulriph is often leaft known ! And yet a ftill further fource of grief have I in the precocious mind, and in the knowledge gained during the 564 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu0, century m. Death of Thaddeus He rejefts the Doftrine of GILGUL. varied centuries knowledge that can fcarce be fupprefied : and if not withheld, the fuperftitious crowd become dangerous to commune with ; or, when harmlefs, ftill his anomalous and mixed opinions fail not to offend many or, if friends are gained thereby, they are either the mere faex populi, or curious and inconftant infidels, keenly in fearch of heterodoxies of every fort, whether of faith, of policy, of phyfics, or of literature ! Such, then, are the now griefs of the youth Tacafulriph ! " ()h, more truly than the ferpent puts off old age, when he fheddeth his fkin, is it now with Cartaphilus : the feared and with ered body is by him caft wholly off; and Tacafulriph rifes with all the freflinefs of the morning flower yet bathed in the dews of heaven ! As the mountains go up, and the valleys down to the places affigned for each, fo are found the wrinkled age, and the blooming youth, of the Doomed One and the bounds of neither can be paffed over ! O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wifdom haft thou made them all, and c thy doings are paft finding out! DDEUS, my laft and trufty friend the only being who knew my awakening fecret, continued long with me j+ St. after my fir ft transformation : but nature at length gave adopted Son. . J r ,. way in years no curje was upon him ; and now he lies in alien foil, remote from the land of his forefathers : feventy years ago, I buried that beloved fon of adoption in Augujla Trino- bantum, an ancient and goodly town, long known by the Britons as Londinlum : there I raifed his humble tomb, and wept thereon as would a parent for his only child. Peace to his afhes ! and yet am icum meum pr^eoptarem perire potius quam vivere for a purer fpirit than his feldom tabernacled upon earth : but thefe overwife Jews, here in Lugdunum, had prefTed me much in regard to their Gilgul ; and would have perfuaded me that even my Thaddeus muft have a long and arduous journey beneath the foils, even from his diftant tomb unto Paleftine, ere his foul can be at reft, or be blefled with refurreclion ! *^]he Jews that were around me, as the then aged Cartaphilus, were ftrenuous in their faith refpecling a marvellous f f, .f ri ? e notion, called by them Gilgul, as to which, never before had I heard other than a whifper, when laft in Rome, more than a century ago ; and then, only from the lips of my valued Julianus and Philotera, as they had heard it from fome learned Rabbins. Now here, in Lugdunum, I early found that the Hebrew doctors had much revived that wild and fuperftitious figment : and, as I was far advanced in years when unto Gaul I came, they forely urged it on me, feeing that my foon expected death would leave me fo remote from Judea, that my fubterranean toils to reach it after XLIX. C60 flflJantienng; Jeto, 565 The Rabbi Ifaac, and Rabbinifm. death would be, as they faid, with many tortuous whirlings, and poflibly during many centuries ! But, fo it was, I lacked all faith in Gilgul ; and therein gave them no fmall offence. In truth, they would hold me fcarce half a Jew and I could regard myfelf as fcarce half a Chriftian : and, moreover, I greatly contemned all thofe blind fancies that had become fo rife among our doctors, ever fince the time of the new Sanhedrim, and of the Patriarchs of Tiberias, and of Pumbeditha : thefe, however, were as firmly believed in by the multitude of our difperfed people, as in the wifdom of Solomon re vealed to us in his many thoufand proverbs, or in that of our matter Mofes ; and were far more obferved as rules of life, than the teach ings from Sinai ! *^his RABBINISM, fo called, (of which Gilgul is but an example,) hath been but little ftudied by me, but fufficiently to know that it has, and ever will have, very many flimfy vifions, many idle brain- creations, though deeply blended with a few profound and heavenly thoughts for fuch is man ! Oh, how wild and dreamy are the begettings of thofe deluded fouls, when poflefled of fome learning, and bewildered by an erratic fpirit ! My overzealous countrymen would have forced upon me thefe curious devifings of their diftem- pered mufings ; and were much vexed that one, fo ripe for the grave as they faw me, mould jeopard the repofe of his foul, and rather whirl during many years, and through fo many parafangs, than haften at once to the holy Paleftine, before death mould come upon me in a foreign land. But Cartaphilus had ftill left in him much of the fpirit of Tacajulnph he feared not death in Lugdu- num ; and though opprefled with age, he openly contemned their traditional follies. And yet, I confefs, they fometimes greatly dif- turbed me : for this Gilgul was earneftly argued with me during many days ; and with too much zeal and mow of learning by thofe Rabbis (and doubtlefs, with piety) not to trouble me, at leaft in my dreams : but mind happily triumphed over the infirmity of matter : the doctors retired from me in difguft and anger ; but candour bids me now fay, the victory was gained, in part, by that pride of opinion which never forlbok me ; and which equally ferved me in matters of as grofs error on my part, as of the manifeft truth in that urged by me againft Gilgul, and other rabbinical refinements. ^he doctors had wholly departed ; and I found myfelf with the worthy Rabbi ISAAC, who fuffered me in filence to mufe upon this Gilgul alfo on the fymptoms I then felt of an approaching dif- folution of fome fort. My life was apparently flickering, as doth the laft drop of oil in the lamp: and thus with myfelf I communed. " If in this Rabbinifm there be any virtue, and if this Gilgul be a bright exemplar of it, doth it not behove me to inquire into that which may benefit, but cannot injure ? If true, Gilgul mould then 566 CfjtOniCle.S Of Cartapf)ilU0, Century m. Converfations with Rabbi Ifaac before the Transformation. be avoided by flight to Paleftine." Deeply would I alfo mourn (when under this fitful delufion) that my excellent Thaddeus (whofe remains might be removed thither) mould thus be doomed to toil under ground, feeing that his great love for me took him to that re mote Heathen ifland, from his home and friends. Rabbinifm is now well-nigh the religion of my unhappy countrymen, however denfely or fpariely fifted among the nations. And thus again would I mufe " They are many I but one : are the multitude foolifh, and Cartaphilus alone wife ? It may be fo for doubtlefs, Truth is fometimes with the individual : Cartaphilus cannot unto the doctors yield, merely becaufe they are many: but the worthy ISAAC is learned in this lore ; his treafures will I firft exhauft, ere Car taphilus is perfiftently recreant, or the doctors mail gain the vic tory." And aged as I then certainly was, I faithfully performed the promife I had made to myfelf. art now very old, my Cartaphilus," faid the good Rabbi Ifaac to me, a few days before my late transformation, " but neverthelefs thou ftuldft haften eaftward, and Ifaac ^ a y tn y bones as nigh the land of Canaan as well may be." "And why fo, my fage Rabbi?" faid I, well knowing, however, of what he defired to fpeak. " Art thou, O Cartaphilus," anfwered he, " fo learned, and yet ignorant of what the great Rabbi AKIBA taught ? and he, you know, was the vene rable Nafi of the Sanhedrim, when the 4 Son of the StarJ called alfo Barcocheba, claimed to be the Meffiah ? This Akiba, as alfo the Rabbi JUDAH, the Sinlefs, and again, the moft renowned rabbi MEIR, all do declare that none can come to the refurreftion^ fave thofe who are buried in the land of Judea or, thole who dying in other lands are, perhaps through many ages, gradually brought there." " But, my good Rabbi Ifaac," rejoined 1, " how are thefe Ibuls to reach Judea, after the body hath perimed in foreign lands, and the foul hath departed to Hades or elfewhere,weknownotof ?" " Doubtlefs, venerable Cartaphilus, they muft come there by much whirling : for, what fuch Rabbins, as I have named, do fay thereon, is as the voice of God : and they hold that thofe who are buried without the holy foil of Judea, do continually whirl round and round beneath the earth, until they pafs within our facred limits ; and then they repofefully await the general refurreilion ! And, my learned Cartaphilus, I would alfo have thee remember that thefe fouls do fometimes, in their whirlings, pafs into other bodies ? Did not that of Adam, after a toil of ages, truly whirl into the body of David? And will not the foul of King David (which for nigh twelve hundred years hath thus been whirling) come at laft into 567 Converfes on GILGUL before the Transformation. the body of the true Meflias, whenever he (hall vouchfafe to appear? Truly, it is all fo ! and hence the initial letters of Adam David and Meflias, or aleph, daletb, and mem, do form the name of the firft man ! and, as in Adam all died, becaufe of fin, fo in Meflias, (who will be finlefs) fhall all come to the great refurreclion ! " %?y tna g oras 5 anc ^ Zoroafter, the wonderful Magian, have but copied their ideas of the transmigration of fouls from the moft ancient tradition of our forefathers; and, as the befettingy/w is, fo is the body that the foul muft afterwards inhabit ! Hence, if the deceafed were a fodomite, then verily doth his foul pafs into the body of a hare and, if an adulterer, then into that of a camel: and this is clearly feen in our Hebrew word gamel, which fignifies, not only the beaft we call camel, but likewife prefervation, for David faith, * I praife Jehovah, for that he hath preferved me. David, then, who was preferved, through his repentant prayers, from a more fevere punifhment for his adultery with Beerfheba, hath pafled into a far more worthy animal than a hare yea, into that of a camel ; and hereafter will pafs into the moft honoured of all bodies, that of the Meffiah ! " igJJ^ith great aftonifhment, and fome generous contempt, I cyni cally replied to the excellent Rabbi, " Oh, very learned Doctor, as my fins have been fo many and grievous, I fcarce think all the animals of the Ark would fuffice to fupply me with idoneous recep tacles, or that any one can be found in all nature, fufficiently grovelling for me to inhabit : I pray thee, tell me what beaft, bird, or reptile, may I poflibly be whirled into ? " " Ah, my Carta- philus," gravely anfwered he, " fo much the worfe for thee for, if thou dieft fo remote from Paleftine, as here in Gaul, thou wouldft be moft happy, rather than whirl fo many ages, to enter the body of even the vileft worm that feeds upon the foul flefti of carrion ! See to this, I charge thee, Cartaphilus fee to this ! " And fo we parted for that time.* * It can fcarce be doubted but that the praftice, fo familiar in the Latin Church, of interments in Paleflinian foil, originated in the Jevvim notion of Gilgul ! The holy earth in the Campo Santo at Pifa, and in numerous other places, transferred with infinite labour and expenfe by Chriftians as well as Jews, and fometimes by Mahommedans, muft be referred, more or lefs, to this fuper- ftition : for the whole hiftory of man, of all faiths, and in all countries and ages, reveals the wonderful paradox that all nations and peoples, however dif ferent in very many refpefts, ftill refemble one another in points, the often leaft to be expefted : and this is abundantly proved by the fads revealed in the labo rious work of MOMS. Picart, in regard to the civil and religious cuftoms and cere monials of innumerable nations, Heathen and Chriftian in which refemblances are found that are truly awakening, and which mould greatly mortify the pride of man, efpecially throughout Chriftendom. 568 CfjtOnfCleS Of Cattapl)ilU0, Century HI. Converfes with Rabbi Ifaac, as Tacafulriph. JH fter we thus feparated, I early found renewed fenfations in me, the end of which I could no longer doubt. Thefe Cartaphilus at- j wiu not dweU on _ nor the iffue thereof, as both tends his o c wn r r .. , r . , , r> n funeral were 10 limilar to thole experienced by me at r aeitum and are they not recorded in the xxxviith, and following Sections of thefe my Chronicles ? jM week has now elapfed fince my fecond body, by Tranf- formation, was interred, and with cuftomary folemnities. At that ceremonial, according to all the Jewim forms, my kind friend Ifaac, as well as myfelf were prefent, for, as the change had taken place at midnight, I left my lonely dwelling ; nothing doubting but that fome one would early find that the rich old yew" had expired, and would need burial. ^Iji returning from the Jews Cemetery, upon the borders of the Arar, whither my body had been taken, under the direction of Ifaac and the reft, (on all of which I had been a modeft, but not unobferved fpe&ator,) I encountered the good Rabbi Ifaac {landing in the Forum Trajani, and nigh unto the Imperial Palace. He feemed to eye me, though a total ftranger, as if he would fpeak : and, as I approached, he mildly faid, " Good Youth, this was a re markable old man, whom we have juft laid in the tomb haft thou known or heard aught of him before ? I judged fo, feeing that thou, who art a ftranger here in Lugdunum, wert with us in this folemn duty, and feemed much difturbed in foul during his in terment. " " ^ am the only one of his blood in all thefe parts," faid I, " and, as he but lately came to Lugdunum, and from a very remote land they call Albion, I knew that his long abfence from Rome rendered his return every way proper, as there he once refided, and had many loving friends. My name is TACASULRIPH ; and I am haftening to his late dwelling here in Lugdunum, that, with all for mality of law, I may take pofleflion of his many valuable papers and books : and moreover, he hath large wealth ; and of all thefe is Tacafulriph the fole heir, as well by blood as by teftament. He was, indeed, a wonderful man, as thou fayeft ; and, if his foul hath not gone into fome other body as of a beaft, or into fome " vile worm to feed on carrion," much learning and experience do hope- leffly die with him. Yet, as Tacafulriph trufts, that foul, if me- tempfychofis be true, hath gone into fome other human form. A venerable Rabbi, here in Lugdunum, troubled the aged man with ftrange difcourfes, a week fince, concerning what he called the Gilgul, or Whirling of Souls ! " " ^()id Cartaphilus, then, fpeak unto thee of me ? " haftily en quired the Jew, " for I am Rabbi Ifaac, late his greatly admiring friend : and, told he thee of our colloquy touching Gilgul ?" L. Cfre bannering: 3(eto, 569 Converfations with Ifaac fl/h?r the Transformation. communed much, and often filently with himfelf ; but fometimes in audible whifpers, after thou hadft left him," anfwered I, and then he faid aloud, " but thefe Rabbins have fo many other wild figments, that Cartaphilus fees not why this one mould thus trouble him." " (j^y^ell Tacafulriph, greatly do I mourn his infidelity," rejoined Ifaac, " he hath now left us ; and no more (hall we behold him, until the truth of Gilgul mall be revealed to all : but, as thou art a very young man, to be fo far from thy home and friends at Rome, I pray thee come with me : much did I love thy relative ; and if thou wilt fojourn with me during thy tarry at Lugdunum, we will talk over thefe matters ; for thou, as a green Ifraelite, mouldft not fail to know well, what thy aged relative, amidft all his learning, feems to have much neglected ! " " artaphilus, good Rabbi," (faid I, unconfcioufly felicitous to maintain my pofthumous reputation) was long in far diftant and heathen lands : many years had he fpent in the wilds of Germania, in Gallia, in Britannia, and in other northern regions ; and hence was it that he knew fo little of the Jewim Patriarchates, and ftill lefs of the curious myfreries and doclrines of the Rabbinifts, in all the lands. And tis not ftrange that I mould know thereof as little as he, fince, from my youth and he being my clofeft friend naught elfe could be looked for than that in nothing mould Tacafulriph be wifer than the venerable Cartaphilus. Thy kind hofpitality, ten dered fo gracioufly, I willingly accept, my Rabbi ; and to-morrow will I be with thee ; and much mall I delight in thy inftruclions, in all that the Rabbis have thought and done though Tacafulriph hath been fo much fchooled by Cartaphilus, that he may prove, like him, a dull fcholar in the matter of Gilgul ! " SECTION L. OW am I living with the kind-hearted and fimple- minded Rabbi Ifaac one of the few among men, who ftand out as diftincl: j* reviews - & . . ,. . , fame caues of from their fellows, as do the giant and J ^- s ftfifay, dwarf: fuch are ever acceptable and frefh unto the foul of Tacafulriph : for, if in them there be even much of folly s alloy, yet is it fo unlike the great herd, that it doth charm me. Here will I continue to chronicle my varied life, though briefly, from the time Thaddeus and I departed from Rome, CJrOntCleS Of Cartap!riUl!5> Century HI. Tacafulriph s Meditations his Reminifcences. and from our friends of EdefTa, until the prefent hour now more than a century ago.* H[f the communion of mind with mind energizes the foul, and brings with it many charms to foften life s afperities, it is alfo often not without pain, as it generates inordinate felf-efteem in ourfelves, and rancorous feelings between colloquial opponents. fT)y foul remains in deep gloom : the amiable Jew s daily con- verfations with me crowd my mind with a thoufand difturbing and curious fancies : my brain is bewildered with the ceafelefs mixture of ancient and modern Hebrew notions in religion, in morals, in the philofophy of nature, and as to the powers of celeftial entities ! At one moment am I memorative of my earlieft Sadducean teachings then of the fublime truths of Christianity again with the many bold conceptions derived to me from the Celtic Druids efpecially thofe of Albion ; anon, I alfo repofe upon the lovely exemplars I found in Prifcilla, Artemas, Melchior, in my beloved Thaddeus, in the noble Arcaeus, and in the ever matchlefs REBECCA. With all thefe reminifcences are alfo blended many of the foul-infpiring doctrines of the Magians, as I learned them from Artaxias of Nice- phorium ; and then again, is my foul annoyed by the conflicting herefies among Jews, Gentiles, and Chriftians by the thoufand doubts and marvellous refinements of Greek and Roman and Ori ental philofophers : and now, here in Lugdunum, (a fe mi-barbarous land,) my mind is further difrrac~led by the teachings of my worthy Rabbi, in all the wonderful traditions and the mind-racking fubtleties of the Rabbins, from the days of Simon, a defcendant of the great Gamaliel, even unto the prefent hour ! CDy inquifitive foul doth never reft it mujt think^ and as in evitably as the ftone caft from the fling falls to the ground. Long did I dwell among the Barbarians, and found that they, too, have their conflicts in religion and philofophy their orthodox, their fec- tarians, and their heretics ! In the Imperial City, during a long refidence, my intercourfe was with emperors, captains of great re- * The retrofpe&ive perfonal narrative here alluded to, and alfo his chronicles refpe&ing thofe barbaric countries vifited by him, the Editor has feen proper to nearly wholly omit : and this is ib, as Cartaphilus again vifited thofe countries, and at periods of greater intereft, of which he avails himfelf to explain fufficiently the crude and very primitive condition of thofe regions during the two firft centuries of his anomalous life. The hiftorical theme, however, of his fecond century, and the fpirit of that age, are, as we hope, fufficiently fuitained, without either his perfonal narrative, or his cuftomary hiftorical details. And, as thefe Chronicles muft unavoidably be extenfive, all that can be accomplished, \nfome of the centuries, is to preferve the prominent hiftorical fa6ts, and their chief in- telleclual developments ; both of which the Editor trufts are tolerably accom- plifhed in the Colloquies felefted, as occurring between various diftinguiflied perfonages, and alfo in the Narrative of the learned Jewifli Rabbi Ifaac. L. Cfje bannering: 3ieto, 571 Meditations on the Pall Doubts of his Free-agency. nown, philofophers, poets, orators, jurifconfults with women of virtue, or of infamy, with declaimers, fa6r.ionifts, mifers, fpend- thrifts, and with a hundred more of fuch awakening perfonages ! My own ftudies, moreover, took in the boundlefs Greek and Roman authors likewife all that is known to the Hebrews in all the lands alfo whatever could be gleaned among the Egyptians and other Oriental nations. Much did I inquire into all that has been faid by them refpe&ing their gods the nature of fouls the generation, or eternity, of all entities the many fources that corrupted their religion, morals, manners, and philofophy ! Years were fpent by me at Paeftum and other places, in poring over the writings of Apollonius of Tyana in communing deeply and often with the works of Philo-Judaeus, and of the learned and myftical Plato. I have conforted with the Ebionites, the Nicolaltans, the Gnoftics, and even with the admirers of Dorithens^ of Hymen&us, and of Cerin- thius ! I have converfed with Carpocrates and Saturninus and Pro- dicus the laft of whom ftands at the head of thofe called Adamites : I have correfponded largely with the excellent Jofephus, with the venerable and moft pious Polycarp of Smyrna with the great Ig natius of Antioch, and more efpecially with him in regard to the HOLY TRINITY, he being the firft, as well as I remember, who hath ufed this myftical, and yet expreflive word. And, now that I have lived among men and books and nature during more than two hundred years, I cannot yet find that I have any very fettled faith upon any fubjecSl whatever none that yields to my mind the fweet repofe that comes from aflurance I ******* And yet, O Cartaphilus ! there muft be a caufe for this. Do not mifery and doubt fpring from arrogance from a craving to be wife beyond what is written ? the rivers and the feas have their affigned borders, thefe overleapt, devastation muft enfue. Remember how, in thy youth, thou wert admonifhed that things divine and human thofe revealed and conjectured, muft not be blended and con founded. ***** But, hold Cartaphilus ! Is man free to think and to do as he lifteth ? if not free, whence comes fin ? Art thou not often fenfible of an inward as well as an outward con trol, that may no more be refifted than the rufhing of many waters over a precipice ? and, if doomed to live^ why not doomed toy/w yea, to all the bereftes of which thou haft been accufed ? * * * * * * Great marvels are thefe and yet, am I not equally confcious fometimes of an abfolute free-agency ? do I not many things as I lift, and have I not often a&ed as if refiftleffly impelled, when it was only the neglet of my foul and reafon that caufed the odious act ? * * * I now remember that more than a cen tury and a half ago, the pious Areopagite argued with me all this matter of free-will, in a letter to my Alcaeus, though defigned for Chronicles of Cartapinlus, Century m. Prefcience is not Predeftination. me : alfo that Ignatius, bifhop of Antioch, and likewife Polycarp of Smyrna, and Aquila of Ephefus, were all of like opinion : and they counfelled me (long after my friends of Edeffa had wearied them- felves with me on that matter) that man s free-will hath never, in a fingle cafe, been difturbed by Him who ruleth the fkies ; and that, even when the Mefliah s death, and the Scariot s treafon when Jerufalem s fall, and the fcattering of our people to the twelve winds, were all clearly predicted, and of courfe foreknown, yet not one of thofe cafes was doomed thus to pafs not one that might not have been otherwife not one that did not flow from man s volun tary, fmful, and free-will action ! Forefeen, indeed, they were by God, who liveth not in time, as man always doth ; fo that, when He declareth what will be, He hath but declared what, as to Him, is, and as if it already bath been but which, to man, is future : for fuch declaration, made only through God s abfolute prefcience, doth no more control the actions fo predicted, than would man s relation of any paji events be juftly faid to have effected, or affected them! And, in this faftiion, did thefe earlieft champions of the Crofs argue this difficult matter with me. Artemas, as I now remember, fur ther argued that, if omnipre fence and omnipotence be perfect in Deity, (as they doubtlefs are) why mail not omniscience, and, of courfe, prefcience, be equally fo ? and if fo, then, in fine, that prediction can in no degree whatever control, leffen, or affect the perfection of man s free-will, and free-agency. If all this be fo, and I know not how to queftion it, then how foothing to the foul is the conviction that we can guide our actions in all things, and that we are not irrefiftibly drawn either to vice or virtue and how confentaneous is this with Juftice and Mercy the fupremeft of God s attributes! Thefe, however, are the great myfteries that tofs the Soul to and fro, as pebbles on the ocean-more. In fuch contemplations, Man diminimes into an atom finks into fatuity, now, hath he bound- lefs faith then vexing doubts and at length plunges into the abyfs of Pyrrhonifm ! Some again reafon, and become as gods vaft in thought, wonderful in execution ! but, anon, they go too far become bewildered maddened ; and, as the beafts that perifh, they feem to have loft their fouls ! fuch being the cafe with moft of thofe, who, in nature fee not God, or who prefumptuoufly would fcan and queftion the ways of The Ineffable ! LI. c&c fHJautienng; Jeto. 573 His Domeftic Life with the Rabbi Hope and Habit. SECTION LI. HE new exiftence into which I had fo lately entered, brought with it the ufual feelings and faf- cinations of youthful luftihood height- ened, on the one hand, by an inordinate mental expanfion, unfeemly to my apparent age; and fubdued, on the other, by my perpetual remembrance of the curfe that was upon me. My fecret prefled forely upon my mind : and, whilft I fhrank from betraying the leaft of it to any mortal, I clung to the fympathies of life with an almoft maddened tenacity. ^ne venerable Ifaac was moft kind to me ; for he early per ceived that my heart was ill at eafe, and that my acquirements and veins of thought were greatly at variance with my tender age, and with the beautiful frefhnefs of my youth. ^ tarried with my aged companion at Lugdunum with perfect content ; and often fighed at the anticipation, that his many years muft ere long feparate us for ever. His courfe was nearly run mine feemed to have only begun ; and never did I before fo fully realize the deftiny that fo long had guided me, and which might endure as the everlafting hills ! Then was it that a torrent of re collections rufhed into my mind the wonderful dream of my parents the forebodings of Prifcilla and Artemas the clofmg fcene with Rebecca the marvels revealed to me at Pompeii the mira culous Transformation at Paeftum ; and finally, every event of my varied life, ending with the depofit of my fecond body in the fhaded cemetery of Lugdunum : thefe all have removed the laft film that had clouded my intellectual vifion, and fully difclofed to me the terrific reality that CARTAPHILUS, THE WANDERING JEW, will never tafte the fweets of Death, until the bitternefs of Sin is wholly purged away never until the times of the Gentiles mall be accomplifhed never until Paleftine mail bloom again never until the lion and the lamb mail embrace each other ! jH world of mifery flooded into my foul, when the certainty of my deftiny had thus fully reached my mind. Thofe ,. r i 11 i , i 11- n r i MufinPS UpOH who know not the heart s rebellion agamft fixed Hope and Habit. mifery and hope extinguifhed, will marvel at my long incredulity ; but the more experienced will judge otherwife ; and others there may be, who equally would marvel that unmitigated defpair came not with that certainty. But oh, how plaftic is the human mind how accommodating becomes the foul to its inevit- 574 Chronicles of Cartapjjito, Century m. A Mufmg on Hope and Habit Converfations with liaac. able condition how fubmiflive, when the laft ray of God s mercy, HOPE, is withdrawn ! Strange anomaly of our wonderful nature ! for, after hope hath expired, firft comes Defpair rufhing upon the foul as a furious and ravenous beaft ; but its mad career is fhort, and then come the creative powers of the mind, inventive of a thoufand means to mitigate the evil to dull its keen edge to fteep in oblivion its feverer features to reap comfort from fmall things to live in a little world of minifhed actualities ! Next follow Imagination, with its varied hues Habit, with its fubduing in fluences and then the Confcioufnefs that our lot is juft, and laftly, comes that Gratitude, perhaps feeble, which is awakened in the foul by the reflection that our wretchednefs might have been yet more extreme : all thefe fortify the mind, and impart to it the power of Refegnation ! Oh, how merciful, then, are the ways of Pro vidence towards man, that, even in our deepeft forrows, there mould be within us fountains, gradually welling up, however fmall, to bring us fome alleviation ! for, when even hope, as to the chief matter, is clean gone, and the deftiny is broadly before us, ftill the mind s fertility gives growth to new and varied fources of partial mitiga tion habit reconciles us to even extreme mifery and refignation, as oil upon the waters, calms the fury of the tempeft, and faves us from overwhelming defpair and maddening ruin ! And fo was it even with Cartaphilus ! Jgfome weeks after I had been comfortably eftablifhed in my new abode, and after the torrent of my griefs had fome- n^tffJSu what been fubdued the venerable Rabbinift entered Ifaac m y Mufasolum ; and kindly taking me by the hand, faid, " I have obferved thy deep mifery for a moon paft ; but am now happy, my young friend, to find thee calmer, and fome- what with thy beloved books again. I rejoice to fee thou haft in herited from the great Cartaphilus, not only the extenfive library that furrounds thee, but his ftudious fpirit withal. Thofe who are Jludiis addifti may therein find much falutary food for the troubled foul; and, if the defire be not a librorum helluo, it is God s beft gift to man next to a found faith ." " CDoft true, moft true, venerable Ifaac," anfwered I, " and fo I hope to find it. The God of Abraham, who punifhes with feve- rity, ftill never leaves us utterly without a refuge. My learned relative would ever have around him many volumes, and, when in the outer world, converfed moftly with the learned and wife : and I being the fole inheritor of his large properties, it is but feemly gratitude in me thus to refpecl: his likings." " r hy faithful remembrance of kindnefs," my Tacafulriph, " tells me thy heart is in the right place; and we may be fure that the graft animi fidelis niemorla is never found without other aflbciated LI. c&e 2Bantiermg 3[eto, 575 Further inquires into Rabbinifm. virtues. I would not praife thee in advance of acquaintance, my Tacafulriph ; but thy grief for the departure even of fo worthy a relative leaving thee fo much wealth is fo little in the world s fafhion, that thou haft my heart, at once, good youth." " ^d,ay, my excellent Rabbi, judge not fo haftily ; other caufes of grief are there than the lofs of friends : that I loved Cartaphilus as much as my own foul and body, is an abfolute truth : but my heavy mournings, of late, were not caufed by his departure the over-ripe fruit will fall to the ground." " CT)oft true, dear Youth ; and now I love thy candour as much as thy gratitude : but I will not probe the caufe of thy fadnefs we will fpeak of other matters." ^ warmly thanked the admirable old man ; and foon had caufe to believe that my knowledge and experience during two centuries might eafily, in fome things, be largely added to by the good Rabbi ; wherefore I faid unto him, one day, " My beloved friend, much need have I to learn divers things of thee, which I pray thee freely to impart to me. And now, cafting off my griefs as much as may be, I would learner/?, all that thou knoweft of the doctrines fo much prized at this time by our people, as taught by the learned Rabbis andfecond/y, many things that have tranfpired in Rome, and elfe where, fmce the time even of the good Trajan : for, all that is prior to that period hath been much written on, and is within my reach : but the events of our own day, as it were, fmce Trajan reigned, are lefs eafily obtained. Canft thou not alfo inftruct me where the knowledge I now feek of thee may be had, fhould age and time forbid thee to ferve me otherwife ? " " ^t is quite true, my Tacafulriph," faid the Rabbi, " that the hiftory of paft centuries is often more eafy to be known . i ii r -V-M Some account of than the events or our own age. 1 hy inquiries Rabbinifm touching the opinions of our Rabbis, and as to Roman matters fmce the time of the good Trajan, may be fomewhat fatif- facl:orily anfwered by me efpecially the latter, as I have lived through moft of that period ; and have preferved, from my youth up, the memorabilia and refults of many inquiries made by me, ever fmce that Emperor s blefTed days. They all are thine to ufe freely, and to tranfcribe, if thou wilt, good Tacafulriph : and further, dear Youth, fhould I die before thy departure hence, the manufcripts {hall be ever thine. And, as to the opinions of our Doctors, they fhould be thy careful ftudy, diu noEiuque ; for Rabbinifm is the dif- tilled eflence of ancient and of modern wifdom." " TX e ^ me then, I pray thee, moft venerable Rabbi," I quickly added, (though with an involuntary fmile of incredulity,) "tell me much of thy favourite Rabbinifm, and of thy admired Doctors, who have for fome time paft ruled IfraePs unhappy and difperfed flock. CfjrOniCleS Of CattapftUUS, Century m. Further inquires into Rabbinifm. As to fome of their opinions I am not ignorant, having communed thereon with the fage Cartaphilus : but his knowledge feems to have been far more in all other matters, than in that of the Hebrew re ligion and philofophy of the prefent times owing, in part, to his wandering life in foreign lands." " ^J^his will I do, my Tacafulriph : but our colloquies on that fubjecl: need not be long and minute, feeing that my written details as to Rabbinifm, and efpecially my hiftorical narrative, fhall be thine freely to ufe : and thefe, if they may not fatisfy thy induftrious zeal, will at leaft point thy way into deeper inquiries. And this courfe may be the more neceflary, as my great age is now fhort of thy late relative s not fo many years, if he died as I fuppofe, a centenarian ! My fray, moreover, in Lugdunum, will not be long, good Youth, as I muft practife, and quickly too, the counfel I lately gave unto Cartaphilus, by laying my poor bones in the Shepherd-land or Palli-Sthan." Tnefe laft words of the worthy octogenarian were uttered by him fo plaintively, and with fuch deep and fimple faith, that I forcibly fupprefled the fmile that was ftealing over me : for, I confefs that, as youth in me hath taken place of age, and only two moons have parted fmce Cartaphilus is in his tomb, and the young blood is ftill rapidly courfing my veins, I now find myfelf afhamed of the uneafinefs this filly Gilgul occafioned in me, fo brief a time ago. The fmile therefore would come, and fomewhat iron ically I replied, "My venerable Rabboni, (for thus would I now call thee,) we will together haften eaftward ; for, doubtlefs, it muft be a grievous thing to be whirled under ground for ages or even to pafs from fome vile body into another, poffibly yet more vile ! Now, as to what our Cartaphilus would have done, had he lived with us fomewhat longer, I will not fay : but, as thou art fo firm a believer in this tradition if it be one thou fhouldft not tarry another week in Lugdunum." " If it be one ! " exclaimed the aged man, " who doubts it ? thou talkeft ignorantly, and therefore rafhly. But I will not chide thus croffly thy hafty language, and thy dim faith ; for, with knowledge, thy faith will grow : a ftranger art thou to its wonders, as fet forth in the MISHNAH that great work, which all pious and wealthy Jews fail not to have ; and thy great relative fhould have taught thee better out of its luftrous pages." " J^P ea ^ not f harfhly of Cartaphilus, dear Rabbi, nor fo fe- verely to myfelf. The Mifhnah, indeed, was as little known to him, as to myfelf: the world hath known it only about fifty years ; and Albion is no place in which to find fuch a volume. And, though many pious and wealthy Jews, doubtlefs, have it in hand, yet, my Rabbi, all that is written need not be read all that is publijhed is not therefore true and all that is even true is not therefore believed by LI. c&e (KHanDedng; 3(eto, 577 Privileges of Youth againft the Follies of Age. all. Faiths differ as well as minds ; and freely do I acknowledge want of faith in many of the tales faid to be uttered by our Rabbis. In this, Cartaphilus and Tacafulriph wholly agreed : and remember, moreover, that my great relative was never taught in any of the iUu/irious Schools, (if fuch they really were) that arofe foon after Jerufalem s deftruclion, and which are believed by Jews to have done fo much for Ifrael s difperfed people ! I confefs, moreover, that often have I heard Cartaphilus fpeak rather lightly of the vaunted learning of the fchools of Jamnia and of Tiberias, as far forth as he had gained acquaintance of them. Cartaphilus was, moreover, a ftri& Sadducee, at firft, and therefore a believer only in the Pentateuch. He afterwards learned far better ; and gave full faith to all the Jewifh Scriptures : but ftill, no whit of a Pharifee was he ; and always rejected the, fo called, Traditions. His mind was therefore much oppofed to the Rabbinifm of our day ; which, if at all underftood by me, is a fungous addition to the ancient Oral Law, and to the Interpretation thereof fomething which our fore fathers knew not fomething that would now fupply the place of a true religion ! And yet thefe are the matters curiofity doth prompt me to learn further of: for, though I may not prove a zealous dif- ciple, I admit the duty to fearch into it further ; and not to deal contemptuoufly with what is not fully known of me but only with fuch parts as have mocked my underftanding and belief." " ^H^or one fo green in years as thou," rejoined the Rabbi, " it were perhaps wifer, O Tacafulriph, to make the faith of our San hedrim thine, than hope to fafhion its deep myfteries, and ever ac cording to thine own imaginings ! " " ^^)oubtlefs, my Rabbi, it is the province of youth to be coun- felled ; and, in matters beyond their reach, to have much faith in the experienced judgment of their elders : but, my venerable friend, myfteries may be beyond our reach for two caufes they may be very deep truths, or equally unfearchableyo/AVj-; and, if not under ftood for the latter reafon, youth may reject them, as well as age. And, moreover, Cartaphilus ever taught me that the young fhould never be diftated to in any matter really within their mental grafp ; t\\?A faffs mould be plenteoufly fpread before them by their teachers ; and that the pupil s unbiaffed, pure, and youthful judgment, fhould be rather won for them by grateful confidence, than moulded for them, and with an exacting affentation this he regarded as tyran nous in the mafter, and flavifh in the pupil as a flattering oblation to the vanity of the former, inftead of a holy offering by the latter, coming from an original and thinking mind." " )gIJ[hat thou feyeftj wonderful Youth ! I will not, in large part, deny ; and yet, much do I fear the fplrlt that fo well hath fafhioned it. We do not look for fuch fpeech as thine, from fuch youthful i. P P 578 Cfironicles of Cartapfnlus, century m. Privileges of Youth againft the Follies of Age. lips : arid the lofty independence it betokens, in one yet fo beardlefs, doth prefage that, if in this regard thy temper be not timoufly checked, Beel-zebul will eventually caufe thee to doubt all thou canft not clearly unravel ; and, at the fame time, he will place before thee fo many difficulties, that thy tender mind will, at laft, fink into that fatuous anarchy into that deep Pyrrhonifm, that doth wreck the heart as well as mind ! I fay this, not of thee in particular, but of that young fplrit I have fo often feen in the world, that would pierce the empyrean, before it hath learned to flutter on the earth of that fpirit, which knoweth not that know ledge is of faith, as well as of inquiry : in fine, of that fpirit, my Tacafulriph, which I have never failed to find dangeroufly allied to a damning wickednefs." " ^6 ut 5 m y Rabbi," with fome quicknefs faid I, " if no faith be a damning evil, as it furely is, I muft think an indifcriminate faith is likewife one. Cartaphilus thought you Rabbins believe too much ; and I think that, when he was a Sadducee, he believed too little. I now defire to be admonimed by his experience : and therefore do I feek of thee fome information touching the Rabbinical opinions and tales I have heard ; and which, I muft fay, feem to me vain fancies and far from being the diftilled ej/ence of wifdom, which thou haft claimed for Rabbinifm." " !6^ words thefe !" faid the Rabbi, " and unfit to be ufed even by the well bearded ; but I pray thee, my young friend, ftate one that thou canft prove a vain imagination." " Rather, good Rabbi," rejoined I, " one that thou canft prove hath the imprefs of fober wifdom : for, if the fact, or the opinion, be approved of thee, and queftioned by me, thy affertion of its exiftence, or of its con formity to reafon, is with thee not me, to prove. But, without contending as to on whom the onus of proof fhall lie nor further pr effing the folly as to this whirling of fouls , I would afk thee, venerable Ifaac, what doft thou think of thy doctors, who refufe to eat of any flefh, or to drink of any wine, for that the fame hath been unlawful ever fince the deftruction of our Holy Temple becaufe, as they fay, there can no longer be any offerings there of either flefh, or wine ?" " ^hat matter," replied the worthy man, with great mildnefs and a tinge of mortification, " I do confefs to be too much a fancy ; and hence I admit the greater wifdom of what the Rabbi Judah, fon of Hananiah, faid unto fuch mifguided Rabbis he faith, By that rule, abftain thou from bread, for the fhew-bread is no longer fet out abftain alfo from, fruits, for they are no more offered abftain like wife from water, for that is no longer by the altar ! See then, good Rabbis, that ye exact no duties from the people they cannot fulfil: fo that the cafe thou haft put, dear Youth, is not largely LI. CFje ^Bantering 3|etu. 579 Rabbis Judah Hakadofh Eleazar Gamaliel Akiba. to thy purpofe, as the wifdom of other doctors countervails the folly of the reft." " CDy venerable Rabbi Ifaac, thou fhouldft alfo remember, that the reply of Rabbi Judah, who was but one, was yet fo much to the purpofe, that the filly multitude of doctors were obliged to yield : but were it not greater proof of wifdom, had fuch a reply never been needed ? But, if that one hath not wholly ferved me, remember alfo that the famed and fuccefsful rival of that very Rabbi Judah, was himfelf fo full of this ftrange Rabbinic fpirit, as to be ripe for any belief whatever unlefs, indeed, the whimftcal miracle that gave him fame, be as much believed by thee as by him the choice of the dilemma is now with thee ! " "I perceive with grief, my Tacafulriph," faid the fimple-hearted Rabbi, in a plaintive voice, " what thou wouldft be at and that thou haft little reverence for holy things : for, if thou doft mean the youthful Eleazar, fon of Agarias, the miracle was doubtlefs wrought upon him." " DC P ra y ^ee, then, to tell it unto me, good Ifaac ; as thou fhouldft know the narrative more correctly than I may have heard it." " "(Jm^hy, incredulous boy, doft thou now feek to know that great marvel ? if from fcoffing curiofity, I fhould be filent. The matter, I do confefs, is Jlrange : but, then, no miracle would it be, if not ftrange : and, as to its being whimfical^ naught fhould be fo deemed that bringeth with it fome good end. You muft know, then, O Tacafulriph, that when the Rabbi Gamaliel^ the fecond of that great name, came to be depofed as Nafi of the Sanhedrim, and was no longer Prefident of the renowned fchool of Jamnia, there were three rivals for the fucceflion : and thefe were Rabbi Judah Hakadofh, whom I havejuft mentioned ; alfo the greatly venerated Rabbi Akiba and the youthful Eleazar, then but in his twenty and eighth year ! The choice eventually fell upon him : who, now that he was chofen, hefitated and feared greatly, left an office of fuch high dignity might not fuit one of his tender age : and this doubt was inflamed the more by his wife, who thought his beardlefs chin ill became fo venerable a ftation. The hufband grieved much, and with lamentation mourned over his beard which truly was won drous thin, even for one of his age. But his lament, O Tacaful riph, lafted but a few hours ; for lo ! it immediately thereafter began to fprout forth ; and, before the day was ended, he faw upon his breaft a long^ gray^ and tdoneous beard! The truth of this miracle will in no wife be queftioned : for well do I remember in my youth, when at Jamnia, how thofe who faw the young Eleazar, doubted it not, and greatly marvelled." " "<ftIH e Mj m y wor thy Ifaac," faid I, " their belief and wonder ftill would not prove the miracle for they may only have beard earlier, what thou didft later : they doubtlefs faw Eleazar; but faw 580 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century Adventures of the Rabbi Akiba. they the beard grow in this wife, or only heard they of it the bearded Eleazar they may have feen, but not the fudden growth ?" u They told me not of that, good youth but they could not have marvelled without a caufe, incredulous youth ! " " "(^y^hen I arrived at Jamnia, a youth of but feventeen fum- mers," continued the Rabbi, " the fchools eftablifhed K hb^Ak b there, more than half a century before, by the Rabbins Jcchanan, Gamaliel n. Simeon ill. and by Judah the Holy, were in high repute. Much then was faid to me, and long afterwards, of the wonderful Rabbi Akiba, then far advanced in age ; and likewife of the young Judah, a rifing ftar that promifed to fhed an equal light with all that had gone before him. In the aged man, and in the far younger one, my foul delighted for the fame of both was great, though then fo different. Of this AKIBA, I will now tell thee fome things. When firft I beheld him, his age was nearly that of the late venerated Cartaphilus : and, as his youthful hiftory was detailed unto me by the great Rabbis I now daily faw, fo was his life well known of me in his latter years. " j^-j kiba was but half a Jew, being defcended on his father s fide from Sifera, a great general of the King of Tyre. CABA SHEVA of Jerufalem, was rich in flocks ; and with him Akiba lived the life of a humble Shepherd, during forty years ! Love brooks not diftin&ions of rank and wealth ; and Akiba fighed unto death for the lovely daughter of his mafter, and me in turn had given him her heart. But the haughty Caba Sheva fpurned the poor ihepherd ; whereupon the lovers were fecretly wedded. Akiba, then mekellefs, went into retirement, leaving his youthful bride with her haughty and unfeeling fire. Twelve years was he abfent, occupied in the profoundeft ftudies, and then returned to his late mafter, having gained twelve thoufand difciples, and with them a wonderful fame .But the cruel parent had by that time difcarded his beauteous daughter. Akiba and his wife then lived together during fome years, in extreme want, during which period fhe bore him her firft child and upon a miferable bed of ftraw. " ()nce more Akiba returned to the great fchool, and remained twelve years more, engaged in the deepeft and moft fublime ftudies. He then appeared again before Caba Sheva, but with double his former number of difciples, and, as fome fay, with quite eighty thoufand : certain it is that his fame had now become fo great, that it was called awful, and Caba Sheva relented ; whereupon Akiba received from him his long-fuffering daughter, and with her an ample endowment ! " 5H.any years after this, Akiba, now aged, was riding with fome of his difciples clofe by the ruins of the holy Jerufalem. They Cjje (KBantiermg; 3[eto, 581 Rabbi Akiba. beheld a jackal prowling among the fragments of the once glorious Temple ! This fight fo much pained his followers that they burft into tears ; and would know of Akiba how he would apply to the fcene before them his great maxim, fo often urged upon them, 4 that everything is ordained of Heaven for the be/I? Akiba feemed fomewhat difturbed by the queftion ; but he mildly replied, * As the very fuccejfes of the idolatrous Romans have fulfilled the words of our Prophet S) fo is that fulfilment a Jure ground to God s people of a much loftier hope in the future. " r U^he reply of Akiba, good Rabbi," faid I, "was doubtlefs the beft that could then be made. But, were a Chrijlian to have afked him, whether a portion of the wickednefs thus grievoufly punifhed was not to be found in the murderous Crucifixion of the Nazarene ? and, if not, what had fo long delayed the coming of the long promifed Meffias ? and, if I mould alfo afk thee, my Rabbi, the fame queftion, now full two centuries after the Sceptre hath de parted from Judah, what reply, think you, Rabbi Akiba then would have made and what wouldft thou now make ? " ffi^abbi Ifaac was filent ; his countenance experienced many changes, a large tear was in his eye, he gave me a piercing look then caft his eyes upon the ground, and the tear fell to it : at length he faid, " Tacafulriph ! thou afkeft unfeemly queftions, and far beyond the warrant of thy age ;" and then, with renewed ftern- nefs, u yea, queftions, I fay, that favour of herery, and abandonment of thy Hebrew faith I tell thee, boy, they will better be anfwered by thine own mind and heart, when thy beard is longer. But I have not yet done with what I have to fay of Akiba." u ^JOtay, m y venerable Ifaac, thou art harm upon me: Jews may well think as I do, without herefy they may believe the Nazarene no Shiloh, and yet murdered they may venerate Akiba, and yet not regard him as infallible. The queftion put by me appears in thine eyes unfeemly, becaufe of my tender age : and, if my beard be not yet fufficiently grown to comprehend thy looked-for reply, I pray thee let thy anfwer ftill be given that it may repofe in my now flender down, which, as it feemeth, is with thee the feat of the intellect after it is grown ! I promife thee thy anfwer {hall there remain and be nourifhed, until the beard mail reft upon my bofom by age ; for Tacafulriph hath no hope of fuch a miracle^ as was wrought for the young Eleazar." " r hou art a ftrange and myfterious youth, Tacafulriph, and will never be a Rabbi, if thou haft fuch Chriftian hankerings," faid the Rabbi, with a gentle tone. " Young Jews have often a leaning towards fuch fancies ; which, notwithftanding thy fportive humour, I again repeat, are all difpelled when the beard is much lengthened. 