When these angry men had gone forward again on
their path of vengeance, and we had resumed our progress
thus momentarily interrupted, I inquired of the
prince the meaning of a city of refuge for murderers!

“I will gladly answer your inquiry,” he replied courteously.
“In the division of this land by Joshua to our
fathers he appointed, by the command of the merciful
God, several places as `cities of refuge,' so that if any
man slew another by accident he might fly thither from
vengeance. This privilege was not to shield the murderer,
but to protect the innocent; for a man who unwittingly
slew his fellow, not intending it, might be killed
therefor by the by-standers who knew not the true facts,
and so unjustly perish. `Therefore,' said Joshua,
`whosoever killeth any person unwittingly, or unawares,
may fly thither for refuge from the avenger of blood!'
For instance, my lord prince, this man, who is now
bounding across the country on his way to a city of refuge,
may have slain his victim unwittingly; but the
dead man's friends pursue with vengeance, as you have
seen, to slay him, not giving him opportunity, if they
should overtake him, to show his innocence of evil intention.
Now, if he reaches the gate of the city of Sichem,
and can but lay his hand upon the gate-post, he is safe;
nay, the city extends its protection, for a bow-shot beyond
its gates all around, to the flying man-slayer! Standing
in the gate he asks shelter and protection from the
avenger of blood. The elders of the city are called by
the chief captain, and in their ears the fugitive makes
known the circumstances of the crime for which he flies,
declaring the deed to have been accidental. The elders
then appoint a certain officer of the city to receive him,

[figure description] Page 098.[end figure description]

who conducts him to a safe abode in the heart of the
city, where he is to dwell until the death of the High
Priest of the land! If the pursuers come to the gate
and demand him, they ask in vain. If they can prove,
however, before the Senate and Judges that the slaying
was malicious, then the murderer is given up to the executioner
of the land and stoned to death.”

“Why is the unwitting slayer released on the death
of the great High Priest?” I asked.

“So reads the law,” he answered, “that in such an
event the slayer shall peaceably return to his own city
and home; and whosoever then slays him shall be put
to death! There is a tradition that the death of the
High Priest is the type of the death of a divine High
Priest, Prince and Son of God, who is to come out from
heaven in the future ages, and die for all who have done
evil, in order to release them from their guilt! and that
this pardoning of murderers in the cities of refuge at the
death of the High Priest is to keep before the minds
of the nation the divine Priest to be sacrificed, and die
for the whole people! `for,' says the tradition, `we are all
guilty before the holy Lord God.' All this is obscure,
my lord of Assur; but if you converse with the Seer,
Samuel, at Ramah, he may be able to make it clearer to
you; for it is his privilege and office to know the mysteries
of God and reveal the future! We can pass through
Ramah to his abode by deviating somewhat from our
direct route to Hebron, and if you wish to see the venerable
prophet and friend of God, while your caravan proceeds
direct to Hebron, I will go on with you with my
body-guard. Near Ramah is Bethel, where my royal
mother now resides, whom I would gladly pay my respectful
duty to, as I have not seen her for many weeks, having

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been in the interval with my father at Gibeah, at Mizpah,
and at Hebron, at all of which places he has either
winter or summer abodes which he is adorning and enlarging;
for our land has hitherto been without kingly
residences. Hebron, however, will ultimately become
the king's capital, as my father regards it with more
favor than any other of the cities of his habitation.”

In such conversation, your majesty, we beguiled our
way, which gradually wound in among lofty precipices,
and led over bold hills, most of which were crowned
with walled villages or castles; while the prospect from
their summits was full of interest to one coming from a
land so little diversified as Assyria, about Nineveh.
Hills, rocks, dells, valleys, in romantic confusion, all
teeming with life, and rich with culture, met the view.
The names of several places were made known to me by
the Hebrew architect, whom I found a person of intelligence.

At one of the castles which we came to, the captain
thereof appeared at the gate and offered us hospitality; but
we declined the courtesy, prefering to dine in our own tent
on the road. He, however, detained the prince two hours
on some affairs, while I rode slowly forward, attended
by Joab the young soldier of the Jordan. This young
man I found had an imperious will, and was as rude in
speech as brave in heart. He seemed to regard me,
however, with partiality, and to be ready to communicate
any information in his gift. As we rode on he said,

“I see that thou thinkest highly of the king's son,
Prince Jonathan! Thou mayest, lord of Asshur. Young
and fair as he appears, he has a lion's heart. His eyes,
which seem as soft as a woman's, can blaze with the light

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of battle! To see him in his blue-broidered tunic and
golden armor, with the plume in his silken bonnet, one
would fancy he were only a fair-day prince, who loved
rather to hear the voices of singing women than the
trumpet-cry of war!”

“What has he achieved in arms, my friend?” I asked,
seeing that he wished to talk about his prince.

“I will give thee, my lord, one instance of our royal
prince's brave deeds. When the last foray of the Philistines
was made into our land, the king went out to
meet them, and laid siege to a garrison where they were
fortified. They could not, however, be dislodged for
want of proper war engines and arms. Weary of the
delay, the young prince called his armor-bearer, the
bearded man whom you see riding there by that man-at-arms,
behind us, and said, `Come, let us go and see
these Philistines! Peradventure we may find a weak
point where they may be attacked!' So going secretly
out of the camp at the close of the day, they descended
through a defile, and came before the garrison! Finding
that there was no way by which the army of the king,
his father, could get up to it, but only here and there
a place where one man could put his foot, he called out
aloud to the Philistines and said,

“Come forth and let us fight our battles in open field!
In the name of the Lord we will destroy your hosts!”

Then the Philistine captain, coming to the top of the
rock, called to Prince Jonathan to come up and take the
garrison, as he seemed so bold!

