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My Dear Father:—Health and peace to thee, and all
my friends honored and beloved in Alexandria!—I
have again seen the excellent Ben Israel, with whom, four
months ago, I came from Egypt, to sojourn in Jerusalem.
He not only delivered to me your letters, with the acceptable
gifts you kindly sent by him, but also assured me of
your welfare in all things. He is at present absent at
Damascus, whither he went soon after his arrival here,
in order to buy the celebrated Syrian blades of that city,
which he takes down to Egypt at great profit, with other
merchandise. He assures me that he is gaining much
wealth by his caravans of commerce, at which I rejoice,
for he is an amiable and worthy man. His entreaties that
I would return to Alexandria with him would nearly have
overcome my resolutions of remaining here, but for the
commands you have laid upon me to avail myself of the
peculiar privileges which Jerusalem affords for improving
the mind; and were it not I am deeply interested in the
issue of the great expectation of Israel. Your letter, dear
father, commands me to banish this “novelty” from my
mind, and continue humbly to worship Jehovah after the
manner of our fathers. I trust this I shall ever do, my
dear father; and did I discover in this prophet any

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disposition to bring in a new faith, opposed to the ancient faith
of Abraham, I should tremble to entertain it for a moment.
You say that this man must be “a false and base prophet,”
or he would not herald a master so low and despised
as he professes will be the Christ he bears witness to.
“There have been many false Christs and false prophets,
my child,” you add, “and Israel has run after them, as
they now run after this John of Jordan, and the result has
been, that they have either perished in the wilderness or
been cut to pieces, with their deceiver, by the jealousy of
the Roman Governors, who looked upon such assemblies
as seditious. Hold fast, my child, to the religion of our
fathers, and be not carried away, as I fear you are in danger
of being, by this wild preacher of repentance. The
kingdom of Messias is not a kingdom of repentance and of
humiliation, but one of victory, of glory, and dominion.
Touching those prophecies of humility and abasement,
which this prophet of Jordan applies to Messias, they have
no application to our expected Shiloh and Prince. They
either apply to some lesser prophet, who will be the forerunner
of the true Christ, (for that he will have a forerunner
the Scriptures speak too plainly for doubting,) or, as some
say and believe, especially do the Pharisees, there are to
be two Messiahs, one who shall come in humiliation and
suffering to the Gentiles, as an atonement for the expiation
of their sins, and one to come to us in regal power,
and in circumstances of glory and splendor, such as no
potentate hath ever manifested, and who shall make Jerusalem
the metropolis of the globe, and the kings of the
earth tributary at his feet. Such is our Messias, whom
the Lord of Hosts send us speedily, to lift Judah from the

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dust of her humiliation! If the base person this prophet
of the desert heralds be a Messias, he is one to the Gentiles
only, whose great iniquities need the self-immolation and
humiliation of one come from God, in atonement therefor;
but he is not a Messiah to Israel, nor the mighty Prince
who shall sit in David's seat on the throne of Zion. Therefore,
my child, you as a daughter of Israel have no interest
in this novelty that cometh out of the wilderness, and
after which half the land hath foolishly run mad. Wait,
be patient, the day of Israel's glory shall truly arise and
shine, and all nations shall see it and rejoice. Think no
more of what thy cousin hath told thee. When Messias
cometh He will be heralded by a more glorious and eminent
person than a young man of thirty, clothed in skins, and
for food eating locusts and wild honey, whose origin and
authority no man knoweth. Believing that your good
sense and sound judgment, my Adina, will at once lead
you to adopt my views, I shall not urge them further, as
if I seriously feared your defection from the house of your
fathers, an event which would bring my gray hairs down with
sorrow to the grave. It is my belief that this prophet
preaches only himself, and, under the mysterious and deceitful
notions of another to come after him, is but gathering
an expectant multitude around him to wield them as
instruments for his own ambitious ends; and by the time
you write me again, I expect to learn from you that he
openly proclaims himself the Christ, after all; or that he,
with all who are led by him, will be destroyed by the
swords of the Roman legions.”

How can I write to you, my dear father, that which is
now rushing to my pen, after such an expression of your

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sentiments as you have made in this extract from your
letter? But I know you are wise, and will not evade
truth, in whatever form it may offer itself to you, and I
therefore, with confidence in your justice and wisdom,
will faithfully make known to you the events relating to
the prophet which have transpired, and may take place in
Judea during my abode here. Hear me always with candor,
and judge without partiality; for this is, without
doubt, a day of wonderful revelations. I fancy that I can
now see your brow darken, and that you say, “enough of
this. Are we to have more of this new prophet?” Yes,
my dear father, more still, and more extraordinary circumstances
I am about to relate than I have yet written; for
the very priests of the Temple have become believers in the
youthful Seer.