582 CfjrOttiCleS Of CattapfnlU0, Century m. Rabbi Akiba Remarkable Coincidences. Many have I known, who, when quite young, were half Chrif- tians ; but became fturdy Jews at thirty and fo will it be with thee, my Tacafulriph." " " ( Klll e ^ m y kind friend, I crave forgivenefs for my incredulity, and yet more for my fportive humour on matters fo grave : and now, let me have fomewhat further of this marvellous Akiba." " ^ cannot now tell thee," faid the Rabbi, " of Akiba s unhappy connexion with that wonderful man Caziba fo often alfo called Barcocheba ; who, inftead of proving himfelf the Meffiah, and the Son of a Starj fhowed himfelf the fon of Satanas, and the prince of Liars ! Suffice it to fay, both perimed in the war that Hadrian waged againft us, Barcocheba, at the fiege of Either, and the aged Akiba, at the dreadful maflacre that enfued ! And further, I will only note, that Barcocheba fell on the anniverfary of the memo rable ruin of Jerufalem, and about fixty years after that fatal day j whilft the venerable Akiba was flayed alive, and under circum- fiances of horror, too painful to be now detailed : but thou wilt find them, as alfo what relates to the fiege of Either, in thofe Chro nicles of my fomewhat eventful life, which I have promifed thee." " CDv worthy Rabbi," faid I, " that fo many of Ifrael s miferies fhould have happened on the tenth day of Ab, hath often furprifed me. Doubtlefs, thou couldft name to me as many fignal flaughters of our people, on that myfterious tenth of the month Ab, as there are days in the week ! The greateft of all was that of Jerufalem : but fbme were ages before, poffibly typical of that crowning event; and others fmce perhaps, as memorative of that faddeft of all our cala mities."* * As ftated in a former note, there feems to be no little confufion in the books, in regard to this remarkable day fome naming the loth of Ab and the loth of Auguft as identical ! and others dating the event as of the 9th of Auguft, or as of the lame day of the month Ab. The fiege of Jerufalem endured about five months ; in which many authors have been either little regardful of dates, or equally inattentive to the correfpondence of the ancient Jewifh dates with thofe of modern times. Was the Temple deftroyed on the loth of Ab, and did that correfpond then with our roth of Auguft? If either the ninth or tenth of the month Ab be adopted, do thefe correfpond with our i4th and i5th of July, or with the fourth and fifth of Auguft ? Jofephus fays the Temple was burnt on the loth of Ab ; and moft authors agree that this correfponds with our 5th of Auguft. The City feems to have been fully taken on the 8th of Elul, or the fth of September. A biblical fcholar of note, whofe name is not remembered now, fays that the fiege commenced on Sunday, 22nd April, A. D. 70, v. E. at the clofe of PafTover ; which, in that year, began on the i4th of April that the Temple was deftroyed alfo on Sunday, Auguft 5th and that the Upper City was taken and deftroyed on Sunday, September and, juft a week before the great day of Atonement which could not be offered that year, as the time of Atone ment was now part. The deftruftion of the^/fr/? Temple is commemorated on the 9th of Ab, though Jofephus, following Jer. Hi. 12, afligns the fame day, LI. Cjje WmtwinQ 3[efo. 583 Story of Aben-Judan and Rabbi Akiba. m X Rabbi, is not Nifan s fifteenth day fignal for miferies, not only before the wonderful event on Mount Calvary, but like- wife in years fince that dreadful day ? " Q.uch do I note thy fearching mind," replied the Rabbi, with a thoughtful tone, and with a fomewhat frowning brow, " and thy careful regard for the hidden ways of Providence. Thou, good Youth, may become a great Rabbi, if thou wilt but avoid the Chrif- tian fhoals fo fatal always to found Rabbinifm. But, my Taca- fulriph, again am I drawn from Akiba, whofe long life was fo full of marvels, and of wifdom, though I am bound to fay, not wholly free of errors. " ^Q^ow, my Tacafulriph, liften further to our Akiba : for, though my prefent little hiftory chiefly concerns the boundlefs chanty of the excellent Aben-Judan, it was /(? 7 f Aben ~ ..... .. . J . . r . J . , fudan and Akibas toils in the work of love towards the poor, Rabbi Akiba. that brought to light and perpetuated the renown of actions, which Aben-Judan s humility would have kept in dark- nefs for ever. " jHkiba and two other Rabbis were ufed, every year, to journey over Ifrael s devaftated land, feeking money for the children of mifery : and never did they leave the doors of Aben-Judan without rich prefents from him, for the holy purpofe of their miflion his wealth being very great, and his heart as wide and verdant and well garnimed with the goodly flowers of benevolence, as were his many fields with grafs and trees, with fhrubs and blofloms ! But, fo it chanced with Aben-Judan, as with the Arabian Job, ftorms and peftilences came calamity followed upon calamity; all of his ample pofleilions vanifhed ; and now was he well-nigh as impoverished as any he having but a fingle plot of ground, upon which he and his virtuous wife lived, ftriving for a humble fubfiftence. But Aben- Judan was rich in contentment rich even in cheerfulnefs : daily did he toil, and often would fay, c Let His great Name be for ever praifed the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. " jM t length the time came round, when Akiba and the two others fhould appear, to. receive their accuftorned offerings for the poor ; and the heart of Aben-Judan, for the firft time, fank within him at the thought of his now poverty. " J^feated one evening at the door of his wretched houfe, he roth of Ab, to the definition of both the Temples. But, though modern writers may not agree as to whether the gth and xoth of Ab correfpond with our 1 5th and i6th of July, or with our 4th and jth of Auguft, yet all agree that the two Temples were deftroyed on the loth of the Jewifh month Ab and alfo that the remarkable coincidences, fo often alluded to, in the progrefs of thefe Chro nicles, by Cartaphilus, Melchior, and others, actually took place. See ante, pp. 433 435, and Note* and alfo p. 441, Note*, and p. 458. 584 Chronicles of Cartapjnlus, century m. Story of Aben-Judan and Rabbi Akiba. beheld at a diftance the Rabbis, and knew they would foon approach him, poflibly in ignorance of his prefence there, and of all the mif- fortunes that had befallen him. A tear came into his eyes, and he exclaimed, They are coming ! but what hath Judan now to give? Where are his herds and vineyards, his many fields and houfes, his gold and his filver ? alas ! the poor muft take the fighs of his re membrance of what once he was, and behold him as he is for naught hath Aben-Judan to beftow. " ^J^he good wife came forth, and perceived his fudden melan choly. 4 What ails my beloved fpoufe tell me, that I may fpeedily minifter unto thee. Would to God it were in thy power, good wife: formerly we had the hungry to feed, and our corn was plenty the naked were clothed from our fleece oil and wine and figs had we in abundance, wherewith to refrefh them the orphans, moreover, fmiled when they beheld us, and the widow s heart was made by us to fing with joy : but now, my beloved, we have nothing for the Rabbis, who foon will be here. " c CDy excellent and honoured Lord, faid the wife, repine not ; we ftill have one field left, fuppofe we fell half of that, and give it to Akiba ? A heavenly fmile of approval was inftantly upon Aben-Judan s countenance ; and incontinently he haftened away, fold half of the field, and hurried to meet and place the money in Akiba s hands ! The gift was quietly received by the Collectors when Akiba whifpered, as he departed, into the ears of Judan, * May the Lord reftore unto thee thy former profperity : and fo repeated the other two. " Q n tne following morning, Aben-Judan took his plough into the fmall field that remained : and, as he went on with his toil, ftill rejoicing, the foot of the ox he guided fank fuddenly into the ground, which flopped the plough, and the poor beaft feemed greatly maimed. But this in truth was no frefh calamity fent of heaven, as firft he thought, to fink yet deeper in mifery the good Aben-Judan. His firft care was of grief for the pain of the patient ox when lo ! his endeavour to relieve the beaft, revealed unto him a countlefs trea- fure of gold and of precious ftones ! All were taken to his humble home foon was he again in pofTeflion of a fplendid manfion, and of yet more ample fields and flocks and vineyards ! All the eftates of his fore-fathers, that had been wrefted from him by creditors, were now again his own ; and the poor as ufual gathered around him, and joyoufly were they fed and clad. " jf-Lt length the time once more came round, for the Rabbi Akiba and his companions to appear. They fought for the hovel that had flickered Judan, but found him not there. In apprehen- fion for his fuppofed ill-fate, the pious Rabbis anxioufly inquired after the once wealthy, then poor, and now perhaps deceafed, Aben- LI. C&e OTantJcring 3(eto, S 8 5 Story of Aben-Judan and Rabbi Akiba. Judan. 4 Oh no, venerable Akiba, faid the worthy people, c Judan liveth, and know that his riches are again as boundlefs as are his former and prefent charities ! Behold thofe flocks and herds they are Judan s ! See all thofe fine buildings, and extenfive fields they all belong to Aben-Judan ! " J^ oon af teI S tne Rabbis met and accofted the profperous Judan ; who faid unto them, c Mafters ! thy prayer hath brought abundant fruit. Come unto my houfe, I pray thee, and partake abundantly of what thou wilt. 1 will make up, and to the full, the deficiency of my contribution laft year. Akiba and the two fol lowed, and were moft bounteoufly entreated at the manfion of Judan, who likewife gave unto them his cuftomary prefent, the inability to beftow which, when laft he faw them, he had fo much lamented. " jpjnd, as the Collectors were again about to depart, c Behold this roll of the laft year ! faid the Rabbi Akiba * for, though many, at that time, exceeded thee, O Aben-Judan, in their dona tions, thy name is firft placed thereon for the fmallnefs of thy gift was then only from thy fore lack of means. It is to men like thee, that the wife King alluded, when he faid, A man s Gift extendeth his PolFeflions, and leadeth him before the Great." [Prov. xviii. 16.] " *"his is indeed a pleafing tale unto the heart, my pious Rabbi," faid Tacafulriph, " and caufes in me a willing ear to fuch virtues as thofe of Akiba, and Aben-Judan." " Little further have I to narrate," rejoined Rabbi Ifaac, " as to Akiba, than that his numerous followers wholly periftied, and during the fifty days that intervened between Paffover and Pentecoft ! and this, my Taca fulriph, is furely one of the greateft marvels in the whole life of Akiba : they all, with Akiba and his wife, lie buried at the foot of the great hill that borders upon Tiberias ! " " ^J^hat fynchronous death and burial of fuch a multitude, is furely wonderful," faid I fmilingly, and with an incredulous voice I could not fupprefs ; " but wert thou, my Rabbi, prefent at the miracle ? " " No, Tacafulriph ; at Jamnia I then was ; but had means of foundly hearing all things : and fince that day, I have not been at Tiberias. Many learned Rabbins, however, allure me the mound is vaft ; and that Akiba s death was as ftated, and was in this wife. Hadrian s war had then been in progrefs more than two years ; and ended foon after the death of Barcocheba at Either ; which, as thou knoweft, is the lower Beth-horen, built by Solo mon, but which took the name of Either, as being the abode of thofe fpies who, after Jerufalem s deftru6lion, refided there, that they might inform againft fuch Jews as vifited the ruins contrary to the Imperial order. In this war fell more than half a million of Jews not counting thofe who perifhed by famine, fire, and difeafe, 586 Cf)rOniCle0 Of CartapjrilUS, Century m. Akiba and a Roman Lady Death of Akiba. there being probably in all a larger number of Ifrael s people that then perifhed, than came from Egypt with our Mafter Mofes ! " J^adrian s manner was, not to war in perfon at any time : but his cruel lieutenant, Tennius Rufus, fpared neither age nor fex nor condition ; and thofe who efcaped with life were fcarce more fortunate. Oh, how agonizing were the fcenes that followed ! Though fo young, thou haft probably heard of the venerable Tere binth tree, the lame, under which our father Abraham pitched his tent ! Under the facred made of that tree, did the infamous Rufus hold a great mart, for the fale of his wretched captives. In count- lefs droves were they daily brought there, and fold as worthlefs beafts, and for a few mekels a head ! thoufands more were fent to Gaza, and other places ; and difpofed of in like manner. " jM t length the renowned Akiba was fummoned by Rufus, and clofely examined touching his agency in the rebellion, as well as in the falfe Mefliahmip of the odious Barcocheba : and, whilft the ex amination was proceeding, the pious Akiba fuddenly remembered that his hour for prayer had arrived ; whereupon he fell upon his knees, unmindful of the ifTue as to his life or death, and of the powerful Judge then before him ! Being remanded inftantly to prifon, and then parching with thirft on that fultry day, his fupply of water was too fmall to allay it, and alfo to perform his cuftomary holy ablutions, he hefitated not, but ufed this fcanty remnant of water for that pious purpofe. His mercilefs death quickly followed he was, as before I have faid, flayed alive ! " *^X n s R u f us nat h been to Ifrael a fatal name, my Rabbi," faid I, " for, if I remember aright, it is the fame with him who, fhortly after Titus left Judea, ploughed up our holy Jerufalem ? " " Thou art right, my Tacafulriph, as to the nomen ; but the prenornen of him who ploughed the City was Turnus, or Terentius ; whereas this Rufus, Hadrian s lieutenant, was Tennius. Now, what thou haft faid reminds me of another event in Akiba s early life, which muft not be pafled by. When Terentius Rufus was fent into Judea by Vefpafian, Akiba, then as gentle and beautiful as a young and tamed lion, had an interview with that fierce Roman, and alfo with his too amorous wife. She was fo much ftruck with the blooming youth, that me much defired to win him to her arms but the pious Jew, looking upon her^fpat upon the earth, then laughed, and finally, wept ! The woman gazed upon him with deep afton- ifhment, and fought to know the caufe of fuch ftrange demeanour: and though Akiba s maxim ever was, Abjlrahe carmen a muliere gratiofa, tanquam a carne punarumj yet would he have obtained her, if poflible, in lawful marriage, me being very beautiful, and therefore he replied to her, 4 O Roman lady ! I was reminded of impure water by thy prefent Heathen condition, and hence I . Cfje (KJanDering 3|eto, 587 The Narrative of Rabbi liaac given to Tacafulriph. fpat : alfo, forefeeing, that, if a Jewefs thou fhouldft become, then might I wed thee, caufed me to laugh with joy ; but, when I mourned the unholy influences of thy admirable beauty, I was forced to weep and thefe are the caufes ye do feek. Akiba s en deavours, however, to make a profelyte of the ftern Roman huf- band, or of his fickle wife, proved unavailing and hence never more did he fet eye upon the mulier gratiofa." On the following morning, my generous and fimple-hearted Rabbi entered my ftudium, and faid, " Here, my Ta cafulriph, into thy hands I place the volumes, that *?* Narrative r, vr J , F. . . given to Taca- picture my lire and my inquiries during many years, r u i r ;s,/ 2 even from boyhood unto the prefent day. Make what ufe of them thou lifteft : they contain many fignal events in Roman and in Jewifh ftory and alfo matters perfonal mowing the weak- nefTes and fins and ftrivings of a man, that defired wifdom always but who feldom found it deep are its abodes ! the volumes will be beyond thy need : but, as thou haft faid, and truly, c all that is written need not be read : yet, be cautious of thy other fpeech, all that is true is not believed by all. ^j^hefe volumes were indeed beyond my needs but were alfo, in moft of their pages, redolent of benevolence towards man, and hateful of all injuftice and perfecution for opinion s fake : and moreover, to me they were fpecially valuable, as fupplying for me that void in my mind, which long abfence and a nomadic life during fome years had occafioned. From them I have colle&ed fome of the public matters recorded by him, and alfo not a few of the private life of one, fo long and worthily known in many lands, as my valued friend, for whom my affection muft ever endure he being the moft enlightened and liberal of all the Rabbins ever known of me. SECTION LII. NARRATIVE OF THE RABBI ISAAC. Y grandfather was the memorable JOHN OF Gis- CHALA ; who, after the utter ruin of his country, and his own perpetual flavery, by the order of the emperor, Vefpafian, left to his fon, my father Hachaliah, the fame miferable con dition. "mj^hen quite a youth, I fell into the hands of Serenius Gra- nianus, proconful of Afia a man of great juftice; who, in the feventh year of the Emperor Hadrian, (as many years afterwards I learned) induced that warlike and auftere monarch (Ifrael s greateft foe) to extend to the Chriftians throughout the provinces, the 5 8 8 CfjtOm CleS Of Cartapf)iUl0, Century HI. Rabbi Ilaac s Narrative. kindeft protection. Hadrian had previoufly been fevere to them ; and the change in their favour was wrought by many letters and apologies on their behalf, fent by Granianus to that Emperor, and alfo by a defence of the New Faith, written by Quadratus and Ariftides. CDy mafter became early informed of my diftinguifhed parent age * and would often converfe with me refpecting the daring bravery of my wicked, though renowned anceftor ; and he likewife took a fpecial fancy to me, in confequence of my furprifing fondnefs for books my almoft preternatural memory and my devotion to the traditions of our holy religion; which, at that time, were com municated entirely by oral teachings. ^j^ had alfo the good fortune to render, in various fmall ways, fuch pleafant fervices to Granianus, that, when he returned to Rome a fhort time thereafter, he took me with him liberated me at once, and had me fc highly educated, and with fuch marked care, that the Roman Jews began to hate me faying that I " would furely become either a Heathen, or a Chriftian which, for a Gif- chalite, would be a great abomination." But of either there was little to apprehend, becaufe Granianus had often faid to me, " Ifaac, thy religion is thy only birthright thou wert born a flave in all other refpe&s but not in this, my little Jew : and now art thou a freed-man, ex dono Graniani ; and, if thou wert not, no concern would I ever have with thy faith : but, my Ifaac, I would counfel thee to take fpecial care that, as I to thee have been gene rous, thou doft curb thy hot temper towards the Chriftians ; they are much to my mind but, of that, have thy finger upon thy lip ; it might bring me into peril." Thus fpoke Granianus to the humble youth Ifaac ; and his counfel have I ever borne in mind : for, though a Jew of the ftricleft faith, I have ever fhunned hatred, or even unkindnefs to the Nazarenes. CDy Hebrew faith was likewife ftrengthened by my conftant atten dance on the cuftomary fecret meetings of the Roman Jews ; whofe flavery hung heavily upon them, and whofe hatred of the numerous gods around them, was only equalled by their keen remembrance of the evils brought upon them in moft of the perfections of the Chriftians, with whom they were fo often confounded. In thefe meetings our traditions were daily taught, there being at that time fome learned Rabbins at Rome, many of whom were in high favour at Court : and from thefe oral inftrudlions, I had learned much of the hiftory and great excellence of our traditional faith " the written law being only as fait, the traditional interpretations as the flrongejl pepper, and as the fweetejl fpices /" for fo fay our learned Doctors. In thefe meetings I alfo foon convinced my young coun trymen of the great injuftice they had done me, in fufpedting my LIT. c&e 2Bant)eung 3(eto, 589 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. full Jewifh faith : and my acquirements and furprifmg memory had, at length, commanded their admiration and confidence ; fo that they now urged me to haften eaftward there to avail myfelf of the great fchools eftablifhed by the Patriarchates. jfjt an early age, therefore, I bade farewell to the Imperial City, and became a ftudent at Jamnia, and afterwards at Tiberias, under the famous Rabbi JUDAH HAKADOSH, the fon of Simeon in. whom he fucceeded as Nafi of our Sanhedrim. ^n thefe fchools we were taught that Ifrael ever hath had two laws the onewnYfc, and the other oral; both given to our Mafter Mofes from Mount Sinai, the former whereof is obfcure, fcanty, and defective the latter a full and perfect interpretation, adding much, and refolving all difficulties, in the like manner as doth the radiant light ; which, in the morning, is let in upon the feebler rays of the luminaries of the night ! Hence is it that the Covenant with Ifrael hath been made chiefly upon this oral and traditional law ; and hence likewife is it, that the teachings of our Scribes and Doctors are far more lovely than the meagre words of the written law ; which, though made vifible, are, indeed, both weighty and light ; and differ much from thofe of the memory, as handed down by our Rabbins, which are truly all weighty ! The written text is but as water the oral in terpretations are as good wine, yea, like unto a delicious and (lengthening hippocrafs, the one, in fine, is the inert letter, the other an awakening foul, that giveth to all an efTence, and a long- preferving vitality. [But here I, Cartaphilus, would ajk my Rabbi Ifaac, why Ifrael s God jhould have taken fo much pains to perpetuate the written law, firft upon enduring tablets, and then, in our Scrip tures, if that law be the mere letter and foullefs word, and yet leave to fallible man the oral tranfinijfion of that, which the Rabbins declare is the ejjence and life of all? And, I would further ajk, what reply did our forefathers make to the pious Nazarene, when he accufed the Pharifees of making the Word of God of none effeEl through their TRADITIONS ?] J^n thefe fchools I learned that God, at the time he revealed the written law to our mafter Mofes, alfo communicated to him the entire interpretation thereof ; and commanded Ifrael to preferve it by oral teachings, from generation to generation and that, when Mofes defcended from the Mount, he fummoned Aaron unto his tent, and there inftructed him in both thefe laws. Aaron, there upon, feated himfelf at the right hand of Mofes ; and his fons, Eleazar and Ithamar, were feated at his feet, whilft Aaron taught them according as he had been taught. In thefe fchools, I was further inftru&ed that, immediately after Aaron thus taught, the Seventy Elders of the Sanhedrim received the Oral Law in the like 59 C&rOUiCleS Of CattapfrilUS, Century in. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. manner and they, in turn, taught it to the people at large, that it might be preferved in all their generations. ^hefe teachings by Mofes and Aaron, and by the Sanhedrim, were repeated four times ; whereupon the Law of the two ftone tablets was then put into a written book ; but the oral interpreta tions were ftill left to tradition alone. Of the text or written law, thirteen copies were delivered by Mofes ; one to each of the twelve tribes, and the thirteenth he gave to the Levites the whole to be preferved for ever. ]^ut Mofes becoming aware of his approaching end, repeated the whole of the Oral Law anew unto Jomua, as his fucceflbr ; and then departed unto Mount Nebo ; where he died. Jomua, faithful to his truft, imparted this traditional treafure to the Seventy they, in like manner, to the Prophets, and, pafling through Jeremiah and Baruch, it came to the famous Rabbi Ezra, who taught it to the Great Synagogue, where Simeon the Juft became fully poffefled of it. [K^rom Simeon this law defcended through many diftinguifhed Rabbins ; among whom was the renowned Hillel, the greateft of all the Rabbins even unto this day, for this Rabbi Hillel was of the royal houfe of David ; and in learning was like unto Mofes yea, nigh unto Solomon in his acquaintance with all creation, from the hyfibp on the wall, unto the trees that are upon Libanus ! In rule, Hillel was the chiefeft in age, moft venerable in genealogy, moft illuftrious, being of the tribe of Benjamin, as well as of David s line. When aged_/0r/y, he came to Jerufalem -forty years ftudied he the Law -forty more years was he Nafi of our Great Sanhedrim, and, after living one hundred and twenty years, his pofterity con tinued to be our Nafis during many generations ! jfjs a teacher of our Law, Hillel railed one thoufand diftin guifhed fcholars ! of thefe, eighty became fo great that our Rabbins declare that thirty thereof, like Mofes, were worthy to have the Divine Glory refting upon them thirty more, like Jomua, were worthy that the fun fhould for them ftand ftill ; and the remaining twenty were as bright ftars, though of lefs magnitude ! But the moft eminent of the whole eighty was Jonathan, fon of Uzziel, whofe Targum is equalled only by that of the great Onkelos ; and, in traditions, is far its fuperior.* * Rabbi Hillel probably became Nafi, B.C. 22, then in his 8oth year; and died about A.D. 18, that is, about fifteen years before the crucifixion. He was furnamed Hajfaken, and was grandfather of Gamaliel, teacher of Saul of Tarfus. The Rabbinifts (with their ufual fondnefs for myftery, and their perception of it in either even, or in odd numbers) allure us that he became the Nafi juft 100 years before Jerufalem s definition ! which would make his birth B.C. 30. Some fay he was born at Babylon, B.C. 112, which would make him aged 130 at the time of his alleged death ! LH. cjjc 22!antJeung Jeto. 591 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. the death of Hillel, the Oral Law came to his pious fon Simeon * who tranfmitted it to Gamaliel the elder, f then to Simeon the fecond ; who, during the fiege of Jerufalem was flain. It then came to Jochanan ben Zaccai, the fame wife Rabbi who fo much defired peace with Titus ; and the fame who witneffed the great Eaftern Gate of the Temple fuddenly and miraculoufly burft open; and who, in the language of the prophet Zechariah exclaimed, " Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars howl, fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen ; becaufe the mighty are fpoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bajhan ; for the for eft of the vintage is come down ! " % Thefe prophetic words had been uttered five hundred years before Jochanan thus fpoke ; and yet did he then clearly fee in them that the days of our holy Temple were about to be ended, that the goodly cedars and firs of Lebanon, and the oaks of Bafhan whereof it was built, were foon to be utterly confumed \ Then did the holy man feign death, and was laid out upon a bier ; and his loving friends and fcholars carried him forth yea, that he might efcape the fury of my cruel anceftor, John, the Gifchalite : but the feemingly dead one reached the camp of Titus in fafety ; and was permitted to depart to Jamnia : where, in a few years after, he became the Nafi of our fugitive Sanhedrim! ^J^he Oral Law next came to his fon Gamaliel n. of Jamnia ; and then to his fon, Simeon in. and he was the firft PATRIARCH of Tiberias, and then to Judah, his fon, who was the renowned Rabbi Judah Hakadofh, my mafter ; and then to Gamaliel ill. who was the fon of this Judah. Now, Gamaliel n. had likewife efcaped the miferies of Jerufalem by the kindnefs of Titus. And finally, the Law came to Judah u. who is the now Patriarch. Rabbi Judah i. called Hakado/h, had preferved the Oral * This Simeon, fon of Hillel, and father of the excellent Gamaliel, was far advanced in age, (faithfully looking for the incarnation of the Mefliah) when he was miraculoufly aflured that his pious wifh mould be accompliihed before his death. When the Divine Infant was brought to the Temple, Simeon was moved by a fupernatural impulfe to go there ; and, feeing the babe, he clafped it in his arms, and exclaimed with rapture, " Lord ! now let thy fervant depart in peace for mine eyes have feen thy falvation, which thou haft prepared before the face of all people a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of thy people of Ifrael." Luke ii. 25. f- This is the fame Gamaliel at whofe feet Paul was brought up ; and who, when the Sanhedrim propofed feverity againft the New Faith, admonifhed his countrymen that, if the works and doftrines of Jefus were from Beelzebul, they muft perifh but if from God, they could not be fupprefled. " Et nunc itaque dico --uobis" faid he, " difcedite ab hominibus i/Jis, et finite illos j quoniam fi eft ex hominibus con/ilium hoc aut opus, diffolnjetur . Si verb ex Deo eft, non poteritis diflblvere illud, ne forte et Deo repugnare inveniamini" \ Zech. xi. i, z. 59 2 CftfOniCleS Of CartapfriiUS, Century HI. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. Law through wonderful difficulties ; and he it was who, about the tenth year of the emperor Antoninus Pius, reduced the whole of the traditionary law into a great written volume, which we name the MlSHNAH.* <^hus has the whole Jewifh law been made vifible ; and is no longer entrufted to the memory only ; and this is the more fortu nate in the prefent ftate of our much diftrar.ed people their wan dering and unhappy life their flavery, and their perfecution in many and remote nations, all of which enfued upon the deftru&ion of our Holy City, and feems deftined to endure, but Ifrael will ftruggle as there is yet a promife for her ! ^} ut the blotting out of Jerufalem the abfolute fway of the Roman authority in all Paleftine, and in fo many of the nations the (laughter of nearly two millions of our people the captivity and banimment of fo very many and the wandering of our myriads into the remoteft lands, were powerful indeed to difhearten ; and yet Ifrael remained a mighty people in numbers, not only in the very land that God had given them, but among the nations not re mote from Paleftine ! Our rich foil feemed only to need fome * About 150 years after the Mifhnah was given by Rabbi Judah I. that is, about A. D. 300, certain Rabbinifts gave a feries or Commentaries upon it, which are called the Gemara ; and thefe two, viz. the text, or Mimnah, and the commentary, or Gemara, now form the TALMUD. This, in after times, took the name of the "Jerufalem Talmud" in contradiftinftion to that Mifhnah and Gemara prepared by the Jews of Babylonia, about 200 years later; and which received the name of the " Babylonian Talmud." The entire body of Jewifh Law, then, confifts of, ift. The Holy Scriptures, commencing with the Mofaic Pentateuch, in 14.90, B. c. the Hiltorical, Pro phetical, and other parts of thofe Scriptures, ending with the prophet Malachi, about 4.00 B. C. and. Of the numerous Tar gums, or paraphrafes of thefe Scriptures ; thefe being tranflations from the Hebrew into the Chaldee, or other languages, defigned for the people ; who, after their captivities, had in a large degree loft their vernacular tongue. Thefe Targums are not mere tranf lations ; nor yet, in all cafes, even paraphrafes. Thofe which remain are eight in number the Targum of Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and that of Jonathan on the Prophets, being the moft famous ; and they appeared only a few years before Chrift. The other Six Targums embrace the other portions of the Bible. 3rd. Of the Miftma and Gemara that now form the Talmud of Jeru falem, the former about A. D. 150 by Rabbi Judah Hakadofh, or the Holy the latter A.D. 300, by various Rabbins ; all ufually in one large folio volume. 