“Such a challenge to the son of the king shall not be
refused while I have a sword, and a hand to wield it,”
cried the prince, in a sort of divine fury; and calling to

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his armor-bearer to follow him, he commenced climbing
the rocky sides of the garrison. In a few moments the
daring young soldier, closely followed by his armor-bearer,
drew himself over the verge, and leaped, sword
in hand, into the very midst of his foes! He came so
suddenly upon them, and his aspect was so terrible, and
he threw himself upon them with such vengeance, the
while uttering his battle-cry, that those who resisted
were cut down, and others, flying, alarmed the garrison,
and created a panic throughout the whole Philistine
hosts; for it was believed from the noise of fighting and
the ringing blows of steel on iron armor, that the whole
of the king's army had scaled the cliff and were attacking
them! The prince alone slew twenty men in the
space of a few yards before him, while his armor-bearer
keeping close to him, warded off the blows of those who
had courage to oppose him. It being dark, the enemy
could not distinguish friend from foe, and, in the confusion,
parties attacked each other. Thus the dismay
each instant grew, until the whole army in and beyond
the garrison commenced to fly along the passes of the
mountains, pursued by the prince and his armor-bearer,
slaying as they went, and uttering their fierce battle
shouts. The noise of the conflict reached the ears of the
king, his father, in his tent; and it was told him the Philistines
were attacked, by whom they knew not! He
soon ascertained that Jonathan and his armor-bearer
were missing from the camp. He then rose up, he and
his army, and followed in pursuit, and the flight and chase
lasted till the close of the next day, when weary with
slaughter and with pursuing, the king and his army halted
and encamped for the night, laden with spoils! This

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daring exploit of the prince, as well as his piety and virtue,
has endeared him, my lord, to all the people, as
you may well believe.”

While Joab was speaking, Prince Jonathan came riding
up and rejoined me. I regarded him now with deeper
interest. What courage and noble qualities lay hidden
under that calm, pleasant countenance, which was almost
effeminate in its fairness, added to the soft, shining
tresses which fell in waves upon his shoulders!

We now rode on, but at our ease, to keep within the
slow traveling pace of the caravan. At night we encamped
in a vale by a well, and the next day continued
our advance amid agreeable scenes, while on all sides the
density of the population and the great number of villages
surprised me. For miles, the valleys are like a continuous
village; while on the rocks and among cliffs, almost
inaccessible, are perched habitations, gardens, and vineyards;
kids, goats and sheep seem to cover every projection
of the hills in great numbers, and herds of fat
cattle roam the green and secluded glens.

I have not spoken of the beauty of the females of this
favored land. They are seen everywhere moving about
without restraint, sharing, with affectionate interest, in
all that concerns the welfare of the community; kind,
affable, cheerful, and intelligent, they are worthy to be
the daughters and wives of a manly and truly domestic
race like the Hebrews. Concubinage or duality of wives
is unknown among this virtuous people. The females,
therefore, retain a certain dignity of aspect and a feeling
of self-respect which is not observable in the bearing of
the ladies of Assyria. Here woman is the companion
of man: as his wife, often his judicious counselor in

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difficult and doubtful cases, and the sympathizer of his
sorrows; his tender nurse in sickness, his truest, best,
most unselfish, and most faithful friend always.

In personal appearance they are not tall, but their
forms are the impersonation of grace, both of outline
and motion. They have raven black hair, very abundant,
and long, and beautifully glossy, in which they take
great pride as woman's most lovely adornment and her
“crown of glory,” as one of our poets has it, braiding
it in shining bands, and adorning it with precious gems
and dust of gold. Large and brilliantly brown eyes they
have, warmed by feeling and ardent with animation, their
dangerous fire tempered by long, sable eyelashes which,
when they drop the eyelids, rest in a curved fringe upon
the cheek. Their power of expression surpasses all that
I ever beheld in woman's eyes; and a sure captive will
the unwary youth become who suffers himself long to
gaze into their fascinating depths.

The personal beauty of the Hebrew women is universal
in their years of maidenhood and early wifehood. What,
with their massy and richly-bound tresses, their eyes of
fire, their lips more brilliant than the hue of the pomegranate,
the soft, olive tone of their complexions, the gazelle-like
grace of their movements, the exquisite shape
of their heads, and delicate smallness of their hands and
high-arched feet, the singularly attractive melody of
their voices when they speak in the low, musical tones
peculiar to them; all these present a charming combination
of attractions that will convince your majesty that I
at least have a full appreciation of the extraordinary
loveliness of the gentler Hebrews. Add to this their
cheerful dispositions, their kind and obliging manners,

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and the intelligence with which they are gifted, and one
cannot withhold from them that praise and commendation
which is so deservedly their merit.

In the national history of the Hebrews, there stand out
prominently several of the sex who have reflected honor
upon the whole people by deeds of heroism performed
for their country, or else by the loveliest exhibitions of
faithfulness and truth, or by sacred devotion to the will
of parents, or of obedience to the gods. Of these are
Deborah, the prophetess, and warrior, and Judge, all in
her own person; Ruth, a foreigner by birth indeed, but
adopted into the Hebrew nation, and of whom their poets
love to sing the gentle praises; and a young and beautiful
daughter of a great warrior, Jeptha, who sacrificed her,
herself consenting, to the gods, (or rather to his `God,' as
I shall say when writing of these people,) in fulfillment of
a vow on the occasion of a great victory; and Iael or
Jael, allied by blood to the priestly line of Israel, who
slew with her own hand Sisera, the powerful and cruel
general of her nation's foe, and thereby delivered her
country from servitude.

These noble women are all subjects for the poet's harp,
and are household names in the land. It is a peculiar
feature of the Hebrew character that the men honor the
female sex even above their own; concede to it the highest
places and the first acts of courtesy in mixed assemblies.
This consideration in itself elevates woman, and renders
her worthy of the homage and regard paid to her.

How different all this from woman in the East, your
majesty, where the sex is regarded as but so many beautiful
toys created for our luxury and pride, and far beneath
in intellect a husband and a father! Only here

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and there, as in the noble exceptions of Semiramis, Sardanapala,
and Arsephaxa, all powerful and virtuous
queens of Assyria, does woman in the East assert her
true rank by nature, which, doubtless, is to be the companion
and friend and prudent counselor of man, both
as kings and subjects.