You will remember how that John, Mary's cousin,
stated that many priests and others were offended at the
plain preaching of the prophet whom they went out into
the wilderness to see. When they returned to Jerusalem,
and made known to the other members of the House of the
Priests what had been spoken against them, by the application
to them of the words of Esaias and Jeremias, and
other Prophets, there arose at once a great outcry against
him. Many of the Levites even forgot their duties in the
Temple, in holding discourse with the Scribes and Pharisees,
and others, in the streets, in the arches of the gates,
and in the market-places, touching this new prophet, and
his bold denunciations of them, being so much the more
grieved at them because they were, alas, but too well
merited by the looseness of their lives. At length Annas,
who is High Priest with Caiaphas, sent two of the most

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learned men of the Temple, Levites of weight of character,
to invite the prophet to Jerusalem; for Annas is a wise
man, and not easily carried away by popular feeling; and,
as Rabbi Amos hath told me, he is disposed to look upon
the preaching of John, for such is his name, with a serious
and reverential eye. The messengers returned after the
fifth day, and made their report openly in the Court of the
Temple, where the High Priests sat to receive them,
expecting to behold the prophet in their company. At
length the assembly being convened, the two learned and
venerable Levites both rose up, and declared that they had
delivered the message to John, the son of Zacharias, the
prophet of Jordan, and that his answer was given with the
reverence due to the station of the High Priest who had
sent to him:

“Go and say to the noble High Priest,” said he, “that
I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, as it is
written in the book of the words of Esaias the Prophet,
who, foreseeing my day, saith, `The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
paths straight.' All flesh will soon behold the salvation
of God. My errand is not to city nor temple, nor into any
house of Israel will I enter. He who would hear my testimony
to Him who is to come after me, let him seek me
in the wilderness, whence only I am commanded to lift up
my voice till Shiloh come.”

When the priests heard this answer they were greatly
enraged, and many fiercely cried one thing and many
another; some that he should be sought out and stoned to
death for defying the High Priest, (which he did not do, as
it was for him to obey God rather than man;) others, that

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he should be accused to the Procurator, Pontius Pilate,
Governor of Judea, as a seditious and dangerous person,
and fomentor of insurrections. Caiaphas was of the latter
opinion, and wrote, from his tribunal, an epistle to the
Roman ruler, making accusation hereof against the prophet
of the desert, and recommending him to secure his person,
lest further mischief should come of it; adding, that
Tiberius Cæsar, hearing of the matter, would conceive it
to be a movement of the whole Jewish nation, desirous of
casting off the Roman rule, under a new chief; and thus
bring down an army upon the land, utterly to destroy it.
But the milder Annas viewed the whole matter in a different
light, and said:

“Men and brethren—let nothing be done hastily. If
this man be a false prophet, he will soon perish with his
lies, and we shall hear no more of him. If, peradventure,
as it would appear, he is sent from God, let us not make
haste to do him a mischief, lest, haply, we be found fighting
against the Lord of Hosts.”

This moderation found favor with but few, but of these
few, Rabbi Amos was one. But if the priests who
thronged the outer court, in presence of the High Priest,
were deeply moved at the report of the prophet's answer,
their excitement became well nigh uncontrollable when
both Melchi and Heli, their messengers, rose up, waving their
hands for silence, declared, that after having listened to the
prophet to whom they had been sent, they were convinced
of the truth of his words, and of his divine commission,
and been baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Only the sanctity of the Temple prevented the five hundred
priests rushing upon them, and smiting them when

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they heard this. They were at once placed under arrest
by order of the High Priest, Caiaphas, for acting in a
manner unbecoming a priest of the Most High God:
“For,” said he, “this is to degrade the Temple to the feet
of a wandering impostor, and is an open acknowledgment
that virtue hath left the worship of Zion, and must be
sought for in the deserts of Jordan. Which,” he called
aloud, “which, men of Israel, is the greatest, the altar of
the Lord, or the waters of Jordan?—the Priest of the Most
High, or he of the wilderness? Away with these recreant
blasphemers, to be tried and adjudged according to our
sacred laws.” The people who had heard John preach,
hereupon were only prevented from rescuing the two
priests by the presence of a guard of Roman soldiers, for
which Caiaphas promptly sent.