4.th. Of the Mifhna and Gemara that form the Talmud of Babylonia, compiled about A. D. 500, under the direction of the Rabbi Afchi, in fourteen folio volumes and perhaps, fth. of the Rabbinical writings in general ; the moft noted of which are the More Nevochim, and other works of Maimonidet, born in Spain, A. D. 1131 thofe of Aben Ezra, allb a Spaniard, born A.D. 1167 the works of David Kimchi, A. D. 1160 thofe of Solomon Jarchi, of Troyes, A. D. 1170 the Commentaries of Abrabanel, in the fifteenth century; and of many others, fuch as thole of the Rabbis Ellas Levita Mofes-ben- Nahman, Ben Aflier, &c. 3|eto. 593 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. tilling, and our hearts to be fomewhat revived and united, to make us foon a powerful and dreaded people : but alas ! thefe came not. Nero and Domitian, in the beginning of our calamity, had flaugh- tered very many of our people of the new, as well as of the old faith : our rebellions alfo againft Trajan had brought with them great lofs of Jewim blood ; but the foreft of all, which was that under Hadrian, feemed to threaten our extinction ! Our Sanhe drim had well nigh expired ; our fpirits were greatly broken ; and yet Abraham s feed was not deftroyed far from it ftill were they as the ftars of heaven in number, though fo greatly fhorn of their luftre by the many dark clouds that environed us : Ifrael, indeed, was no longer a nation our political power was annihilated ; and the Chil dren of the Difperfion were compelled to refort to other ties of union, and to various other means (would they preferve their moral exift- ence and religious identity) than by thofe that are ftrictly national and political. As I have intimated, the Jews ftill remaining in the land of promife were indeed many millions ; whilft thofe diffufed among the nations of the earth, were yet more ; but numerous as they were, they muft continue impotent, unlefs united by fome per vading tie, fome binding principle, to take the place of their lofs of territorial influences, and their confequent want of unity of action, fo nearly loft by our calamities. Hence our Rabbins never doubted that, if the Faith of Ifrael was to be maintained againft the gods of the Gentiles, and againft the Nazarene fuperftition, it could only be by reaching the heart and mind of our people individually ; and alfo by fome authority, that might penetrate whitherfoever they were fpread. The great object, then, of our learned doctors was thus to unite them : and how that, in a good degree, was eventually effected, will now be fhortly told. ^f[^erva was kind to us throughout his reign ; and though it lafted only about fixteen months, I well remember the peace and hope it infpired in the hearts of my countrymen. About this time were commenced the foundations of that Patriarchate by Gama liel II.; which Simeon III. expanded towards the clofe of Ha drian s reign ; but which, in the more powerful times of Antoninus Pius, caufed Tiberias to be much reforted to ; and the dominion of the Patriarchate to infpire, in the Jews of all the lands, joyful vi- fions as to the future, fuch as Ifrael had not experienced during more than half a century ! jJ_ few years after the full eftablimment of that fpiritual authority in Paleftine, and which extended its influences over all the Weftern Jews, there alfo arofe among thofe of Babylonia, a like patriarchal power ; clothed alfo with a temporal authority of commanding, though fomewhat of local operation ; and which was accompanied with no fmall degree of Oriental fplendour. This is called the I. 594 C&roniCleiS Of CartapfrilU0, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. RESCH-GLUTHA, or dominion of the PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY. By means of thefe two high powers, all the Jews of the world are now ruled, in whatever nation found, fave only thofe who dwell among thofe remote and ftrange people called SERES a nation wonderfully populous and wife; and which borders upon that great Eaftern fea of Afia, in which the fun becomes daily renewed, as if rifmg in vigour from that fleep and darknefs he is in during nearly half of his exiftence ! * <^\\efacred matters of our people, will require of me fome ac count of the Patriarchate in the Weft then of the Glutha in the Eaft ; and of both, up to the time of our prefent emperor Septimus Severus. A like fhort detail of the chief doings of the emperors, who followed fmce Nerva s genial rule, will unfold fufficiently the civil proceedings, we may fay, of the world ; for Roman power abforbs nearly all ; and things without the pale of its influences, feem of little moment to Jew or Gentile. d here I premife that, before Jerufalem was blotted out, our Great Sanhedrim had convened at the Holy City at J. e J er icho Gadara Amathus or at Sepphoris. Dur- bauaeartm. J L / IT" ^ c i_ j ITJ ing the liege by 1 itus, the banhednm were obliged toy?y, (from the Gazitb, or Hall of the Temple ; where, during fo many years it had repofe,) and feek a brief refuge in the Khanoth of the Outer Court. From thence, preffed by the Romans, it efcaped into the Upper City which being foon affailed, it fled unto Jabuch, or Jamnia thence to OJha thence to Shepkaraan then to Bethjhaarain then to Sepphoris; and at laft found a more enduring refting-place at Tiberias ; where the Patriarchate arofe in connexion with it ; and which hath flourifhed to this day. Thefe eight flights of our Sanhedrim occupied about eighty years. THE PATRIARCHATE OF TIBERIAS. s feat of the patriarchal power is a famous city of Weftern Galilee, built by Herod Antipas, in honour of the emperor Tibe rius. It lies on the fouth-weftern more of Lake Genefareth, * The Jews were fettled among thefe remote Eaftern people called Seres, fome time before the definition of their City, and probably even before the birth of Chrift. They have been, perhaps erroneoufly. fuppofed to be the Chinefe; but more probably they were of the region of the Ganges ; and were there before they reached China, though there can be no doubt they were in China at a very early date after their difperfion. The people called Seres by the Greeks and Romans, were remarkable for the culture of filk and feveral ancient authors have no doubt as to the identity of Serica and China : that opinion feems to be gaining ground at the prefent day; though, as the Editor thinks, with but feeble (how of correftnefe. c&e OTanuering 3ieto. 595 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. twenty parafangs north of Jerufalem s ruins ruins fo lately defe- crated by Hadrian s wicked efforts to rebuild the city, and then to call it by the Gentile name of yElia or Adria-Capitolmi I Im pious, and hence a vain attempt, was thine, O Adrian ! for, though with labour and great charge, thou didft raife many vaft and comely ftrutures and among thefe, the fplendid temple dedicated to thine own Capitoline Jupiter ; and though thy Edict, under pain of death, prohibited all Jews from entering the gates of thy New City, and though thou alfo didft infult our people, by raifing thy odious image of a fwine upon the gate that leads to Bethlehem, and yet permitted the Nazarenes to dwell within thy walls, yet, O Hadrian ! the City of Ages can never be raifed as thine will never endure as thine ; nor will even thy name long adhere unto it : ./Elia will pe- rifh : and fhould Jerufalem s bones be fomewhat gathered, and moulded into any form, it can only be that they may bear along, feebly through the ages, the remembrance of Ifrael s once high re nown ; and to preferve the fpot, where Jerufalem in glory will rife again ! ^rjberias was fele&ed by our Rabbins for their Sanhedrim alfo for their Schools, and as the feat of their Patriarchate. Shortly after this, it was remembered that the city had been built by Herod Antipas, in part, upon an ancient cemetery ; which fact greatly dif- turbed many pious Jews ; fince all uncleanlinefs is, unto the He brew, an abomination. But, by fome cabaliftic art, unknown to me, our good Simeon-ben-Jochai afcertained the exact boundaries of that Aceldama ; and carefully marked it off, fo that all the reft was received as pure. Here, as I have faid, Simeon III. was con- ftituted Patriarch of all the Jews, and hence Nafi of the Sanhedrim; the Rabbi Nathan was made the Ab-beth-din ; and the renowned Rabbi Mier became the Hachim, or great Officer of the Law. Xl er y foon thereafter, the Jews in all the Roman empire, of whatever condition, yielded a willing obedience to the fpiritual rule of our Patriarch ; whofe apoftles (fent to all the provinces) were received by our difperfed countrymen with the higheft honours ; and the large contributions fent in from the remoteft parts, foon elevated the Patriarchate to fuch a height of power, and of almoft regal fplendour, as gave it renown throughout the world ! ^(3 ut tne Jews were ftill excluded from Jerufalem or JElia y as fometimes it is yet called fortunately, however, they were largely reftored to their ancient privileges by Antoninus Pius, the moft im portant of which was Circumcifion, of which Hadrian had fo im- pioufly deprived them ! They alfo were permitted to maintain in various parts of Paleftine in Italy, and in the provinces generally, large eftablimments ; and, through their Sanhedrim, their fchools, their fynagogues, and their Patriarchate, to exercife an extenfive and 59 6 C&tCmiCleS Of CattapjjilU.S, Century in, Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. efficient fpiritual, moral, and domeftic jurifdi&ion, nay, even fome temporal or political power : and all thefe were openly difplayed, and with no little magnificence, and impofmg ceremonials, fo that, under the mild Antoninus, Ifrael had fo far recovered from her low degradation, as to fee many bright vifions of hope penetrating the future ! Still, in all Paleftine we were clofely watched ; and were forbidden, everywhere, to admit any Roman into the faith of Abra ham s God ; the fail: was, however, that fome of the Chriftians ftill continued to circumcife even their Gentile converts ; and the Romans, confounding them with Jews, prevailed upon Antoninus to proclaim a general edit againft the circumcifion of any Roman, under a fevere penalty a prohibition of little neceffity in refpedr. to us, as Jews feldom aim at making profelytes to their faith, and hence would have no occafion to inculcate the circumcifion of either Gentiles or Chriftians. ^J^he power exercifed over the Jew by the Patriarch, is a deeply pervading one ; for it operates through Synagogues, Schools, and Apoftles, on individuals and communities or fettlements of Jews, wherever found, and however otherwife allied : but more efpecially upon the individual mind, for, be the Jew a folitary wanderer in diftant lands, felling or exchanging there his fmall wares or, be he a worker of magic in little villages, to gain a daily pittance ; or, be he a lounger amidft poetic groves and fountains, (as I have feen in thofe of Egeria,) there vending matches, and broken glafs ; or, be his tabernacle the open field, and heaven his only canopy, whilft poverty urges his begging a little billet of ftraw for a pillow ! ftill is he faithful to the God of Mofes to the mandates of his Patriarch, fubmiffion to the orders of his Apoftles, and willing to contribute his mite to the caufe of Ifrael ! When, in each fucceffive year, the trumpet is founded on Sivan s eleventh day, by any of thcfe mef- fengers, the tribute due unto the Patriarchate is freely paid, not by the wealthy Jew alone ; oh no, but by every foul that would live in hope, and have a (hare in Ifrael ! and this exemplary and willing fubmiffion to the authority at Tiberias, ferves as a national tie ; and is the only one which now binds all Ifrael on this fide of the Euphrates ! ^Ouring the Temple s exiftence, our fynagogues, everywhere, were neither large, nor fplendid. Jerufalem then con- rhe Synagogues tajned more than fiv hundred but little were they and Oratories. , , , ~ . , , . ,, . . adorned, that the 1 EMPLE might be all in all, as being God s own work, and peculiarly His Houfe. ^Jut, now that Ifrael hath been fifted as grain among all the nations ; and but thinly in many of them, our fynagogues are ftill fmaller and more humble, as better fuited to our now lowly con dition, and to the pervading poverty of our means : and this is LH. c&c flBanUering 3leto. 597 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. every where fo, fave when the Patriarchate fpecially requires in a particular place, a more than cuftomary fplendour, correfpondent to the exercife there of unufual power. Where even ten Jews are aflembled, there a fynagogue may be held ; for the Shekinah cometh not (though in its now minifhed form) to any lefs number : and when there be fewer than ten prefent, regular worfhip muft not be had ; but the pious few muft then feek the Oratories. ^he entrance into our Synagogues is ftill from the Eaft. In the centre we have the Tribune, for the ofrering of p ,/ Tr j r L i- r TT i r> r Rabbi Ifaac prayers, and for the reading or our Holy Book, Imce mourns over there is now no Altar of facrifice. At the Weft end the ft ate of is a repofitory for the Holy Book for we have no yrofl. longer a Holy of Holies ; neither have we any Veil^ or Cherubim^ nor Mercy Seat /***** Q Ifrael, from what a heavenly loftinefs, unto human lowlinefs, art thou fallen ! Patience and humility are now thy only refuge. In thy (adly minifhed ftate, let not Satanas tempt thee to murmurings and to defpair ; but re member thy many captivities, and the outftretched arm that failed not in thyrefcue ! The Gentiles are indeed thy mafters now ; but forget not thy fufFerings in Egypt, when thy oppreiTor Thothmes would not let thee depart ; and yet was Mofes raifed for thy deli verance in due time, and for the Phrah s deftrudlion ! Remember alfo thy captivities in Babylonia ; and yet, in due feafon, thou wert refcued ! And fo, infallibly, will it be again : the Children of the Difperfion will not be fcattered for ever they furely will be ga thered from all the winds of heaven, when the times of the Gentiles fhall have been accomplifhed ! Oh, how great is the defolation that defolates all the cities of Paleftine ! Jerufalem is in heaps thy green valleys, O Judea, have faded thy ftreams are drying up where corn and oil and wine moft abounded, there the lizard, and many reptiles and loathing infects are moft at home ! and yet, thy words, O Lord ! will ftand faft the " Sinful kingdom" is not deftroyed "from off the face of the earth " and the houfe of Jacob is not utterly gone : a " remnant" is yet left ; and that difperfed few thou wilt, in thine own good time, bring together ; and then will Judea, as the rofes of Engedi, bloom again, and become as verdant in all her hills and valleys, as were Jehofhaphat s once ! Now, indeed, is Canaan almoft a defert ; the ruined and forfaken cities are yet mouldering away ; howling jackals and ravenous hyaenas delight there to dwell ; the owl sits folitary on their walls none being prefent to difturb her : and there the gorgeous ferpent and fprightly lizard balk, or gambol, in the bright funfhine, or repofe in the made of the many fragments of thy once proud columns ! Are not Mafada and Machaerus, which were nigh the great Lake in ail their ftatelinefs, now even with the earth, and perhaps to rife no 598 CiJtOniCleS Of CattapfnlUS, Century m. Rabbi liaac s Narrative. more for ever ! fo it is ; and Jotapata, on the mountain, is equally low in the duft, and may continue for ever on a level with its eaftern valley : fo likewife, Gamala and Gadara, once fo haughty in their ftrength, are now in dead ftlence, and fo may remain until the laft trump mail found ! but thou, O Jerufalem, wilt furely rife from thy afties ! and all Paleftine will glorify thee, when Ifrael mall be gathered from the Heathen lands, under the prote6ting wing of the true, but long delayed Meflias ! Our wickednefs hath been great ; but the mercy of the Lord of Hofts is yet greater. Abraham is ftill a mighty name ; and is alfo fo in Arabia the land of Immael, his once forfaken fon : and our Patriarchate, a faded flower com pared with Solomon s glory, may ftill be deftined to preferve our Ifrael through ages of affliction, until the day of the gathering in our people mall come ! Ifrael might learn obedience, in her now difperfed con dition, Simeon was unwearied in ftrengthening himfelf. "^ e Sanhedrim, and all the fynagogues were wifely ruled and guided by him : he gave them power over life and death and, through the Patriarch, thefe fynagogues bring offenders to perfect: obedience, by the fourfold means of the Tro- checha^ the Niddul, the Cherem^ and the Sbemmata. fjn. general, the offender is at firft fubjected to the Trochecha ; which is a formal and public reproof or cenfure, in which, at four fucceflive fabbaths, his name and offence are ftated to the congre gation, accompanied with a folemn admonition to repentance. Should the offender hold out after the fourth reading of the reproof, it is then fucceeded by the impreflive and fevere Niddui or interdict whereby he is wholly feparated, during thirty days, from every privilege and hope of Ifrael. If he ftill perfeveres, the alarming Cherem is then pronounced againft him, whereby he is rendered civiliter mortuus : his religious, as well as his civil exiftence are wholly gone, until he makes amends : and laftly, if he remains utterly contumacious, and his crime be foul, he is vifited by the terrific Shemmata, or final Excommunication which is irrevocable ! This is but feldom reforted to ; and is fo deftructive of all hope from God, or from man, that many of our Rabbins (and oh, let me ever be one) have doubted its lawfulnefs in any cafe. The dreadful ana themas which attend it cut off the offender for ever, alike from the Ifrael of God, and from every aid and fympathy of life and, he being a loathed outcaft, the curfes become to the foul what the fouleft leprofy is to the body ! With all the public and appalling folemnities that a fiery and illimitable indignation can devife, the miferable excommunicate hath hurled upon him the terrific male dictions of Jofhua againft Jericho alfo the anathema of Elifha againft the impious and mocking children yea, all the curfes of the LH. Cfje COanDeting 3ieto. 599 Rabbi liaac s Narrative. Ninety and Three Precepts and all that are known in the Holy Book of the Law ! The Spirits of eternal Darknefs, under what ever names, are invoked in aid of his proftration and everlafting ruin ! the Earth and the heavenly Orbs, and Heaven itfelf, are all entreated to unite in the great work ! ! Dreadful fentence for Man to utter againft his fellow-fmner ! and oh, what fcenes do fome- times enfue upon this overwhelming denunciation ! No mortal, fave his wife alone, dare approach the moral leper with the leaft kindnefs he muft bury the dead of his own houfehold he muft perform the dangerous office of ufliering into exiftence his own off- fpring he muft adminifter to his own fons the rite of circumcifion ; and, when death hath fummoned him to the grave, none dare mourn for him ; but his detefted remains are publicly ftoned whilft lying in their rude coffin ; and the minifters of Juftice are directed to place thereon many maffive ftones as if to feal him for ever from the power of refurre&ion or, as if they would fymbolically perpetuate on him an infamy as onerous and enduring, as the pon derous weights they fo carefully load upon his hated body ! [ j^j nd here, I Cartaphilus, will for a moment Interrupt the narrative of the worthy Rabbi, whofe half-Chriftian heart fo wifely rebels againft this hideous power exerclfed by the Patriarch of Tiberias. Much doth it pleafe me to find the kind Jew of this mind : but I mourn that all Chriflians are not as free from fame liking towards this Shemmata, as were the early followers of the ever benevolent Naza- rene. The Chrijlians, indeed from the beginning, have claimed a power under the fame name ; but, happily, It degrades not man to the level of the beaft, and below it. From all church communion he is indeed excluded ; but It doth not transform him Into an odious leper, hateful for ever In the fight of his fpecles, an alien to all the charities of life, however penitent he may be, and the viSflm of God s eternal wrath, and of man s unending Indignation. And yet, how much muft I deplore that Chrijlians have of late fometlmes dared to proclaim the Church s SECOND Excommunication to be IRREVOCABLE ! ^J^jnong the barbarous nations of Gallla, and of Britannia, with whom I have fo long refided, nothing fo filled my foul with horror, as the terrific fentence pronounced by the ARCH-DRUID, on rebels againft their religion, fo like unto this Jewijh Jhemmata. Strange ! that Ifrael s Patriarch Jhould bind men to Abraham s God, by a force which, even among thofe Heathen priejls, excites terror and pity ; and which feemed to me fo unnatural, and only worthy of demons, becaufe in conflitt with nearly all the reft of their character; for truly, I found in the religion of thefe Druids, and in their domeflic morals, very many bright and holy features : and fo with Jews and Chrijlians. Whence, then, fprlngs man s unrelenting feverlty, his utter want of mercy towards his fellows, in this matter of Religion ? and when will 6oo CbromClCS Of CattapfrilUS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. man, in all the lands, and of all the faiths, learn to be lefs favage to his race than are the beajts, when famijhcd, towards their prey ?*] ^JJe now fee the Roman Emperor prefiding over numerous provinces and cities, and over an almoft boundlefs empire, com munities and nations of divers faiths, laws, and languages being fubmiffive to his fway : and we alfo behold the Jewiih Patriarch, by his fynagogues, legates, and rabbins, exercifmg a rule almoft co- extenfive with the Roman territorial domain ; and yet mainly over the morals of individuals over private and domeftic life over religion, and the confcience of every fon of Abraham but not as a nation ; nor yet even as tribes, but more as difperfedones, having no fure abiding-place ! Neither birth, nor circumcifion, nor marriage, nor ficknefs, nor death, nor burial, but a Rabbin muft be prefent ! the days, and hours of the day, have their appointed regulations ; all prayers, ablutions, and meats, all that are clean, arid all that are unclean, every article of drefs, yea, even the calls of nature, are all under Rabbinical dominion ! If Ifrael, then, profpers not, furely it muft be becaufe Beel-zebul hath more power over man, than the God of Abraham and this cannot be.f * Cartaphilus breathed, at this time, a truly Chriftian fpirit, though his faith was crude and blinded by many unfound dogmata, and vain notions of his own philofophy. It was his fate, in after centuries, to find that the comparatively mild excommunication of the early Church, perhaps effential in its infancy, afiumed to itielf a far more tremendous authority, both civil and religious, than the one he reproved in this third century and that it became much conformed to the pattern of the Jevvifh Shemmata, as well as of the fentence of the Arch Druids among the Keltic nations! and that, after thofe barbarous people em braced the Gofpel, they could not readily diiabuie themfelves of refpeft for the terrific powers, fo long exercifed by their own prieits ; and, therefore, eafily yielded to the fatal opinion that the Roman Pontiff, as fucceffor of a yet higher power than that of their Arch-Druids, neceflarily poiTeffed the boundlefs domi nion in matters of faith and confcience, then claimed by the Roman See. The Pontifical excommunication, derived from thefe two fources, became in after times, a more fertile caufe of rebellions, of wars, and of cruel perfecutions, than any other opinion, right, or power, ever exercifed by the Papal Dominion. But all fuch matters more rightly belong to Cartaphilus, than to the humble Editor of his Chronicles : and of them the Wanderer fails not to fpeak, when, in after centuries, he became fubjefted to all the furies of the Inquifitions; and which he refifted with almoft fuperhuman energy and perfeverance. Happily, he may again fay, " tempora mutantur ;" for Cartaphilus hath lived to fee the falutary excommunication of the Apoftolic age revived ; and without its irrevocable claufe, as to which he fo juftly complained, and alfo entirely denuded of its Jewifh, Pagan, and Papal horrors. f As Cartaphilus has given, in his Polychronicon, no fmall portion of the Rabbinical notions and their hiftory, but which we are obliged to omit, retain ing only fuch a due portion as may harmonize with our Selections, the more learned reader may confult Michael Neander s " Lingua Hebraa Erotemata, cum iieterum Rabbinorum Teftimoniis de Chrifto Apophthegmatibus veterum Hebrae- ortim, et notitia de Talmude, Cabbala, &c., Balil, 1556." The Preface to this LH. c?)0 ftcHanliering 3leto. 60 1 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. here, once more, excellent Rabbi Ifaac, rnujl Cartaphilus record his opinion againjl thine : for, how Jlavt/h and pharifaical is the control of that felf-created, minute and torturing dominion, which thou feemejl to value, as Ifraefs hope againjl Beel-zebul ! It reacheth not the HEART, but maketh religion a body of onerous forms, and of Heathen devices, rather than of that pure and fimple love towards God charity towards man and deep repentance for Jin, which the BaptiJ}, and the Great Nazarene ever inculcated ; and which alone can bring peace unto the foul. Herod 1 s Viftim, and He of Calvary, were truly much wifer men, than thy vaunted Rabbins. And if the Baptijt and the Nazarene, be regarded only as enthufiajls, nay, as impojtors, yet do their counfels favour more of Heaven, and do more fur ely fortify the mind, than all thy boajled Mifhnah, and all thy Six Hundred and Thirteen Precepts of the Law, and all the countlefs re gulations of thy mojl learned doctors of the Sanhedrim ! O/>, how do truth and error, faith and infidelity , repentance and fin, continually wage their angry wars in the bofom of man and in mine more than in all! how greatly do they vex me with their delufive hopes, their deep defpair ! when, Cartaphilus, will thy foul have quiet? for all is fun/hine now and then, anon, a fearjul and rnojl odious darknejs ! Unceafing thought, endlefsjfudy, flickering, gleam ing, varied faiths, do nearly madden thee : but Jlill, happily, all hath left thee proof againjl the folly of Rabbinifm, the very dregs of man s mojt fertile fatuity ! And yet thy own vain Philosophy thy thousand creeds thy quejlioning all celejiial counfels, unfathomable of thee, (which was Lucifer s firft crime, for Heaven endureth not DEMOCRATIA,) have Jhut out from thy foul that fublimejt of all teachings ; and which Artemas, in life, and after death, affured thee would bear no mixture. Thy own foul coinage is as fatal to thy foul s repofe, as would be the poifonous hemlock, or aconite to the currents in thy veins. Remember, S a tanas may work in two ways : the deep FOLLY of Ra bbinifm may delude them, and be juftly contemned of thee the pla ufible PHILOSOPHY of Cartaphilus may confound, and excite wonder and admiration ; and yet may be a greater foe to Truth, than all the vanities of the Jewijh dotfors f*l work contains notices of the moft eminent Oriental fcholars the writings of the Rabbins, &c. Alfo, we refer him to " Lexicon Chaldaicum, Talmudicum, et Rabbinicum. Bafil, 1639, 1644, folio," which the Author was compiling during thirty years. Alfo to Buxtorfs "Tranflations from Rabbinical Works," the author died 1704. Alfo, " Ce lebrorum Rabbinorum Vita, by Julius Bartolocei. Traj. ad Rhen. lyoz. 8vo. * The extenfive writings of this wonderful man, as has been feveral times noted by the Editor, are full of the like conflifts of thought, and agonizing mufmgs upon his deplorable condition. They exhibit a faithful picture of the endlefs doubts, and clofe approximations to tnith, that rage in the unregeneratc 602 CftfOmCleS Of CattapfrilUS, Century in Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. ^n a little more than twenty years after Simeon III. had efta- blifhed his facred power in Tiberias, (he being abfolute The famous j n j^jg ^dominions, which embraced all the Jews of the Rabbilfaac. R man Empire, then bounded by the Euphrates,) he found the condition of Ifrael beyond thofe limits, in no wife to his mind. jjtt the head of the Babylonian Jews was Ahia ; and in their fchools were the renowned Rabbins Hananiab and Judab^ both of Naharpakod ; and thefe were men of great worldly Ihrewdnefs. Simeon thought that, as Ifrael is one, fo mould the government thereof be only one ; and that every Jew throughout the world was bound to hold, as well in ceremonials, as in doctrines, quod femper quod ubique^ quod ab omnibus : whereas, the Eaftern Jews, from their independence of the Patriarch of Tiberias, fought to conform nei ther in fpiritual, nor in temporal matters, to thofe known to, and pradtifed by their Weftern brethren. ]J[n what manner to remedy this great evil, and to bring all within one fold, were the daily and hourly thoughts of Simeon : and this was at length brought to a determination on his part, when he re- folved to fend a peremptory miffion to the Eaftern Jews. He found, at this time, that Abla conformed not, among other things, to the true time of celebrating the Feaft of the PafTover, a matter that no true fon of Abraham, if aflured of the fa6tj, could be indifferent to. Simeon, therefore, haftened to appoint two legates ; the Rabbi Na than, and myfelf. To us were entrufted three letters ; with fpecial inftru&ions to repair inftantly to the city of Naharpakod, and there to commune with Hananiah and Judah ; and to bring them and Ahia to a formal and full fubmiffion to the jurifdiclion of the Patri archate, or compel them to avow fuch a negleft of IfraePs duty in the matter of the Paflbver, and other things, as mould prove a dangerous rebellion in them againft Jehovah s laws ! jjgQrrived at Naharpakod, the Rabbi Nathan delivered to Hana niah theyfr/? letter ; who feeing himfelf addrefled " To His Holiness" was greatly pleafed thereat ; and moft civilly inquired as to the caufe of our miffion. " We are come, O Hananiah ! " faid the legate Nathan, " to learn thy fyftem of inftruc-tion." This yet more pleafing news was at once followed by Hananiah s prefenting to us his regards before the aflembled people, as " legates in every way bread ; and faithfully reveal the fleeting and alternate repentances and relapfes, and the perpetual ftruggles of the Holy Spirit with the Prince of Darknefs, which fo thinking and conscientious a mind muft have experienced. We have retained many of them in the prefent " Sele&ions : " but thefe, probably, are few in proportion to thofe that occur even in the ordinary life of moft men ; and therefore fall infinitely fhort of thofe found in the original voluminous Chronicles of fo anomalous a perfon as Cartaphilus. LH. Cfje SBautjetmg 3leto, 603 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. worthy of their higheft honours, no lefs for our own great merits,- than as Ambafladors from the Patriarch of Tiberias, a High-Prieft of the lineage of Aaron." Thus far our miflion was indeed moft profperous. But, in a few days thereafter, Hananiah was forely vexed at our controverting fo ftoutly fome of his judgments : and thereupon he again convened the people, and protefted unto them that we were but importers ! The people, however, ftood firmly by us ; and replied to Hananiah thus : " What thou haft built up, Hananiah ! thou canjl not now at pleafure demolijh : the hedge thou dldjt plant, but a few days fince, cannot now be rooted up^ but with injury to thyfe/f." " What then are thy objections to our teach ings ? " exclaimed Hananiah to us. Rabbi Nathan replied, " Thou haft eftablifhed thy intercalations, and thy new moons, in fuch wife that the Jews of Babylonia, and thofe of Palestine and elfe where, can no longer conform in the times of their holy feftivals ! " " And fo likewife did the great Rabbi Akiba, when he was in Babylon," re joined Hananiah. " But Akiba had not his fellow in all raleftine," faid Nathan. " True, and neither have I left mine in all that land," exclaimed the now greatly enraged Hananiah ! ^he people ftood wondering and fearful at the fcene : whereupon we produced ourfecond letter ; which contained at its opening thefe pregnant words. " That which thou didjl leave but a little kid, is now grown to be a ftrong-horned goat !" Hananiah at once per ceiving the import of thefe words, and the fure power that now belonged unto the Patriarch of Tiberias, and to the Sanhedrim of the Weft, was almoft fpeechlefs for a time : whereupon, I inftantly feized the propitious moment, and mounted the Tribune from which the Law is read : and there I invoked the people s earneft attention. 1 then recounted unto them the Holy-Days, as God hath eftablifhed them, and as the Jews of the Weft do honour them, in obedience to our Patriarch : and then was fet forth by me thofe days which erroneoufly were taught by Hananiah, and which Ahia had prac- tifed among his people. *^j[he afTembled fynagogue was much difturbed by my addrefs ; and, defcending from the Tribune, I was fucceeded by Rabbi Na than, who read from Ifaiah thefe words. " Out of Z ion goeth forth the Law and the Word of God from Jerufalem;" and he then added, " but now^ out of Babylon goeth forth the Law ; and the Word of God from Naharpakod! Judge ye^ therefore^ who hath right" ^he multitude deliberated not ; but vehemently cried out, " The Word of God cannot be changed" We then produced our third letter ; which threatened with the dreaded Sbemmata, all who oppofed the patriarchal mandates ; and to all this we added, " Be hold ! We are Apoftles from the moft learned and we are com manded to declare unto all, that, if ye fubmit, tis well if ye oppofe, 6o 4 Chronicles of Cattapfrilu.s, century \\\. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. let the Niddui be at once enforced and fo of the reft, until the Shemmata ! If ye ftand by us, good : if ye depart from us, go ye then unto thy high places, and let thy AHIA build ye an Altar and thy H ANANIAH fing at the facrifice ! and do ye all at that time openly declare, " IVe have no portion in the Ifrael of God !" ^Jhe uproar at thefe words of the legate Nathan, became tremendous ; naught was heard but the cries of " Heaven fave us from all herefy ! JVe truly have a portion in the Ifrael of God" ^he whole matter was then ended. Hananiah and Judah fully fubmitted to the jurifdi&ion of the Patriarchate ; and we returned to Tiberias with the happy news that Ifrael, everywhere, was now but one.* jffnd now Simeon died, being very aged ; and was fucceeded in the Patriarchate by his fon, the moft illuftrious of all Hakado/h the Rabbins > fince the time of Hillel, and that fon was Rabbi Jehudah Judah or Jofhua ; who, when he came to his authority, was well advanced in years and fame ; for he is the fame who, fome time before, had reduced to writing all of our Oral Law, that now forms the great volume called the Mijhnah ; and who being as wonderful for piety as for learning, hath fince been called HAKADOSH. ^he early life of this great Rabbi was eventful : but not fo marvellous as that of Rabbi Akiba. When a young man, he at tracted much notice at Trajan s Court ; and though at firft, fome- what jeered for a flight deformity of perfon, he foon won for himfelf, by his aftonifliing mind, by his vaft acquirements, and by his pleaf- ing manners, the Imperial confidence, and with it the moft fignal favours. ^MLAH, the emperor s lovely daughter, was among thofe who, Th P r at ^ r ^ fp rte d w tn tne Rabbi s awry perfon : but Imlah"s Love ^ s fometimes dangerous for haughty maidens to for Rabbi taunt thofe who have many rare jewels in a rude cafket ; anc | f 0j as tis faid, the matter proved with the fportive * This miflion from the Patriarch of Tiberias, conduced by the Rabbis Nathan and Ifaac, probably occurred A.D. 160, when the authority of the Eaftern Jews was far lefs, than it Ihortly after came to be under the Reich- Glutha, or Prince of the Captivity. If the power exerciied by Ahia at the time of the miflion, be regarded as that of the Reich- Glutha, in its infancy, that which arofe fome years after, when the Eaftern and Weftern Jews again leparated, was ex tremely different. That reparation took place upon the reftoration of the Perfian monarchy : but, from the time of the Rabbi Ifaac s fuccefsful million, until the change in the government of Perfia, the Patriarchate of Tiberias was fupreme over the Jews of the world, except in China, where the Jews probably had never heard of either power. Settion LII. CJJ0 WMbtnn$ JCto, 605 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. Imlah : for, in a little time, the defective perfon of Judah was quite loft fight of amidft the dazzling effulgence of the foul that animated it and Imlah loved ! Cmi^ en t ^ ie w ttv Princefs faw early the youthful Rabbi, fhe faid to him, " And how happens it, good Jew, that fuch profound wifdom as thine is depofited in fo poor a veflel ? " " Lovely Prin cefs !" replied he, " I will alfo propound to thee a queftion : Why doft thou put thy precious wines into earthen amphoras, inftead of into filver or golden ones, which thou, to be confident, fhouldft value fo much higher for that purpofe ?" Imlah made no reply; but, repofing on his exalted wifdom, fhe fuppofed that amphoras made of thefe precious metals, would far better preferve her moft coftly and lufcious wines ; and nothing doubting, fhe placed them therein but they all foon turned four ! Trajan, hearing of her misfortune, and being much vexed at the caufe, fummoned the young Jew into his prefence, and feverely queftioned him concern ing what was called " his counfel." The Rabbi, nothing difturbed thereby, thus firmly replied to the Emperor s accufation. " What thou fayeft, mighty Trajan, is indeed moft true, had the princefs rightly conceived my parable : I fo advifed the maiden ; or rather, fhe thus underftood me : but fhe had taunted me upon my de formity ; and I defired to imprefs upon her youthful and lovely mind the important lefTon, that treafures are fometimes depofited by the Creator of all things, even in the moft rude of earthen veflels ; and, in following mymifunderftood apologue, the fplendid amphoras, of her own procurement, were found lefs fuited to the lufcious treafures poured therein, than the earthen veflels fhe fo haftily forfbolc." The Emperor was too wife a man, not readily to per ceive that the wifdom was with the Rabbi the folly and injuftice with the maiden. J^ow far Imlah learned to love intenfely that brilliant foul, though but poorly enfhrined, it is not for me here to record ; but the rumour is, fo deep was her paflion, that fhe ever after fhunned all ufelefs fplendour ; and, even in her apparel, to pleafe the Rabbi, fhe was far more a daughter of Ifrael, than a Roman princefs ! ^j^he young Rabbi Judah, however, never loft fight of IfraePs welfare : and he fo urged his influence with Trajan, . . , as to obtain permiflion for the rebuilding of Jerufa- to t / ie re build- lem s Temple ! But that which Man was willing IngoftheTem- fhould be done, the GOD of Abraham feems to have pk, how de- forbidden, and therefore it was not done : for in- f eated - ftantly thereon, Trajan was befet by many who alarmed his fears, reminding him of our rebellious fpirit the fiercenefs of our bravery and that our tributes would foon be withheld, and that then we would revolt ! The Emperor replied that his royal word had 606 CfjtOniCleS Of CattapfrilllS, Century in. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. been given ; and that we had already been acting thereon. " Do thou, then, command the Jews to make their Temple a few feet longer, or a few feet fhorter than their former one," faid the wily courtiers and this was done ! Qur Rabbins, then in council at Rhumon, were in great con- fternation when this unexpected order reached them : but a re nowned Rabbin argued the matter with them, and concluded with faying, " O Men of Ifrael ! remember the apologue of the wife Phrygian, in which the fick lion fummoned the beafts and birds to his aid : and when the ftork had extracted the bone from his throat, they were all moft happy to relinquim the promifed reward of the royal beaft, and to efcape with life from his ravenous jaws ! We are now moft fortunate in living in peace among this heathen nation ; and we fhould therefore be content." The fage counfel was taken; and the project of rebuilding our Temple was forthwith abandoned. Qfamaliel in. fucceeded his father Jehudah Hakadofh ; and after him came Jehuda 11. who is now the Patriarch : but matters pro- mife not well under his rule : he loves power more than learning his body-guard (hows weaknefs more than confidence ; the Rabbis Jochanan and Simon-ben-Laches are more refpected for their wifdom and knowledge than he: the great Ariftotle wifely thought that fupreme rule ihould ever be in the wifeft and moft virtuous indi vidual among all the people a patriarch an emperor or king ihould never be overftiadowed ; and fo the people now feemed to think.* JTrael and its more facred concerns I muft now leave, except fo far as they are connected with her deadlieft foes the Romans. ^()uring thofe early years of my fomewhat eventful life the years fpent with the excellent Granianus, I neceflarily learnt much concerning the Emperor Hadrian, and indirectly, alfo much of his illuftrious predeceflbr, Trajan. Such, indeed, was then the inqui- fitive fpirit within me, that, when I firft came to Rome with my mafter, every fource of information refpecting them both that could be brought within my reach, I failed not to make my own, and to record it upon a tablet more faithful than my memory, wonderful * The progrefs and gradual decline of the Patriarchate of Tiberias, until its extinftion (more than two centuries after) in the perfon of Gamaliel, is noted by Cartaphilus at the time. The hiftory, alfo, of the Oriental Jews, under their Princes of the Captivity, from A.D. 202, when Rabbi Ifaac ceafed to notice them, is briefly traced down to the early part of the tenth century, by Carta philus ; who then witnefled its termination, in the perfon of David Ben Saccai, A. D. 934. or rather in the Rabbi Hezekiah, a few years after, who was the laft of thofe Princes : but moft of thefe matters are omitted in the prefent Selec tions, and this brief notice of the fa6ts muft fuffice. Vide alfo pojf, 82 by the Rabbi Joachim, and 93 95, by Cartaphilus. LH. c&e bantering 3(eto, 607 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. as that was regarded even by the marvelloufly remembering Hadrian. But what I have now to record of them, and of the other emperors of my time, down to the early years of Septimus Severus, muft be fomewhat briefly told this narrative not being biftory, for the eye of ages, but a hafty and private chronicle, for mine own. TRAJAN. "(jm^hen Nerva adopted him as his fucceflbr, Trajan was fobered by age and by no fmall experience ; and being, in war, moft valiant and perfevering, and in peace equally mild, generous, and watchful of the general good, the empire greatly flourifhed under him. ^J^he manner in which Trajan conducted the Dacian war, and made that country a province, in the fixth year of his reign, would alone be fufficient to tranfmit his name to pofterity as one of Rome s greater! generals. [A. D. 104.] Qn my firft departure from the Imperial City, about thirty years after that memorable war, my journey led me acrofs Trajan s famous bridge, creeled by him over the Danube during his conteft with the Dacians. How greatly was I ftruck with admiration and wonder at its extreme beauty its folid mafonry,and the carefulnefs of its workmanmip all accomplifhed, moreover, in fo fhort a time, and for the attainment of only a military object that might foon pafs by! But the Romans have boundlefs wealth, and unite perfeverance with a moft perfpicacious regard for the future ; things temporary never being found among them, where things enduring mould be. Trajan, moreover, doubted not that Dacia muft fall, and that a bridge over that great river, though it would only fomewhat haften the event, yet that a fmall prefent benefit feldom fails to promote others of more value in long after times. jFTs I gazed upon that majeftic ftru&ure, the might of the peerlefs Empire feemed there made vifible in a fingle fublime object and how much more fo, by the many ftupendous works in which Rome and her provinces fo perpetually abound ! Surely, in grace, in magnificence, and in ufeful ftrength, the world hath not the equal of this bridge. In height, it is full one hundred and fifty feet, exclufive of the foundation ; and in breadth it is quite fixty feet the whole being fuftained upon twenty lofty arches, each with the fpan of one hundred and feventy feet ! ^J^he triumph decreed to the Emperor for his victory over thofe ferocious people was boundlefs in fplendour, in expenfe, and efpe- cially in enthufiafm towards the Conqueror : the feftivities con tinued a hundred and twenty days, during which time no lefs than eleven thoufand wild and tame beafts were (lain, after the Roman and Grecian famion : numerous gladiators, alfo, achieved their won- 6o8 CbrOniCleS Of CartapfnlllS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. derful feats, and other warlike paftimes filled up every hour of thofe days of triumph. jfjnd here, once for all, I may ftate that thefe civilized Romans are more cruelly wafteful of all animal, as well as human life, than are any of the Barbarians ! Thefe venatitf, as they are called, were firft inftituted in honour of their goddefs Diana ; and confift of fports of three kinds, in the firft of which they fend deer, oxen, fheep, and the like, into the arena of an amphitheatre, where the rude multitude may purfue them in their own fafhion, making thofe they capture their own mould they themfelves efcape fo great a peril, as it often proves to be ! In the fecond kind are many greatly more ferocious animals, procured with much expenfe and toil, and thefe combat with each other, often with more than all the fierce- nefs of their untamed natures, provoked as they are by other caufes ! and the third kind, yet more cruel, is where men are forced to contend for their own lives againft fuch favage beafts thefe men being fometimes flaves, but more often malefactors condemned to death, and who are moft willing thus to ftrive for their lives, even with thofe fierce and hungry animals ! fhe three years that followed Trajan s return from the Dacian war, were years of tranquillity, and of great glory : many ie t tr renowned fcholars flocked to Rome ; and the emperor Persecution. . r ieemed to delight m the nounining condition or thofe arts and purfuits of life, which peaceful times alone permit. But unhappily, all that is beautiful and bright and glorious in a mild government wifely adminiftered, may be, like the fun, fuddenly ob- fcured, and its genial warmth withdrawn ; for Trajan was to the empire, as the Orb of day to man, until his mind became obfcured by the many black accufations that were made againft the Chriftians ; and thefe ended at length in that dread decree he iftued, in the ninth year of his reign, for the perfecution throughout the empire of thefe, in truth, the beft of his fubje&s ! Now this, though a Jew, I can not deny, for Ifrael, goaded by her numerous fore calamities with no hope in the future, and detefted by the Romans equally with the Chriftians, can fcarce be as harmlefs, or as faithful fubjecls, as are thefe greatly perfecuted Nazarenes. In this third, of what may be called the greater perfecutions, the Jews, as ufual, fuffered in fome degree by that decree ; for, what with the ignorance that confounds Jew with Nazarene, and the contempt the multitude cherifh againft both, I often found my countrymen, as well as myfelf, in great peril, when Trajan and his Proconfuls in no way defigned to moleft the Jews. [A. D. 107.] 2f n Rome and elfewhere, there are certain unlawful focieties called Heteriae, which the Emperor was made to believe had been eftablifhed, or much fuftained by the Chriftians ! Attendance upon LII. Cfje cajanUering 3Ieto- 609 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. any of thefe was punifhed as treafon ; and all colleges and cor porations of every kind, if not created with all the legal folemnities, were embraced by the penalties of the decree againft the Heteriae ! The Chriftians, in truth, were falfely confounded with the Hete- rias, and other agitators ; whereas they fought aflbciation more for heavenly, than for any earthly purpofe whatever. ^J^he perfecution raged with violence for a time, and in fome places ; and a few of its more notable victims will be but fhortly mentioned by me. ^|!)HOCAS, a bifhop of Pontus, being commanded to facrifice to Neptune, on his refufal was caft into a burning lime-kiln, and then into a vefFel of boiling oil; where he inftantly after expired and this is faid to have been under the immediate order of Trajan ! About the fame time, there was alfo a poor widow, named Sympho- rofa, who, with her feven children, were likewife ordered to facrifice to fome heathen deity : death was preferred by them all ; the mother was taken to the temple of Hercules, and there fcourged then fufpended by the hair of her head r and finally caft into the river, with a heavy ftone faftened on her neck ! Her fons each were bound to a poft, and their limbs drawn by pullies : but they ftill perfifting in their faith, fix of them were ftabbed, and Eugenius, the youngeft, was fawn in twain ! ^Q>ext came CLEMENS, bifhop of Rome a famed writer in the Church ; and he was caft into the fea, with an anchor faftened to his neck! [/ the fecond year of Trajan s reign; A. D. 100.} SYMEON was bifhop of Jerufalem ; and, at the extreme age of 120, he was fcourged, and then crucified, by being nailed to the crofs ! But, of all the victims, none was fo famous as IGNATIUS, fecond bifhop of Antioch, where thefe Nazarenes firft received the name of Ckrijlians. It is faid that this great man had the misfortune to incur the Emperor s fpecial difpleafure at Antioch ; and that he was ordered by Trajan to be fent to Rome for trial. It feems, that Ignatius, when called into the prefence of Trajan, and queftioned as to his faith, and alfo as to the trouble he and his people were giving in Antioch, that bifhop replied to the emperor with offenfive boldnefs ; and efpecially, when for himfelf and all the followers of the Chriftus, he took the title of Theophorus^ or God-hearing Chrif- tians ! No marvel is it that perfons deeply poflefled of a faith fo ftartling as this, mould fpeak with boldnefs, and in a way to offend imperial requifitions. Trajan could not endure to think that Jupiter, and all the gods of his Pantheon, were but the phantoms of man s folly, and that this Chriftus was not only the fupreme, but the only god ; and that he vouchfafed to tabernacle on earth, vifibly in the flefti, and then continues his abode in the body, invifibly, of every devout believer in him and hence the title of Theophorus ! Now, I. R R 6 io Chronicles of Cartapfnlus, Century Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. although my own Jewifh faith caufes me, as it did Trajan, to (brink from fuch a belief, and fuch a prefumptuous claim, yet was it no lefs than foul murder in that emperor, thus to deal with the excellent and deluded Ignatius. *(Q[pon Trajan s arrival in Rome, the bifhop of Antioch was fub]e6ted to many fevere trials, and finally was caft to the wild beafts a martyrdom eagerly embraced by him ! The loving atten dants upon Ignatius gathered his mangled fragments moflly broken bones conveyed them to Antioch, and there interred them in their cemetery, which lies fomewhat beyond the Daphne gate. It is fur ther ftated to me that Ignatius, whilft he journeyed from Antioch to Rome, wrote fix or feven Epiftles refpeiiing the Nazarene Faith , and thefe feem to be now greatly valued by the Chriftians.