I see your majesty smile at my eulogy of the sex, and
at my admiration of the Hebrew females. If Egypt's
fair daughter, to whom I am sent to ask her hand for
your majesty, be half as fair as Adora, the beautiful
daughter of the chief senator of Jericho, your majesty
will have a bright jewel to wear in your coronet. If I
had not hastened from the splendor of her eyes I should
have been consumed by them to ashes.

But to resume the narrative of my journey hither.
At the close of the second day's travel we came to where
two roads met. One of these took a direction southwardly,
but the other led westward towards Ramah, the
abode of the Seer, and so on, to the shores of the Great
Sea, which the prince informed me was visible from a
mountain not far from the place where the prophet dwelt.

As it was my desire to see this holy and venerable
person, and present to him your message and signet-ring,
I gave the caravan orders to continue on the way southward,
under the charge of my captain, Nacherib, and,
encamping before Hebron, await my coming. Retaining
only my personal guard of one hundred nobles, the prince
having also kept one hundred of his men-at-arms, sending
the residue under Joab with my caravan as an escort
through the country, we were about to go forward towards
Ramah, when Nacherib, who had just put the caravan in
motion on its road, came riding up as if with a message.

[figure description] Page 106.[end figure description]

“Your highness,” he said, “I had best halt the whole
body! I see a large force winding its way in this direction
through the valley below us, and if we proceed we
shall meet them!”

The prince and I immediately turned our horses' heads,
and rode one side to a slight elevation from which the
southern road was visible for a league. Half that distance
off I saw advancing a long train of camels and
laden mules preceded by a party of horsemen carrying
slender lances.

“It is a caravan, doubtless that from the country of
Sheba, which is expected yearly about this time on its
way to Syrian Damascus,” said the prince, after a moment's
scrutiny. “But let us spur forward and ascertain!”

Followed by a portion of my hundred horsemen, as a
protection in case of surprise, I rode rapidly forward
with the prince, and we soon came so near that the armed
troop in its van stopped and drew up in line of battle.
I then halted my guard and Prince Jonathan rode forward
alone. No sooner was he perceived by the strangers,
than their chief, a dark warrior of gigantic stature clad
in chain-mail, detached himself from the main body of
his command and came galloping into the open space on
a coal-black charger of magnificent size, superbly caparisoned.
He rode as if man and horse were but one animal,
moved by one will and one power. It was a superb
display of barbaric horsemanship, and as he rode he held
his long lance in rest, but not leveled in an attitude of
hostility, but pointing skyward above his head. He was
followed at a little distance by one who bore his shield
and sword.

[figure description] Page 107.[end figure description]

I at once rode to the side of the prince, who said to
me:—

“I am right. It is the annual southern caravan from
the kingdom of Sheba, which lies by the south sea, and
destined for Syria. I know well their faces and style
of armor, and have before seen this chief about two
years ago!”

“Peace and amity,” cried the prince, as he came up
within a few paces of the warrior.

“Even so! We are for peace and amity, this being a
caravan of merchants, my lord,” answered the chief.

“You are welcome to pass through our land, sir captain;
for we also profit by your merchandize. Didst
thou stop before Hebron?”

“But one day, my lord, for rumor came suddenly that
the Philistines had moved with a great army from their
fastnesses, and were to march upon Hebron. So we hurried
on to be out of reach of foes, which make no distinction,
and plunder where there are treasures. Thou seest
I have but four hundred armed men with me, enough
for security against the bands of the men of Esau in the
deserts, but not to withstand battles with hosts harnessed
for war!”

“Thou hast done well to hasten thy march,” said the
prince. “Pass on thy way in peace!” “This is indeed
news,” he continued, turning to me! “So this armament
so long threatened by our foes is come to a head, and
Hebron is menaced by our implacable scourge! For
your sake I am grieved, as I fear the enemy will possess
themselves of the passes south, and delay your march towards
Egypt.”

“In that case,” I answered, “I will not remain idly

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waiting a passage to be opened by your arms, or their
pleasure, but join in the war with you with my thousand
trained Assyrians, and so bring it to an end the sooner,
that I may peaceably proceed on my mission!”

“These tidings,” continued the prince thoughtfully,
“should take me at once to Hebron. But the king in
person is enough there! I will assemble our armies in
this quarter, and send them to my father. I still will
go on to Ramah! There are several garrisons on the
way, and also there, the soldiers of which I must despatch
to the south. Besides I would, in this new peril, ask of
the man of God what will befal in this war! My poor
father used to consult him! But now there is no intercourse
between them! My father offended him by sacrificing,
without waiting for the prophet whose sacred
right it was alone, and I fear displeased God, also; for
he seems, alas! to have been,since then,under a dark cloud
of divine judgment! as painful as it is for a son to say
this, I can not withhold the truth from you. My father
was on the eve of an engagement, and wished to offer the
usual sacrifices to propitiate the God of battles, and win
a blessing upon his arms! He waited until the time of
the evening oblation, and not seeing the prophet appear,
seized the sacrificial knife in his impatience, and with
his own hand slew the victim! He lost the battle! Thus
heaven frowned upon him for the act, and the prophet
in displeasure denounced his unlawful proceeding as high
impiety, and declared to him in the most solemn language,
that henceforth he should not prosper in his reign,
and that the day was at hand when his crown and sceptre
should be taken from him and given to another,
chosen of God! Since then the prophet, who once loved

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and honored my father, and who privately consecrated
him at his election, himself, as King of Israel, and again
consecrated him at his coronation before all the people,
has turned his face from him, nor spoken with him either
words of anger or of kindness. This displeasure has had
its natural effect upon my father, and filled his soul with
that gloom and depression, which, most noble prince
Arbaces, you will not fail to observe when you come into
his presence!”

During this revelation of the king's infirmities, we
were slowly riding back again to the place where the two
roads met, the caravan of the strangers from the south
being once more in motion, and coming after us. I could
not but feel and express my sympathy with the amiable
and sorrowful prince, who evidently loved and honored,
with the profoundest respect and affection, his unhappy
father. After a few moments he added,

“It is my wish to see the prophet, to entreat his interposition
with the God of our fathers, to pardon my
father's act of usurpation of the priestly office, and give
him prosperity in this war, and in all his reign. Not
that I desire this prosperity on my own account, noble
sir, for it does not grieve me to be deprived of the succession
to my father's crown; but alone for his peace
and honor do I desire it.”