From this account, my dear father, you can form some
idea of the excitement which the preaching of this new
prophet is producing among all classes. The poorer sort of
people are his advocates, and the rich and the rulers, the
priests and great men of the nation, oppose him, save a few
among the best and wisest. Of these few is Rabbi Amos,
who is engaged all the time he is not on duty in the
Temple, in searching the Scriptures, to see if these things
are so; and at every prophecy he reads he is more
and more convinced that the day of Messias is at hand,
and that this prophet is, without doubt, he who was
to be sent from God in the “spirit and power of Elias,” to
prepare the way before him. Every evening there are
assembled at our house from twelve to eighteen of the
chief men of the Jews, who often pass half the night in
warm discussions upon these great things; those among

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them who have heard John, being disposed to give him the
high rank he claims, as forerunner of Shiloh. Among
these is Stephen, a man whose father was High Priest,
and who is himself a lawyer and student of no mean repute.
He has not yet heard John the prophet, but he openly said
last night that, after the most careful examination of all
the Prophets, he was firmly of the opinion that the day of
their fulfilment was close at hand; and that, for his part,
he was willing to hail the prophet of Jordan as the true
herald of Messias. Hereupon, two-thirds of the company
said the same thing, but the others doubted and cautioned
the rest not to be too rash; that it was time enough to
believe in Messias when he himself should come in his own
person.

Such, my dear father, is the present condition of the
mind of the people of Jerusalem. If the Prince of Glory
should, indeed, suddenly appear, there could be scarcely
more excitement, though it would be of a different nature.
There is something sublime to see a young man, who
dwelleth alone in the wilderness, poor and unknown, thus
moving the great heart of a nation; surely his power must
be divinely derived. You ask me, and so is the question
constantly put by the Scribes, and Pharisees, and priests,
to the disciples of John: “Does he perform miracles?
Show me a miracle and I will believe in him; for this is
the only test of a true prophet's Divine commission.” No,
dear father, he has performed no miracle, unless it be one
continuous miracle, whereby he keeps in the wilderness a
multitude, daily enlarged, from the outpouring gates of
every city in Judah, listening to his words, and bowing
their heads to the sacred waters of his penitential baptism.

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As next week Rabbi Amos does not serve in his ccurse
in the Temple, and as he will have some affairs that take
him to Gilgal, where he has three fields now ripe for the
sickle, he has yielded to the desire of his daughter Mary
and myself to accompany him; for he does not conceal
from us that he shall make it a point to visit and hear the
prophet, as it will be but two hours travel from Gilgal
to the place where he preaches. You will, I fear me,
object to this journey. But if the worship of our fathers
has nothing to fear from falsehood, it surely has nought to
fear from truth; and in either case I, as a true daughter
of Israel, have nothing to fear. If the prophet teach what
is false, I shall remain true; and if he teach what is true,
shall I not be the gainer? I hear you say this is but
feeble and womanly argumentation. But as you have
given me the credit of, more than once, declaring it to be
your belief that I am old and wise enough to judge for
myself in most matters, I beg you will suffer me to hear
the prophet with my own ears, in order that I may decide
whether I ought to give heed to his predictions, or reject
them as the visions of a dreamer. One thing is clear—if
the Christ that John prophesies be the true Son of the
Highest, and is in reality to make his appearance ere long,
in humiliation and poverty, his rejection by the High
Priests, and by the rich and powerful of Judah, is certain.
May God, then, remove blindness from our eyes, that, if
this be the very Messias indeed, Israel may recognise their
king, and not do so fearful a thing in their pride as to
reject him openly! In this case, who will stand between
God and our ill-fated race? Therefore, my dear father,
it behooves every man in Israel to examine this matter with

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a sober and humble mind, and move with caution in opposition
to what may prove the dearest hopes of our people.
When I shall have returned from the desert, whither we
are to travel on litters and mules, I will write you all that
I have heard.

You will remember the young Roman Centurion, to
whose courtesy I was indebted in rescuing me from the
rudeness of the two Gentile soldiers. He has preserved,
since then, acquaintance with Rabbi Amos, who speaks
of him with respect; and as he has of late expressed some
interest in knowing what the studies are which occupy the
Rabbi so constantly when he calls to see him, which he
has done frequently, a copy of the Prophets was placed in
his hands; but as he professed he was not learned enough
to read Hebrew, the good Rabbi, who believed he saw in
him a hopeful convert to the faith of Judah, called in Mary
to read and interpret to him. But her knowledge of the
Roman tongue did not prove sufficient, and at her request,
the Rabbi sent for me, to come into the marble hall of
the corridor, where they sat by the fountain, under the
shade of the acacia, which Amos says you took with your
own hands from Isaiah's grave, and planted here, many
years ago, and which I therefore call “my father's tree.”