* [December 2Oth, A. D. 115.] ^j^his perfecution was inftigated and became the more fevere, by reafon of Trajan s being made to regard the Chriftians as traitors not only to the Empire, but as propagators of a religion that muft terminate all his imperial influences as the Pontifex Maximus. It fo happened, however, that early after his arrival at Antioch, whither he had gone to profecute the war againft the Parthians and the Armenians, he received a letter from Pliny, his proconful at Bythi- nia ; which aflured the emperor of his miftake as to thefe deluded people being traitors, and that their only offence confifted in their worfhipping this Chriftus as a God, and in abfraining from all wicked- nefs by reafon of folemn vows to maintain their faith : whereupon Trajan promptly countermanded all aflive proceedings againft them, fo that the perfecution thereafter greatly ceafed. Trajan was alfo the more willing to fee an end to thofe horrors, as he had likewife received a letter from the governor of Paleftine, which affured him, in like manner with Pliny, that the Galileans had wearied him out, fmce they crowded to martyrdom joyoufly, and much fafter than he could deal out death ! * There are fome other epiftles attributed to St. Ignatius ; and, among the reft, the eloquent and well-known one to St. Polycarp, then bimop of Smyrna. But the authenticity of thefe additional epiftles, beyond the feven, has been ftrongly queftioned. As to the feven mentioned by Rabbi Ifaac, with the ex ception of that to Polycarp included in the feven, all concur as to their genuine- nefs. As to the one to Polycarp, very many have no doubt concerning it : there feem then to-be fix fully admitted one partially denied and feveral wholly rejected, as the productions of the diftinguifhed martyr. It is related of the Saint, that, when an infant he was taken by Chrift into his arms, and mown to the difciples as one who would be eminent forChriftian pitty : and the event recorded in Matt, xviii. 2, Mark ix. 35, and Luke ix. 4.7, is fuppofed to allude to this Saint; but, doubtlefs, this is a beautiful fiftion of more recent times. Vide Atia S, Ignatii, a Ruinart, 1689. St. John was his inftruftor; and the zeal, learning, and devotion of St. Ignatius were never exceeded. LIT. cfje 22JantJ0dng 3jeto< 61 Rabbi liaac s Narrative. Antioch on the Orontes, the Emperor marched with a powerful army to Armenia, the offence taken againft the Armenians being that its king, Partamitajites^ had violated the treaty between Nero and Tiridates, in having accepted the infignia of royalty from Parthia s king, inftead of from the Emperor. JE-f s Trajan approached Armenia, all the intervening countries humbly acknowledged him their fovereign Lord ; and lavimed upon him the moft rare and magnificent prelents, among which was a liorfe of fuch aftoniftiing beauty in colour, fize and form, and like- wile of fuch fagacity and inftruclion, as caufed him to be regarded as the moft curious and valuable in the whole world ! As the emperor approached, the noble animal was accuftomed to kneel moft gracefully in his prefence to bow down his head to the earth, and not to rife until the monarch was firmly feated : and this acl: of obeifance, as tis faid, the horfe did, when firft he faw the Emperor thereby owning Trajan as the world s fovereign ! \ rmenia could make no refiftance Parthia and Mefopotamia foon followed, but not without fome battles and fieges, in which Trajan difplayed infinite valour, and military difcipline, accompanied alfo by many noble acts of generofity to the vanquifhed. jgQfter a long abfence, the Emperor returned to Antioch, in the feventeenth year of his reign, defigning there to fpend the winter. [A.D. 115.] Shortly after he had reached that noble city, a great concourfe of Eaftern kings and ambafladors arrived to pay him court, and to attend upon this mightieft of monarchs ! In Rome, the Senate and people rejoiced greatly at his victories, the fame of which had fo often reached their ears, and they ordered many great facrifices alfo thanksgivings and feftivities. They alfo conferred upon him the title of Optimus, and the furnames of Arrnenicus and Partbfcus. ^fn the midft of all thefe honours and rejoicings, and thus fur- rounded by many crowned heads, Trajan was deftined to fee the lordly Antioch vifited by the foreft of all ... .., , . i i_ i n j at calamities a ternhc earthquake, which deltroyed many thoufands of her people, and levelled to the ground many of its nobleft ftrudlures ! The tremendous phenomenon commenced with a furious whirlwind, that tore up as ftraws the largeft trees, and en- gulphed many houfes of the furrounding country : to this fucceeded the moft awful lightnings then a withering heat, that compelled the people inftantly to difrobe themfelves of all vefture, and to feek a hafty afylum in the darkeft places that could be found ! The fea roared with deafening fury the birds, feared from their {hady retreats, fought the heavens, but foon fell lifelefs to the earth ; the wild beafts, as alfo the domeftic, howled piteoufly ; and every where men and women, flaves and freemen, young and old, were 6 1 2 Chronicles of Cartap&iius, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. feen anxioufly feeking after thofe they moft loved, and for fome temporary fhelter from the encompaffing terrors, which all things in fkies and earth portended as furely dole at hand ! jH t length came the fearful and naufeous tremblings of the earth and then its tremendous outbreakings ; which inftantly laid low fo many goodly cities funk fome hills and even mountains and which, in Antioch, left little elfe to be feen than mingled ruins, the moft appalling deaths, and dreadful manglings of bodies, all accompanied with the craming noifes of falling houfes, and the fad moanings of the wounded and the dying ! Trajan efcaped, indeed, but as if by a miracle. He had leaped from a lofty window, and hurriedly fought the open fields, where he remained under a tent, in great mifery and peril during feveral days ! j^hortly after this dreadful calamity, a rumour arofe that it had been brought upon him, as a vifitation for the cruelties he had autho rized againft the Chriftians, and alfo as againft the wickednefs of Antioch. How this may be, no Jew nor Gentile can fay ; to Ifrael s God alone are known fuch things : but certain it is, that Trajan had no little remorfe ; and that he molefted thofe harmlefs people no longer. JH ntioch and the other cities having fuffered greatly, the Em peror was prompt in affording to them the moft liberal contributions. ^J^he Emperor, early in the fummer, gathered his numerous forces and fet out for Aflyria, refolved to make captive the remains of the once powerful Babylon. In his progrefs thither, the great city Arbela could make but feeble refiftance to his arms, and Babylon s once mafiive walls were equally unavailing : next came SeleuciO) which is nigh unto Babylon, and built out of her ; and this likewife quickly fell. ^U_after now of Chaldea, and of all Aflyria, Trajan defired to make a vaft canal, that mould pafs his veflels and troops from the Euphrates into the Tigris : but this being found impracticable, he tranfported his veflels over land to the Tigris, and haftening on to the yet powerful city of Ctejipbon^ he became mafter of that like wife and thus made for himfelf an eafy paflage into the very heart of Perfia ! Defcending the gulph of that name, Trajan had heard much of the Indian country from thofe who navigate the merchant {hips that trade between that country and the Perfian Gulph. The Emperor then greatly defired to fubdue that vaft region beyond the Indus ! but news having reached him of certain revolts in the countries he already had conquered, and feeling, moreover, the admonitions of a fomewhat premature old age, the Emperor fur- veyed the great ocean then before him and, with earneftnefs, he thus exclaimed : " O, had the Divine Powers but preferred to me my former health and vigour, I would not have repofed^ until the con- c&e Wmbtnn$ 3feto, 613 Rabbi Ilaac s Narrative. fines of the world had bound me ! How infinitely happy was the great Macedonian, in having commenced his reign fo very young ! And yet would I pafs ftill further than he /"* ^ndia being denied to Trajan, as necefiity was more powerful than even ambitious refolution, the Emperor haftily afcended the Perfian Gulph, and difpatched forthwith * j^? * fome of his forces, under Lucius, to fubdue the re volting Mefopotamians : this was accomplifhed, and Nifibis and Edejfa were laid in afhes. All was early regained, and by much wifdom fecured, to the entire fatisfaction of Trajan, fo that he was haftening on to Rome, and with a magnificence and triumph that greatly excelled all that had previoufly been known in this way : but, as the Emperor approached Syria, he heard of the alarming rebellion of the Jews, firft in the province of Cyrene in Africa, and which, during his long abfence in the Eaft, had penetrated into various other provinces, and was ftill far from being fubdued. ()f this great rebellion I may truly record that, in deftruction of life, and in the atrocities of my fellow-countrymen, and alfo of the Gentiles, the world hath never witnefled its like, and much do I fear that it has already done more to deftroy the hopes of Ifrael (feeble as they always are) than all that hath ever happened to our much-afflicted people, fmce the days of even our firft captivity in Babylonian times ; and this will appear more fully in the few details I fhall prefently give, as to thofe calamities which Trajan s fuc- ceflbr, Hadrian, inflicted on our race ; and which, indeed, might * Trajan has the glory of being the only Roman general who ever pene trated that then remote gulph, or rather fea. In his time, Babylon s power and fame had almoft expired, and her ftrength been abforbed by her more powerful modern neighbours, Seleucia and Ctefiphon, the former built by Seleucus Nicator, one of the renowned generals of Alexander the Great after whofe death, and the divifion of his vaft empire, Nicator built Seleucia, at about forty miles diftant from the previoufly long-declining Babylon : and doubtlefs, in fo doing, had made Babylon largely contributory to the raifing and adornment of his new city. So rapid, indeed, then became the decline of the ancient and once illuftrious Babylon, from the third century before Chrift, to the end of the firft century after Chrift, that it may be faid to have been during the whole of thofe four centuries, and for fome after centuries, the general quarry, uncere- monioufly reforted to for the erection of other cities ! Seleucia, Ctefiphon, Al- Modain, and Kiifa were built moftly with Babylonian materials, the two firft by the Greeks and Parthians, (fome centuries before our era,) and the other two by the power of the Khaleefehs, after Babylon had nearly it not quite ceafed to be inhabited. Seleucia is now often called Babylon; and the renowned City of Nimrod and Ninus, of Semiramis, of Nebuchadnezzar and of Belfhazzar, remained a nearly unknown and extinguifhed mai s, even the locality of which had been for fome ages doubtful, until the enterprife of modern travellers has once more excited the curiofity of a world as to whatever of Babylon can now be known. 6ronicle0 of Cartapfrilus, century \\\. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. never have taken place, but for the events that occurred during Trajan s long abfence in the remote Eaft. *^he Emperor s enterprifes in thofe far Eaftern regions, and the withdrawal of fo many legions from the provinces, infpired the Jews of Cyrene, a city of Lybia, with the ftrong hope of a fuc- cefsful rebellion ! The infurre6tion having commenced, foon fpread to Alexandria to the whole of Lower Egypt the Thebais, and finally to the ifland of Cyprus, where the Jews were then fo very numerous and wealthy. At firft, the Cyrenians were quite fuccefsful, and flaughtered very many Egyptian-Greeks, and not a few Romans : but a large number having efcaped to Alexandria, wreaked their ven geance upon the Jews of that city, all of whom were put to death ! The Cyrenians, in return, committed dreadful havoc in Egypt, under the command of their diftinguifhed leaders Andrew and Lu- minum, where they deftroyed no lefs than 220,000 of the Roman fubjecls ! So furious had become their rage, that Lttpus^ the Roman governor, could make no refiftance whatever. ljuminum then affumed the title of King of the Jews; and his troops having become as demons, exhaufted every horrid and dif- gufting means of ending life, that even a legion of Molochs could not have excelled ! They caft their victims to wild beafts they crowded the theatres with them as gladiators they fawed them in twain from head to feet they flayed their bodies in other ways, drank their hot blood, ate their reeking flefh, befmeared themfelves with the yet living current as it flowed from the bodies, wore their entrails as girdles and even clothed themfelves with their fkins ! <^he Jews of Cyprus, under Artemion, were no lefs defperate and wicked ; and the murderous ftrife there continued, until not lefs than 250,000 were (lain by every fpecies of atrocious cruelty ! In that dreadful carnage, fcarcely a Pagan foul throughout the Ifland efcaped : but happily, the revolt was there fubdued by the arrival of the Roman general Hadrian not, however, until after the city of Salamis, on the eaft of the ifland, had been alfo wholly deftroyed by the infuriated Jews ! ^he fuccefs of Hadrian was eventually complete ; and thus preferved from extinction one of the moft profperous and lovely among thofe iflands, and indeed of all the iflands in the world ; for, if man were only mortal, and his abode the earth, furely would Cyprus then have been my chofen abode, and the groves of Ida- Hum, at the foot of a lofty mountain, and the two temples of Venus, as alfo that of Jupiter, muft have been fought by all who would have fenfuous enjoyments, and without meafure or alloy ! But, to the fons of Abraham, all fuch things are odious to think of, and find a place upon my papyrus only as fhowing the fiercenefs of man againft man, in thus making a fhoel where an earthly paradife exifted ! 3jeto, 615 Rabbi Ilaac s Narrative. found thofe once voluptuous groves and fmiling valleys, then reeking with human blood j and the magnificent temples funk into vaft mounds of fmouldering afhes ! A (hort time thereafter, a decree was iflued by him, that " No Jew, even though driven in by tempeft, jhould ever fet foot in Cyprus upon pain of inftant death for the foil of the Ifland hath been tainted by the deadly venom of thofe people /" ^he revolt in Africa was alfo fupprefTed, after many defperate conflicts between the Roman general, Martins Turbo, and our great captain Andrew. Turbo was then in purfuit of Luminum ; and thus were matters at the inftant of Trajan s arrival from the Eaft. j^n this greateft of all the revolts ever known, the Roman Em pire loft more than half a million of her fubjecls and Ifrael yet more !* ^he arrival of Trajan at Rome was daily expected ; but, on his way thither, he became ill at Seleucia, a city of Cilicia. The triumph then in preparation for him at 2? . ^ Rome, exceeded any that had been defigned fince Rome s exiftence. The mighty Emperor, however, waited not for it he died within a few days thereafter, in the 63rd year of his age, and in the laft half of the 20th year of his reign but, great and good as he was, not without the fufpicion of his having been poifoned !f XX OW difHcult, if not impofiible, is it, for a Pagan monarch to be trulv wife and virtuous ! Through a reign of ex- p I A * Tr traordinary fplendour, of merited popularity, of great . l JSr s 11 r ir i_- j i- j u Xu /! \ vtewofTra- mildnefs, (fave in his dealing towards the Lhnltians,) and of many exemplary virtues, as well private as public, TRAJAN ftill fullied, occafionally, the general glory of his character, by vices fo entirely oppofite, as feemed dropped there by fome malignant demon envious of his good name ! With his army he was a model of felf-denial expofing himfelf, without ftint, to the fatigues of war, and not hefitating to crofs the wideft deferts even on foot ! and yet, in private, he was not free of incontinence, and by no means exempt from excefles in the pleafures of Bacchus. His feverity to the Chriftians, though mild, compared with the active and perfonal dealing of fome of his predeceflbrs towards the Nazarenes, remains ftill a deep ftain upon the renown of Trajan s name. Some allowance, however, is furely due for the influences of a ftriclly Pagan education ; alfo inflamed, not a little, by the * This rebellion occurred late in A.D. 115, and continued about two years. f Trajan reigned 19 years, 6 months, and 15 days, according to Cafliodorus, and Dion CafTius. 6 1 6 Chronicles Of Cattap&ilUlS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. grofs mifreprefentations of cruel and over-zealous enemies of Jews, as well as of Chriftians ; and likewife by the very prevalent error, that thefe Nazarenes are implacable foes to the dominion of the Empire, and, indeed, to every other rule than that of Chriftianity ! It is alfo due to Trajan s memory not to forget that, fo foon as the proconful Pliny had ftated how matters really were in Bithynia, and that the proconfular opinion favoured the mitigation of the fe- verity, fo long praHfed towards the deluded Nazarenes, Trajan s reply was prompt, and manifefted even a yet kinder feeling : and this is additionally fhown by Trajan, when he anfwers Pliny s ac count of the lifts of Chriftian names fent to him, that the accufed perfons might be condemned by Pliny, but which lifts were vouched by no name the Emperor fays, " As for tine lifts fent to you without an author, they Jhould have no place in any occupation -whatever, for that would be a thing of very ill example, and no way agreeable to my reign" It is further to be remembered that this Chriftian fuperftition, though of fcarce eighty years growth, had fo increafed, (and in fcarce forty years after Jerufalem s deftru&ion) that no province of the vaft Empire was without thefe Nazarenes ; and alfo that in Bithynia, where Pliny then was, they were fo numerous that people of the higheft rank and power, and others of all conditions, ages, and fexes, had embraced this New Faith, and to fuch an extent that the greateft among the Heathen temples were nearly forfaken, and the facrifices to the Roman gods were well-nigh ended ! Before Pliny s explanation, therefore, the Emperor s alarm for the ancient religion was great ; and he regarded it as a duty to the gods to check this religious rebellion ; and he fuppofed that perfecu- tion was the only and the propereft means. Pliny s defire, then, to mitigate that perfecution aroie from his conviction that the more martyrs the more Chriftians had been the proved refult of the Em peror s decree ! Pliny alfo then found the Heathen temples fome- what more frequented, and believed the Chriftians would be lefs zealous, as they fhould be the lefs obferved. The Emperor pof- fefTed the good feeling and the good fenfe to agree with his Pro conful. And alfo, I am the more lenient in my judgment of Trajan, knowing, as I do, my own holy zeal and devotion in the religion we Jews have from the God of Abraham, and, in which devotion, I would have no perfecution of any faith. The Pagans, though without a revelation, are ftrongly devoted to the only reli gion they know ; and, although many of their philofophers have at all times doubted many particulars of their wild mythology, the people muft have no fuch doubts, having no means to refolve them; and any doubt in them muft foon end in total infidelity and hence in diabolifm ! Such, probably, were the reafonings and fears of Trajan ; and they largely mitigate the fin of that perfecution, which LH. Cfjc SOantieung; 3|eto. 617 Rabbi liaac s Narrative. configned fo many to the tomb. Emperors, moreover, though they may not differ fecretly in opinion from the philofophers, are com pelled to fuftain the religion of the multitude, for that lies at the very foundation of all political rule, and of all falutary civil power : and hence was it that Trajan, on finding the prejudices of his people fo largely aflailed by the faith of the Nazarenes, naturally believed he was contending no lefs for his Empire, than for his Gods. he deceafed emperor was the only one who, from circum- ftances, had the triumph of his fuccefles in life, moil elaborately executed after his death ! Hadrian being jfjj chofen his fucceflbr, was haftening on to Rome, when fl fa death* 1 " he heard that the Senate had decreed to him a triumph as magnificent as the one defigned for Trajan ; and that this was due to him as well for his conquefts in union with the late emperor, as of his own moft happy termination of the great conflict with the Jews. But Hadrian, on his arrival in Rome, wholly rejected the honours they would lavifh upon himfelf, and infifted that they all fhould be paid to Trajan s Image! and this being as heartily aflented to by the Senate, as it had been generoufly fuggefted by Ha drian, the triumph was performed with matchlels pomp and imperial magnificence. Trajan s afhes were placed in a golden urn, and in due courfe were depofited in a cellule within the pedeftal of that gorgeous pillar, that had been previoufly erected to his me mory the beautiful workmanmip on which pillar, diftin&ly repre- fents, in fpiral lines, the noble exploits of the emperor over the Dacians. jpTt the time of this triumph, the games called Parthian were alfo eftablifhed in honour of Trajan ; and, fo long as Rome fhall endure, the name of Trajan muft be revered, though no veftige of pillar, or of arch, fhall remain to perpetuate his fame.* * More than 1700 years have pafled fince the beautiful Column and Arch, alluded to by Rabbi Ifaac, were raifed to the memory of that diftinguifhed Emperor ; and yet the former ftands in majefty, in the centre of that noble Forum which formerly lay at the foot of the Quirinal, between the Capitol and Nerva s Forum and the Arch, though under a different name, continues but little impaired by the laple of ages! The column is about 116 feet in height 5 and was furmounted by a coloffal ftatue of Trajan, which, with its pedeftal, made the entire column, according to Eutropius, 14.0 feet. It is compofed of thirty blocks of white marble from Carrara, each nineteen feet, or of the diameter of the pillar, uniformly throughout its elevation. The figures, deeply carved in fpiral lines round the column, are all about two feet in height; and confequently were fafhioned with no reference to the rule of perfpeftive, that demands an increafe of magnitude in the ratio of their elevation. The fculp- tures on this column afford to antiquarians ample materials for ftudy, being extremely various in devices illuftrative of the drefs, arms, encampments, bridges, ftandards, forages, &c. of the warriors of thofe times. Through a ftrangely mifguided Chriftian zeal, the ftatue of the Emperor was 6 1 8 CfjrOmCle0 Of CattapfrilU& Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. HADRIAN. HADRIAN, as the greateft general of his day as nephew of Trajan as hufband to Sabina his niece alfo the intimate friend and companion in arms of the illuftrious emperor born in the fame city and as being at the time of Trajan s death at the head of all the Roman forces, feemed poflefled of fuch undoubted claims to the Imperial rule, that he was at once proclaimed by the Army ; and the choice was as promptly confirmed by the Senate. J^adrian may be appropriately defignated as the travelling Em peror, fince nearly fourteen of the twenty-two years of his reign were fpent by him in vifiting almoft every feclion of his extenfive do minions, not, indeed, from any vain defire of imperial difplay, but that he might perfonally and thoroughly know its refources and its wants, and alfo fee whether juftice were impartially diftributed. In thofe extenfive travels, his winning manners and great condefcenfion fubdued all hearts. In war, he was Trajan s equal in learning and accotnplimments of every kind, greatly his fuperior : but Hadrian had more feverity of character, and was more emphatic in his vices. His reign was nearly as brilliant as that of his uncle, though not in conquefts, or in the extent of his empire ; for Hadrian s early policy was rather to reftric~r. his empire to within its ancient limits, than to manifeft the leaft folicitude as to its extenfive recent additions, made beyond the Euphrates. Parthia and Media, therefore, with Mefo- potamia and all beyond the Euphrates to the Indus, were virtually abandoned by him ; and his legions were ftationed nigh the banks of that great river, as the boundary of his Eaftern empire. J^adrian s memory, like my own, was regarded as almoft fuper- human : and, when I was quite a youth, towards the is earning c | o j e o f ^j s re jo- n I was admitted into his prefence. as andmemory. t> . r one, like himielr, pollened or the faculty in a very re markable degree, but Hadrian s memory very far exceeded mine. jM fter greatly amufing himfelf with me, Hadrian jocofely pointed to his own flowing beard, and faid, " Well, my little Ifraelite, canjl thou number all thefe give them each a name^ and then recount all of them to me?" I bowed low unto the emperor, and acknowledged my inability fo to do, whereupon Hadrian turning to Granianus, faid, u If that youth hath all his other faculties thus bright , thou hajl parted with a rare jewel in making him a freedman." removed by Pope Sixtus V. to give place to a bronze one of St. Peter an extra ordinary aflbciation this of war and religion ! It is quite probable that Trajan never beheld either the magnificent Forum, or the Column, both being the Senate s doings, as it is believed, during thole years of his abfence that intervened between the end of his Dacian and Parthian wars and his death, before he reached Rome, and whilft he was upon his return from the remote Eaft. SeEtion LIT. Cfje WmtMm$ 3[Cfo, 619 Rabbi Haac s Narrative. knew every man in his army by name remembered every incident of his own life was a great mathematician, orator, poet, phyfician, mufician ; and likewife was much (killed in herbs and minerals ! His expertnefs in arms, in racing, and in hunting was equally marvellous ; and, moreover, the great tafte he had ac quired in all things, by reafon of his comparing all human pro ductions during his varied travels, enabled him greatly to adorn Rome and other places, and caufed him to eftablifh. that famous Villa at Tibur, which, in extent, beauty, and variety of garniture, hath not its like anywhere, except in Daphne, upon the Orontes and yet this villa differs greatly from that near Antioch, which it refembles only in fome things. ]J^n circuit, the villa is more than feven miles ; and abounds in temples, theatres, porticoes, libraries, fountains, hippo dromes, groves, grottoes ; and in all of which are count- lefs ftatues, paintings, and other embellifhments ! Here alfo is a Prytaneum^ after the fafhion of that at Athens ; and a Temple of Canopus, with a Naumachia, in imitation of thofe he fo juftly admired in Egypt. The Canopus is filled with rare things collected by him whilft in that wonderful land, and alfo with other wonders executed by Greek and Roman artifts, many of which are in beautiful imitation of things feen by Hadrian in that ancient country of Cufh and of Mifraim : and, in fome of thofe fculptural devices, the Emperor has blended the Grecian with the ftrict Egyptian manner! a combination, methinks, like the dolphin in the woods and the bee in the waves ! Clofe by this temple lies the Naumachia, fix hundred feet in length, and abundantly fupplied with water, which, in imitation of the one at Alexandria, gives to the mock-encounter of the little marine a very impofing effecl:. JM few days after the Emperor had honoured me with the in terview as touching my much-famed memory, I was roaming, as was ufual with me, among the lovely groves ^ a j ^ of the VALE OF TEMPE, in his Villa ; and came moft unexpectedly into his prefence. Hadrian, as was his cuftom, was bare-headed ; for, whether at home among his trees, or abroad with his army on the longeft marches, the Emperor often was on foot, and never wore anything on his head, either for protection or orna ment ! As Hadrian furveyed me filently for a moment, he kindly faid, " Ifaac, thou art a youth of tofte^ it would feem, as well as of memory, judging by thy affection for this vale, which, though arti ficial, {brinks not in comparifon from that of Theffaly: true, we have not Olympus and OlTa to gaze on in the diftance, nor yet the lovely Peneus flowing into the ^Egean : but art here, hath far ex celled nature there, in many things ! " obeifance to the Emperor was low ; and kitting his hand, I 620 C&romcles of CartapJnlus, century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. replied, with trembling lips, " Illuftrious Hadrian ! this Valeof Tempe The youth Ifaac s s indeed a moft delightful creation of thine, and logical proof as to fuch as thy gods might well revel in did they ever thejewijk Scrip- vouchfafe to vifit Earth : but alas ! none but Ifraefs iurej - God hath ever done fo." " * r hou art a bold youth, thus to fpeak unto Rome s Em peror, rejoined Hadrian ; 4 but it is the way with all thy race, from the egg up and yet, what thou fayeft I cannot contradict, fave that, as far as I know, thy and our gods are, in this refpecl: alike there being no authentic record that any of the gods ever cared fufficiently for man, to vifit his abodes ! " ftU. e J ews 5 O Hadrian ! hold differently, I modeftly rejoined, 1 and have a fure oracle a certain record of that facl. And fo likewife do the Chriftians fay, added the Emperor, and thofe Nazarenes or Galileans go much further, as even thou, my little Ifraelite, well knoweft. " <r ^rue, moft true, dread Hadrian ! and, though a Jew, I will in no wife pronounce as to who this CHRISTUS really was. That he was a wonderful man, and endued with marvellous powers, honeft Jews cannot, and do not deny. I am not bound to explain that great modern myftery, but the ancient one, revealed to our Mafter Mofes, we have had for near fixteen centuries ! Thefe SCRIPTURES, O Emperor, muft be either from God, or Man, or from the Devil : from the laft they cannot come being fo con trary to his whole plan, and condemnatory of his whole conduct : fo, if from man, they muft then come from good men, or bad men, they cannot flow from the latter, becaufe they condemn all vice, nor yet from good men, becaufe fuch men would commit no forgery would not afTume the powers of a God would not de ceive their fellows and hence, as thefe Scriptures do exij}, they muft come from God and, if from God, all things therein recorded muft be true. " tmi e ^ fpken, and as a dialectician ! exclaimed the Emperor. 1 But fee, my young Plato, that thou difturb not our people with thy fubtle logic. I, indeed, love all argument, and even from beard- lefs youths but others have not heads to bear thefe things. u c ^^J^ne Jews, mighty Hadrian, I replied, are not given to making of profelytes to their faith nor to the meddling with the faiths of others ; and in this they differ greatly from the Nazarenes faithful fubjects, as I truly believe them to be. The Emperor gracioufly waved his hand, and thus we parted. XlP on Hadrian s brow I faw, or fancied that I faw, a deep frown at my remark concerning Chriftian loyalty ; and greatly did I blame my feeming imprudence, when, upon leaving the Vale of Tempe, I pafled clofe by the Encaenia^ and remembered how, as 3|eto. 621 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. often I had heard, Hadrian had on that fpot fo mercileflly flain many of thofe deluded people ! In that Encoenia, a few years before, many Chriftians were offered as facrificial martyrs to Hercules ; and my foul was much troubled at the thought that, in a villa dedi cated to all that is lovely in art and nature to all that is tafteful and delightful to each of the fenfes, there had been tortured and foully murdered thefe helplefs Nazarenes, and for mere opinion s fake, for the very name of Chriftian, without any known ar, was often fufficient caufe of death ! ****** ^n the fecond year of his reign, Hadrian had continued for fome time, and with great feverity, the Third Perfecution, Trajan s edicl: having never been expreflly revoked. Hadrian c ^" e ^ The number of Nazarenes that perifhed at Rome, O p er fecution and in the provinces, can fcarce be accurately efti- mated ; but they may not fall fhort of twelve thoufand : a few only of thefe need be dated by me. Manhood and profperity were at length mine, and ripened years have made me obfervant of the prefent and fearchful of the paft. _uj}achius was a favourite and fuccefsful commander, who had been ordered to unite in fome idolatrous facrifice, and in celebration of his own victories ; but, unknown to the Emperor, he was a Chriftian ! The faith of Euftachius was ftronger than his vanity, or than even his love of life ; he promptly refufed obedience ; and the enraged Emperor, forgetting his long fervices, ordered him and his whole family, they alfo being Chriftians, to inftant death ! fn the country around Mount Ararat, fome hundreds were crucified, and, in imitation of the great Nazarene, they were crowned with thorns, and pierced with fpears ! About the fame time fuffered 7,enon, a Roman nobleman, and Alexander, bifhop of Rome, together with his two deacons. At Brixia, a city a little weft of Mediolanum, the perfecution raged with extreme violence. In all places, the Nazarenes difplayed fuch patience and even triumph under torments, that a certain Pagan, named Calocericus, filled with admiration, exclaimed with involuntary ecftacy, " O great is the God of the Cbriftians !" and for this imprudence he was in- ftantly doomed to the like fate. jHt length, when Hadrian was at Athens, he was induced to liften to Quadratus, a bifliop of that great city ; who addrefled to him an eloquent and learned apology for the Nazarenes : and, at the fame time, the philofopher Ariftides fent to the Emperor a mafterly Epiftle in their behalf. My late mafter Granianus alfo interfered, and with him fome others, fo that Hadrian (who really poflefled a deeply reflecting mind) became friendly to the Nazarenes, and caufed the perfecution to ceafe : and fome have faid that he even defired to enrol the Chriftus among the gods of Rome ! This, 622 Chronicles of Cartapfriliis, Century Rabbi Ifaacfs Narrative. however, is probably not true ; for, a (hort time thereafter, Hadrian ftill feemed to confound Chriftians with the Jews : the latter had again rebelled, whereupon the Emperor mowed no refpecl for the Chriftians, in having ordered a ftatue of Jupiter to be erected upon the fpot where the Nazarene is fabled to have arifen from the dead ; and he likewife placed upon Mount Calvary a ftatue of Venus ! ^he travels of the Emperor Hadrian are far too extenfive for me to record with any detail : fuffice it, then, to ftate Travels of that hg ffed firft mtQ Qaul wherg he made j ft Hadrian. . 5 i i_ i i r tion, and examined with care the chief cities, and the fortifications. He thence proceeded into Germany^ where he re formed the legions, and gave to the army his own example of a foldier s hardy life. The Emperor next vifited Britain ; and there corrected many abufes that had crept in, fmce the time of the illuf- trious Agricola. To fecure the Romans againft the incurfions of thofe fierce people in the northern part of the ifland, who are called Scotti and Pi6r.i, he built a ftupendous earthen wall, faid to be twenty parafangs in length, reaching from a great Weftern eftuary and Axellodunum, to the mouth of the river Tina, near to the town of Segedunum, on the eaftern fea.* [A. D. 120.] journeying once more through Gaul, the Emperor reached Spain, where he convened a provincial council, in the city of Tara- gon : there his life was greatly endangered by a man, who rufhed upon him with a drawn iword, whilft launtering in a garden. Ha drian inftantly difarmed him ; and the guards fuppofed there would be an order for his immediate death, but the Emperor quietly fent for his phyfician, and faid, " this man needs to be bled :" for, as I fuppofe, Hadrian at once perceived fome malady in his wits. ^he whole Weftern Empire being thus pafled over by Hadrian, he returned to Rome : but, foon thereafter thinking that, like the Sun, Rome s monarch fliould diffufe his light and heat through all the regions and corners of his Empire, he early departed from the City, for a like furvey of all his Eaftern provinces. The winter was fpent by him in Athens, where he received more favourable impreflions as to the Nazarenes : from thence he pafled into Sicily, and vifited the burning ./Etna then into Africa, where he rebuilt Carthage, a city of great renown deftroyed by the Romans, about two hundred, feventy and feven years before Hadrian s order : and this new city he called Hadrianople. Great may be the power of * This wall extended from Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne, a little below North Shields, acrofs the Ifland, through the counties of Cumberland and Northumberland. The good Rabbi feems ibmewhat at a lofs for a name to the eftuary, as was natural enough at that time A. D. 120. LH. Cfte (EOanBering; 3leto. 623 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. Rome s Emperor to rebuild, and to confer new names but greater yet is the glory of Carthage even in ruins, than Hadrianople though in palaces and Ifaac will not marvel ihould the former triumph for ever over the latter. j^Jnd now, in this fame year, Hadrian returned to Rome, for the fifth time in a number of years ; during all of which his travels were moft extenfive : and again, at this time, Rome retained him but a few days, and next is he feen on his journey to the Eaft, vifiting the LeiTer Afia Syria Paleftine, and portions of Arabia, receiving and communing with kings, tetrarchs, ambafladors and mefTengers of all thofe countries, and divers others. To the king of Parthia, he freely fent back that captive daughter, whom Trajan had made his own in the late war. This generous a<5r. caufed very many to vifit Hadrian, who otherwife might have had fome fears ; and they lavimed upon him unmeafured honours. ^J^he Emperor then gave orders for the rebuilding of fome parts of our holy JERUSALEM ; but to which he would impioufly give a new name ! and, ftill more impioufly, a few years thereafter he erected a temple on Mount Moriah to Jupiter Capitolinus which firft order was given in the fifty-ninth year after the city s deftruclion under Titus, and in the fourteenth year of Hadrian s reign. [A.D. IS 1 " I35-] ^fn the fame fourteenth year of Hadrian, the Emperor was once more in Egypt, where he caufed a fplendid monument to be ereded over the decayed tomb of the great Pompey ; and there he alfo deeply mourned over the death of that wonderful youth ANTINOUS whofe beauty has noifed his fame over the world, and which Hadrian feems refolved fhall never perim. The ftory of this Bithynian prodigy of fuperhuman grace and lovelinefs, is more marvellous than, perhaps, any other recorded in all preceding times ! My eyes once refted upon that wonder of human elegance that perfection of manly, feminine, and youthful beauty combined ; and fuch as I then beheld him aflures me, that the Creator of all things may fometimes depart from his almoft inflexible rule, which is, always to permit the prefence of fome one or more imperfections, though in the midft of a crowd of fhining excellences ! and this may be defigned only to make the contraft the more linking, and alfo to teach man that God alone is perfect, or without a blemifh, and that fin, in this world, hath brought into all nature fome vifible defect. Be this as it may, ex- quifite beauty is feldom if ever found in nature ; and, artificially, can fpring only from a harmonious concentration of all that hath been obferved to be perfect. Nature hath avoided that concentration in the human form, and, indeed, in moft of her works; but the fculptor s art may fometimes impart to lifelefs marble forms more 624 CjjrOniCleS Of CartapfjilUS, Century in. Rabbi liaac s Narrative. perfect in the outline, than the Creator hath ever vouchfafed to man, beaft, bird, or flower ! 3n this furprifing youth, however, juft twenty years of age, when my delighted eyes repofed on him, I found all that the mind can fancy in the harmonious blendings of form complexion expreflion health and grace of motion ! ^C^pw, it fo happened, that, when the Emperor was in Upper Egypt, he came to the city of Abydos, where is the oracle of the famed Befa, whom the Egyptians greatly reverence. On confult- ing that oracle, as was Hadrian s fuperftitious practice, he was amazed and grieved to be informed that he, his whole court, and his army then around him, were in imminent peril, and that this could be averted only by the immolation of fome one moft dear to him, and by whom he was equally beloved ! All knew, at once, to whom the oracle alluded ; and Antinoiis was not flow in earneftly . offering himfelf as the appointed victim ! The facrifice was mourn fully and wickedly (becaufe fuperftitioufly) accepted by Hadrian ; and the generous, the fupremely beautiful youth haftened to the fummit of a lofty rock, and thence precipitated himfelf into the deep waters of the Nile ! *^he Emperor was deeply grieved, nay inconfolable ; and all that a mortal could do to honour a favourite s memory, and to efface his own odious and double crime, was promptly done. There he built a goodly city, which, in honour of the victim, he called Antinoe, or Antinopolis ; and this he embellifhed with beautiful tem ples forums porticoes groves fountains grottoes, and with every rare and lovely production of nature and of art ! Hadrian alfo inftituted games and facrifices to his memory ; and everywhere were raifed many ftatues, in marble, porphyry, and bronze, to immortalize the name of Antinoiis, all being executed by the moft famous of the Grecian artifts, and fuch ftatues were ordered to be regarded as fa c red. ^he two principal ftreets of the new city,, now one of the moft delightful in the world, are filled with palaces, along which, on both fides, is a roofed colonnade of lofty Corinthian pillars ; and under thefe, how often did I love to join the people in their long and (haded walk, that extended from gate to gate at either end ; and when there, to admire their folidity and great magnificence ! And yet fo it was, Antinoe, with all of its crowd of fplendours and tafteful embellifliments, fatisfied not the tender and deep-feated forrow of Hadrian for the lofs of his Antinoiis ! And hence was it that he influenced the Greeks to place his Favourite among the Immortal Gods ! and foon thereafter, the Aftrologers gave out that they had difcovered a new Conftellation, and that ANTINOUS had now been changed into a Star ! LH, cfre OHanuerinn; 3leto. 625 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. whole Eaft was foon filled with temples, chapels, and ftatues, dedicated to his memory oracles were uttered in them, as proceeding from Antinous : and, at Antinoe, the gorgeous maufo- leum erected over his remains is, even now, reforted to, under the faith that many wonderful miracles are there wrought ! Rome, alfo, is now filled with ftatues, bufts, and other devices, in honour of that matchlefs youth ; and, in whatever form he is prefented, the chifel has not failed to exhauft its refources in making him, as he was, the lovelieft of mortals. Oh, the fupreme infatuation, the unutterable wickednefs of the pagan heart and mind ! When will thefe Heathens learn that man is but duft vile and perimable, however lovely and perfect in form, or even luftrous in intellect, the man may be ; and when will the Pagan know that the foul, though fteeped in worldly knowledge, and pofiefled of great power, is yet moft odious in the fight of its Creator, when defaced by fuch fins as everywhere abound ? But, of fuch things, Hadrian fcarce knows more, than any victim offered by him in Mantinea s great temple : for, both the Emperor and Antinous, in the eyes of purity, are alike infamous.