“How, my prince, are you to be deprived of your
kingdom at the king, your father's, departure from this
life?” I asked with surprise at his words. He answered,

“The prophet has pronounced, and his word is the fiat
of God, by whose inspiration and knowledge he speaks,
that the kingdom shall be given to another at his death!

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Not to me! Another is to rule Israel, not of my blood
or of my name!” he continued with earnest feeling.
“But he who is to wear my coronet is worthy! Heaven
has consecrated him beforehand! His anointed and
youthful brow but waits for the crown of my father!”

He rode quickly onward, as if to give some orders to
Joab, without saying more, leaving my mind in a state
of suspense, and with increased interest in this noble and
good prince, whose life, evidently, is also shaded by the
cloud which overhangs the path of his royal and doomed
father.

The stranger caravan, interesting to the eye from the
varied costumes of the foreign people who composed it,
now came creeping on up the winding ascent in a long
picturesque line; while my Assyrian retinue of nine hundred
men were drawn up at a distance on a hill, their
burnished armor gleaming in the radiance of the sun,
awaiting the passage of the merchants and their guard
of four hundred men, led by their gigantic and warlike
chief.

The whole company having passed on, the spices which
the camels bore filling the whole atmosphere with fragrance
around us, my caravan, which had drawn aside
to give room to the strangers, once more advanced with
its head towards the south. The prince gave Joab and
Nacherib warning to be on their guard against any bodies
of the Philistines who might be secretly penetrating the
country; which precautions I carefully enjoined upon my
chief captain, also, to observe. We remained watching
the two caravans, which got out of sight, going in their
opposite directions, about the same time; and then, spurring
forward, we made all haste to reach Ramah by noon.

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Onward we dashed up the rocky defiles, my body-guard
of a hundred Ninevite horsemen and that of the prince,
divided into fifties, preceding and following. There were,
besides these, but four of us in the party, the prince,
myself, and our respective armor-bearers; the Hebrew
architect having gone on with the caravan.

Our road was at one time amid romantic defiles, the
sides of which were hung with vines, and to which the
cottages of the vine-dressers almost seemed to cling for
support; at another over rocky ridges fortified with
castles and guarded by garrisons; now we traversed lovely
vales, and now threaded our way through a long village
of white stone houses with flat roofs on which we saw the
inhabitants either walking for air, reading parchments,
or copying them, the women pulling flax, weaving, carding,
or engaged in needle-work; while many were at
their meals upon the roof which was protected by fancifully
colored awnings with fringed curtains, looking
precisely like a tent pitched upon the house-top. These
awnings were tasteful in shape, and rich and gay in
material and in colors according to the wealth of the
householder; and so were the occupations of the family
beneath them, either humble or leisurely elegant, according
to their condition. It was a lively and happy
scene. Want seemed to be a word unknown. How soon,
I thought, could all this fair picture be changed by the
invasion of a wild band of those armed Philistines, who
seem to have been for generations the terror of the land,
and its implacable foes! I felt a curiosity to know
something of these dreaded adversaries. The prince
kindly answered my inquiries; and from him I learned
that they are a warlike remnant of that conquering

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family of ancient Phænicia, called Palestines, a race of
Shepherd warriors, who invaded Egypt, (before the time
the fathers of the Hebrews went thither,) and with their
well-trained armies conquered Lower Egypt and set up a
foreign dynasty at Memphis. After reigning for six
generations, being driven out of Egypt by a Theban
conqueror, they retired into Palestine with only a remnant
of their former numbers; but since then they are
much increased in power and warlike arts; for their
glory and happiness is in war! When the Hebrew
people conquered the adjoining kingdoms, fearing for
their own, they became their most vindictive enemies.
The Hebrews have not so much sought to conquer their
country as to defend their own from their invasions. To
this day they continue to be a scourge to this people of
God; and what is singular their incursions always follow
the commission by the people of Israel of some national
sin! It is moreover openly said by their Seer that God
permits these foes to exist as a living instrument for the
chastisement of the nation!

How wonderful the God of this people! How constant
his watch over them now for five hundred years!
With what numberless displays of his divine majesty does
he aid them in danger! With what ceaseless severity
does he visit them when prosperity leads them to forget
their dependence upon him! Is He not the most powerful
of all gods, as well as the most terrible in his manifestations
of Himself? Who of the gods of Assyria,
Assur, Ninus, Assarac, Belessar, which of them have ever
pretended to any such power and glory? If the God of
the Hebrews, your majesty, did not limit his care and
providence to this people alone, but manifested himself

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to all nations as their divine Protector, I should regard
Him as the Lord of the whole earth and the Arbiter of
the fate of all kings and dominions, even as of this!
But as he limits his care to the Hebrews he is evidently
their national Deity as Assarac is ours! yet how much
more powerful is the Hebrew God! Nay, his power it
would seem to me, could fill the world, and that if He
chose He could lord it over all lords, and rule in heaven
and on earth God of gods and King of kings! The more
I learn of His ways and dealings, the more I revere and
honor his mighty name! But fear not, your majesty,
that I shall be drawn into infidelity and become a
Hebrew! The gods of Assyria are the true gods for an
Assyrian, until a mightier Deity like this of Israel removes
them from their celestial thrones, and reigns over
us in their place.

We at length came in sight of the brown battlements
of Ramah elevated upon a steep, which, on all points,
was capped with turrets, giving it a warlike and commanding
aspect. Winding our way through pleasant and
populous suburbs, the vine-dressers and laborers in the
fields pausing to regard with wonder the splendid appearance
of my body-guard in their foreign armor and
plumed crests, we came before the eastern gate of the
city. Here we were challenged; but the Prince Jonathan
being instantly recognized by the chief-keeper of the
gate we were permitted to enter, my guards following,
riding two and two. The streets were narrow and closely
built, and the roofs and lattices were thronged with people
to gaze upon us; for at first the alarm had been bruited
about that we were a party of Philistines who were approaching
the city; but on learning that we were friendly

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Assyrians from the far east, their curiosity to see us was
unbounded.