“Come hither, Adina,” said my uncle, in his benevolent
tones: “here you behold a noble Roman youth whom
you must be too generous to have forgotten.” I bowed,
and scarcely lifted my eyelids from the tesselated floor; for
there was a fire in the glance of the handsome youth that
they could not encounter. He said some words of salutation,
but I only heard the voice, which fell upon my heart
with a strange vibration like the effects of music. Surely

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these barbarians of Italia have the richest language of all
men; compared with it, our Hebrew is harsh and strangely
guttural. “The Roman Centurion,” continued Amos,
“hath desired to know something of the sacred books of
our nation, of which he saith he hath heard much; and of
the prophecies, from which he believes the famed Sibylline
books were composed.”

“I have studied the sacred books of Etruria, of Gaul,
and those of the Goths and the Druids, of Egypt, and of
Persia, as well as of my own people,” said the Centurion,
modestly, “but in all these I find rites and ceremonies,
doctrines and laws, that are unworthy to emanate from
the supreme Jove of so vast a universe. We, Romans, in
the multiplicity of our Gods, in deifying every thing, in
reality deify nothing! Every thing we call God, but we
realize God nowhere.”

“Then thou hast well directed thy inquiries touching
this book,” answered Amos, with warmth, and looking on
the Roman with respectful compassion. “Here is to be
found the true and only revelation of Jehovah to men.
Here is developed a divine character, worthy of the Creator
of the universe. Here are laid down laws and ceremonies,
rites and doctrines, commands and precepts, that
are worthy to emanate from the Father and God of all
men. Thou shalt hear and judge for thyself. I am but
imperfectly skilled in the Roman tongue, save for daily
intercourse, but here is an Egyptian maiden, who can
interpret for thee in the idiom of Grecia, or of Italia, and
I will place the sacred scroll in her hands while I listen.
Come, Adina, open and read the beginning of the Book of
Moses.”

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I obeyed, as I would have obeyed you, dear father, and,
seated at the feet of Amos, I read and translated aloud
into Greek, which the Roman youth had said was even
more familiar to him than his native tongue, (as it is to
all educated persons in the world,) the first five hundred
lines. These, as you know, give an account of the creation
of the world, and of man, of his defection, and his
expulsion from Paradise; of the promise of Messias to
restore what he had lost; of the curse denounced upon
the creation, and the slaying of the Patriarch Abel, with
the population of the earth, its wickedness, and destruction
by the flood.

To this the youthful warrior listened with the profoundest
respect and attention; and when he had thanked me,
and asked permission to come and be further taught from
pages which he said seemed, indeed, to be written with
the finger of the Supreme Lord of the universe; he asked
if the Messias had yet come who was to restore all things?
and if not, when was he to be looked for? This inquiry
led to a conversation upon the preaching of John in the
wilderness, and his predictions of the near advent of Shiloh.
Rabbi Amos, seeing that he became deeply interested in
the subject, made me turn to the particular prophecies
of Daniel, Esaias, David, and others, and read them to
him: both those which described, in golden words, the
glory and dominion of his power, and those which represented
him as despised and rejected. After I had read
all which the Rabbi directed me to read, the young man
remained some time very thoughtful. At length he said,
with animation: “I can now comprehend why men run
into the wilderness. I should like to hear this prophet.”

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When Amos told him that he contemplated journeying
to Gilgal the next week, and intended to visit the desert
to hear him, he at once asked permission to be of his company;
but when I remarked that Mary and I were also
to go, his dark eyes beamed with pleasure, and he immediately
said:

“I will accompany you with a squadron of horse, as the
roads are not safe, for no longer than yesterday we received
a rumor that the celebrated robber chief, Barabbas, at the
head of a large band, has made his appearance again on the
hills, between Ephraim and Jericho, and had robbed not
only two caravans, but many of those who were travelling
to hear this prophet. I will make an expedition against
him, after seeing you safely in Jericho.”

When we heard of this robber, we were not a little
disposed to decline our journey; but Rabbi Amos thanked
him, and said he would gladly accept his escort, “inasmuch,”
he added, smiling, “as I know you Roman
knights here in garrison have but little to employ your
time, and would esteem it a privilege to have an excursion
of this kind. Moreover, you say you must go against this
bandit; so we do not so much draw on our courtesy as
take shelter under your duty.”

It is therefore decided, dear father, that we leave early
next week for Jericho and Gilgal, and go also into the
wilderness to see and hear the prophet. On my return, I
shall not fail to write you without delay. Till then withhold
your judgment, and have confidence in mine. With
holy aspirations for the coming of the kingdom of David,
and the restoration of his throne in Zion, I remain with
filial love, your daughter,