* "fn. the twentieth year of Hadrian, who then was again at Athens, * It is conjectured that the Roman Empire once contained nearly as many ftatues and bulls of this famous youth Antinous, as of the goddefs Venus though her s was the fame of more than a thoufand years, and in all the nations! Some of thofe ftatues, bufts, and relievos are ftill extant, the moft noted of which are the Belvidere Antinous of the Vatican difcovered in the xvi th cen tury upon the Efqueline hill that of the Capitol, and laftly, the one at the Villa Albani. The Antinous of the Vatican has been doubted ; and fometimes is called, though erroneously, a Meleager ; but its refemblance to all the other memorials of the famed youth has probably fettled the queftion. It is indeed an exquifite ftatue, though deficient in the right arm, and in the left hand; but is without the flighted blemifh in other refpe&s. The Antinous of the Capitol is very different, being an unnatural combination of the Egyptian and Grecian ftyles, owing to the peculiar tafte that fo greatly vitiated Hadrian s judgment in things of art, after, what may be ca-lled, his Egyptian monomania ! It is fuppofed that this ftatue was, at firft, compofed ot a folid block, (alfo after the manner of fome Egyptian fculptors,) wrought upon, to a certain extent, by one artift, and then fawed in twain ; after which they were carefully elaborated by diftint mafters, and then again united \ The baffb-reKevo of Antinous, at the Alban Villa, is very noble : and alfo the buft of him in the Farnefi Palace, as likewife that formerly in the Palazzo Juftiniani, are valuable delineations in confirmation of the features of the re markable viftim. That Hadrian was poflelTed of great talents, and of large acquirements, is not to be doubted : but the accuracy and delicacy of his tarte may juftly be queftioned, perhaps firmly denied. And, though Roman tafte had greatly declined at that time, Hadrian himfelf muft have been largely in- ftrumental in that decadence, judging from various works, the refult of his fpecial care, and from fome other circumftances, among the reft, that he would have fupprefled Homer, and have fupplied his place by Antimachus, an im- poverifhed Greek poet, then, and i mce, of no reputation ! I. S S 626 CfjrOttiCleS Of CattapfnlUS, Century m. Rabbi liaac s Narrative. a dreadful rebellion of my countrymen once more broke .J . . out m Judea. The firft caufe of this war was, that the Pagan and Chriftian worfhippers in the New City, called Ella, had certain privileges denied to the Jews : but the greater caufe was, that the minds of the people were much inflamed by that great deceiver Barcockaba ; who, affuming to be the " Star" foretold by Balaam, faid to be now the true Meffiah, came forth with vaft power, and with kingly magnificence ; and promifed great things to our deluded and Meffiah-feeking people ! This terrific . rebellion endured more than two years, during which Ifrael loft fifty of her ftrongeft cities alfo nearly one thoufand of her towns and villages and more than one million of her people ! Thefe complicated miferies, fo foon following upon thofe which happened fo lately under Trajan and Hadrian, have laid Ifrael low in the duft never more to rife, till the time of the Gentiles mail be indeed accomplifhed ! Then will the true Emanuel come then will Melfias mine in his promifed glories, caufmg Ifrael to forget all her forrows. Oh ! may we, in the mean while, learn wifdom and may we have no more of thofe wicked and mifchievous pretenders to the divine million ! ^n that fad war was our land (or rather, that which once was ours) laid utterly wafte every Jew was driven out of Judea ELIA CAPITOLINUS, then but four years old, fank as low, as did Jerulalem, after me had flourifhed, as the world s glory, during more than two thoufand years ! Wolves and hyaenas foon roamed all around the impious Elia ; the plougb-fl}are hath turned up the Temple s cloifters and Hadrian s magnificence, forced upon that holy ground, could be now feen only from afar. [A. D. 136, the 20th year of Hadrian s reign.] ^Jut thefe Nazarenes are furely growing apace Abraham s feed, though frill numerous, muft hide their heads : and mail this New Faith be feated, after a time, even upon the grounds where the God of Ifrael feems now to forbid this Elia to be planted ! Will they revive Jerufalem, and poiTefs it, until, in fome after ages, Ifrael fhall be once more recalled ? It fo may be ! Oh, how doth this thought of Jacob s long degradation now prefs upon the foul of Rabbi Ifaac ! and yet, well am I allured that our City of Mel- chizedec would be more fitly in the keeping of thofe Chrlflians, than in that of Roman Pagans, or of any other faith, fave that of Abraham s offspring. Jji the laft month of the twenty-firft year of Hadrian s reign, he lay dangeroufly ill at Batte, near Neapolis ; and his Death of en( j f eems to } lave b een as miferable, as his life had been Hadrian. , . , D _,. .... r , , glorious, in the ragan opinion. 1 he dileaied emperor s tortures were fo extreme, that he urged his attendants to deftroy LH. c&e ftHan&eting; 3[eto, 627 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. him. His phyficians advifed him, at length, to abftain from all fuf- tenance ; and foon after, upon finding himfelf in the arms of death, he feveral times fcowled upon his attendants and faid, " a crowd of phyficians will but kill the Emperor:" and then mufing upon his condition, he indulged for a fhort time his ufual poetical vein, and apoftrophifed his foul in thefe few lines. " Animula ! vagula, blandula, Hofpes comefque corporis, Qupe nunc abibis in loca Pallidula, rigida, nudula ? Nee, ut foles, dabis jocos." " XH.V little, lonely, fluttering foul! the body s hojt and cherijhed companion whither now wouldft thou go -fo pale, and trembling, and naked? no more, as was thy wont, wilt thou in jibes indulge /" > And thefe were the expiring words of Hadrian ! * * The profe tranflation now given by Cartaphilus, from that of Rabbi Ifaac, of thefe celebrated lines uttered by the dying Emperor, can fcarce be faid to breathe any portion of the delicate Ipirit fo univerfally attributed to them in the Latin original. This, indeed, may be neceflarily incident to any profe, or even poetic rendering. Every verfion we have feen, in various languages, is deficient in the purity and fententioufnefs that are faid to mark the Latin verfe. The poetic renderings by Prior and Pope are, perhaps, the belt extant : and, of the two, the reader, we prefume, will give the palm to that of Prior. Both, per haps, are as clofe to the original, in fpirit and words, as can well be attained, and yet with that weakening amplification, fo unavoidable from the difference of the two languages. " Poor little, pretty, fluttering Thing ! Muft we no longer live together ? And doft thou prune thy trembling wing To take thy flight, thou know it not whither ? Thy humorous vein, thy pleafing folly Lies all neglefted, all forgot : And penfive, wav ring melancholy, Thou dream ft, and hop ft, thou know ft not what!" PRIOR. " Ah fleeting Spirit ! wandering fire That long has warm d my tender breaft ! Muft thou no more this frame infpire No more a pleafing cheerful gueft ? Whither, ah whither art thou flying, To what dark undifcover d more ? Thou feem ft all trembling, fhiv ring, dying, And wit and humour are no more." POPE. Lord Byron s Tranflation is faithful, but we think not fo pleafing as either of the foregoing. " Ah ! gentle, fleeting, wav ring fprite, Friend and aflbciate of this clay ! 628 Cjronfcleg Of CartapfrilUS, Century in. Rabbi liaac s Narrative. is the fame of Hadrian ; and loud are the praifes beftowed on him for learning, tafte, and munificence, as dif- Opinion pi a y e d i n his truly magnificent public works, in va- p eror rious cities, and efpecially at his Villa. But, had that emperor never erected any other edifice, than his gorgeous, and incomparable Temple of Venus and Rome, on the Via Sacra, clofe by the Flavian, he had need done no more for eternal renown in that way. But, if the fame of Hadrian s great works mall brightly tranfmit him to a remote pofterity, will not the infamy of his cruelties likewife pafs down the fame long ftream of time ? The Temple, I have named, is indeed moft lovely yet, was not his dealing with the artift who built it, (but wh innocently ventured to point out fome fault in the emperor s plan of that temple,) a moft heartlefs and foul murder ? Truly, the tyrant, whofe Laws and Penates were the mere baubles of his own mad fancies, and whofe Supreme God was of fuch metal, ivory, or wood, as he had felet.ed, and on whofe cruelties there were no fuch reins as thofe that Ifrael knows, might eafily be both monfter and mad man, amidft all the luftre of his other doings ! And, if Hadrian, in that diabolic at of fuddenly flaying his architect, were crazed by fome ungovernable paflion at the moment, even that poor excufe would ferve him not in the matter of his excellent wife, for her he deliberately poifoned adding to that careful murder the blacked in gratitude ; for that wife had been the chiefeft fource of his power, and of all his worldly greatnefs ! * MARCUS ANTONINUS PIUS. n this great and excellent emperor came to the throne, in To what unknown region borne, Wilt thou now wing thy diftant flight ? No more with wonted humour gay, But pallid, cheerlefs, and forlorn." BYRON. On the whole, however, the Editor has never been able to appreciate the original to the extent of its known celebrity. * The architect, here alluded to by the Rabbi Ifaac, was the fame Apollodorus who, in Trajan s reign, was fo diftinguifhed as the builder of the great Forum in honour of that Emperor, and alfo of the bridge over the Danube the greateft work of" the age. But Apollodorus had the misfortune to be envioufly regarded by Hadrian as his rival in architefture, the Emperor having furnimed the beautiful plan of the temple of Venus and Rome, fo much and jultly praiied by the politic artifts of the day but unhappily, Ibmewhat found fault with by Apollodorus! The Rabbi, however, is probably miftaken in ftating the death of the architect as being fuddenly ordered by Hadrian, in a fit of jealous paflion : it appears that the too candid opinion of Apollodorus had only then caufed his exile: but what induced Hadrian fubfequently to order his death and under what circumftances inflifted, are probably little, if at all known. LIT. c&e bannering 3leto. 629 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. the fiftieth year of his age, my own was but twenty-four. I had feen him at Smyrna, when he was Proconful under the Emperor Hadrian. Antoninus then lodged with a celebrated Sophift, whofe ftrange humour it was to requeft the Proconful to retire from his houfe at night, though the hofpitalities of the day were the moft generous ! Some years after this, the Sophift vifited Rome, and was received at the Imperial palace of Antoninus, in the moft courteous way, who fmilingly faid to him, " I pray thee to ufe this palace as thine own, and be not uneafy, when night cometh, as to thy need of feeking a lodging elfewhere ! " ^j-\ ntoninus pofTefled all the mild virtues of Trajan, with nearly the acquirements of Hadrian, and none of the vices of either. He eminently merited the furname of Pius, conferred on him by the Senate ; for never did man cherifh a more gentle temper, never was one better entitled to be called the " Father of Virtues" The graces of his perfon, moreover, correfponded with thofe of his mind : and his eloquence was of fo high an order that he never fpoke without winning the heart, as well as understanding. Unlike Hadrian, he loved not travel ; but thought he better could ferve the empire by never quitting Rome. ^J^he domeftic peace of Antoninus was much difturbed by his emprefs Fauftina ; who, though gifted with talents and great beauty, devoted them more to others, than to her Emprefs in i i ,- i i i i n i Fauftina. hulband ; and in luch debaucheries, me was imitated by her daughter of the fame name, who was wedded to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, his fucceflbr. The Emprefs, however, died in the third year of his reign: whereupon the pious Emperor, ob livious of her great faults, erected to her memory that beautiful Temple in the Forum, on the Via Sacra, near the Forum of Caefar : and ftatues of gold and of filver, as alfo games, were erected and inftituted to her memory. It is, however, fuppofed by fome, that all thefe were the doings of the Senate, more out of regard for the Emperor, than for the deceafed : and fo the infcription on the frieze maybe interpreted, which feems to be the a6l of the Senate, and in honour of the living, as well as of the dead. Divo. ANTONIO. ET DIVJE. FAUSTINA. Ex. s. c. temple rifes in great majefty from the Via Sacra, by a flight of twenty-one marble fteps. The portico has ten Corinthian columns, of about forty-three Roman feet in height. The orna ments upon the frieze are rich, and of various devices, as griffins, candelabra, &c.* Another doubt has been exprefTed as to this Temple : fome believing it was 630 CfjtOntCleS Of CattapfrilUlS, Century in. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. jMbout this time, an unauthorized perfecution of the Chriftians broke out in fome of the provinces ; which was promptly lo for file followed b 7 an able Apology for them, written by Juf- Chrifllans. tm > formerly a Stoic, then a Peripatetic, next a Pytha gorean, afterwards a Platonift : but finding no repofe in the doctrines of any of the philofophers, he became a devoted and exemplary Chriftian. Born at Sichem in Samaria, Juftin, after all thefe changes, arrived in Rome, filled with zeal againft all op- pofed to his faith, and with confidence in Antoninus Pius, that the Apology, fo fpecially addrefTed to him, would at leaft caufe the good emperor to allow none to be molefted but the aftive or more tur bulent among the Chriftians, for the punifhment inflicted on a clafs a family a name, was always ruthlefs cruelty, and often caufelels murder. It feems that a fhort time before this perfecution broke out, a commotion was raifed againft the Nazarenes as the fuppofed caufe of the recent earthquake ! and the people finding that the magiftrates had lately decided that under Hadrian s law, the mere name of Chriftian, or the quiet holding of that faith, was no crime they would take cognizance of, brought forward a new accufation, and infifted that Chriftianity was athelfm, or in connexion with fome evilfpirit) that caufed earthquakes and other mifchiefs ! But, with the merciful and enlightened Antoninus, no defence againft fuch charges was needed he knew them to be a harmlefs people, fave that their faith could not but interfere with that in all the Heathen temples. Juftin s vindication, therefore, fell upon a good foil, and, not only did it remove fuch errors and prejudices as ftill had remained, but planted fome new feelings in the emperor s mind. Antoninus then addreffed a Letter prohibitory of further perfecution ; and admits that Chriftians triumph over their foes, by that ready fubmiflion even to death, which manifefts their fmcerity ; and fur ther, that, if any mall moleft them merely becaufe of their name and faith, their accufers mail be punifhed, and the accufed be promptly difcharged. JH ntoninus was alfo a great patron of all the arts, and of all learned men ; and his exalted liberality, as well as refined tafte, are manifefted in thofe really wonderful havens built by him at Terra- cina, and at Cajeta ; alfo in the aqueducts at Antium the baths at raifed to the memory of their fucceflbrs M. A. Antoninus, and his wife Fauftina; and of this opinion is Nibby, a celebrated modern antiquarian ; but, as we think, without any juft grounds. The temple is yet in tolerable prefervation ; but has fuffered by various conflagrations, and by mutilations, and probably by earthquakes. The Via Sacra, alfo, has been fo filled up by the debris of the City, that there is now no flight of fteps. It alfo has been converted into a church, under the name of S. Lorenzo in Miranda ,- but is far better known by its ancient name. 631 Rabbi li aac s Narrative. Oftia the temples at Lavinium, and particularly, in the beautiful onejuft finifhed in the Campus Martius. The cella within that temple is fuftained by eighteen magnificent Corinthian pillars ; and the noble architrave in its front and rear, as alfo on the fides, is fup- ported, each by fifteen columns making in all fixty, which give to the edifice a moft impofmg effect.* jM ntoninus Pius died in the yfth year of his age, and in the 23rd year of his reign, deeply lamented by the whole n eat ^ O f t ^ e empire : for all admit that " he never did any thing Emperor, rajhly in his youth never any thing negligently in his A. D. 161. old age ! " MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS PHILOSOPHOS, AND LUCIUS VERUS. jf-|nd now, for the firft time, we find the empire governed by two fovereigns ! a delicate experiment, and one that occafioned no little furprife, as the choice of a ruler is more often fignalized by cruel jealoufies and the fhedding of blood, than voluntarily fhared by him who could eafily have retained all. ]I^t was, however, the misfortune of this feventeenth^ and per haps on the whole, beft of all the emperors, to unite his brother with him in the empire for never were brothers more unlike each other, the one, as profound and pious a philofopher, as a heathen can well be the other a recklefs, wicked, and vain-glorious de bauchee. Rome endured very many miferies during their joint reign, of about nine years ; and, as the confequence of that union, many afterwards. And, had it not been for the fupreme wifdom of Aurelius, the empire muft have funk under its misfortunes. X) urm g tne abfence of Verus in the Eaft, (whofe Lieutenants fuccefsfully fought his battles, whilft his excefTes at Daphne amazed even the Voluptuaries of thofe much famed groves,) Antoninus Phi- lofophos was worthily occupied in promoting a moft enlightened public adminiftration. firft care of Antoninus was for the Senatorial wifdom, * A portion of this great temple remains ; and is ftill the admiration of all beholders. Eleven of the fifteen pillars in front are in tolerable prefervation, and the whole of the maffive architefture that repofed on them. The columns have fuffered by conflagration in the early centuries. The intercolumniations being filled up, and other additions and repairs made, give to this portion of the ancient temple an impofmg appearance ; and the building in that form is now the Cuftoms Houfe ! It is iituate in that part of modern Rome called Piazza dl Pietra. The number of columns afligned to this temple by the Rabbi Ifaac confirms, on this fubjeft, the opinion of Palladio. <j)romCle0 Of Cartap!)ilU0, Century III. Rabbi Ilaac s Narrative. dignity, and juftice, wifely judging that no nation His political fhouid b e governed by one man ; and that fafety may Wifdom and , , c & , . . , J , Juftice only be round where there are many independent and enlightened counfellors, fuch as he much defired that Roman Senators ever fhould be. His next folicitude was as to the choice of governors and magiftrat.es, even to the moft inferior, alfo foundry judging therein that the people s happinefs more largely depends upon the wifdom and mercy with which fubordinate offices are difcharged, than upon thofe of much fuperior rank, for thefe, comparatively, reach but the few : and are too much under the eye of intelligent vigilance, and felfifh intereft, to be much neglected, or groflly violated ; and laftly, his golden rule was, to be faithful to his word) and that a wife prince muft facredly refpect every public obligation, though followed by heavy facrifices of his perfonal interefts. But unhappily, as, in a luxuriant valley filled with na ture s lovelinefs, we fometimes find a foul and boggy fpot, as ofFen- five to the eye, as is a verdant oafis grateful to it when encountered in a defert, fo was it in the mind (though not in the heart) of Phi- lofophos, when we were compelled there to witnefs the odious ftain of fuperftition ! for that, if not reftrained, may fpread as wide a ruin as intentional crime. ^he firft apology of Juftin for the Nazarenes was fcarce needed for Antoninus Pius^ but afterwards was more Martyrdom of t h an nee( led for Antoninus Philofophus ! Both were Works pious ; but the latter, with no more zeal for his gods than the former, underftood not the nature of divinity as well. Juftin had embraced Chriftianity late in the reign of Ha drian; [A.D. 132] and, befides his "Apology," addrefled to the firft Antoninus, he had written againft Marcion, a heretical Chrif- tian, and fon of the bifhop of Pontus. He likewife wrote certain Dialogues with Tripho, a diftinguimed Jew of Ephefus, refpecling his views of the true Meffiah. Now, when Juftin came to Rome, it was his misfortune to have many angry difputes with the notorious Crefcens, a moft violent and cruel Cynic ; which occafioned him to publifh his fecond Apology; and this he prefented to Philofophos, in the fecond year of that reign. refcens became greatly enraged at this ; and feemed refolved to deftroy the zealous Juftin; and hence he accufed him, not of Chriftianity, but of Impiety againft the Pagan gods which was much urged upon the too fuperftitious Emperor ; and, perhaps, when his mind was greatly difturbed concerning the then recent earthquake in Afia, afcribed to Chriftian influences ! a matter alfo firmly believed in, or wickedly ufed, by the Afiatic perfecutors ! Crefcens, the infamous, became in this the victor : Philofophos, in the fourth year of his reign, and afterwards, blotted out much of LH. Cfje 23 an He tin g: Jeto. 633 Rabbi Ilaac s Narrative. his glory; for Juftin, in the 75th year of his age, was beheaded ! [A. D. 164.] H^n the Eaft, victory continued to crown the Roman arms. Artaxata, of Armenia, was taken, alfo Seleucia; Verus returns to Babylon and Cte/lphon were burnt, and yielded to the Rome in triumph army an immenfe plunder : but famine and ficknefs dies, A - D - 1 7- came, and reduced them greatly. Verus had there continued to indulge in excefiive and even brutal difiipations ; but the tender regard of Philofophos towards his brother was fuch, that he dif- patched his own daughter Lucilla into Syria, hoping that her mar riage with Verus, bafed on their previous betrothment, would re form him ! Lucilla, however, though beautiful, was a poor medi cament (he being, in truth, as diflblute as her mother Fauftina had been : but, it feems, that Antoninus Philofophos knew little of the irregularities of his own wife, and nothing of the character of his daughter. ^J^he fix Roman commanders, then with Verus, faithfully dif- charged their duty ; but their example, and poflibly their remon- ftrances, had no effect upon the voluptuous Emperor, who, during the whole of that four years of war, never once appeared at the head of his army Daphne Antioch and Laodicea having wholly conquered him ! At length, Verus refolved to return to Rome, which he did in great triumph ! *^jhe return of this infamous Emperor brought with it every fpecies of calamity, not only to Rome, but to a large portion of the world. His army introduced the plague into all the provinces through which it paffed this was followed by dreadful earthquakes alfo by fore famine terrific inundations and by devouring caterpillars ! And, during thefe complicated miferies, the northern provinces revolted, and even made inroads into Italy. Antoninus haftened in perfon to the fcene of rebellion, and quickly fubdued it: but, on the following year the plague reappeared, and the revolt again broke out in much greater fury and power. counteract thefe calamities, in which fupernal powers now feemed united with man to overwhelm the Em pire, Antoninus had exhaufted every means that could e r ou . r - i /- i i i -r JT T- L n Persecution. be deviled by the wileit. Everywhere, the prieits was directed to be unfparing of facrifices to the gods ; and every facred foreign ceremonial pleating to the gods of other countries were fought after, and in vain adopted. At length, the fatal fuper- ftition, as to the Nazarenes, again took pofleffion of the mind of Antoninus, and of the multitude ; the numerous evils they were enduring were imputed to thofe really unoffending people, who lamented over the woes of the empire as fincerely as did the Pagans : but the fatal decree had gone forth ; and, in the feventh year of the 634 C&ronicles of Cartapfrito, Century Rabbi liaac s Narrative. reign of Antoninus Philofophos, and the gioth fmce the building of Rome, commenced that great Fourth Perfecution^ which raged with unexampled violence during more than feven years ! XX OW far Lucius Verus may have inftigated the Emperor to this fierce perfecution may not be fully known : but the founder opinion, as it feems to me, is that Verus was the chief, if not the fole caufe of the decree, and efpecially of the fury and perfeverance with which it was executed. He had juft returned from Afia, where hatred towards the Nazarenes was exceffive, from the idle notion, fo prevalent with the multitude, that even the elements were con trolled by that people ! The virtuous and truly wife adminiftration of Philofophos would not have been thus perverted, but for the influences which Verus ftill retained over the Emperor : and how the virtues of an Aurelius may be blended with the actions of a Nero or a Domitian, can only be explained by that weak fuper- ftition that caufed him to believe he was doing the gods a fervice, by exterminating thofe whom he imagined were magicians, working by the power of evil fpirits ! It has been the occupation of my prolonged life, and during my extenfive travels and much reading, to Jludy man in all the nations : and, how often have 1 1 found that philofophers may be wife and learned and kind on all fubjecT:s fave Religion ! With the Jewifh, Chriftian, and Pagan multitudes, throughout all the nations, I have much communed, and ever with that kindnefs towards them all, which was the firft leflbn I received from Granianus, at the moment 1 became a freedman at his hands. I have carefully obferved them in all lands, in their knowledges, their philofophy, and in their religion. I have alfo feen man in his moft refined, as well as in his moft barbarous conditions : the Jew I have feen enraged to madnefs againft the Chriftian and the Hea then : the Sabaeans and the Magi of Arabia I have beheld in con- troverfies with each other, more fierce than thofe of hungry tigers for their prey, I have converfed with many who were the leading murderers in thofe terrific fcenes that defolated the lovely Cyprus and I have read of all the horrors of Jotapata, of Tiberias, and of our Holy Jerufalem in the days of Titus ; and alfo of Mafada, Gamala, and of all Judea, in thofe memorable days, and likewife I have witnefled no little of the cruelties pracl:ifed in divers other wars of my own times, and in each and all of thefe, never have I failed to find that Superftition, the Fear of the gods, the Dread of Devils, and Ignorance of the only true God, have been a more abundant fource of thefe evils to man, than all the ambition, the avarice, and the other fountains of wickednefs known to our race ! The perfecutions waged againft thofe unoffending Nazarenes, and fometimes againft the ftill lefs offending Ifraelites, have ftiown to me the fuperlative cruelty of man towards his fellows in a far darker ui. Cfte bannering 3[eto* 635 Rabbi liaac s Narrative. light, than all the combined ferocity I have ever known practifed from other caufes ! Oh, thou God of Abraham, and Mafter of our mafter Mofes ! whence cometh this fury of man in this matter of religion why have Lucifer and Moloch, and all the Powers of Gehennom been let loofe, to make thy glorious creation fo like their own dread abodes ? ^J^hough a Jew, my foul can find no fault with the heart of thefe deluded Brethren " " Difciples " " Believers " Rabbi y aac , s " Nazarenes " " Chriftians " " Saints" or by what- opinion of the ever other name called at any time : their deep faith Primitive can be no more fhaken than the eternal hills ! their Clir ifl ians - morals are as pure as the limpid ftreams that once flowed from Judea s fountains and their " crime" furely is not the impiety, or the atheifm, or the magical confortings with devils, that fo often and long have been imputed to them ! but, to the Romans, it is only that thefe people are not idolaters like themfelves ; and to the Jews, that they wormip this Chriftus, as well as the God of Abraham ! If this be worthy of perfecution and of death, it is more at the hands of the Jew, than of the Gentile : but furely, no crime fo deep againft Heaven can it be, as to demand the torturing vengeance of fo fallible a creature as man : " Vengeance is mine" faith the God of Abraham : and, moreover, thefe Nazarenes have ever been feared for their good not their evil deeds. ^ft has been my mifery to fee much of all thefe terrific perfecu- tions, and, though no whit the lefs a Jew thereby, I have become ftill more faithful to the promife made by me, H rr rs J in early youth, to my kind mafter Granianus. How p e r/ecution often have I loathed my countrymen, when they were found exulting as demons over the tortures inflicted on the much vilified difciples of Calvary s Victim ! How often have I fhuddered on beholding the artful contrivances for diabolic tortures the many ingenious instruments of death the mechanical devices to produce the largeft amount of lingering pain ! and all thefe often on the bodies of venerable old age, of youthful luftihood, of infantile in nocence, of wonderful female lovelinefs, and fo often difTolving likewife the holieft and tendereft relations of life, and configning all fexes, ages, and conditions to fome rude and mallow ditch as their mingled graves, and fometimes without even that degrading fepul- ture yea, utterly tomblefs ! ^ have feen them caft to wild beafts fome compelled to walk with naked feet over thorns and nails others were flayed alive, or fcourged till their veins and finews were laid bare ! I have gazed on them while burning over flow fires, or thrown from lofty pre cipices, or prefled to death with heavy weights. I have beheld them tortured by plates of red-hot brafs, applied to the tendereft parts of 636 Chronicles of Cartapfrilu& Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. the body ! I have feen them feated on iron chairs, fo heated as to broil their flefh ! Some were fewed up in nets, and then faftened to the horns of wild bulls others were torn to pieces by iron hooks and fcrapers fome again, were caft into burning limekilns ; and fome placed in the earth, waift high, till they were ftarved to death ! And yet, oh how wonderful ! never did I witnefs, or feldom have I heard of any falling off from their faith ; nor even any murmur againft their favage tormentors ! ^|3refent was I, alfo, at the martyrdom of Polycarp, the excellent and venerable biftiop of Smyrna. Born late in the reign M sT Pol carp of Nero > he became a Nazarene, and a difciple of that wonderful man named John, who wrote the Book called REVELATION. At the time of his martyrdom, he had been a Chriftian eighty and fix years ; and he exceeded the age of one hundred when, in the eighth year of the reign of Philofophos, he was configned to the flames. [A. D. 169.] ^J^he death of fo aged and holy a man moved me deeply ; but the conduct, on that occafion, of Ifrael s fons filled my heart with pangs and loathing ; for I found them ufmg towards the dying man hideous and exulting threats taunting him with their mock groans, and brutally encouraging thofe who were attendant upon the fires ! ^3ut, if I found in the aged Polycarp an almoft fuperhuman firmnefs when he fcorned the counfel of thofe entreating friends, who would have him fave his life by pronouncing only a few words of feeble recantation, I alfo faw in the youthful Germanicus an equal contempt of death, for the Proconful defired greatly to fave him by the like means : but the ravenous wild beafts, ready to devour Germanicus, could in no wife appal him ; and the youth met them fo valiantly, that fome of the Pagans, who had come as fcoffers, were forced to cry out with exultation to the God of the Nazarenes. And, regardlefs of confequences, they became converts, and alfo fpeedily fhared the fame fate.* * It will be perceived that the Rabbi Ifaac, in his account of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp^ makes no allufion to the miraculous manner in which the flames are faid to have encircled the body of Polycarp, without touching him, and which caufed the executioner to pierce him with a fword whence iflued a gufh of blood fo large as to extinguish the fire ! nor yet is any mention made by him of the dove that fuddenly appeared, to direft the cotirfe of Polycarp to heaven ! Nor does the Rabbi confirm the ftatement as to the delicious odours, as incenfe, that arofe from the Saint s blood amidft the burning faggots ! All thefe, are no doubt, the pious fancies of a mifguided church-policy, and the enthufiafm of after ages. And yet, except as to the dove, they are detailed by Euiebius, in a letter quoted by him as from the Church of Smyrna, and which is faid to have been written immediately after the death of Polycarp. Eufebius himfelf lived only about 150 years after the martyrdom a period, however, fufficiently 3!eto. 637 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. time died the conceited and infamous Lucius Verus ; who, during a reign of nearly nine years, had done nothing worthy of record : and yet this pompous man * * hath employed more of the fculptor s art in ftatues and bufts of himfelf, than are to be found of any Roman emperor! [A. D. 170.] ^j^he occafion that had recalled Verus to Rome a fhort time before his death, was the war with the Northern Barbarians, efpe- cially Marcomanni. Moft of the nations, from the ihores of the Mare Atlanticus even to Illiricum, had united againft the Empire ; and all now agree that this war was one of the greateft and moft alarming that Rome has ever fuftained. The two emperors were then, for the firft time, heartily united in their mental and phyfical energies for the fervice of the State ; and, after many difficulties, for a fhort time, the Barbarians were fignally defeated, but with no credit to Verus, who had relapfed into his wonted debaucheries ; and died at Altinum, in the 3Qth year of his age, from whence his body was conveyed with marvellous pomp to Rome, and depofited in Hadrian s maufoleum. ^Dhilofophos was now fole emperor ; and being relieved from the mifchievous counfels, neglects, and difTolutenefs of his aflbciate, a new life feemed to actuate the furvivor, which was greatly needed, as the Marcomanni were foon again in arms, and with them the Ouadi, the Vandals, and other barbaric nations. 5Hoderation, wifdom, and valour were now the perpetual guides of Philofophos ; but the perfecution of the Chriftians, unhappily, ftill continued in the provinces : and all the wife counfels and energies of the emperor feemed unavailing, for the Barbarians were victorious the (laughter of the Romans was terrific and devaftations were all around them, Aquileia having been taken, and Italy invaded by the Marcomanni ! Philofophos, however, was not difmayed : incredible were his exertions, and perfonal facrifices, for raifing the means of conducting the new war : he ordered the fale of Hadrian s immenfe collection of pearls, of golden and em broidered garments, of ftatues, paintings, and innumerable other valuables the felections of his long wandering life ! The fale lafted during two months, and raifed an immenfe fum : the war was vigor- oufly profecuted the Emperor was prefent everywhere the battles long, and alfo prolific in fuch pious frauds, to juftify the refufal of all credence to the ftatements, beyond the fimple detail as given by Rabbi Ifaac. In the vicinity of Smyrna there is yet to be feen, upon an eminence, an ancient caftle, on which is engraved the Roman eagle, and clofe to which caftle is the tomb of Polycarp. It is faid to be venerated and carefully pre- i erved by all the faiths. 638 CbrOniCleS Of CattapJjllUS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. were defperate and bloody, and often very deftru&ive on both fides; but victories perpetually fucceeded each other, the Marcomanni, and the other hordes fled in confufion, were purfued by Philofo- phos, and wholly overthrown. X)uring that war an extraordinary, if not miraculous event oc- Miracuhus curred. At one time the Romans were victorious every- prefervation where ; but being cunningly drawn into an ambufcade of the Melitine by thofe wily barbarians known as the )uadi, the whole Legion. army was fo enveloped by barren and almoft impafTable mountains and ravines, as to be in imminent peril of deftru6lion by thirft. The Pagan deities were invoked by every folemnity but all in vain. At length the Melitine Legion, compofed in large part of Chriftians, were permitted to call for fuccour from their God when lo ! prodigious quantities of rain fell ; the fainting foldiers held open their parched mouths filled their helmets and (hields with the life-reviving ftreams, the dykes were foon overflowing, and the entire Roman army was thus wonderfully preferved ! The heavens continued in dreadful commotion ; the lightnings flamed terrifically in the faces of the enemy the hail defcended on them with fury, and the thunders crafhed around them ; but the Roman forces were in repofe, and foon after gained a moft decifive and exterminating victory ! Such is the account we have from Pagan, as well as from Chriftian teftimony with this only difference, that, whilft fome of the Heathens afcribe the admitted miraculous event to the magic powers of the Chriftians, others impute it to the Em peror s own prayers, and give the glory to Jupiter Pluvius ! but the Chriftians are faithful to the opinion that the marvel came alone from the God whom they ferve : and doubtlefs, of the twain, it muft be fo. [A.D. 174.] ^j^hat a very extraordinary prefervation of the Roman forces did take place, and whilft the Barbarians were forely aflailed by the elements, no one queftions, nor is it at all denied that the Melitine Legion were moftly, if not wholly, Nazarenes ! It is alfo equally admitted that Philofophos had reforted to many facrifices, and that the prayers of the Chriftian Legion were offered up to the God of the New Faith ! and to this, I muft now add that the perfecution ceafed, from that time, in all the provinces more immediately under the Emperor s infpeclion ; and alfo that the Senate erected to Mar cus Aurelius Philofophos (immediately after his return to Rome) a lofty Pillar, on the fummit of which is his Statue: and we now fee the figure of Jupiter Pluvius placed there, in commemoration of the fudden relief brought to the Roman army ; and which, doubtlefs, came in fo marvellous a way, as to force upon the Senate and People a deep conviction of fome fupernatural agency. But the ways of Abraham s God are often fuch, that it is as unwife to LII. Cjje oaantjering 3|eto. 639 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. magnify the ordinary difpenfations of his providence into miracles, as it is criminal folly to regard his veritable miracles as the refults of merely natural caufes or of magic or, far worfe, as the work of fome evil fpirit ! * ^jhe deeply philofophical character of this Emperor is mown by the fa6t that, even during the perils of the Marcomannic war, he found time and inclination for his favourite . ai- ftudies a portion of his admirable " MEDITATIONS" bearing date in the country of the Quadi, and after wards at Carnutum ! ^J^his beautiful fummary of the Stoic philofbphy, and of the wife maxims of his experienced and thoughtful life, is in harmony with his general bright and lovely character which, were it not for his fevere dealings towards the Nazarenes, would be as perfect as the heart and mind of a Pagan might well be.f jFl year or two pafled after the termination of the Marcomannic war, when a dreadful perfecution broke out in Gaul, and raged with violence, efpecially at Lugdunum. Po- Pe rf e llons ; i i i i n r i -i m Gaul. tbinus^ the venerable bilhop or that city, then ninety years of age, alfo the deacon Sanftus, of Vienna upon the Rhone and likewife Blandina, a matron of exalted virtue, together with about fifty others of lefs note, perifhed for religion s fake. [A. D. 177.] It is, however, but juftice to the memory of this worthy * This pillar is ftill in tolerable prefervation, in what now bears the name of Piazza di Colonna. It is fcarcely 100 feet high, with a diameter of about 1 3 feet ; and, like Trajan s beautiful column, it is crowded with relieiji that encompafs the fhaft in a fpiral form, from the bafe to the fummit. The fculp- tures, however, are much inferior to thofe which grace the more famous pillar of Trajan. The mythological reprefentation of Jupiter Pluvius, alluded to by Rabbi Ifaac, (hows the watery god as extending his right hand over the army, then perifhing with thirft, and which the god is refrefhing with copious rain, whilft, with his left hand, he is repelling their enemies ! The ftatue that crowned the fummit has been removed, and its place fupplied by a bronze one of St. Peter ! The pillar has fuffered by lightning, and was otherwife greatly damaged by time, and poffibly by conflagrations. The bafe has been repaired; but the inscription now feen on the pedeftal, (the work of Pope Sixtus V.) erroneoufly afcribes the column as being dedicated by Philofophos to Antoninus Pius ! The miftake of Sixtus has been fomewhat recently corrected, by the dif- covery of the obeliik dedicated to Antoninus ; and it is now conceded that the pillar called " Antoninus 1 Column," in the Piazza di Colonna, is the one erefted by the Senate to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Philofophos, and that it is the one which records the marvellous prefervation of the Melitine Legion. f The " Meditations" of this Emperor were tranflated from the Greek, and publifhed at Glafgow in 1764, in two volumes; and again at Bath, in 1792, with notes by R. Graves. It appeared in a French garb, in 1531, under the appropriate title of Liiire Dore. It is probable thefe Meditations were afiigned only for his private ufe ; and that they never received thofe final correftions an author is ufed to make, who addreffes himfelf to the public. 