After going through half the place which is not very
large, we came to a house not very ancient in appearance,
and with a look of superior dignity to the others. This,
I was informed, was the palace of Naioth, the abode of
the late Judge of Israel, Isamel the Seer. Here we
alighted, and the prince sent in his armor-bearer to ask
audience of the man of God for himself and an ambassador
from the court of Nineveh.

But, your majesty, I will defer my account of the interview
to a subsequent letter. Meanwhile, with my
prayers to the gods of our country long to preserve you
in health to sit upon the throne of your long line of
heroic and pious ancestors, I subscribe myself,

p614-124 LETTER IV. Arbaces to his King.
Camp near Hebron, City of the King.
My beloved monarch and cousin:

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I will now proceed to relate to your majesty the
interesting circumstances connected with my visit to the
venerable Seer of Israel. While the armor-bearer of
the Hebrew prince was in the palace, the people, in great
numbers, gathered about us and hailed with glad voices
of loud acclamation their king's son, whom many recognizing
had pointed out to all others.

What with his distinguished presence among them,
and the curiosity excited by my Assyrian guard of young
nobles in their cuirasses of gold, silver saddle bows, and
rich scarlet cloth-housings, and, above all, their beautiful
Persian horses, the scene around me was exciting and novel.

“Long live our prince!” cried one.

“May he soon be our king!” said another, boldly.

“Nay, this is treason, my friends!” exclaimed Jonathan,
looking round sternly and rebuking them with flashing
eyes, “you speak like traitors to your king who use such
language. You mean well, but I cannot hear it!” he
added, more gently, as he perceived that they were
abashed and humbled.

At this moment the gate of the court opened, and the

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prince's armor-bearer, Heleph, reappeared, accompanied
by the steward of the palace, an aged man attired in a
loose gray robe, and with snow-white hair and a flowing
beard. He approached Jonathan with courtesy, and
said, at the same time saluting me in a marked manner:

“The prophet, my master, desires me to conduct you,
my lords, to his presence.”

We followed him into the court-yard, which was enclosed
by corridors, and with a fountain in its centre,
while tall palms grew from the midst of the court, the
broad tops of which effectually shaded its pavement from
the sun. The columns were crumbling with age, and
covered with moss or half concealed by neglected vines.
The house had for three hundred years been the abode
of the Judges; and when Samuel gave up his authority
from the weight of years and infirmities, after he had
passed threescore and ten, he still retained it as his
abode, but resigned two others belonging to the Judges,
at Gilgal and Mizpeh, to the king. Here had dwelt for
a time Samson, the mighty destroyer of the Philistines;
here Deborah, and here nearly all the stern, old warriors
and famous Judges of the land.

Crossing the paved inner court, and ascending a flight
of stone stairs, the steward preceded us along a gallery
to a spacious chamber that was placed immediately over
the gateway through which we had entered. The door
was ajar. The steward knocked softly, and a voice
within bade us enter. We obeyed, and stood in the presence
of the man of God!

I beheld before me, seated by the window which threw
its light upon a table beneath it covered with parchments,
a man of august and venerable aspect. Large and

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majestic in person, stooping a little with great age, he presented
the ideal of the father of gods as I have often
conceived his appearance in imagination. He was elevated
a little above the floor upon a sort of carved throne,
or chair of state, of ancient workmanship, once the tribunal
of the old Judges, robed in a rich garment of
woolen, dyed a dark crimson, over which was the ephod
or sacred mantle of the Hebrews. About his waist was
a girdle of linen, and he wore a full white tunic, fringed,
and similar to what I have seen upon the chief of the
Levites! Upon his head was a small blue cap, worn to
supply the loss of his snow-white hair, a few thin locks
of which curled down about his neck like shining threads
of silver. His majestic face was one on which heaven
had impressed the seal of the highest expression of humanity.
Upon his lofty forehead authority sat enthroned
as upon her native seat. His awful eye-brows, stiff and
black as night, not a single hair turned gray thereon,
hung like a crag above his imperious eyes, lending to
them a depth and power inconceivably grand and impressive!
Their fire was not dimmed, nor their piercing
regards dulled by his great age; but rather his soul
seemed to be concentrated in their light with star-like
brightness. His high, arched nose indicated a strong
and resolute character, firm and bold; while the proud and
commanding air of his closed mouth bore testimony to a
life of rule and absolute power over men, leaving its record
there as if chiseled in marble.

Withal, I fancied I could discover a certain elevated,
chastened, and divine expression on his features, caught
from frequent communion as the oracle of his people,
face to face with his God! Time, while it had softened,

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had not wholly removed from his noble features a certain
sternness and awful severity which sufficiently betrayed
the former absolute dictator, powerful Judge, haughty
prophet, and imperious priest. He looked, perhaps, like
all he had been, only tempered by the veil of repose,
with which Old Age ever invests her children.

At his feet, seated upon cushions before low tables,
were two scribes in blue cassocks and white linen robes
which came down to the sandal. They were engaged, as
we entered, with pens of reed in taking down from his lips
words dictated by him to them. Now the two youths were
suspending their labor and were gazing upon us; for our
entrance had interrupted the prophet in his work. I saw
freshly written “Shopeteim,” or “Judges,” at the head
of one of the parchments before them. All around the
room, which I subsequently learned had once been the hall
of Judgment, were many seats arranged, and tablets on
stands placed before them; but they were all unoccupied.
There was no sort of ornament on the walls, no decoration
of any kind; on the contrary, an air of desolation
and decay reigned over all. The very palace itself
seemed to sympathize in the decadence, in the person of
their present aged and reverend occupant, of the long
and brilliant succession of warrior-Judges!

