as have come from farther up the river, that he declares himself to be but the herald of one greater than himself, but who that greater is, or who himself is, only darkly hints."

"So," said I, "Ziba hath reported to me, receiving it from those who deal in news at Beth-Harem. The people, he says, are greatly moved with curiosity, many having gone up toward Galilee in the desire to see him. They were not a little enraged that the rulers gave not to his disciple, the Tanner of Enon, the liberty to declare himself. But in private dwellings they have heard him, and even on the steps of the market-place. They intend that on the next Sabbath his voice shall be heard in the Synagogue, if any power of theirs can bring it to pass."

"The heart of our people properly so called, Saturninus," said Judith, "is better than that of their guides and masters, our proud counsellors and doctors. Among our sequestered valleys, away from corrupt cities, they are still in some sort a pure and simple tribe -believers in the spirit of our law as well as formal observers of the letter. Were a prophet indeed to arise, it is from them I should look for a just judgment concerning him, rather than from their masters, the Pharisees and doctors."

The moon now sinking below the horizon,

and the inhabitants of the house having withdrawn from their amusement, the Centurion bid us farewell and turned toward the gates of Beth-Harem.

It is not difficult to see, my mother, with what attractive power Judith acts upon Saturninus. He can neither hear other persons nor see other objects, while she is near; nor is it wonderful, for it is the same with all who approach her. But it would, methinks, amuse the dark Pilate, were it made known to him, that he whom he sent into these regions to observe and control an enemy, is already, as it were, become the friend and associate of his household. He may indeed know this, and suppose that his spy has but so much the nearer access for his observations. And it would be so, were Saturninus capable of playing two parts. But of that no one who had ever looked upon his countenance, in which are written, in characters that cannot deceive, honesty and truth, could believe him guilty. He comes to the dwelling of thy brother as a friend, and will do none other than the offices and acts of a friend. And truly in this manner does he gain most successfully the ends of his sojourn in Beth-Harem. For no one could so secure the adherence and quiet of BethHarem and its suburbs, as by showing himself

the friend and companion of Onias. But as friendly as he is toward Onias, so is he to the inhabitants of the city, and especially to the more religious among them. He has already conferred many acts of favor upon the Synagogue.

X.

THE beauty of this region, my mother, which lies on the shores of the Jordan, would delight your eye which so loves to dwell on the works of nature. If Tivoli and the Alban hills, the base of Soracte, the sea views of Baiæ and Naples, draw you so often from the heated walls of Rome, and send you back again so much happier and better, as you do ever affirm, not less would this Jewish world minister to both mind and body, to the eye loving beauty alone, and to the soul, seeking God in beauty as in all things. Indeed to thy spirit, which ever seems half caught away from earth by its familiar musings upon the future and unseen, this land would supply a nourishment others never can. Even I have come to perceive and feel the difference. It is like no other spot of earth. The mind thinks of the many times through so many centuries that the spirit of the Universe, the infinite and incomprehensible energy on which all depend, while from other nations he hath hidden himself in a

silence and darkness never violated, hath here made himself visible, hath here conversed with man, and taught and guided him as a child, that through one people so instructed truth might be then spread abroad in the world and thinking thus, a dread falls upon it in the midst of the scenes, where such things have been, which, though it awes the soul, yet strangely adds to the pleasure with which it gazes and contemplates. The very leaves of the trees as they tremble on their branches seem shaken by the invisible God; the dark woods and the silent grotto are here entered with a hesitating step, as if there especially would be felt his presence. On the banks of the sacred Jordan the ear hears Him in the murmuring of its waters. And over the face of the whole land, and in the overhanging air there seems brooding the spirit of Him, who hath indeed made all, and is the Father of all, but is in a nearer sense, as the past hath proved, the Father and Protector of this people, and may at any moment and in any place again make himself suddenly to be seen, and heard, and felt. Now especially are all looking and waiting for the place and the hour, when He shall shine forth and put in some soul his mind and his power, and establish his kingdom as of old in the sight of all men. Every rumor of what is strange is caught up and mag