640 CfjtOniCleS Of CattapfnlUS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. emperor to ftate, that during the eight preceding years he had been conftantly abfent from Rome, and from this province, engaged in many harafling wars with the Northern nations, and painfully oc cupied in the Eaft with the famous rebellion of Avidius CaJJlus^ alfo in the correction of many great abufes, and no little difturbed by the extremely diflolute life of his emprefs Fauftina, fo that the perfecutions in Gaul were, perhaps, wholly unknown to him : and this is the more probable, as his leniency towards Caflius and the whole family of that republican^ as alfo towards all the rebel cities that united with him, evince the great mildnefs of Aurelian s tem pers, and that fuch fierce cruelties as thofe practifed towards the Chriftians would not have been fan6tioned by him. And I muft again ftate that Aurelius, during his long abfence, was alfo greatly deceived by the reprefentations of the Pagan magiftrates, and priefts,- who filled his ears with the monftrous tales that thefe Nazarenes murder and eat their own offspring ! that they pra6tife the moft inceftuous impurities, that, in their fecret meetings, they blafpheme the gods are atheifts, and are infidious enemies to the ftate ! ^hat the philofophical Aurelius mould have liftened to fuch marvellous ftories, without the clofeft fcrutiny, and concerning a people, too, whofe lives are fo full of felf-denials, and of prayer, was his greateft fault during a moft illuftrious reign ; for, however idle the Nazarene faith may be, its difciples are not enemies of Abra ham s God they are exemplary in their lives, and believe what they praclife, nor have I ever feen juft caufe to think that the God of Ifrael frowns upon them : they indeed fufFer perfecutions, but fo have the Jews ; and that the Nazarenes have often been greatly favoured cannot be denied feeing that the faff is fo often imputed by the Heathens to the agency of evil fpirits and of magic ! urelius was the firft who raifed a temple to the goddefs of BENEFITS, although, before that time, nearly every virtue had its temple. The Empire, upon his return to Rome, refted in profound peace for a time the Emperor having abandoned his own military trappings, caufed all his foldiers to do the like. None were per mitted to appear in Italy but in their gowns, and he diftributed to the foldiers liberal fums forgave to them all debts due to the treafury for the paft fixty years ! The Emperor alfo raifed many ftatues to thofe who fell in his wars ; he greatly encouraged all learned men ; and then retired into the bofom of his own darling philofophy, often faying, at his villa near Livinum, " Philofopby is my own mother the Court my Jlep-mother." X) urm g this fweet repofe, he finiflied his " Meditations ;" and feemed to revel in the blifs of his own thoughts. About this time section LH. Cfje ftHanBering 3(eto, 6 4 i Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. came a letter to Aurelius, which detailed the great calamity that had juft befallen Smyrna in its almoft total deft ruction by fire, and by an earthquake. The narrative fo moved the kind emperor that he wept over it ; and inftantly fent forward a fum fufficient to reftore the city to its former fplendour ! He had previoufly been equally liberal to Ephefus, and to Carthage, both of which had fuffered a like calamity. ^}ut Aurelius (at that time in the 5gth year of his age) was fud- denly called from his delightful retirement, to all the miferies of war : for the rebellious Marcomanni were De fhf p / n - I A 11 1 r i lOlopnOS. once more in arms ! Again at the head or his army, the Emperor fought feveral fuccefsful battles, when he was fud- denly arrefted by death, at Vindobona,* not without the fufpicion of having been difpatched by his phyficians, to pleafe his fon Corn- modus ! [March 17 A. D. 180.] ^J^hus terminated the life of perhaps the beft prince that ever fwayed a fceptre his only faults being thofe of a too confiding nature. Aurelius knew no guile forgave all enemies to himfelf, unlefs the ftate mould greatly fuffer by his clemency : his charities were boundlefs his generofity noble his hatred of vice deep, but his affections were too firm to difrinclly fee the vice of thofe he * Now erroneoufly called Vienna, in Auftria, but Tertullian fays the death occurred at Sirmich, in Sclavonia, the ftronger authorities fuftain Rabbi Ifaac : and Cartaphilus rejects the idea of Vindobona and Vienna being the fame place. The Vindobona, here named by the Rabbi, and elfewhere mentioned by Car taphilus, can fcarce be faid to be the ancient name of Vienna, the metropolis of Auftria, though doubtlefs that great city was founded in long-after times upon the very fite of the fame Pannonian town on Mons Cetius, in which Philofophos died, and where Caracalla fojourned for a time, indulging in his charafteriftic follies and diverfions. It would feem that whilft Vindobona takes its name chiefly from the river, anciently called Vindo, on which it was fituated, fo is Vienna now known only as Wien. Vindobona, however, being utterly deftroyed, quite five centuries be fore Vienna came into exiftence, the latter city can fcarce claim the former as its parent, or be at all entitled to its ancient name. It is well known that St. Leopold, Marquifs of Auftria, early in the twelfth century, raifed a palace for himfelf on Mount Cetius ; and that from thence gradually fpread fome humble cottages, which in time extended themfelves into a town, and finally into the magnificent city of Vienna ! It would feem, more over, that during moft of the intervening centuries, between the extinction of Vindobona, and the erection by Leopold of his palace, the fite of Vindobona had grown thickly up with birch trees ; and the fpot, from that circumftance, had been familiarly known only by the name of Birkhoff, and even for years after the princely refidence on the hill had caufed many of the trees to be felled, for the raifing of huts and cottages. All this might well have been pafled over, but that the love of very remote paternity and names does fometimes lead to grave miftakes in hiftory, as well as in geography ; which, though the original Chronicles of Cartaphilus amply correct, yet the comparative narrownefs of our felections therefrom would feem to demand an occafional Editorial explanation. I. T T 642 C&ronicles of Cartap{nlu0, century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. loved, his valour was great, but difcreet and the death, even of a Verus, was a veil that fhut out all remembrance of the wrongs he and the empire had received from him. ^he grief at this good Emperor s death was univerfal ; and the honours paid to his memory filled Rome with ftatues and pictures of the " GOOD EMPEROR" which it was the people s delight to call him. The fenate declared all houfes facrilegious that had not fome memento of the " Protedtor and Father of his Country." ^ff the " Meditations" of this philofophical monarch be a faith ful picture of his own virtuous heart, future ages may Equeftnan a jf o contemplate the graces of his perfon and of his fine ftatue of the T a. a. Emperor expremon, in that noble equeltnan itatue we now lee near the dwelling of Annius Verus, the emperor s grandfather. This beautiful ftatue is of Corinthian brafs, gilt with thick leaves of highly burnifhed gold, fo that, when the bright rays of the fun are upon it, the war-horfe and his Imperial rider are fhining, as the gorgeous luminary whofe rays they reflect ! This, of all the equeftrian ftatues to be feen in any land, is the moft beautiful : the animal feems in very motion the Emperor s grace ful limbs have the repofe of a firmly feated rider, blended with the required action : and, in its gilding, the ftatue far furpafles all that heretofore has been known in Italy : but, as is fo often the cafe, it is the work of an Athenian artift. Wealth can command all things, fave genius and virtue thefe are the gifts of heaven, or, if of cir- cumftances, Rome hath never yet manifefted either that thorough knowledge of the arts, or thofe refined virtues, that have fo diftin- guimed the land of Pericles and of Plato ! In this ftatue, the Athenian has as fkilfully portrayed the admirable externals of this great man, and the mind that ever beamed in his face, as he has alfo embodied the very fpirit and graces of the nobleft of all the animals given to man.* COMMODUS. J^ am not willing to foil my papyrus by recording much as to this lufus natura this monfter of loathfome wicked- The elements ne f s this hideoufly compounded human demon, frown upon , r J , r /-T^L j XT his Birth whole aggregate vices were thole or I ibenus and JNero, of Domitian and Caligula and Vitellius combined ! * This ftatue is now to be feen in the Capitoline Square. It was excavated from near the Scala Santa that probably being the fpot where it was firft placed, near the refidence of Annius Verus, as dated by Rabbi Ifaac. After it was brought to light, it had been much neglefted, until the year 14.71 ; when Sixtus IV. placed it before the Church of St. John Lateran ; where it remained until Paul III. in the year 1538, removed it to where it now ftands. The gild ing has almoft wholly difappeared; but may yet be recognized in the mane, and in a few other places. In all other refpefts it is in perfeft prefervation, LH. Cjjc (EOanUermg 3[eto, 643 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. JMn unnatural cruelty, voluptuoufnefs, and other difgufting vices, fuch as Commodus manifefted from early youth, feem to have caufed the very elements to recoil in anticipation of his natal hour, and of the diabolic career he mould purfue, for it is related, and upon no doubtful authority, that at his birth (juft nineteen years before he reached the throne) the parturition was fignalized by many wonder ful diforders in nature, and by many other deplorable calamities ! On the day of his birth, the Tiber fwelled fuddenly ; and fo great was the inundation, that half of Rome was overflowed multitudes of people and of cattle were deftroyed houfes were torn down, and the furrounding country was fo devaftated, that many perifhed by the famine that enfued ! Then came the earthquake ; peftilence foon followed ; and this was accompanied by myriads of noifome and deftru6r.ive infects ; the conflagration of feveral cities early added to the mifery, and laftly, the whole world feemed filled with rumours of war ; which foon thereafter broke out in dangerous rebellions, and nearly at the fame time in many of the provinces ! All of thefe fearful calamities failed not to make a deep and melan choly impreflion upon the mind of his virtuous father ; who, when Commodus had reached only his fifteenth year, faid to fome of his friends, " / much fear the Roman Empire will fcarce be large enough to contain the vices of my fan Commodus!" jjtf few years after this, and at the time of his own laft illnefs, the venerable Philofophos fummoned to his couch his friends, and the officers of his army ; when, taking Commodus by the hand, he made to them all an addrefs fo full of wifdom, of piety, and of paternal feeling, that, had not this gracelefs fon pofTefled a heart of more than adamantine hardnefs, he never could have forgotten fuch heaven-infpired counfels. But he who ruleth the nations faw that it would be feed caft upon a bare rock. ^^ome had been greatly blefled by five good emperors fuc- ceffively ; who, during full eighty years, had done all that Pagan minds could accomplim for the happinefs and folid grandeur of their people : but unhappily, it is fometimes in the power of one mif- creant to deftroy, in a few years, what even angels may have raifed with care, in almoft as many ages ! and fo was it with Commodus ; who, during a mifchievous reign of only twelve years, hath planted wounds in the empire that may never admit of cure ! J^o many and various were the vices of this emperor, that even a ftale enumeration of them would fill many leaves, and crowd them with fuch horrors that, methinks, the ^^"Af/^ words, when flitting through my pen, muft fhrink and v i c j ous Life. blum, and even weep at being fo ignobly ufed ! Truly, and is the more valuable, as it is the only bronze equeftrian ftatue that has come down to us from thefe ancient times. 644 CfjrontCleS Of CartapfrilUS, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. language doth hate to embody thoughts fo foul, as thofe that muft arife when Commodus is fpoken of, for he was anomalous in every abominable iniquity unnatural in his incontinence fhamelefs in his lewdnefs, in his feaftings, and in his bathings loathfome in all his follies utterly odious in his inceftuous outrages and often fo gratuitous in his homicides, that the very demons rejoiced at his recklefs wafte of life, and doubtlefs were envious that a mortal (hould be more prolific in cruel devices than they ! He defecrated his temples by blood, by voluptuoufnefs, and by filthy crimes he frequented the forums as a vagrant pedlar of fmall wares he openly rioted with filly and hateful courtezans he gambolled with idol gladiators he drove his chariot in his menial s coarfeft attire he D fought with toothlefs lions and tigers, for the amufement of the merely vulgar he reckleffly difplayed his great ftrength and varied fkill upon every occafion, and his feats of agility and of fuper- human prowefs and power were at the option of every gaping fpe&ator, all of which, had they been directed by a noble fpirit, would have given aflurance that he might have been as fignal a blefiing, as he conftantly was a foul curfe to his fuffering country. (Commodus maintained no lefs than three hundred concubines encountered the gladiators not lefs than feven hundred times gloried in the daily difplay of his odious impieties and fearful cruelties, efpecially in the fencing fchools he bartered away his provinces for gold feized upon and confifcated to his own ufe the eftates of the moft worthy citizens murdered his wife Crifpina alfo his coufm Fauftina, and many of the moft illuftrious of the nobility permitted condemned criminals to efcape, for money paid to himfelf, or to his favourites he fold the right of private revenge to thofe favourites caft one of his fervants into a burning furnace, merely for acci dentally overheating his bath and cauled a certain learned man to be thrown to wild beafts, only for the offence of reading the life of Caligula by Suetonius ! Some perfons he mutilated in a foot, or in an eye, and then would fportively name them his monopodii^ and his lufcinii ! The factitious fervices of Mithras and of Bellona he commanded to be real woundings, and actual homicides the Priefts of Ifis being compelled by him to lacerate their breafts, not feem- ingly, but truly and the barbers were ordered to cut ofF ears and nofes, as if by accident ! (Commodus forfook his own, and his father s name, and took that of Hercules the fon of Jupiter, and, in conformity thereto, he abandoned the Imperial habiliments, and aflumed the lion s (kin, and the maffive club ! He collected all the cripples, and the poor fick of Rome, tied to the feet of each fuch appliances as made them look like the fabled giants; and then giving them large fponges, bade them defend themfelves againft the Emperor who in turn beat them to death with his ponderous club ! LII. c&c W&nbttinQ 3Ieto, 645 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. tyrant, wearied with thefe diabolic fancies, next afTumed the habit of an Amazon ; in which he difplayed much valorous agility : he changed the names of Auguft and September to thofe of " Commodus" and " Hercules ;" and to the remaining months he affigned other names ! JH t fome public folemnity the demented Commodus, fancying that the people derided him, ordered a maflacre of all prefent ; and that fire fhould inftantly be fet to the City, which, fortunately, efcaped, through the intrepidity of one of his guards ! Growing ftill more mad with Satanic influences, this monfter refolved to dif- play himfelf naked before the whole city, and, in that condition, to fence as a gladiator ! This refolution, however, though in per- fecl harmony with his odious charadter, feems to have been the only thing that awakened thofe around him with a loathing indig nation. His favourite concubine, Marcia, and alfo Ele6tus, his chamberlain, and Laetus, his general, remonftrated openly againft the difgufting exhibition of himfelf, as a degradation that even imperial power could not endure. The enraged tyrant ordered them inftantly to quit his prefence, and then recorded their names with fome others, whom he deftined for death that night ! This done in fecret, he retired at noon to his chamber, and flept, as was his daily cuftom. ^^ut the demon s hour had come, for a little boy, whom he much loved, and who was the only being who ever had accefs to his private apartment, had been playing there be- jsJJm fore the Emperor repofed on his couch ; and the door was clofed without the youth being feen. When Commodus flept, the boy innocently took up the fatal fcroll of names, and this fell into the hands of Marcia, who at once underftood its import ! Lastus and Eledlus were foon apprifed of their common danger : their minds were promptly made up that the Emperor fhould die, whereupon they firft contrived to poifon, and then they ftrangled him. Thus perimed Commodus, in the thirty-firft year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign. In him were extinguished the /Elian and the Aurelian families as the Julian had been in Nero and the Vefpafian in Domitian. [A.D. 192.] PERTINAX. (ommodus had been a favourite with none, fave with the venal Praetorian cohorts, whom he had further cor- rupted, as the neceflary minifters of his defpotic power, t/^ Emt>ire and of his exaggerated vices. It therefore became eflential to conceal from them the caufe of the Emperor s death ; and Laetus gave out that he had died of apoplexy. , in the 6gth year of his age, was then living in retire- 646 CftfOnicleS Of CartapfrilU0, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. ment in the vicinity of Rome daily looking for death at the tyrant s fummons. At midnight, he was roufed by Laetus and others ; and, as they entered his chamber, Pertinax bade them "Jlrike him without further delay" he fuppofmg them to be mef- fengers of death from Commodus ! Being informed, however, of all things, and of their earneft defire to make him Emperor, he yielded with great reluctance, and was forthwith proclaimed with acclamation, for his renown was very great, as he had raifed him- felf by wonderful merit from obfcurity and poverty, he being the fon of a manumitted flave, and himfelf, at one time, a coal manu- fa6tor, and then a teacher of Greek his education having been very liberal, and from one of thofe circumftances that fometimes fortunately cherifh the dawning career of genius. ^|3ertinax afterwards took to the ftudy of Law ; in which he made great proficiency ; but fhortly after he had become a public pleader, he forfook it for a military life, for which his impaflioned foul had long ardently panted ; and Antoninus Pius was quick in perceiving his extraordinary merit. Becoming foon diftinguimed in arms, he was made conful by Philofophos, and next governor of Mcefia and Dacia. Commodus, early after he came to the throne, baniflied him ; but foon recalling him, he was fent to Britain, thence to Africa; in both of which countries he corrected many abufes in the army. On his return to Rome, the tyrant made him praefeft of the City. ^j3ertinax, however, early perceived that his life was held at the hourly caprice of his nominal patron and this was the ftate of things, when he was thus fuddenly called to the Empire. ^he reign of Pertinax lafted only three months, but they were marked by a continued fucceflion of wife enactments and good deeds, that promifed glory and happinefs to his much-exhaufted country. The fenate and people fmcerely loved him ; but virtue was odious to the Praetorians and efpecially that virtue of Per tinax by which the public revenues were preferved; and they hated him the more, as they had recently afcertained the true caufe of the death of Commodus, who fo largely had miniftered to their vices, but of whofe fudden death they could accufe neither Per tinax nor his friends, until the fa<5t was revealed (fufHcient for them) that though Pertinax was wholly innocent, his friends had robbed them of their diabolic Emperor ! ^Ji^ome is too vaft and various not to generate deeds that mould mame humanity; but thefe happen fo often, that afto- a tinax nifhment can never be of long continuance. The death of Pertinax was, indeed, a political phenomenon. Wonderful ! that in open day in the face of all Rome with no fpecial exciting caufe, a beloved and merciful ruler, the fucceflbr of a hated tyrant a great captain a venerable old man, one who LII. c&e bannering Jeto, 647 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. fought not the Empire, mould be murdered by a few Praetorians, in all not exceeding three hundred, and this, too, when they and all Rome knew that the city teemed with his friends ! Truly was Pertinax called the Tennis-Ball of Fortune ; for his life was full of brilliant fuccefTes, and unmerited reverfes, and his death, at a ripe old age, was met by him with that dignified fubmiffion, which an exalted virtue can alone confer. [March 28, A.D. 193.] DIDIUS JULIANUS. nation that had not virtue enough to fhrink with horror from the crimes of a Commodus, nor courage and conduct enough to punifli the murderers of a Pertinax, was deeply corrupt, and feemed on the very confines of a degrading political death. The fenators and nobles were panic-ftruck ; they haftened to their dwell ings, and fortified them : others retreated to their eftates and caftles in the country hourly expecting that the furious Praetorians would aflault them, whereas, thefe very foldiers were themfelves greatly alarmed, and had precipitately fought their camps, and fortified their ramparts and trenches looking for the juft vengeance of their natural mafters ! But the Empire was difeafed its vital energies were fufpended a foul corruption (during the odious twelve years ofmifrule under Commodus) had palfied every nerve, and degraded the general mind. ^]he Praetorians, however, were quick to perceive who were now the actual mafters of Rome s deftinies : for, though thefe foldiers of many wars, and now of the voluptuous *** Em P ire i i r rr i 111- -i i expo ed to camps, had lurrered much by their great privileges, and /^ , by their relaxed difcipline, yet the Senate, the Nobles, and the People were themfelves without energy, and wholly defti- tute of unity of action. Hence, in two fliort days, all alarm had ceafed in the camps, and the infolence of thefe Praetorians became as fupreme, as was now their a6lual power ! None dared to attack them none even ventured to whifper that Pertinax had been un- juftly flain : and what immediately followed this panic, hath not its prototype fince government firft began, for thefe now lawlefs and daring foldiers ifiued a Proclamation, and diffufed it over the whole city, declaring " The Empire to be on fale, and would be difpofed of to whomfoever would give the mo/} for it!" Gold, vile gold was now their fole mammon their country their god ! Roman va lour and virtue and patriotifm were all extinct. ^|ut riches, too, were well-nigh gone ; for Commodus had left but few wealthy perfons in all Rome ! Sulpician and Didius Julia- nus, however, were rich merchants^ and the latter was by far the moft wealthy individual in the whole Imperial City ! 648 Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, Century \\\. Rabbi liaac s Narrative. n the Proclamation reached Rome, I was then feated with Julian, his wife, and daughter, together with fome friends at dinner. My intimate knowledge of the Greek language had introduced me into his family, as his daughter s inftructor. The guefts, no little excited by the lufcious wines that freely circulated, and ftill more by the felfifh expectation of reaping great advantages, mould Julian become Emperor, immediately befet him with flattery and much entreaty that he mould offer for the empire ! Cfty advanced age, and the great refpect Julian bore me, caufed him to eye me keenly for a moment, and he then faid, " My vene rable Rabbi, the Jews are much (killed in all bargains ; would this, which my friends now urge upon me, be a profitable purchafe ? " " ^()idius Julianus !" faid I firmly, " it is foul facrilege : all government, whether of Jews or of Pagans, is of God, through the unbiaffed expreflion of the People s will, or, by other known means of His appointment, or permiflion : all others are of Baal- zebul, and muft foon perifli. Money may buy cattle, and lands, yea, all the goods of life, fave two things a good confcience, and lawful empire ! " jff loud and contemptuous laugh burft forth from the guefts ; and then all were filently gazing upon their hoft, eager for fome expreflion of his opinion. Julian was grandfon of the great lawyer of that name ; and was not without talent and education. He had filled offices, military as well as civil, but money was now the idol of his heart avarice had made great inroads into his otherwife fair character ; and Ju lian, in profound filence, received the flattering gaze, and the eager expectation of all around him. " I P rav tnee not to lfe tne opportunity of fo noble a purchafe," at length, faid his fon-in-law, the impatient Repautinus " for the Roman Empire is truly a pricelefs jewel : but thou, O Didius Ju lianus, haft more of ready money than any other Roman, haften thee to the camp, and bargain inftantly with the foldiers then will the diadem and power and money, all, furely be thine ! " Julian s eyes fparkled with delight ; for though avaricious and even penuri ous, he loved power ; and hoped that, even as an invejiment, the fum to be paid might bring him large ufury !* *^he Praetorian camps were foon reached ; and there Julianus . found his competitor Sulpician, actively engaged in foli- tm hTd c i tm g tne foldiers, and in lavifhing on them promifes of a large fum, and of many favours and rewards mould * The Rabbi Ifaac s fliort account of Didius Julianus career is fuftained in every particular by the hiftorians of the time, except as to the prefence of the worthy Jew in the family of the afpiring merchant. Seffion LIT. C&C Wm Qttin^ Jefo, 649 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. the empire become his. But Sulpician was feared by them, not only as being the fon-in-law of the very Pertinax whom they had flain, but efpecially as they doubted his ability to pay the required price. Julian had no fuch impediments ; and his immenfe wealth being known, his liberal promifes inftantly decided the matter. Julian being proclaimed emperor, entered Rome in military array at the head of ten thoufand cohorts, and amidft the fhouts of the venal foldiers, whofe warlike implements were brandifhed by them in wild exultation. The delighted Emperor parted on to the Senate Chamber, with the undoubting confidence that wealth alone could now infpire deigning not to wafte his breath in a fpeech be yond a fingle line " You need an Emperor^ and Dldius Julianus is the fitteft p erf on you can choofef" for thefe were his filly words though Julianus generally was not filly, but was then befotted with the hope of power and of boundlefs wealth. ^hus was the vaft and once moft glorious of empires purchafed, as a thing of mere traffic : and at that great fale were found but two bidders, who either defired, or had the means to effecl: the purchafe, paltry as the fum really was ! jf-js the new emperor entered the palace, he encountered the forfaken and mutilated body of Pertinax, and likewife the frugal fupper that had awaited him at the moment the hoftile Praetorians had fuddenly rufhed upon him ! for neither the corpfe nor the repaft had been obferved by any, amidft the panic mixed with exultation, which the fad event, and the quick elevation of a fucceflor had occafioned ! Julian now was too much dazzled by the rich jewel he had bought, to heed the lifelefs body he had juft patted : and the fimple entertainment prepared for the good Pertinax, in no way fuited the newly inflamed mind of the Merchant-Emperor ! jjPJ magnificent banquet was foon in readinefs, at which Julian and his friends feafted till a late hour, and afterwards amufed themfelves with dice, and the performances of fome noted dancers. Julian, neverthelefs, could not diveft himfelf of his darling avarice, and though mild and courteous, and given to no cruelty, (for thefe coft no money,) he could not be as faithful to his promifes made in the praetorian camps, as had been relied on, and which poffibly were then made in perfect fincerity. This early occafioned difcontent ; and, moreover, the public mind now began to think and to reafon ; which could not but prove unfavourable to the {lability of a throne fo obtained. Roman pride and patriotifm feebly revived and the people foon learned to hate Julian, when compared with Pertinax. They alfo fufpecled him, though with no caufe, of being fomewhat acceflary to the death ; and fome were prompt to declare that " Didius Julianus ftole the Empire" others openly infulted him ; his foes daily increafed, and at length even the Praetorians 650 Chronicles of Cartapfriius, century Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. began to deteft him for avaricious meannefs, and for the cowardly endurance of the people s infolence. *^hefe manifestations were quickly followed by the people s acclamation, at the public games, that Picenius Niger then governor in Syria mould be emperor ; and Julianus feemed entirely fubmif- five to the popular will ! jjEfbout the fame time, however, SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, an ex perienced warrior at the head of the German legions in Three Em- p anno nia, refolved to revenge the death of Pertinax, claimed an< ^ * r ^ t ^ le countr y or " the foul ftain caft upon it by the purchafe of the empire. The Pannonian legions inftantly proclaimed Severus emperor, who then afTumed the re vered name of Pertinax ; and with the utmoft expedition he haftened towards the Imperial City. Here, then, were three Emperors ! Julian, at Rome, terrified, indeed, into almoft total inaction. Niger, at Antioch, rioting in luxury, and nothing doubting but that the honours paid him by the army, and by all the furrounding kings and governors, had made the diadem irrevocably his, and laftly, the energetic Septimius Severus, fpeeding on with his army to the gates of Rome, the avowed avenger of the death of Pertinax ! ^J^he matter was foon decided. The Senate wifely decreed that " He was unworthy to govern, who, not only failed to defend by his arms the Empire, but who had bafely fought protection even from the Veftals, and had prayed that Severus Jhould unite in the empire with him." ffi^efort to the Virgins had never been made by any one fave in the laft extremity, and hence Severus well knew that Julian muft now be wholly powerlefs. ^he Senate loft no time in unanimoufly difpofing of the fate of the impotent Merchant-Monarch, and in ratifying the ea ,- J u ~ fele&ion made by the Pannonian army. But the out rage done to the Empire in the murder of Pertinax, and the purchafe of the diadem at auction, could not be appeafed by the mere depofition of the venal Julianus : the Senate went further, and promptly difpatched perfons to flay him. As the meflengers of death entered his palace, they found him already forfaken by all but a few friends, and he weeping as an abandoned child ! When his executioners announced to him their errand, Julianus exclaimed " What crime have I committed whom have I Jlain ? " ^j^hus ended the fhort reign of Didius Julianus, Rome s twen tieth emperor, after poflefling the throne only fixty and fix days, who, had he remained content with his more humble ftation of a wealthy merchant, would have lived happy and honoured, and have faved Rome an ignominy, the remembrance of which will never perifh. [June 5 A. D. 193.] LH. f)0 flftlantiermjj 31^ 651 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. ^he difficulties and miferies that came upon me by the death of Julianus, (who had remained kind to me during his fleet ... and fatuous dream of royal power,) together with the in- retirement * firmities of my faft approaching old age, admonifhed me that Rome could now no longer be my abode : and this was foon confirmed, when I early perceived in Severus not merely the rigid difcipline of a good foldier, the induftry and activity of a Hadrian and Antoninus combined, but the feverity and cruelty of a revengeful, crafty, and jealous tyrant. I therefore fought retirement here in Lugdunum, where I have refided, now more than a decade of years moft willing to forget the unholy three years I had fpent in the family of the rich merchant at Rome, and, for a few months, in the palace of an Emperor fo ill fuited for empire as the deluded Didius Julianus. ^fn Lugdunum, peace and health cheated age, for a time, of her infirmities : my hours were devoted to my former Rabbinical ftudies, ever watchful, however, for an opportunity to lay my body within the limits, or as near the confines, of Paleftine, as well might be for no Jew fails to figh for burial in the " land of delights " a country on which the God of Abraham hath lavifhed and for our ungrateful people more beauties than may be found in any other region known to man, though it might be of twenty times its extent ! But the unfettled ftate of Roman affairs, and the many dangers I mould encounter, have ftill detained me here. *tK ne new Emperor had the earlieft intelligence of Julian s fate> and of the Senate s promptnefs in regard to himfelf, both of which occurred whilft he was approaching the City : and before he entered the walls, he had ordered the Praetorians inftantly to appear before him, and without their arms ! This command was promptly obeyed ; and they came with branches of laurel, to do him homage, fearing for their lives, but yet hoping that their joyful obfervance of his order would fo pleafe him, as to win his clemency. All gazed upon the fcene with intenfe anxiety ; for to none were the Emperor s defigns in the leaft known. j^everus addrefled them in a fhort fpeech, feverely reproaching them for their cruel perfidy to his venerated friend Pertinax a blefling and an honour to the empire their beft friend, and Rome s devoted friend. He then directed that they mould all be inftantly ftripped of their military habiliments deprived of the very name of foldiers, and be forthwith banimed for life, not lefs than one hundred miles from Rome. This done, Severus entered the gates with his whole army ; and received from the Senate the cuftomary honours. 652 C&ronfcies of Cartapfrilu.s, century Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. to his word, the new Emperor made a folemn and gorgeous funeral for the lamented Pertinax ; and declared that he not only now afTumed his revered Name, but would imitate his fignal Virtues ; and that the maxims of Antoninus Philofophos mould be his guide in all matters of juftice and of clemency ! Promifes, how ever, are eafily made they are but breath ; performances are diffi cult, and are enduring fubftances : and fo was it with Severus, for his now two names, and in their moft odious fenfe, foon became faithfully defcriptive of his character, fo that what Spartianus faid of him was well faid that " he is vere Pertinax vere Severus ; " and yet this Emperor, though thus laconically and accurately por trayed, had fome virtues of another fort. *^he firft care of Severus was to crufh Picennius Niger in the Eaft who there was ftill called Emperor. He alfo C Albinus f eare d Clodius Albinus, commander of the legions in Britain. Both of thefe men were diftinguifhed foldiers, ambitious, and at the head of powerful forces, though the former had lately been more of a voluptuary, than a general. ^J^he Emperor s policy, therefore, was to promptly war with the one, and to conciliate, for a time, the other : and hence he appointed Albinus Caefar, and his fuccefTor fending him a moft flattering letter, but againft Niger, he marched with a vaft and well appointed army. The ftruggle proved more defperate than had been expected ; but Niger fell. Antioch, the feat of his empire, was nearly demolimed the enemies of Severus were forely dealt with his friends moft generoufly rewarded : and, after a fucceflion of great victories, and the eftablifhment of all the Eaftern provinces in their allegiance, Severus next refolved to deftroy Albinus, who ftill continued in the Weft. Haftening towards Italy, the Emperor palled through Byzantium, which he levelled to the earth, for having impeded his progrefs when marching againft Niger.* ^he war with Albinus was a fierce one, much of which greatly moved me ; for, though Severus was a great foldier, and the empire then needed one, his character was odious to me, and I feared him. Here, in Lugdunum, five years ago, I beheld from the city walls the two armies in dread preparation : a bloody conteft for empire was about to enfue, and fuch a one foon took place one that Roman chronicles can, perhaps, fcarce record its like. From * Byzantium remained in ruins more than 130 years; when it was rebuilt by Conftantine the Great, with extreme magnificence, who then gave it his name, and transferred to it the i eat of his empire. Rome never furvived the mock confequent upon the removal of the Court ; and 146 years after this, the Weftern Empire fell a prey to the Barbarians. Constantinople became a great city, and continued under the Byzantine emperors until the year 1492, when the Saracens became its mafter, and all things were changed. LH. c&e oaan&ering; 3|eto. 653 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. the City walls we beheld the Imperial troops retreating in much confufion, though 150,000 ftrong ! We heard the fhouts of vi6lory from the enemy ; the Emperor s horfe fell under him, and all feemed loft : but fuddenly, Laetus appeared with new forces, Severus was again on horfe, he charged upon the enemy with fuch fury and exactnefs, that the victory was inftantly plucked from the hands of Albinus, who fought refuge within the walls of Lugdunum ! Severus rufhed into the city Clodius Albinus was made prifoner, his head fevered, and his body caft into the Rhone, with thofe of his wife and children ; whilft his head was fent in triumph to Rome ! [A. D. 197.] ^he Emperor returned to the Imperial City in great glory the empire was now his no lefs by conqueft, than by free gift, all was fecure, and nothing remained but to reap the legitimate fruits of his triumph : and yet Severus, like Commodus, bafely {looped to corrupt the Praetorians, on whom he lavifhed bribes, and unufual honours permitting them to marry ; and, even as knights, to wear golden rings a privilege before unheard-of! Thefe inno vations upon the ancient difcipline are now regarded by very many as the fureft prefage of Rome s fpeedy downfall a fact more alarming, indeed, to the few who reflect, than are all the other outrages committed by thefevere Severus. ^0 the aftonifhment of all, and the grief of many, Severus has lately honoured the memory of the infamous Commodus called him brother, and even ranked him among their gods ! Rome then indeed had triple caufe to tremble; for the adherents of Albinus, and alfo the Niger faction, were ftill numerous and wealthy, many of both fexes were therefore put to death by Severus, and others were robbed of their ample pofTellions, for the Emperor worfhips mammon with far more devotion than any other of his gods. His victories were indeed brilliant ; and for thefe he had conferred upon him the titles of " Arabicus " " Parthicus " and " Adiabenuus ; " and the Senate and people alfo erected to him a magnificent Triumphal Arch, near the entrance from the Forum into the Capitol, upon which are recorded the hiftory of thofe famous victories, but in fculptured devices of lefs artiftic merit, than may elfewhere be feen.* * This Arch was alfo dedicated to the Emperor s two fons ; but after Cara- calla had murdered Geta in the arms of his mother, the inlcription as to Geta was erafed and probably by his unnatural brother, when he became full Em peror. This ftrufture confifts of a grand central arch, with a fmaller one upon each fide, and of four columns on both fronts. The whole arch is highly decorated, but, as the good Rabbi intimates, the fculptures are quite inferior, and leem to indicate either great hafte, or a manifeft decline of the art. The folid parts are yet perfect ; but the infcriptions and ornaments are much de- 654 CftrOmClCS Of CattapjriiU.S, Century HI. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. nd here I have again the painful duty to record the terrific . cruelties once more revived againft the Nazarenes. the Chriftians During tne emperor s late abfence, Plautian (whofe daughter Plautlna had married the Emperor s eldeft fon Baffianus Caracalla) was made praefet of Rome. Severus had long been greatly attached to this Plautian ; and repofed in him an entire confidence. "t feems that fome Chriftians, and a few of the nobility, had given Plautian great offence, and, without confulting either the Emperor, or the Senate, this Prefect ordered many of them to inftant death ! This great outrage by the mere governor of a city, excited the Chriftians deeply, and caufed the famous Tertullian to addrefs an Apology refpeting Chriftians to the Senate and Magiftrates of the empire. Fortunate for this valiant champion of the Nazarenes, Tertullian was a man of great influence, and highly beloved in Rome. By birth an African, (as were alfo Plautian and Severus,) his genius and learning were well known ; for he had been educated to the law was a popular and fpirited reafoner, though not a very profound one, was extremely eloquent and impafiioned, and alfo a moft able writer in the language of the Romans, and well verfed likewife in the learning of the Greeks. The " Apology," moreover, being boldly and zealoufly written, and with all the burning eloquence which the ardent fun of his native country fo ufually imparts, was well received by thofe to whom it was ad- drefled, and greatly tended to mitigate the erroneous and inflamed notions, entertained by fo many, refpecling thefe Chriftians. jH bout this time was it that the Emperor returned ; and never having countenanced any feverities againft thofe people, he feemed difpleafed with what Plautian had done. But, in the following year, it being then the tenth of his reign, Severus, to the furprife of all, and without any admonition, or apparent caufe, iflued a moft fevere decree againft the Jews, as well as the Chriftians which is now the Fifth Perfecution of the Nazarenes by formal decree, or of a general nature. r ^hus far, the emperor s decree has been fo zealoufly executed, and with fuch favage ferocity, as to caufe thofe unhappy TJtMft P e P! e to re S ard Severus a9 what the X call > Antichrtfl^ this being, according to the Nazarene faith, either fome great, but falfe prophet, or prophets, that would appear under pretence of being the true Mefliah, or, fome powerful ruler a faced. At one time it was almoft buried by the debris of the furrounding buildings ; but it has recently been entirely relieved of them, and cleanfed. The accurate and beautiful engravings of Bartoli will preferve, for ever, the appearance of this ftrufture, and poffibly to more advantage than as it came from the hands of the fculptors. Cfje <KJant>ering 3ieto* 655 Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. foe and perfecutor of their religion : and this latter idea is now at tached to the Emperor, and is faid to have been firft given out in that Book of John, that is called REVELATION ! With thefe mat ters I, as a Jew, would have no concern : but, with thefe perfecu- tions, be they of Chriftians, or of Jews, I am bound as a man to abhor them ; and therefore do I greatly venerate Tertullian, for the earneft and intrepid defence he hath made. X) urm tne two years that have parted fmce this perfecution commenced, I have witnefled fcenes of atrocious cruelty, and heard of others, that often made me think that men and demons differ but in name. With Irenaeus, the late bifhop of Lugdunum, my acquaintance was not flight during my whole fojourn here ; and, though he a Chriftian and I a Jew, he ever fhamed me by the fweet harmony with which he blended uncommon firmnefs, exalted genius, and varied learning, with an equally pure humility, charity, and benevolence towards the whole human family ! When firft I came to Lugdunum, I found the good Irenaeus had been eftablifhed here many years ; and that, as the fucceflbr of that Pothinus who fuffered martyrdom near the clofe of the reign of Philofophos, the pious Irenaeus was ever prepared to (hare the fate of thofe who become eminent in the Chriftian caufe. He was a difciple of the great Polycarp, bifhop of Smyrna ; and came to Rome in the time of Antoninus Pius, nearly twenty years before he was made bifhop of Lugdunum. The greateft of his works is that written by him againft Chriftian Herefies, confifting of five books portions of which I have read, from my great refpedt for Irenaeus, and to the no fmall furprife, and fometimes anger, of my countrymen. His very name (which im ports peace] truly indicates the native mildnefs of his tempers, and the foftnefs of his demeanour : but neither the name nor the virtue could fave him : and, in the firft year of the prefent perfecution, I witnefled the beheading of that venerable old man ! \Jjftor^ bifhop of Rome, and Leonidas^ father of the well-known Origen, perifhed in fupport of their faith a fhort time before Ire naeus. But, of all the painful fcenes of thofe fearful times, none will compare with the death of Rhals her mother Marcella, and of her virgin fifter Potameina ! So terrific were the orders given as to all of them, that Bafilides^ the officer appointed for their exe cution, peremptorily refufed obedience ! The fat, however, was, that Bafilides was himfelf more than half a Chriftian : and, when the people heard him fo boldly reject the cuftomary oath, and alfo declare that no faith had he in any of Rome s gods but much in that of the defpifed Chriftians, their furprife and rage became fo furious, that they inftantly dragged him before the magiftrate ; and foon after he was numbered among the beheaded. The order, 656 Chronicles of Cartap&ilus, Century m. Rabbi Ifaac s Narrative. however, refpecling Rhais, her mother, and fifter, was then fiercely executed : boiling pitch was poured over them ; and in that ftate they were fet on fire, and confumed to afhes ! jl-\ nd now to return to Plautian, who was doubtlefs the author . of the firft move againft the Chriftians, and after- r P ,[^ utian wards ftimulated the Emperor to iffue the fatal decree. Confpiracy. . . v rlautian s influence over beverus was very great; and, as he had caufed the mifchief, I muft not forbear to detail his own ludden and merited fate, which happened only a few weeks ago. ^he marriage of the Emperor s fon Baflianus (fometimes called Caracalla) with Plautina, the daughter of Plautian, had ever been againft the wifhes of that fon, who had yielded only to the ftrong defire of Severus, and from his great attachment to the maiden s father. The hufband s neglect of his wife, which foon followed, caufed Plautian s deepeft hatred of Caracalla, which was not flow to extend itfelf to the Emperor, fo long the Pras fe& s moft confiding friend ! Plautian then fafhioned what he thought an artful confpiracy, for the fure deftru&ion of both, and for his own elevation to the throne ! But the treafon was revealed to Severus ; who, at firft, made very light of it believing it to be little elfe than a bafe fiction of his own defperately wicked fon Caracalla, that he might be revenged on Plautian. When the matter, how ever, was made too obvious for doubt, the Tribune, who had been faithlefs to the traitor, was ordered by the Emperor to bring Plautian, on a certain occafion, with him to the palace. The Tribune thereupon appeared fuddenly before Plautian ; and with apparent joy, blended with alarm, told him that he had juft (lain Severus and Caracalla ! and that, if he would pleafe accompany him forthwith to their well-fecured chamber in the Imperial Palace, he would find their bodies there, ready for fecret removal ! He then faluted Plautian with exulting flattery, and hailed him as Emperor ! That which is ardently defired is often eafily believed fo that Plautian was foon with the Tribune at the chamber-door : it readily yielded to their means of opening it ; and lo, in the midft of a blaze of light flood Severus and Caracalla, among many friends ! *^he Emperor at once faw the traitor s deep confufion ; and demanded to know " w bat great concern ofjiate, or otherwife, had brought Plautian into the Emperor s chamber, in the depth of night?" Reply was, of courfe, impoflible and, confefling his odious ingra titude, he ftill fued for mercy: but the furious Caracalla waited not his father s anfwer, and inftantly plunged his fword deep into the traitor s body. [A. D. 203.] HERE ENDS THE NARRATIVE OF THE RABBI ISAAC, AND THE RETROSPECT OF CARTAPHILUS. APPENDIX. A. See ante, page In. for the Editor s reasons that caused this Letter to be inserted here out of Chronological Order. LETTER CCIX. ISAAC LAKEDION TO HENRY CORNELIUS AGRIPPA. Paris, December 5th, 1535. WICE only have we met, since, in Colonia Agrippina, thy wondrous fame first urged me to come into thy presence un bidden and then to seek of thee a revelation of a matter (through thy somewhat Elcusinian mysteries !) a revelation very dear to me, though at that time the matter sought of thee had been clothed during many ages by the usually oblivious veil of time, but which, the multitude around thee said and believed, was fully within thy competency to clearly unfold to me by thy Magic Mirror ; and which my then diseased mind caused me to yield the fullest credence unto thee ! Much didst thou wonder and disturb me thereby, for a time : but it ended, as thou wilt never forget, in my unfolding a far greater marvel unto thee, than the one I sought of thy magic, when thou wert told who LAKEDION truly is ; but which won from thee only an ungracious intimation that thou didst greatly dread me, and far more than ever thou shouldst probably love me ! * But, my Agrippa, (thanks to our subsequent interviews at Antiverp, and at Grenoble as likewise thanks to the growing enlightenment of our times, and to the increasing charities of the intervening years) thou hast since learned to know me somewhat better; and hence to regard me more justly: but still, whether my tale thou believest more than I do thy Necromancy ; or, whether thou dost yet regard what I first told thee, as only a rank hal lucination of bad digestion, and of a foul brain, I wot not ; nor would it in any wise surprise or vex Lakedion, who hath seen too much of man s ano- * See ante, pages xi. to xvi. of the LEGEND for the matter alluded to. I. U U 658 Cjjtoniclest of CartapF)ilu0, Century Chief objects of the Letter The Magic Mirror. inalous mental developments, through all the ages, to expect either credu lity, or incredulity, from his fellows since extremes so often meet, the credulous-ignorant becoming often the most incredulous, and the incredu lous-learned equally often the most credulous ! I have also found, O Agrippa, that sometimes the learned (as thou surely art) are more than credulous in all that regards physics ; and yet are over flowing with rank pyrrhonism in all that concerns mind and morals and especially in things divine : hence would I not quarrel with thee or others, for looking upon the tattered and much despised and ever " WANDERING JEW," as nothing else, or better, than some poor and mind-besotted crea ture, whose early life had overcharged his brain with knowledges, which the feebleness of his after years could ill sustain, and under which he now hath sunk ! If such be thy thought of me, tis well ; and Lakedion will not strive to dislodge it : but that it is not wholly thine now, I do believe ; (though day unto day, and night unto night, give assurance that others so regard him) for ISAAC, whom the street-boys, and the hangers-on around cathe drals, do so rudely sport with, is now happy in learning from thy letter, that knowledge is sought of him, even by thee as thou wouldst know of him his matured thoughts respecting some matters, of high moment unto thee and others during these troublous times. Thy recent letter invites from me some further particulars in regard to the views intimated by me, and which then so greatly wondered thee, as to the Necessary Origin of Sin the Essential Free-agency of man the Absolute Oneness of Deity and yet the essential Tripersonate Nature of God ! opi nions (except the third) at one time, abhorred by me, as thousands during the early Roman empire, and myriads since, in all Arabia, could have tes tified of me, had they but known who Cartaphilus, at divers times Ahas- uerus at others then Josephus, and now Lakedion, was, and is ! a re velation to be fully made by him, only when he is on the confines of the latter days, not, indeed, of the world, but of those that border upon the ante-millennial period.* At all this, my Agrippa, thou wilt smile ; but not with more incredulity than I do, and possibly thyself, at all of thy so called magical, but most in genious, devices and incantations, by thy famed Mirror f especially those * [From this it would seem, that Cartaphilus designed the present ample reve lation of himself, more than three hundred years ago.] f In that remarkable volume, issued by Mr. George Sinclair, as late as 1769, (then Professor of Philosophy in the College of Glasgow) entitled " THE INVISIBLE WORLD DISCOVERED," we find the marvellous Gullibility of Man the false philo- tophy of the thing called Witchcraft and the little Common Sense that guided the judicial mind of most countries, and the then lamentable ignorance in all classes of life, from the throne to the hovel ! The Professor s work contains forty-two distinct " RELATIONS " of the wonderful Doings of Satan and his attendants : to all of which the worthy philosopher accords his unqualified belief! and this, too, in the early part of the Third George s reign ! But more modern observation, a little Science and Art, a little more knowledge of Ventriloquism, and some acquain tance with the mischievous contrivances of needy and wicked persons, reveal the solution of all that so much disturbed the then public mind, and which a short time before had consigned so many to the fagot and names ! The revelations of Carta- Letter ccrx. Cf)0 22JanH0ring 31efo, Appendix A. 659 His promised Orthodoxy Opinion as to the Reformation. of thy earlier life ; which, if they wonder the world, cause the people to ascribe to thee yet ampler powers ; and which, for a time, though they so greatly dismayed even Lakedion, are still destined to pass as unstaining from posterity s mind, as they soon did from mine own. But, my Agrippa, as thou wilt see and hear of me no further after this, I will now freely communicate unto thee, (but not elaborately in a volume,) my views on the questions sent of thee trusting that the " CURSED ONE," hath not erred now in either of the three matters sought of him by thee and believing, moreover, that his faith in all others, will eventually become as orthodox, as he feels himself to be wholly so in these, and yet further, that the unhappy Jew, whose home hath been in every region, and whose faiths have been various, like men s specific forms and complexions, will then continue as stable as the rock of Calpe, and become as famed for pu rity, as once they were for every poisonous mixture ! And now, O Agrippa, let me assure thee that even the great " REFOR MATION," so rife at this time, and glorious as it surely is, doth still partake of humanity ; and that although some ages may be lost in time s abyss, be fore Luther s mighty work shall be wholly purged of dross, and leave naught but a pure residuum, the time will come when it shall ripen into that per fect copy, whose prototype can be found only among a few who lived and taught in the first, or Holy Century ! Doubt it not, my Agrippa, that the Latin Church, and its early offspring, the Greek Church, as likewise all of the Oriental Christian faiths, together with Luther s, and all that may spring from its loins, lineally or collaterally, must yield to a far brighter faith and a yet holier practice, than have been ever known, save in the Apostolic times a resemblance to which is perhaps yet to be found only among those wonderful, and much persecuted people of the valleys, so that, if many popish errors have been amended by that holy philus, early after the French Revolution of the last century, will disclose to the reader his own agency (during the darkest period of his life) in many of Mr. Sinclair s "Revelations" from 1640, and for more than a century after! The reader is now referred to only the Xth Revelation, given by Mr. Sinclair, entitled : A true narrative of the Drummer of Tedworth " one of the most remarkable of his tales of the " Invisible World " even at this hour read in Scotland, possibly by very many thousands, and with full belief! though the astounding tales are nothing more than those of Ventriloquism, and of a little ingenious contrivance, now so well understood in France, and Germany, and far more extensively in the United States of America. But in the tale of the condemned " Drummer of Ted- worth," we find sLphysician, (one Mr. Crompton, of Somersetshire,) a stanch believer, in the whole narrative, and likewise in no wise doubtful as to the " Mirror " of Cornelius Agrippa ! And a Mr. Hill states therein, that Mr. Crompton exhibited to him a magic " Looking-Glnss," bidding him to look therein and he would see his wife, then far away which done " he saw the exact image of his wife, in the habit she then wore, and working at her needle in a certain part of a room, all likewise, distinctly seen ;" which, upon subsequent inquiry was found to be precisely so ! The whole tale of the Drummer is certified to Professor Creed, then Doctor of the Chair in Oxford! It will be remembered also that the Jew and Cornelius Agrippa again met at Antwerp, which may possibly account for the singular statement given in those times as to Tindal (the first translator of the Bible into English) who is said to have encountered at Antwerp a wonderful magician, whose artifices were defeated by Tindal s presence ! See also, as to the Magic Mirror, in the Legend ante, &c. page xi. to xvi. 660 C6ronicle0 of Cartapfrito, Century His theory of the Oneness of Deity of Original Sin and of Free-agency. man of Eisleben, and by others who followed him, or soon shall follow, we shall also find that some excesses and deficiencies that mark the new teachers, who now so greatly agitate all Europa, must infallibly yield to time s melio rating influences ; and that they, in turn, will be largely amended ; and must be, before Peter and Paul, were they now with us, would fully take them to their bosoms ! The world now, and for some ages to come, may glory in the fruits of the pious Luther s toils but, I tell thee, and without prophecy, even they must yield their earthy drosses, before the millennial times shall dawn upon the world ! And now, O learned Cornelius Agrippa, thus much only as prolegomena to my response unto thy several inquiries, which concern Jirst, ORIGINAL SIN FREE-AGENCY and THE ONENESS OF DEITY secondly, the TRI-UNE- GOD : and these, as to me it seemeth, are matters, each and all, of more easy solution, and worthy of a brighter faith, than even the learned-pious are wont to admit, the unhappy fashion in this regard having ever been, to deal with them all as matters of mere blind faith hopeless of any approxi mations towards the results of human reasoning, though aided by all the divine illuminations we do possess ! And now as to the first division. I. As the Zodiac hath twelve signs so have the matters in hand, not, in deed, in the way of consequence, nor even in remote con- Theory of the three nex i on . f or j believe not in Astrology. Know then, my first named topics. very learned Agrippa that, i. The word " GOD" doth, ex vi termini, signify essential supremacy, rela tively to all other Intelligences : for, if such Intelligences existed not, the word Supreme would be without meaning, except potentially ; and hence, ii. God is an Unit that is, there cannot be more than one God, though, in him, there may be divers persona. m. If there be other Intelligences, or moral and intellectual entities, (as we know there are,) they cannot be superior to God ; for then they, not He, would be the God. These, also, cannot be his coequals; for then, all combined would still be but one God and therefore such en tities, (as they do exist,) must be to Him inferior. iv. Such existent inferior entities, whether angels, or men, must have been prior to God coeternal with God or subsequent to God. Neither priority, nor coeternity, can be predicated of inferior intelligences : divinity, per se, excludes the very idea ; and hence it follows that infe riority, in se, must imply, not only subsequency, but also obedience, in fact or resistance, in fact, to the Superior ; and such obedience, or re sistance, must also imply, in se, the existence of LAW. Now, a perfect obedience would make the inferior equal with the superior ; which is impossible, and a contradiction and therefore obedience, if it exist at all, must always be imperfect. All inferiority implies, also, either a necessary OBEDIENCE, or a voluntary obedience a necessary DISOBEDI ENCE, or a voluntary disobedience : and, be it necessary, or voluntary, still always an imperfect obedience : but, as to disobedience, it is ca- . Cf) (HJanUeting; Jeto. Appendix A. 661 His theory of the Oneness of Deity of Original Sin and of Free-agency. pable of an almost infinite extent! not, indeed, of efficient power, but of a diabolic will! v. Now, all the intellectual and moral entities being necessarily inferior, there could be in them no necessary obedience, since a necessary obe dience to Goc, must, as necessarily, be & perfect obedience : and a per fect obedience is, in itself, at variance with inferiority therefore, the obedience is neither a necessary, nor a perfect one, but must partake of the nature of the inferior being itself; and consequently can only be a voluntary, and an imperfect obedience. vi. The inferior Intelligence, then, is bound, not by a compulsory, but only a voluntary, or Free-will, obedience and merely because all inferiority begets Law, and all law (though it implies sanctions) as necessarily im plies freedom. vii. A sanction must be either of reward, for obedience, (though necessarily imperfect,) or, of punishment, for disobedience, since Law, Avithout a sanction of some kind, (remuneratory, or punitory) is wholly incon ceivable. VIH. God being a perfect Being, must be perfectly just therefore he would not reward obedience, if necessary ; nor punish disobedience, if there were no freedom. The sanctions, therefore, imply, in themselves, that the agent is not forced, but is &free one, and, in the strictest sense, so far forth as it regards not the mere imperfect obedience only that is demanded or, that is possible, from the very nature of all inferiority. ix. MAN, then, subsequent to God, and hence created by, and consequently inferior to Him, must be subject to Law; and if so, then a free-agent, whose obedience cannot be perfect, because the obedience must be consentaneous to the nature of the being. Hence, springs an infe riority of obedience, and also a disobedience, in every conceivable de gree, because the Agent is free, (but still only within the whole range of an inferior obedience,) the former being VIRTUE the latter SIN, and hence, O Agrippa, the Origin of Sin taking its rise, as it doth, from the mere fact of an intellectual and moral entity existing at all, who is inferior to GOD ; and such it must essentially be. x. God, therefore, must have either 1st, not created at all ; or, 2ndly, have created a being as perfect as himself, because necessarily and perfectly obedient ; or 3rdly, created one inferior to himself, and hence, of ne cessity, but imperfectly obedient : and here, my Agrippa, we clearly see why the CHRISTUS was not created why he flows, in fulness, from the Father and finally, why the Son and Holy Ghost do proceed from the Father ! But, of this hereafter and now as to the above three. Now first ; not to have created at all, would have rendered even DIVI NITY profitless ; and indeed inconceivable. Secondly ; To have created a perfect being seems equally in conflict with the idea of Creation. And thirdly, Inferiority, therefore, seems the necessary result of their being any intellectual being besides God. In the sight of Jehovah, an gels are imperfect but the Christus was not imperfect, and hence not created but was himself the Godhead bodily ! But of this, also, here after. Now, if the created intellectual entity be, in any degree what- 662 Chronicles of Cartapf)ilu$> Century His theory of the Oneness of Deity of Original Sin and of Free-agency. ever, inferior to God, (as we have seen he must be,) then Law, as we have also seen, flowed as the essential result, and even of the least degree of inferiority : and, if Law, then free-agency and that again, with only an imperfect obedience ; and Sin will arise from the sole fact that, as there cannot be two Gods, or any more than one, all other moral entities must be inferior, and hence, in a degree, sinful the de grees of sin being from infinitely small, to intensely great and only when there is knowledge. As all of this flows from the essential nature of things ; it can with no propriety be said that God is the author of sin, any more than that he created himself, or was the author of his own nature, or that he can change his nature neither of which can be predicated ! With God. there is absolutely no variableness He never departs from his nature ; that is perfect, and needs no change. If nothing existed at all, but Him self, it could scarcely have been predicated that he would have been GOD ! and, if he created at all, he could not create a being equal to himself the creation of a God being impossible, as the created cannot be equal to the Creator. GOD, then, is essentially WHAT he is ; and his power, though omnipotent, lato sensu, hath still its own limitations flowing from its own inherent nature, and even though it be GOD S na ture ! Every thing, indeed, that exists must have a NATURE : and that nature cannot at all be deviated from, without becoming another en tity. Hence, even God hath no variableness ; and He is what he is, ex natura ejus natures ! He never acts prceter naturam, as to any thing : and here must I again repeat (and hesitate not so to do, with some enlargements, wouldst thou, my Agrippa, fully understand me) that God must have wholly failed to create, or have created such an Intelli gence as would be inferior to himself, and hence subject to law ; which can be neither without free-agency, nor without sanctions : for, if a necessary agent, then certainly to do only perfect good or perfect evil I The latter will not, and the former cannot be, predicated, because perfect good can only flow from perfect knowledge and perfect power ; which would imply, not inferiority, but coequality, which, as we have seen, is impossible for God creates not a God ! and there cannot be two Gods. Now, as God is truly omniscient, he must have known, (before he created man a free-agent) that he nevertheless would sin nay, that sin, in some degree, flowed as the mere result of man s necessary infe riority but He also knew that His own omnipotence was, in that re spect, no? limited but that He was competent (and He alone competent) to endure the sanction of his own laws and therefore, He himself instantly provided the remedy ; and, as was promised in Eden, He ap peared in the world at the appointed time, and in the fashion of Man, to make good and to vindicate the violated Law ! Some of the Intelligences had previously sinned and infinitely beyond the mere measure of their necessarily imperfect obedience : and they are called " Fallen Angels" or "Diaboli." Myriads, also, in Heaven, and on Earth, conformed to the Law, so far forth as their inherent inferior ity permitted : but, the special law being also violated by Man, and the Letter ccix. C&0 W&\fo%\VM& 3j0to, Appendix A. 663 His theory of the Oneness of Deity of Original Sin and of Free-agency. boundary between the imperfect obedience of his imperfect nature, and that which surely occasioned imputable sin, being then exceeded by our first Parents, and continually after by their descendants, that spe cial Law, and other special laws, could not be made good by Man himself nor yet the general one, flowing from his essentially imperfect obe dience, (were that also imputable as to which, perhaps, we have no means of judging,) it then pleased God, that an ETERNAL FOUNTAIN of passive mercy, of perfect love, and of perfect obedience, should be provided, so as to meet that eternal flow of transgression, (possibly of both kinds of sin,) and in all of its infinitesimal degrees, varying from mortal sins, to those that fade away almost into brightness such being so venial that they amble on the very borders of that mere inferiority of our first parents, and before their actual transgression of a specific law and which inferiority of obedience comes, as I have often said, from the fact that man is a created intellectual entity ! Now, my Agrippa, unto no mortal is it given to know, or to define, the boundaries of sin of either kind nor how the provision made doth ex actly meet each nor how it doth provide for those who transgressed before the Law of Sinai or for those in a mere state of nature nor what was done by the Great ATONER, in the region of departed Spirits nor yet what may now be there doing for the rescue of those with out either law, or possibly, for those who have had both ! As for the abstract doctrine of Purgatory, Lakedion will not dogmatically say for, or against it : and yet abhors the Romish doctrines of " Satisfaction" " Works of Supererogation 1 Indulgences! But doubt it not, my Agrip pa, that, for sin of every kind, and in all the ages, the remedy provided by the Great Atoner is perfect and that there was a glimmering Chris tian Faith, even from the Adamic Age and that this, together with His descent into Hades, will prove wholly sufficient, all of which interest ing mysteries will be fully revealed, either here, when man shall be bet ter able to value them than now or hereafter, in hades in gehenna or in ccelis ! And now, O Agrippa, to enforce somewhat further the foregoing views, (though already with many repetitions, caused by my desire to be fully un derstood of thee) Lakedion would still add, that he can find nothing but mercy and also a high probability nay, he would fearfully say, an essen tial necessity, that the taint of Original- Sin and After- Sin, should be thus, and thus only, blotted out! God, as we have seen, saw fit to create man : inferiority was the unavoidable result : from this flowed Law, and an im perfect obedience and finally, (man being also an admonished free-agent,) there came gross and strongly imputable sin. The created entity was, in itself, unable to make any amends it being tainted in se: and, after trans gression, if the entity were not annihilated, Sin must be perpetuated when like would beget like ! Now, my learned Agrippa, I would ask thee, (in the thought, and somewhat in the language of the pious SAINT BERNARD, when contending with the reckless Abelard,) " Why may I not have another s " righteousness imputed, since I have another s sin imputed to me ? Is there " not sin in the seed of the sinner ? " 66 4 Chronicles Of Cattapfrilttg, Century xvi His theory of the Oneness of Deity of Original Sin and of Free-agency. And suffer Lakedion also to ask thee if there be bodily generation, is there not spiritual generation ? If like begets like in all visible nature, and if the fruit of the tree is yielded according to its kind and if the pro geny of all animate things be after the fashion, more or less, of its parents, must we not look for the presence of this law in the spiritual birth also ? will not the essential similitudes, that belong to the original, be seen, at least in its proclivities, in the offspring ? Suppose you that those who yield to Satanas, and who are, as it were, generated and born of him, can do good, or any acceptable Avorks, unless they be born again f surely not : and so of all the children of grace their works follow, as doth the shadow the substance. Now, if sin hath its own offspring, so hath purity : and also, as there is sin in the seed of the sinner, so is there righteousness in the blood of Christ : for, as in Adam all die so in Christ may all be made alive. As the seed, moreover, of every fruit may contain within itself the seed of all other fruit of its kind, so did Adam contain within himself all that were ever born, or who shall be ; and not bodily only but spiritually also : and, though all men be still under a law, and the violated first law is atoned for ; yet is it only unto all that have faith ; so that the perfect righteous ness of the God-Man must be imputed to every individual soul, before the original taint can be removed, and the sins of after acquirement be blotted out. As God, then, hath created what man hath dared to call the " hard case" He hath also provided the only and yet easy remedy ! easy for man heavy, beyond the utterance of speech, for the great ATONEH, in his hu manity and yet it was triumphantly accomplished on the Cross in the Tomb in Hades by the Resurrection by the Ascension, and by the sending of the Holy Ghost ! Remember, O Agrippa, how prompt, after the sin committed in Eden, was the promise of the remedy ! forget not that God, without creating, and in his absolute Self, is scarce conceivable remember that the creation of an intellectual being, destined for Earth, (possibly six thousand years after the first fiat was given for any such creation) was necessarily the bringing forth of an inferior moral entity, who was subjected to law, who violated it, and that, when sin was thus committed, it then was a past fact, not to be atoned for by him nor blotted out by any repentance whatever ; and that the sin necessarily affected the creature, and in its entirety. Remember likewise that Man was not a mere individual that terminated in himself, but one that had within himself the seed of all the human race for that was the nature of his creation ! And remember lastly, my Agrippa, that no other scheme could exist, than the very one so promptly announced to our race, viz. that the CREATOR of man should in all things assume man s very nature, sin excepted and thereby make the required atonement perfect ! Possibly, moreover, and for aught we know, this wonderful Exemplar secured the faithful obedience of myriads of other worlds, peopled and go verned by a law similar to our own ; so that our little one, in its merciful rescue, (if indeed any thing be little, or great, in the sight of God,) may have diffused joy unutterable, throughout the illimitable regions of God s Em- Letter ccix. Cfje flxHanBcnng; 3[eto* Append A. 665 A New Theory of the Trinity. pire ; and Heaven itself may have echoed the peals of gladness ! Oh, how poor, how very narrow are the thoughts and feelings of our ungrateful race ! and how shallow are man s views, when he dares to say, " God would not condescend thus to rescue our tiny world, lost as it is amidst the vastness and glories of creation !" II. The xii insignia that mark the proof of Sin s true origin of man s free- agency and of God s essential oneness, being fixed and bright, 4 Triune-God like the signs of the zodiac ; so would I now remind thee, O essential, and Agrippa, of the three stars of Orion, to symbolize the three- demonstrable. fold lustrous points which declare the origin, and essentiality of the THREE-ONE GOD ! * There cannot be three gods but there must be one only and He must be threefold! Startle not at this, O Agrippa! for God exists only in DE SIGN in EXECUTION and in DIFFUSION. No Intelligence whatever can exist for a moment without design ; that design need not exist, but for exe cution ; and that execution would be profitless, but for diffusion : and hence God, the Designer, is called God the Father; God, the Executor, is known as God the Son; and God, the Diffuser, hath the name of God the Holy Ghost! Still, my Agrippa, it would be as idle to declare that hence there be three gods, as it would be to say that the King, who is legislator, ex pounder, and enforcer of his laws, is therefore, not one, but three kings ! for there must be design in the making of a law execution in its particular application and diffusion in the results of its enforcement : and were that king, in all of his external insignia, and in every visible manifestation of his power, to be ever so emphatically distinctive in each of the three named mat ters of his essential regality, he still would be but one king in the conception execution and diffusion of his laws. Now this, O Agrippa ! is only to shadow forth my meaning, though feebly by a similitude, and only parvis componere magna. * The apparent astrological cast of Lakeclion s mind, as is here indicated by his allusions to the signs of the Zodiac, and to the stars in Orion s belt, seems to have affected at least his language and figurative illustrations, although he was avowedly averse to all the occult sciences of the day : and this conformity in language is no way surprising, seeing that, not only his earlier life had made him so familiar with the Magian and Sabrean faiths of the remote East, but also, as Judicial Astrology was so much in favour in Europe at the time this letter was addressed to the renowned Agrippa ; who was himself accused not only of implicit faith in stellar influences, but of the practice of magic and of the necromantic arts. But even Agrippa seems to have been somewhat anxious, at times, to free himself of those charges ; especially when fierce superstition made them inconvenient; and yet the charm of mystery, and the power it conferred on him, rendered his efforts in this respect but feeble. If we look at his character, as unfolded in his popular and charming work entitled "Vanity of Arts, &c." and especially in Chap, xxxi., we know not how to reconcile his theoretic rejection of the occult arts, with the opinion entertained of him by most of his cotemporaries as to his practising them. As to Lakeclion s astrological allusions, they tire nothing more than figures, and can in no way impair the weight due to his judgment, and to the soundness of his main argument. 666 Chronicles of Cartapfriliis, A New Theory of the Trinity Doctrine of TRIADS. In contemplating JEHOVAH, the three manifestations, or essential hyposta- tic constituents, or persona of his essential nature, are lost in the effulgence of the only ONE in the abstract : but this trifold personality (arising ex na- tura divinitatis) maketh not three gods but only three hypostatical persons, and yet each is distinct, only as Design, Execution, and Diffusion, lato sensu, are distinct. Now, as there can be no diffusion but of an existent or executed thing, so there can be neither a making nor execution, but of a previously designed thing these three being essentially united and one, when contemplated up to their original or divine source ! and this is equally so, whether we con template his nature analytically, or synthetically. Even man (surely an emanation or effluence of divinity and formed in His image,) first thinks, then executes, and finally diffuses : and yet is he but one man ; and all his works, moral, intellectual, and physical, flow from but one source, though he be, like his Maker, essentially threefold and no more ! And, should man be invariably clad in wholly diverse habiliments, whenever he thinks, or executes, or diffuses, still would he be the same one man, though thus officially and abstractly individualized in each of the three cases, and also though he should think, without executing, or execute, without diffusing. THOUGHT is essential to every intelligent entity : man cannot exist with out it : his nature is made up of it : and when he thinks rightly, he usually and naturally strives to execute rightly ; and if he succeeds, he as ear nestly endeavours to diffuse its results : he may fail in the two last, from the want of power : so likewise, though he strives, he may fail in the first, as he may think unrightly ; and he may also execute and diffuse his erroneous thoughts ; but he cannot exist at all without thought of some kind and so of Deity in some respect. His nature, doubtless, consists of eternal thought and equally of eternal execution, and of eternal diffusion ! but, as He never fails in correct thought, so never in perfect execution, nor in illimita ble diffusion, and hence the truly infinite and boundless extent of His creations, and the coequal excellence of them all minute, as well as great ! And here, my Agrippa, the mind of finite man is utterly merged in the vast- ness of the contemplation ! These are indeed great mysteries, in imo pec- tore ; but the essential oneness and yet equally essential triunity of the divine mind, is not without its likeness in nature as well as in man ; and this is illu mined to our comprehension and belief by divers other things, in mind and matter, which we do entirely believe. Never, indeed, hath this doctrine seemed to me a mystery beyond credence and evidence never contradic tory of reason ; and yet there was a time, I confess, in which I believed it not but not because to Lakedion s mind it seemed impossible. Why, then, oh Agrippa ! should this Trinity in Unity have been regarded, in all the ages, as the opprobrium theologicum the experimentum crucis the inexplicable secret, and as a matter of mere blind faith, and above all reason, if not also wholly contradictory of it ? And why, finally, should some insist that we do hold to three gods ? Is it not because they will not look on the doctrine diverso intuitu, and as it must ever be contemplated ? Behold how many things there are that absolutely end in trinity, and in which there is neither Letter ccix. Cfje ftftJan&edttg 3[Cto, Appendix A. 667 A New Theory of the TRINITY Doctrine of TRIADS. duality alone, nor any further number than three ! Are not the sources of all knowledge but three the senses, reason, faith ? Doth not all religion consist of but doctrine, sacraments, charity ? the first having its fountain in design, the second in execution, and the third in diffusion ? TRUTH, also, hath been declared only in three places, in the Synagogue, in the Church, and in Heaven : and the same TRUTH hath been shown only in three ways first, by shadows mainly then by shadows feebly, and by broad teachings mainly and lastly, without shadows, and by open Truth alone ! the first in the Synagogue, the second in the Church, and the third in Heaven! Again, we have the mystery of the Christus in three ways, viz., in the Manna, in the paschal Lamb, and in the holy Eucharist ! And still again, my Agrippa, when the mind contemplates the source of all actualities, how naturally has it, in all the ages, been cast into this iden tical vein of thought beginning with the monad, and ending with the triad! Almost instinctively, we think of the primal capacity or MOVER ; the pri mal exertion, or the MOTION ; and of the final result, or the MATTER, created or fashioned, through the united triad of mover motion and result ! In contemplating a first cause, and its action, we unavoidably think, first of Unity, or God, in the abstract ; then of Duality, from the Logos ; and finally of his gifts (sometimes more correctly translated diffusion as in Hebrews ii. 4.) Unity Duality and Diffusion, therefore compel us to think of design or thought of the sequence execution and of the grand result diffusion, in all its boundless beauty and endless variety ! and all such thoughts seem necessarily to terminate at the third stage of their progres sion ! We cannot conceive of a GOD, distinct from the idea of Unity nor of that unity, as without design or thought nor of that thought, as unpro ductive (hence the Logos) ; nor of that productive Logos, as wanting in zea lous diffusion and endless variety (and hence the glories of the Universe !) And yet still further, my patient Agrippa, we cannot realize the thought, or at all embrace the idea, of any of these three, as being distinct from their necessary relation to the other two ! So likewise, if we commence our thoughts at the end of the series, and gaze upon the Universe, the conception of an endless diffusion and variety compels us to think of the previous execu tion (or making) that conducts us next to the previous design ; and thus the three centre in the ONE and the argumenta a posteriori, and a priori har monize ; and bring us thereby from the Triad to the Duad, and finally, up to the Monad or to the only One- God ! And so, as thou well knowest, the illustrious Plato was obliged to think ; and all just and deeply meditating minds do the same at this day and so will all hereafter, though Plato and all his works should for ever be blotted out, and henceforth remain unknown ! JEHOVAH, then, is the only source of all Design Execution and Diffu sion : and these three embrace all His varied powers and attributes each and all absolutely perfect ! All of his power (called Omnipotence) His absolute wisdom, (called Omniscience,) and unceasing diffusion, (called Om nipresence,) are thus comprehended in the Ineffable THREE-ONE ! And hence the most intense thought of man would for ever be unable to conceive a single idea of Deity, that shall not be found in that TRIAD ! and hence 668 CfjrOniCleS Of CattapfUlUg, Century xvi. The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. the Trinity in Unity is not so sealed a mystery, as very many pious and thoughtful men have been too wont to yield to the enemies of the true Faith. It is founded in nature ; and is a truth most welcome to the soul of an unperverted reason. Lakedion is therefore forced to believe that this much vexed doctrine, when rightly understood, will cause the carping objection of three gods to vanish will manifest the eoeternity and co- equality of the Christus and will show that his human personation is neither contradictory to, nor above reason and no more so than the creation and fashioning of any other cogitative entity. When angels and men were created, both mind and matter had previously existed Mind from all eternity, in God Matter, not from eternity, but created by the Logos, in execution of the great Design : and the divine combination of these two formed angels and men, at divers times : and finally, the divine union of the Logos with matter gave to the World the Christus who thus was Very- God, and Very-Man ; and differing from other men as the Christus, only in the measureless effusion of Divinity, which excluded the possibility of sin ! And now, my Agrippa, I would not urge upon thee too dogmatically this matter of the Triads so variously manifested throughout the world of Nature, as well as of Grace. To enumerate them would be nearly endless, but to point out some is the duty in hand, and may be profitable as hints, that may give assurance that these triunities are, and cannot be accidental but are symbolical, and designed to awaken attention to the ineffable Being, who is thus Three in One ! And this I am further prompted to do, that thy own fertile mind may thereby be set to extract a volume of proofs in regard to these analogies, that point so plainly to so sublime a truth naught of which analogies, is the fancy of my own too zealous brain, but the undoubted symbolizing of the greatest and most awakening of primeval facts ! Such triads are too infinite and harmonious and applicable to be, as I have said, fortuitous, even were such a thing as fortuity at all predicable in regard to any of the works and doings and sayings of God and hence ex paucis disce omnes. 1st. We have Life Death Resurrection. 2nd. We have the Creation of matter its Formation into infinitely various shapes of wondrous beauty and its dissolution, which ends the laws of its particular existence, but which annihilates not its primordial atoms. 3rd. We behold the Past, as replete with design the Present with execu tions of those designs and the Future brings forth their interminable results and diffusion. 4th. In Omniscience we find the source of design in Omnipotence the only means of its execution and in Omnipresence the ever-flowing fountain of diffusion. 5th. In Man himself, we have but three cardinal and distinctive natures a Corporeal body a rational Spirit and a sensitive Soul: the second flows more immediately from the divine source, and hence it designs : the first flows more immediately from the Logos, and executes all of man s designs : and the third (which man has in common with all other animals) is perpetually engaged in diffusing all executed designs. Letter ccix. Cj)0 OKatttieung; Jefo. Appendix A. 669 The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. 6th. As a spiritual being, Man was created in the likeness or image of God : and though his nature endured a sad change after the Fall, yet we find him still possessed of something that may remind us of Omnipotence Omniscience and Omnipresence : also of Wisdom, of Moral power, and of Goodness : and, though possessed of these two classes of triads (as being in the image of God) yet is he only one man, and not, intellectually three men : but who doubts the Trinity in Unity possessed by man, irrespective of his body p for there are sometimes triads within a triad. 7th. If we look from man, into boundless space, we have throughout the Universe (according to the idea of nearly all the Ages) only three grand material divisions of that Universe viz. the Olympus, the Kosmos, and the Ouranos ! Now, as thou, my Agrippa well knowest, the Ouranos is said to be that first region situate between our world and the moon both in cluded ; and this space is variable and less orderly ; next comes the Kosmos, or planetary region invariable, and replete with harmony and great beauty : and finally comes the Olympus, or region of light and heat ; and this diffuses vitality and efficiency unto all things, now, as to the precise generation and order and import of this sublime physical triad, I wot not ; but doubt less, like the spiritual, intellectual, and other triads, this hath its own vast symbolic import. 8th. So also do we find in every intelligence whatever, from the Great Supreme, to the smallest, that intellectuality is manifested in three ways only viz., in the motive power or the MOVER, for Design in the MOTION itself, that caused creation and formation, which is Execution and lastly, in MATTER infinitely varied and omnipresent, which is the boundless Diffusion ! Now, in Deity, as a triune-first and only cause, He hath de lighted in them from all eternity, and for ever will so continue to delight. 