The Seer, upon beholding the son of Saul enter, smiled
with that benignity which so becomes old age, and extending
his hand to him, said,

“Welcome, Jonathan, my son! I am too infirm to
rise—”

“Not to me, holy father, not to a youth like me,” interrupted
the prince, kneeling reverently and kissing
the hand of the Seer with the profoundest respect and

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affection. “I rejoice you are so well, and that our God
has so long spared your excellency to us!”

“But my days,” he answered gently, “will soon come
to a close, my child! But God will take care of his
people Israel, and accomplish the work for which he has
raised them up and made them a great nation.”

“I would, my lord, that the king and thyself were
friends. My father truly grieves at the past! It is
breaking his great heart! He mourns until his mind is
fearfully dark, and his words and acts strange. Entreat
the Lord our God for him, O father!”

“Nay,” answered the Seer, his brows bending sternly,
and a light of displeasure kindling in the deeper darkness
beneath them. “He must bear the judgment of
God as all men must who transgress his laws. I am
grieved to hear of thy father's sad condition. I have no
power to help him, my son! The will of God will be
done on earth, and no man can hinder the work of His
hand or oppose the decrees of His word gone forth.
None shall let or hinder Him! Thou, my child, art innocent,
and I know good and pious at heart. But it is the
unchangeable law of sin that the innocent offspring shall
suffer for the guilt of their fathers.”

“I bow in submission to the law of my God,” answered
Jonathan humbly, his voice tremulous and low, still
kneeling before the Seer.

“Thou hast forgotten, my son, the stranger who came
in with thee!” said Isamel, regarding me with fixed observation.

“Pardon me, my venerable father, I thought only of
my unhappy parent;” he said, rising. “This is the
most noble Arbaces, a Prince of the court of Assyria,

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and cousin to its great King Belus, who is on his way as
an ambassador to the court of Pharaoh; but, passing
through Judea, seeks your presence to make known to
you the respect his monarch entertains for your excellency,
and to ask of you from him certain questions.”

I advanced, as Jonathan thus formally presented me,
and bent my knee before the august and awful Seer,
whose looks and manner deeply impressed me, saying,

“May your mighty God, who reveals himself in glorious
majesty, bless and honor your highness above all
wise men on earth, and preserve you in peace and health
many years to come! I consider myself happy, venerable
Seer, to have the honor of seeing, face to face, the
mighty prophet of the Hebrews, whose fame has long
since reached the court of Nineveh. Permit me to present
the congratulations of my king, and his kind wishes
for the prosperity and glory of your nation.”

“I thank thee and thy great king, young prince, and
in return wish him health and peace, and the wisdom of
the knowledge of the true God, who is Jehovah, King of
kings, and Lord of the whole earth, and Maker of all
men, whose aged servant I am permitted to be.” Then
regarding me attentively, he inquired, “How long hast
thou been in this land?”

“It is not quite one month, your highness, since I left
the banks of the Tigris,” I replied, rising from my knee.
“I have been nearly half that time in your beautiful and
abundant land, every step in which I have been interested.”

“I trust you will find your visit in Judea agreeable,”
he courteously answered.

The venerable Seer then invited me to sojourn with

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him a few days, saying, pleasantly, he could not give me
princely entertainment, but that if I would fare as he
did and the school of the prophets under his roof, I
should be a welcome guest.

After some further interesting conversation with the
august Hebrew, whose presence more and more impressed
me with awe and respect, the steward conducted me to
a chamber along the corridor. As I proceeded thither,
I perceived in a second or interior court, which also contained
a garden, several youths and young men in dark
tunics and caps, variously engaged. Some were walking
up and down the terrace reading from leaves of parchment,
others conversing, others engaged in exercise; and
three or four in copying with a stylus, beneath a tamarind
tree.

“Who are these, and what is their pursuit?” I asked
of the steward, having left the prince conversing still
about the king his father, and the menacing invasion of
the Philistines.

“This is the `School of the Prophets,' my lord,” answered
the old man. “Has not the fame thereof reached
thy land?”

To avoid making a reply, which might wound the kind
old servitor's national pride, I inquired the number of
the young men.

“Seventy, your highness. That is the sacred number,
neither more nor less. When one leaves, another
enters. This school was founded forty years ago by
Samuel, (in that the sons of Eli proved so evil,) that the
prophets of the people might be piously instructed in
their holy duties.”

After I had found my chamber, and seen and talked

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with Ninus my armor-bearer, who informed me that my
body-guard were well cared for, I walked along the corridor
to observe the young candidates for the high office of
prophets of God. They all seemed to be happy, and by
their appearance to come from among the best families
of the land; though here and there was one with less refinement
than his companions, and evidently from a more
rustic district. There was one youth of singular grace
and beauty of person, who was reading by the fountain,
and wholly absorbed in what he studied, whose appearance
greatly pleased me.

While I was observing him, a trumpet sounded a few
brisk notes, and all the young men left their pursuits, and
crossing the court entered a door beneath the portico
and disappeared. The handsome young student, not
hearing the signal at first, was the last to go in. Prince
Jonathan at this moment stood by my side. He had
just left the presence of the Seer. His face wore a
profound aspect of sadness that was very touching.
But seeing my look of sympathy, he gently smiled and
said,

“Do not let my sorrows render you sad, my lord. I
had hoped that I could appeal successfully for a blessing
on my father, and prosperity to his arms in the war!
But it is the will of Jehovah that he shall not prosper!
What am I to oppose God? I do not blame at all the
holy prophet. He has but uttered what God commanded.
He sincerely mourns for my father, and pities
him, even while he is firm in his purpose to see him no
more! But we will not speak on this subject. How
grand the prospect from this terrace! I perceive you
were admiring it. From yonder height of Mount

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Ephraim you can see, in certain conditions of the atmosphere,
the Great Middle Sea, beyond the illimitable horizon of
which all is a mystery and marvel to mankind!”

“This prospect is varied and beautiful,” I answered;
“but my attention was fixed upon the court below, which
a moment since was filled with young men, who have just
entered beneath the portico by that palm tree.”

“You have seen the disciples of the prophet,” he said,
“This is the School of Seers for the nation! It is a
high privilege to be admitted into it. Here they are
taught by seven of the wisest Rabbiis of the nation, each
gifted with the spirit of prophecy, knowledge of the law,
and of all religious duties and holy rites; and they also
know the mystery of communing with God, the highest
privilege of man! This school is supported by the gifts
of the people. The youths have now gone in to their
noon-day meal. The place is free to all. Will you accompany
me?”

I gladly accepted his companionship; and, descending
the terrace into the garden, he first pointed out to me the
rooms occupied by the young men. They were perfectly
plain, with a lion or leopard's skin laid upon the
tiled floor for a bed, a bench, and pitcher for water, and
an iron lamp: this was all their furniture. Entering the
hall I saw the whole company standing around a long,
narrow table, upon which were set earthen vessels of
bread, cups of water, and lentils, with dried fruit in
abundance. This was their frugal fare, but they partook
of it with evident satisfaction. At the head of the table
was another one much shorter, by which also stood the
seven noble-looking Teachers of the School of Prophets.
I looked for the young man whose fine appearance had

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so struck me when in the court, but could not discover
him. After they had ended their humble meal, a signal
was given and one of the Rabbiis commenced to chant.
The young men responded all in one voice till the roof
rung again. The second Rabbi recited a part, and the
seventy youths answered antiphonally as before; and
thus seven verses were nobly hymned to their God in
fine manly voices, and with the most wonderful melody.

They now, at another signal, formed in line and marched
at a slow movement along the hall, mounted a broad
flight of stairs and entered a large upper apartment
around which they arranged themselves in attitudes of
reverence. At the upper end, upon a platform covered
with blue cloth, the seven prophet-teachers took their
seats. Then a door opened and the venerable Seer came
in from his chamber. All rose, crossing their hands
upon their breasts, and bowed with affectionate respect.
He took his seat just above the seven sub-prophets, and
opening a roll of parchment which he held, he proceeded
to read from it, to his attentive audience, a treatise upon
the moral obligations of all men to love one another as
children of the same common Father. He closed with
enforcing the virtues of purity, truth, temperance, and
industry, and reminding them of the omnipresence of
their God, who judged men by their hearts.

When he had concluded this beautiful essay, seven
young men came forward and took their stand by a sort
of choir-desk, where stood a harp and several smaller
musical instruments, such as the sackbut, psaltery,
trumpet, cornet, and ten stringed lute.

The young man who had so attracted my attention I
now saw leave one of the seats where he had been out

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of view, and go to the harp, over which he ran his fingers
as a prelude to one of the most sublime and torching
pieces I ever listened to. The prince no sooner fastened
his eyes upon him than, with an exclamation of surprise
and pleasure, he made a half spring forward as if to address
him! but this impulse he instantly checked, saying,

“It is the young shepherd of Bethlehem!”

He stood up and eagerly regarded him with the most
friendly interest, like one who suddenly discovers a very
dear friend. I could not ask him any questions, I was
so rapt with the performance of this beautiful youth upon
the harp, and with the rich and harmonious tones of his
voice; for he played but a few passages before he began
to sing a hymn addressed to his God!

How breathless all listened to the magnificent anthem!
How noble and graceful his attitude! how grandly he
strikes the harp strings! How calm and holy his countenance!
How full of adoration his aspect! What a

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light of devotion burns, like altar fires, in his upturned
eyes!

When he had ended, the other players played upon
their instruments their parts; and then the seventy
pupils chanted sublimely theirs; and the Seer, raising his
hands solemnly to heaven, spoke a sublime recitative to
his God; when all, harp, cymbals, trumpet, and voices,
united in one mighty swell of praise.

I was overpowered by my sensations! My heart was
dissolved within me already by the sweet melody of the
youthful harper. Tears came into my eyes! Harmony
of sounds had never before impressed me so and moved
my soul!

The Seer now spread out his hands and blessed them;
and shortly afterwards the students retired, not in procession,
but leisurely, conversing with each other and
their teachers. Several approached the Prince Jonathan,
and with great demonstrations of affectionate respect
saluted him.

“Who,” I asked him, “is the youth who played so
wonderfully upon the harp?”

“I am now going to embrace him!” he answered.
“Will you come with me, my lord Arbaces? See, he
advances!”

“David!”

“My friend and prince!”

These mutual exclamations were followed by a warm
meeting between the harpist and the son of King Saul;
the last speaking with ardent and delighted feeling, the
former with modest diffidence, yet with evident strong
attachment to his prince.

“How long hast thou been in the School of the

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Prophets?” asked the king's son, releasing him from his
embrace. “I believed thou wert still at Bethlehem!”

“I have been here but a few weeks, noble prince,”
answered the humble youth, with looks full of friendship,
if not of love, for this amiable and warm-hearted young
man of high rank. “The holy prophet, Samuel, sent
for me to come hither to study, and I have obeyed him.
I estimate deeply this privilege of knowing books, and
being versed in the wisdom of this far-famed seat of
sacred learning.”

“I rejoice at it, my dear David! Here you should be!
You know, as well as do I, your high destiny, God-elected!
It becomes you to be here to prepare yourself therefor!”

This was said in a tone that was unconsciously sad.
The youth pressed his hand, and without a word, (for
both their hearts seemed full from the presence of a common
thought,) they walked away together hand clasped
in hand! I followed them with deep interest with my
eyes, and a desire to learn more of the noble and beautiful
boy, for scarcely was he twenty years of age, who
seemed to be so loved by the kind prince.

The Hall of Praise and of Prayer was now deserted by
all, save the Seer, towards whom I advanced, as he
seemed to await me.

“Come with me into my chamber, my lord of Nineveh,”
he said, with an air of venerable courtesy. “Since
the prince and the youthful shepherd, David, are gone
away together, you will be left alone for a time. I will
now give thee audience, and hear thee in behalf of the
request made by your prince.”