9th. In like manner we have, in each of the hijpostases of the Original Triad, three distinct triads : for we fail not to find in each division, (not an absolute unity, but) First, in that of DESIGN, we have Law Virtue Vice ; but these only in posse : for mere design may be an intellectual and unproduced entity. Second, in that of EXECUTION, we have an Express Revelation a Typical Revelation and a Prophetic Revelation, each being seen by the Divine prescient Mind, as executed facts or, as being to Himself, in esse. Third, in that of DIFFUSION, we have the Universe (stricto sens2i), also, the Gehennon, and lastly the Crelum (not the Shamayim, but the Rakiang beyond it and the peculiar sanctuary of the Eternal). And, within this triad of a triad, there is still another triad viz., Probation in the world Punishment in the Gehennon and Reward in the Ccelum ! 10th. So also in the world of Grace, there are but three DISPENSATIONS for the completion of God s providence towards man \\z. first, before the Law, (for man s thoughts or designs as the source of Natural Religion ;) second, under the Law, (for the execution of God s Revealed Religion whether express, typical, or prophetic,) and third, under the Gospel, (for the diffusion of all !) llth. Likewise, there are but three PRIESTHOODS for the accomplishment 670 chronicles of Cartapfrilu.s, century The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. of the Redemption viz. that of Melchisedec that of Aaron and that of the Christus the last being in the similitude of the first, and in final execution and diffusion of it. The Melchisedecan was the original great design : the Aaronic was the partial and but typical execution of it and the Christian is, and will continue to be the endless diffusion of all the results of the wonderful plan ! 12th. We have, moreover, but three kinds of SABBATISMS or rests ; viz. the Express Sabbath-day (whether septennial, or jubilean), the typical rest in Canaan and the Eternal rest in Heaven! And my learned Cornelius Agrippa, Lakedion would only now intimate unto thee that the Jubilean sabbatical period implieth a deep mystery scarce likely to be clearly revealed to man, until the blessed millennial days shall be close at hand ! 13th. We have also the COVENANT the CRUCIFIXION and the RESUR RECTION : the first revealed the great design in Paradise the second, its execution in the brightest period of man s then historic development and in the third, we behold the diffusion of their mighty results throughout heaven and earth, and so to all eternity ! 14th. There were designed to be, and will be, only three RESURRECTIONS, viz. that of the Christus and of those raised by him during his abode here in proof of his mission next, the Partial or millennial resurrection and lastly, the General Resurrection, when Time shall be no more ! 15th. There were also three ASCENSIONS of the Christus ; viz. first, early in the morning after the resurrection, invisibly from the vicinity of the tomb, and before Mary, or any one, was permitted to touch his body : (for so he declared unto the penitent malefactor "this day thou shalt be with me in paradise"). The second ascension was from Bethany, on the same day, also invisibly, and after he had been handled by his disciples and the third took place from the Mount of Olives, in the presence of many, and forty days after the resurrection : and doubtless, each of these ascensions has its own pregnant meaning ! 16th. The Triune- God designed but three manifestations of Himself in the CHRISTUS ; viz. as the Prophet the Priest and the King : the first revealed (by prophecies and types) his designs for the future ; the second executed them on earth, as the king of a spiritual kingdom ; and the third will diffuse them all throughout the universe ! 17th. So again, there are but three bodily dwellers in Heaven ; viz. Enoch Elijah and the Christus: the first before the Law was given the second, under the Law and the third under the Gospel : and moreover, the ways of their translation are also three Enoch s insensibly Elijah s by the visible ministry of angels and that of the Christus by his own inherent and triumphant power ! He ascended as the son of God as God the others, as servants : and all three to illustrate the three Dispensations the last alone perfect, and also the symbolic antitype of the three Resurrections, and of the three Ascensions of the Christus ! 18th. When Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, " The LORD bless and keep thee the LORD be gracious unto thee the LORD give thee peace, we there have revealed, though feebly, the mystery of the blessed Trinity: that thrice repeated word is no mere form of speech is not fortuitous only was Letter ccix. CJJC (KSanUeting; 3ltfB* Appendix A. 671 The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. no Hebraic norma loquendi . God the Father peculiarly blesses and keeps us God the Son is emphatically gracious unto us and God the Holy-Ghost, or Comforter, was sent to give us peace. [See Numbers, vi. 24, 25, 26.] 19th. Nor is the Apostolic Benediction to be regarded as only an ardent triplication but shows forth the trifold nature of the One-God as in 2 Cor. xiii. 14, where the words are " The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God and the Communion of the Holy -Ghost be with you all." 20th. There were only three BAPTISMS each referable to a distinct source, and yet centering in one out of three viz. first that of John, designed and ordained by the FATHER second, that of the SON, through his Apostles and the Seventy, and before his death and third, that which is emphatically the Christian Baptism, performed in the name of the three Persona of the Trinity but still more specially referable to the HOLY- GHOST ! John s baptism was never in the name of the Father, nor of the Son ; and it had wholly ended, when the baptism of the Apostles and of the Seventy commenced. That second baptism also was not in the name of the Father, nor of the Son : and thirdly, the more special Christian baptism, after the death, resurrection, and ascension, was then distinctly in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy-Ghost ! Those three baptisms, in order of time, and of object, had eacli its substantive import: but the two were merged in the third, or Great Trinitarian Baptism, which consum mated the originally designed, and now executed, and diffused object pro ceeding from the FATHER, executed by the SON, and energized and diffused by the HOLY- GHOST. As to the Persons, these baptisms were distinct but, as to the God-head, they are but one : that through John, His witness, is expressly declared by John to be from the Father, (though not named,) and also to be a baptism unto repentance and faith in Him that was to come : the second baptism is as expressly declared by the Apostles and the Seventy, to be unto the Kingdom then at hand and wholly embraced John s : and the third one is proclaimed by the Son, after his resurrection, to be a three fold baptism, and (for the first time) was in the name of the three persons ! Nor can these three baptisms, (so distinct, and yet so resolved finally into one,) be ascribed to any other than a meditated cause, as we find in them respectively the palpable elements of DESIGN that EXECUTED and then DIFFUSED. The two had achieved their office the third will remain to be spread abroad for ever ! Now, my deeply thinking Cornelius Agrippa, the above illustrations of the matter in hand are but as the pinch of saffron in an amphora of water they are but suggestions in a boundless subject : they do of themselves fully satisfy Lakedion : but they may not thee, or some others of a more doubting nature than thee : and hence I will not yet part with what I pro mised unto one who asked and who now relies upon me. 2 1 st. Now I would ask thee, O Agrippa ! are there any more than three kinds of Entities in all the Universe ? And are not these 1. Cogitative, or Spiritual only viz. GOD. 2. Incogitative, or Corporeal only viz. MATTER. 3. Cogitative and Incogitative blended viz. ANGELS, and Men ? And canst thou, with thy utmost wit give me one other, that may not be 672 Cf)tOniCle0 Of CattapInlUSu Century xvi. The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. justly embraced in the above triad ? for Satynas, doubtless, was not a merely cogitative entity ; but, like man, hath a corporeal body though, as being an angel, that body is far more ethereal than that of man ; for so thought the admirable St. Basil St. Augustin St. Athanasius, and others this is the Voice of all antiquity. Now all angels and men think only through the soul, or cogitative principle. No organization of matter can ever produce a thinking entity. Angels are never wholly disembodied nor will man ever be, though hereafter his body may be far more ethereal than when first in paradise : and hence, after death and resurrection with the " spiritual body," the thoughts of men (and of angels at all times) will be far more clear than they now can be, impeded as they at present are by the bodily coils. AVhat there is in matter, or, in the blending of spirit and body, that doth cause a proclivity to sin, Lakedion wots not ; and will not strive to resolve it : but certain it is that matter is, in some way, the mark of that inferiority, which doth so essentially belong to angels, as well as, men. Matter, no Manichtean of the present day can assert to be evil in se : for it can be neither good nor evil, ex natura rei because not cogitative : and yet it may be a veil that, in degrees, shuts out the full effulgence of God s in effable Truth : it may be His designed means whereby man is subjected to the law of a perpetual vigilance, and to all the obligations that flow from an essential inferiority ! And hence Satanas is immeasurably wicked, because, though nearly unveiled, and knowing the Truth far better than man, he yet exultingly disregards it ! 22nd. There seem to me but three cardinal sources of Sin ; which, though only quasi distinct, do, as a unit, act antagonistically against all virtue and unitedly with tremendous power, viz. the Devil the Flesh and the World, for thus I state them, though so usually by others in an inverted order : for, in the first, we find the great fountain of wicked designs ; in the second, a large source of the execution of those designs ; and in the third, the prolific means of a thorough diffusion of all the sinful contrivances of Satanas. And though Manichams greatly erred in imputing to matter an essential principle of sin, it is a great instrument, abundantly used by the diaboli, within the body of every individual ; and so the matter of Flesh, like the World in the aggregate, doth serve as the prolific source of all sensuousness and this last is the universal diffuser. Nor, my Agrippa, can this triad be in any way added unto, nor be diminished ; and yet these three. are essentially one ! 23rd. There were only three signal CAPTIVITIES of Israel, and only three of Judah each, however, is distinctively marked, and each adumbrates Design, a partial Execution, and a final Diffusion of the ultimate views of Providence in respect to those captivities respectively. But these are too broad for me to expatiate on, especially in an Epistle, intended to be but an outline of a great arid very pregnant subject. 24th. MOSES JOSHUA and DAVID seem to me the only three eminently intended human types that adumbrate the scheme of Providence in respect to the great antitype of the Christus : in them alone, we find the typical design the typical partial execution and the typical diffusion allusive to the Antitype of the stupendous plan, accomplished through the Father, Son, and Holy- Ghost! Letter ccix. C&0 (KUanUeung; Jefo. Appendix A. 673 The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. 25th. For the establishment of Faith in God s purposes towards man, we have only three great sources of knowledge productive of that faith viz. His Old and New Express Law, His system of Express Prophecies and thirdly that of Types, or of virtual and symbolic prophecies. In the first, by the Father, we have the whole design ; (for, though the New Testament Law is revealed by the SON, it evidently is not in his human character, but only as the divine lawgiver and after the design of the Father). In the second and third, we have the execution and diffusion, whilst the express prophetic revelations, and the symbolical revelations are respectively and gradually fulfilling : for all types are also prophetical as to their antitypes. And, my Agrippa, all this is likewise too mysterious and deep and extensive to be more than thus briefly noted by me. 26th. There were but three Temples destined to carry out the vast scheme towards Man viz. that of Solomon, more specially to unfold the typical design of the Father : the second, that of Zerubbabel, in part, to execute that design by the presence and action of the Son and lastly, the Soul of man, as a temple to receive the Holy- Spirit, and to universally diffuse its influences ! Its commencement (in that aspect) was only after the final Ascension of the Son, and upon the coming of the Paraclete or Comforter, on the Pentecostal day : but it will continue throughout all eternity. 27th. The perfect scheme of Grace is likewise a triad only viz. FAITH REPENTANCE OBEDIENCE ; and these three are as one. The three, sepa rately, are profitless, and perhaps impossible. The first is the origin of all design the second necessarily executes the third perfects and effectually diffuses. The essential fruit of Faith is Repentance ; the necessary fruit of repentance is Obedience : in Abraham the whole were combined and executed and diffused. The " Father of the Faithful " is diffusing to this hour, and will continue to grow brighter through all time. WORKS avail nothing without faith and repentance and obedience : and it is the nature of the three, when real, to act as a unit productive of complete results. 28th. The LAW from Sinai, though revealed in but ten short Command ments, embraces the whole compass of our duties to God and to Man for, short as they certainly are, they still take in the whole and this is done in just three comprehensive classes, and no more! viz. in thought word and deed. The first reveals all designs the second, every execution and the third, their effectiveness and complete diffusion over the soul ! The mere naked precept of the Law would indeed be barren, did it not embrace the deed and anterior thought : and hence the great comprehensiveness of the Decalogue, and its universal obligation on mankind, and not on Israel alone : from the combined thought, word, and deed, it receives its vitality and great unction; and this trifold division will also be found to equally apply to each of the ten commandments giving to them, as a whole, their wonderful efficacy, and their undoubted application to man in all of his varied relations to man of every region, age, colour, sex, and to man throughout all times ! Now this, O Agrippa, is a matter not so well under stood, and thought of, by those who have been disposed so narrowly to regard that Decalogue, as not only to doubt its comprehensiveness, but its I. XX 674 CfjroniCleS Of CattapirilUS, Century xvi. The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. obligation in many important ways and who seem disposed to resign its signal blessings to Israel s dispersed flock ! as if seemingly content with the New Law alone, as being full and complete surely forgetting that the House, however well built, and otherwise goodly, must fall, if its solid foundations be removed. Now, even in this our triad of Thought, Word, and Deed, we find the trinitarian principle full of wisdom, of power, and of goodness ; and, like all of Jehovah s dealings towards man, instinct with a pervading efficacy, however few may be the words or however small may be the visible entity ! 29th. As a spiritual being Man was created, as we are expressly told, in the likeness or image of his Creator ! Now, although his nature must have undergone a sad change after the Fall, yet we even now find he is in him self a Trinity, possessed of something that may well remind us, occasionally, especially in the aggregate, of Omniscience Omnipotence and of Omni presence ! nay, even of a divine Wisdom of a vast Moral Power, and of a holy Goodness ! Possessed of these classes of triads (as being in the image of God) we know that he is, thus considered, but one man, and not, intellectually, three men. 30th. Is not Language necessarily a triad ? It must first be cogitative next organic and lastly, in some way, pictorial : and these three connections are so inherent, that if the triad be dissolved, or, if its integrity exist not, the faculty of language itself might as well not have existed. Cogitative or mental language begins and terminates in the first person. Organic language, whether lingual, or otherwise, (as by the motions of the deaf and dumb,) imparts the cogitation to the second person present; and lastly, the province of the pictorial language, whether alphabetical, or other wise, is to transmit to the absent, and to all the ages, the combined results of the other two. Here then, is mere thought embraced by mental language which is design; then comes utterance of some kind, which is partial execution, and lastly, both are consummated by their diffusion, that being the life and very object of the original thoughts or designs. Now, every human being, free of disease or of mutilation, must think and must clothe his thoughts with mental language, and must naturally seek to give them utterance, either by lingual sounds, or by other organic means, audible or inaudible ; and nature prompts him further to their diffusion : and all this he does as a triad in himself; whilst his thoughts, and language, and organic action, likewise constitute another triad ! Neither the one series, nor the other, can be a mere unity, nor a mere duality, nor a mere trinity ; but, in fine, each must be essentially a trinity in unity, each being in itself of small comparative value and the two last impossible without the first. No living being ever existed, but that it manifested, not only thought, but also the desire to impart it by language of some kind ; and, in proportion to its measure of intellectuality, it evinces a desire to diffuse that thought : the meanest insect communes not with itself alone- nor with one or a few alone nor is any found so low in the scale of mentality, as to possess no language no means of imparting such thoughts as it has. 31st. The following triad, and two more in conclusion, must end this my dissertation : and I give thee the present one, seeing that thou, my Agrippa, Letter ccix. C&0 (HJatltienng; 3(eto Appendix A. 675 Tho THIMTY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. hath probably been more studious of physical nature, than of spiritual matters. As it cannot but be that the act of CREATION was preceded by the most perfect designs, and also that all the FORMATIONS were in exact conformity to those ideal prototypes, so we must conclude that the execution of them was by a simultaneous act of perfected creation, and of perfected formation and also by that infinite diffusion of the results, which grace the Universe, and which manifest the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Creator ! Nor can I regard it as being in any degree probable, that this creation, and this formation, and this boundless diffusion (so manifestly in execution of previously perfected designs) could have resulted in the creation at first of a mere Chaos, and from which beauty and order and perfect adaptations were gradually to arise from the operation of secondary causes or laws so different from the delightful idea or doctrine of final causes : for, if so, how could the Creator have at once pronounced all as " good," and un less simultaneously made so by the combined act of creation and of forma tion, and, as it were, uno flatu ? Oh no, my Agrippa ! this is but a Heathen figment, and better suited for the poetical Ovid, than for the philosophic Christian : Lakedion believes that design, creation and formation were com pleted doings ; and, as it were, instantaneous, proceeding from that other and self-existent TRIAD of a combined Wisdom, Power, and Goodness; the latter triad being in such exact harmony with the former triad ! We know that all nature teems with life ; and that this is as boundless for enjoyment, as are the varied things of creation boundless in supplies for that enjoy ment. Nor is the force of those two harmonious triads in the least diminished by even the assumption that the three acts of design, creation, and forma tion were not contemporaneous but followed each other at intervals of exceeding great length, instead of the comparative moment in which, as I conceive, all was effected. Surely, my Agrippa, an undesigned creation must have been a Chaos, suitable enough for the Heathen fancy ; and never could have been fashioned into such marvellous beauty, by what hath so absurdly been called the Vis NATURAE ! The one is a sublime Truth, worthy of that Deity, who so complacently beheld his great work, and then pronounced it " good " the other is a foul absurdity and the offspring of man s ineffable arrogancy. In this harmonious double triad of causes and effects, who perceives not in them a natural progression of the three Kingdoms of nature in all their perfection, and of all the created and fashioned entities that constitute the three, which we name the Mineral the Vegetable and the Animal king doms ? the first, or mere matter, being denominated (lato sensu) mineral second, the vegetable organization, (not inert, but with a species of life) and lastly the animal organization (with its actual life and spirit, and finally, its immortal soul !) And still further, the two latter kingdoms perpetuated, (and not created, as was the first, merely to endure, and which, if not dis turbed by agencies ab extra, does continue, as first it came from its Creator s hands) and thus are these two caused perpetually to exist in their likenesses by seeds, by offshoots, by procreations, and possibly by other means but never, my Agrippa, by what some have ignorantly attributed to Equivocal Generation surely an absurdity as great, in the opinion of Lakedion, as is 6j6 CfjrOniCleS Of CattaplrilUS, Century xvi. The TIUNITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. the present alchemical folly that would strive to make gold, or an elixir vitaa ! In this triad, therefore, we find that the first in its series, viz. the mineral, remains the same as when first called into existence : it grows not, nor is it propagated; whereas the other two kingdoms of that triad are destined to endure only for a time, and are continued, only through their respective likenesses, in the ways I have intimated. Brute matter, if it be made to turn to dust, and its individuality be thus destroyed, so remains for ever but, if let alone and as nature created it then doth it also remain so for ever; their particulars needed duration only not perpetuation in any way, as the other two divisions of the triad: but, my learned Cornelius Agrippa, in neither of the divisions of our present triad, can we find the least evidence of anything but a trinity no duality no quinary number no unity, or absolute oneness, in fine, nothing but a triunity : the mineral is never a vegetable the latter is never an animal nor is that ever really both ; but each is essentially different. And, if we examine all the ostensi ble triads in the worlds of Spirit, as well as of Matter, it will be found just the same ! How numerous are those, no doubt essential triads : and how difficult, nay impossible, to conceive any addition thereto, or any subtraction therefrom ! Man s limited knowledge must fail to discover all those triads ; the inti mate nature of any one of them he may never know entirely : he also may, from the same ignorance, produce erroneous triads ; but still their palpable multitude, and their equal perfection, clearly manifest that the idea I so long have dwelt on, is no vain imagination, but an indisputable fact ; and that all of them are designed to symbolize and to illustrate the Ineffable Trinity in Unity ! And who can doubt that these three pregnant actions have reference to the three distinct, but perfectly harmonious actions of the FATHER, as the source of all design of the SON, as the fountain of all execution and of the HOLT SPIRIT, as the eternal spring of all the efficient and sanctifying diffusions ? And now that I shall enumerate but two more of these Triads, permit me previously to refer you to only one very ancient authority, as being more expressive of my general meaning, than any other that occurs to me in the times of the Apostolic Church : I mean the answer given by Dionysius, of Alexandria, to Dionysius, the then bishop of Rome. The former had been unjustly accused of heresy in the matter of the Trinity : and having received an Epistle from a Synod of the Latin Church, at the instance of its Bishop, the pious Alexandrian was not slow to reply the substance of which is as follows " That there never was a time when God was not Father : and so " there cannot have been a time when the Son was not (existent). That " God was never without his Word Wisdom and Power ; and therefore " Christ, as being these, always existed, not, however, deriving his being " from himself, but from his Father ; that the Father is the light the Son " its radiance and hence co-eternal with the Father." Dionysius further maintained that he " did not object to the term Ho- " moiisius, but only nad remarked that it existed not in Scripture, that his " opinion was consonant with its use, and that he had illustrated it by the Letter ccix. C&0 Wmftmn$ Jefo, Appendix A. 677 The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. " analogy of human generation saying that parents were other than their " children, simply by not being the children by analogy also of the plant, " and root or seed also of the stream and the fountain of the word on " the lip, and the sense in the heart, whence it went forth, and with which " it is one -while, at the same time, they are two, one existing in the " other, and yet other than that other : and, in fine, that his opinions extend " the unity without division in the Trinity and again reduce the Trinity " without diminution to the Unity." * That these numerous triads (always in wonderful consistency with the idea of a triune-deity) cannot be regarded as being what men so ignorantly denominate chance, and can never be approved as such, by so soundly thinking a mind as thine, is what I venture to strongly hope. And, whilst it is quite possible to sully a great and intensely interesting truth, by indis creetly applying to it a too exaggerated fancy through over-zeal ; yet hath Lakedion earnestly striven to avoid this. Amidst a mass of lights now given, there may be found opaque spots : but he claims for himself exemp tion, at least, from all presumptuous folly, and especially from any intentional undevout dealing with a hidden subject. Lakedion firmly believes it not to be hidden, but open to the full extent of the views he here hath un folded: and that, as to the positive distinction of persons, he claims to be as firm in that faith, as if the Orthodox Creeds had been given by himself : for surely Omnipotence and Omnipresence might be, in personce, even in finite, had the Almighty so willed why, then, not in the declared ineffable THREE ? Lakedion is not aware that any Scripture, any Creed, or any Man, hath ever, in all the ages, declared that the number Three can be the number One or that One can be Three : for that is not the idea, and never was : and yet One may be Three, or Three may be One diverso intuitu, and in a way perfectly known to God, though it may be but feebly understood or conceived by Man. * After a careful examination of all that Cartaphilus has stated in respect to his views of the Trinity, and of his analogical doctrine of Triads, the Editor, whilst he prefers to express no very decided opinion on the entire matter, does not hesitate in the belief that those views do contain a closer approximation to the deeply inter esting and intensely sublime Truth, than elsewhere may be found ; and also that the same is equally remote from any tincture of Arianism, or of Sabellianism. The Athanasian Creed, and the Apostles Creed do not conflict with those views, as the Editor is persuaded; and yet the subject possibly is, and so may remain, quite too recondite for the heart and head (fearful of its judgments) not to welcome the following language of JEREMY TAYLOR : " He that goes about to speak of the " mysteries of the Trinity, and does it by words and names of man s invention " talking of essences and existences, of hypotheses and personalities, &c. may in- " terest himself, and build a tabernacle in his head, and talk something he knows not what : but the good man, who feels the power of the FATHER, and to whom the SON has become Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption, and in whose " heart the Spirit of God is shed abroad that man, though he understands " nothing of what is unintelligible, yet he alone understands the doctrine of the " Trinity." The Editor desires to repose not upon Cartaphilus alone, nor upon Jeremy Taylor alone, but upon that combined spirit of adventurous thought, but of modest submission to judgment, that seems to have characterized each. 678 CftfCmiCleS Of CattapinlU.S, Century xvi. The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads. Dost not thou well know, O Agrippa, that this dogma of the Trinity hath been floating down the stream of time among all the Nations, and in all the Ages ? Its progress may be seen throughout the Hebrew Scriptures also in the writing of Philo-Judseus, in the New Testament in the Apocry phal books in the early Fathers of the Church in the Philosophy and Religion of all the Oriental tribes and nations in the My thology of nearly every Heathen land and lastly, even in the Koran of the ever mysterious Mohammad ; who, though he justly denies three gods, and insists upon one only, hath never said that God cannot appear as man to his creature man ! Whence, then, proceeds this universal tradition of a dogma so profound, but from its essential truth ; and, no doubt, also from an original revelation in Paradise, and for ever perpetuated by reason and faith, because of its inherent conformity to nature and truth ? 32nd. And here I may incidentally add that nearly all the cosmogonies, and the mythological genealogies, during all the Ages, and in all lands, have a seeming eye to the idea of Triads. Not only have their primary gods been thus arranged, but even their attributes ; as to the former of which I shall only state a few instances. We have in this triad connexion Isis, Horus, and Nephthys; also Osiris, Horus, and Sheth; likewise Chronos, Rhea, and Vesta also Dies, Saturn, and Jupiter also the ." Good," the " Evil," and the " Averter." This triad again appears elsewhere in a different form, as Isis and Osiris or the Giver of Life the Arimanius, or Source of Evil and the Sheth, or Averter of Evil: the same, or similar idea we find in the god ON or Aon called the " Enlightener," or Designer ; the god PETHAH, " Maker of things and the people " or the Executor; and in the god RHEA (the Sun), or the Diffuser of physical light, whereby all mental knowledges may be admitted into, and diffused throughout all the regions of darkness, whether physical or intellectual all these being but corruptions of the great Hebrew type of the JAH the LOGOS and the SPIRITUS. So likewise, in the arrangement of the mere attributes of their gods, we sometimes find them divided into a series of triads ; and even the Rabbinical Jews of the darker ages (adopting this oriental fancy), have arranged all the supposed twelve natures of the One- God, into four triads, so as to form a diagram indicating the outlines of a man ! Such wild notions, my Agrippa, may suit other less experienced and thoughtful minds than yours and mine, and will never receive from either aught but the emotion of pity and yet it inculcates (corruptly) the sublime idea of triads. 33rd. And my Agrippa, though I add one more example of the doctrine of triads, as symbolical of the mighty Antitype, yet would I call upon thee to seek out some of the hundreds more that may be found in God s most varied and wonderful providences towards man as if the Creator, from the beginning, designed to impress upon all entities whatever, the great mysterious truth of a Triune-Divinity ! and in the whole of them, as also individually, to illustrate the fundamental principle of the essential nature of the Triune- God as flowing from Design Execution and Diffu sion the point from which I started. And now as to the Triad with which I must conclude the task thou hast imposed upon me. Letter ccix. Cf)0 OBanliering 3ICtO Appendix A. 679 The TRINITY Illustrative Examples of the Doctrine of Triads, Are not all SACRIFICES based upon the threefold idea of first, the choice of the victim secondly, the imposition of hands, and thirdly, of the sprinkling of the blood ? And is not the Selection of the victim referable to the whole Design also the Imposition of hands to the partial Execution and the Sprinkling of the blood to the effectual Diffusion of the inestimable blessing to be conferred? And, in these three distinct actions (though by repre sentation), have we not the essentials of the whole sacrificial symbol of the Tripersonate Deity ? and doth not the symbol there terminate 5 and finally, did not the Great Antitype exactly accomplish the Sacrifice the Imposition of hands and the Diffusion of the blessing through the Holy Spirit ? Who, Agrippa, amidst the numerous other triads, can believe the present one imaginary only ? * I have now performed the task imposed by thee less satisfactorily than 1 wished, but with no minished zeal as I advanced. I pray thee, do thou ripen into full maturity these my imperfectly expressed opinions ; and I mean, moreover, those expressed throughout the whole of this Epistle for all the matters therein are but as one. Thou, O Cornelius Agrippa ! as the author of those learned Orations that so greatly have charmed the world as the author also of that admirable work thou hast given us upon the " Vanity of Arts and Sciences" (that is, according to the mistaken fashion of the times) ought to warrant Lakedion in the hope that the foregoing matters, in this Epistle, as to God s essential Oneness Man s essential inferiority his free agency also as to the necessary Origin of sin the remedy pro vided therefore and especially as to the essential tripersonate nature of Divinity, may all be placed of thee beyond the sphere of future cavil, should this my humble endeavour have planted in thee the desire so to do. Thou wouldst then give to Lakedion s meagre outline all the strength, and all the grace, as it were, of a pyramid, amidst the perishing tents of the now de graded nomades of the Egyptian land. Truly doth it wonder me that from, even before the days of Arius unto the present hour, the world hath found * Solomon, in his " Book of Wisdom," ix. 16, 17, 18, manifestly alludes to this Trinity in Unity, when he says that man comes to the knowledge of hea venly things in three ways viz. by the counsel of GOD (the Father) which giveth WISDOM (that is, by the Logos or the Son) through the HOLY SPIRIT so that the spiritual things may be pleasing unto thee (God) and men be thereby saved through Wisdom " or the Christus. Here then we see that God gives the Logos or Wisdom and sends the Holy Spirit from above, that men may be saved through the Wisdom and the Holy Spirit so sent. Had God been the absolute ONE (as claimed to be the fact by Mohammad, and by all other Unitarians) his acts towards all Creation must have been stated as done without any reference either to the Son, or to the Holy Spirit : OR, any instrumen tality must have been stated as such : but the Son and the Spirit are never regarded as Angels, or as Instrumentalities but the language (so often used) always ex cludes the Sabeliian notion of but one person, acting by mere angels or instrumen talities an idea wholly foreign to that of Cartaphilus : for, though all proceeds from one fountain and that fountain is only three-fold, yet all the powers are as cribed equally to each : what is pleasing to God the Father is so to God the Son, and to God the Holy Ghost : the Wisdom and the Spirit could not exist separately and independently ! 68o Chronicles of Cartapfrilus, century Illustrative Diagrams of The Triads. and proclaimed in these matters so many difficulties, and as if those diffi culties could find no even plausible solution, but involved almost a contra diction ! And yet, my Agrippa, (as I formerly revealed unto thee,) Lakedion, of all mortals, hath erred most grievously in them all, than any one before or since ! But a new" light eventually came unto him : and, if Mohammad (so called) hath gone beyond Arius, and if both were in the main sincere, (as they may have been) marvel not that Lakedion should now have eyes that reject his own great errors, and likewise a heart to expose the enormous follies and blasphemies that have arisen since the Apostolic times. And though this matter of the Triads hath been stated by me, in words, to even a larger extent than I designed, yet I have added thereto a few symbols and diagrammatic lines, that possibly may more clearly unfold my meaning, or give strength to the feebleness of language : and now, for ever, FAHE-THEE-WELL. ISAAC LAKEDION. DIAGRAM THE FIRST. * Cogitative through the (rut- lets of incugiiativc matter. In Diagram the 1st is shown the only three entities in the universe. Lettered*. , Appendix A. 68 1 Illustrative Diagrams of The Triads. DIAGRAM THE SECOND.* 2. 3. BODY. VEXECUTION, HEART. DIFFUSION". * In this 2nd Diagram, No. 1 shows Jehovah to be the source of every Triad He being essentially a Triad : and the contraction of the four spaces manifests the several natures of the four entities. No. 2 carries out the idea, as the three flow into each other, as shown by the outlets in each of the circles : and No. 3 is illus trative of the Mental Faculties, as triads. 682 C&romcles of Cartapfnlus, century i. Illustrative Diagrams of The Triads. DIAGRAM THE THIRD. DIAGRAM THE FOURTH. EXEC IT- DIFFU SION. FACULTIES. 1. THOUGHTS conceive, or design. Mental / MAN. \ Lin g ual language utterance executes. diffuses. HOLY GHOST DIFFUSES. IMAGINATION conceives. MEMORY combines and exe cutes. JUDGMENT renders available or diffuses. 3. MIND Conceives. AT ATW" BODY Exe / \ HEART Dif fuses. 3. UNDERSTANDING originates. CONCEP- / MAN. \ AFFECTIONS TIONS give ^ enforce and form. diffuse. Cfje bannering 3|eto. appendix B. 683 Remarks on Paul s Second Epistle to Timothy. APPENDIX 13. On the Death of Saint Paul, and of his Second Epistle to Timothy, Chap, iv, See pages 218 and 219. We would here additionally remark that the Commentators appear to have greatly mistaken the object of Paul s request in the thirteenth verse of this Second Epistle, in regard to his mantle, books, and parchments, but that their views are still more erroneous as to the interpretation of the seventeenth verse of the same epistle. Some have strangely supposed that St. Paul was not beheaded by Nero, but under the authority of Tigellinus, Sabinus, and Helius, during Nero s absence in Greece (the particulars of which sojourn in Greece are so specially recorded by Cartaphilus in his NERONIANA). The Commentators maintain that this seventeenth verse "Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, that, by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I ivas delivered out of the mouth of the lion" had reference to the monster Helius, to whom the government had been more specially entrusted by Nero during his absence in Greece ! We conceive this to be impossible ; and that, at no time did Helius subject Paul to the fury of a "lion" nor that Helius was symbolically called a lion, nor that he had any agency whatever in the death of Paul, and finally, that Paul s death took place before Nero s expe dition into Greece, and not by Helius during the emperor s absence, though all history concurs in the fact of Helius oppressions, us governor, whilst Nero was upon that fantastic travel. Cartaphilus, therefore, gives no coun tenance whatever, as we have seen, to the modern notion. But, independently of the internal evidence afforded to the contrary, by this seventeenth verse itself, all tradition and history negative the idea of Nero s absence at that time. We know that Nero was certainly in Greece from October, A. D. 66, to near the close of the ensuing year : and if so, we further know that the martyrdom could scarce have taken place during the short interval between Nero s return and death. We further have good reason to believe that the martyrdom of Paul did take place in the summer of A. D. 66, at which time Nero Avas certainly at Rome : and the second Epistle to Timothy was doubtless written shortly before his death, and in firm anticipation of the event. We therefore, inde pendently of the facts stated by Cartaphilus at page 218, and also of the remarks made thereon by the Editor in his Note on said page, have further to remark, in support of our view, that this seventeenth verse conclusively shows the " delivery from the lion" alluded to, was a delivery that had taken place during Nero s presence : for, if by an actual lion, instead of by Helius, a symbolical lion, either must have taken place some time before Nero s expedition into Greece. The traditional date of Paul s martyrdom is the 29th June, A. . 66 about four months before Nero s departure. The popular idea is that the Epistle was written during warm weather, and the Commentators strangely suppose that Paul anticipated remaining in prison during the enduing winter, and would consequently need the mantle ! But 684 C&rOniCleS Of CartapfjtUl.0, Century i. Remarks on Paul s Second Epistle to Timothy. this conflicts with the very spirit of that Epistle he certainly expected an early death, and desired everything from Troas that might enable him to establish his privilege as a Roman, and also when on trial, to appear with the customary mantle. Paul therefore needed (as we contend) his mantle (but not for warmth) and also his books (but not for study) and " especially his parchments" (but not his diary or common-place books) as his modern com mentators have so erroneously interpreted the thirteenth verse. All the ex planations of these two verses, conflict either with the epistle itself, or with history and tradition. Paul could not have said, in the seventeenth verse, that he had been delivered out of the mouth of the lion, consistently with the notion of one commentator, who supposes that lion to be Nero nor with the idea of another, who thinks that Paul expected to be delivered to the lions instead of to the axe nor is the opinion of another commentator more happy, viz. that " delivery from the lion " was a mere proverbial expression, for if so, it removes no difficulty. In fine, the 17th and 18th verses seem to us nothing more than a consolation he takes to himself, after he had in the previous verses lamented his loneliness, in being forsaken by all save Luke and that consolation is the recollection that God had heretofore sustained him, and delivered him from the mouth of the lion (neither a beast, nor man) but the general persecution of Christianity which, then, may be properly regarded as an idiomatic or proverbial expression. And finally, as to the 13th verse, we must insist that it is free from all those difficulties that appertain to the customary solutions, as we think is made sufficiently manifest by the Note on page 218 219, and the remarks now made in continuation of the same. SALOME. frill } a rt 5 OS 0) M rti *** X o I I Q > r^r CD w Q nl w b fe P Sj& - ** O _rt J . So, seal s i 4. NIECE, r s daugh e unkno NIEC s dau unkn eT a> CLT3 ,0, c3 <D . O r X -H *~ HH 03 ^gu sin^s g,2= n .5O O g)<U j llfcl llll g PFQlp 8 01 s.s s ig, Cy 2 gg- 686 Chronicles of Cartapljilu.s, century C5 I I H P fc w i S g^ 3 PH|4; . r^ , <^ ^ ^S C h- 1 I -souuouuuuuuoc E5 r S p^J (^ ^J tl 5 H P rtp-li-li-li-Hi-lr-lr-lr-li-l(N(N<MC)(NC^O^(NIM ^ 52 Q f 5 - CH Cfje bannering Jeto. appendix D. 687 to t- <o o O -* M cJP W O s >ntoi^ooo5Oi-i<Mco-*inco^cca!Oi-<e^cO tineor^ooa>O i-<i-l,-li-ti-li-l-H.~lp-H.-i(N!N!N<N N(N(N<Neq(NCO PH pq c ci O A C C G -.-ccj^ 222222 HH ^ c >5 .3 .j f - -e * -K -2 . >J!S333IsiajiiS3333j<]ig; 2 CHHHH ^ 4J _. 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