I passed an hour with the man of God. The awe I
at first experienced in his presence was not lessened,

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while a profound feeling of filial affection became mingled
with it. He won my heart while he continued to
command its deepest and most reverential homage. I
will, when I return to Nineveh, your majesty, reveal to
you his answer to your inquiries. We spoke of the Hebrew
king. This led to an allusion by me, not without
hesitation lest I should be venturing on forbidden ground,
to his malady. He said, gravely:—

“You will find Saul, O prince, an unhappy monarch!
The spirit of God has departed from him for his impiety
and disobedience. He is a man to be pitied. His sceptre
will soon be taken from him, and be given to him
whom God has anointed.”

Here the Seer paused, and turning to the table took
up a parchment-roll closely written. As he saw me look
with curiosity at several other scrolls, and glance at those
upon the desks where the two scribes had been writing,
he said:—

“I perceive you possess a mind which takes pleasure
in investigation. These parchments contain in progress
the history of the three hundred and ninety years of the
rule of the Judges from Joshua to myself, the last of
the Judges of Israel! In the roll upon the shelf above
the table is the book of Joshua, written by himself
up to within a few days of his death, and completed
by me. The five large scrolls with purple covers, in the
niche by the window, comprise the Five Books written by
our great law-giver, Moses. They are our sacred Records,
and the seal of God to them bears testimony to
their truth as the voice and word of Jehovah! That
small scroll in a silver case is a history written by the
young man who performed upon the harp with such skill.

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It is called the “Story of Ruth,” who was the mother
of his grandfather! It was written by him in his nineteenth
year at Bethlehem, at my request, in order to
preserve the genealogy of his family. It is a poem of
great beauty, for the youth is, by nature as well as by
divine inspiration, a true poet!”

“I am already interested in the young harpist, my
lord,” I answered, “and, with your permission, I will read
his book.”

The Seer kindly gave me the permission. There entered
at this moment one of the seven prophets or teachers
of the school, whom I had noticed while in the “Hall
of Praise,” from the remarkable intelligence of his face,
and a certain air of independence and courage by no
means unbefitting one who was to be a censor of evil
men, as all prophets must be. He acknowledged my
presence with a slight but respectful bow, and was going
to the shelves for a book when the Seer said to him,

“Nathan, my son, place in the hands of the Prince of
Assyria the Book of Ruth: and if you have time transcribe
a copy for him. He desires to know all he can
of our polity, religion, and literature, during his short
sojourn in our land! As you are familiar with these
subjects, I desire you to attend him for a time, and afford
the prince whatever information he may require.”

I thanked the venerable prophet for this favor; and
the young teacher, after giving me the book, said with a
pleasant smile, “It will gratify me to be of service to
your highness.”

The Seer then retired to an inner closet or oratory,
where he was accustomed to pray, and closing the door
left us in the Judgment hall. I passed two hours

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examining the manuscripts therein, some of which were richly
illuminated with brilliantly colored headings to the chapters.
The polite teacher then led me along the terrace
to a room, which contained copies of nearly all the books
ever written in the known world: Egyptian, Assyrian,
Phœnician, Indic, Arabian, Babylonian, and parchments
from the land of Tarshish, in the farthest cast, and from
the Isles of Grecia in the farthest west, which, in his life
of nearly ninety years, the learned Seer had gathered
by means of merchants and travelers, often offering to
chiefs of caravans large sums in gold for books from
strange countries!

“And is there in your seminary of the prophets any
one so learned as to be able to read these parchments in
their own languages?” I asked, holding in my hand a
massive volume bound between rolled-out plates of silver,
and written in beautiful but strange characters.

“No one but the prophet our president,” he answered;
“He has the knowledge of all the tongues within them!
That book you hold in your hand is an Arabic book,
treating upon the stars, from the land of Idumea, the
chief city of which is wonderfully cut out of the side of
a mountain. You perceive, graven upon the silver cover,
a picture of that city!”

From this “Chamber of Wisdom,” as it is called, we
walked along the corridor, as he intended to show me
the view of the Great Sea westward, which I had expressed
a curiosity to behold. We passed a column in
crossing the garden which seemed to be a monument to
the dead. Seeing me observe it and admire its carved
plinth, and the symmetry of its form, he said,

“That is the only remaining pillar of a great temple

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to the dragon god Bel, which once stood where this old
palace of the Judges is placed. It was destroyed by our
fathers, all but this column, which Joshua commanded
to be left as a memorial of the gigantic architecture of
the powerful nation of idol worshipers he had conquered.
It is now still more famous as the tomb of the mighty
Samson, once a Judge and prophet in Israel, as well as
a warrior!”

“I have already, to-day, read,” I answered, “in the
parchments of the Seer, a narrative of this Hebrew hero,
who perished, I believe, about seventy or eighty years
ago by pulling down a vast theatre upon the heads of his
enemies, destroying them all with himself!”

“Yes! He was the strongest, though not the largest
of all men, and nobly died avenging himself upon the
foes who had put his eyes out in sport. His body was
subsequently recovered from the ruins, and buried by
the side of this column, which has now become his monument.
When he was a Judge of the people, he dwelt
here two years of the time; and one morning, after a
slight shock of an earthquake during the preceding
night, he saw that this column leaned over so that it
threatened each moment to fall and crush beneath it
that wing of the palace. In the presence of the Seventy
Elders, his council, and the governor of the city, and
many others, he came down, and placing his hand against
it, with one effort of his mighty strength, he restored it
to its level, upright as you behold it now! When,
therefore, he perished between the columns of the house
of the Philistines, it was deemed fitting that he should
rest here; and now it is called no longer `Dagon's Pillar,
' but the `Pillar of Samson.”'

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We now passed a series of rooms which the young
prophet informed me were the apartments of the women
of the families of the former Judges. “There,” he said,
pointing to a spacious room now tenantless and ruinous,
“the courageous prophetess Deborah had her lodgings.
In that door she stood when she made known to the Hebrew
Judge and general, Barak, God's command for him
to attack the barbaric Canaanites, who held a portion of
our nation in bondage. When he refused to go for fear
of their great army, she indignantly cried,”

“Wilt thou have me to go with you?”

“Is not God with thee?” he answered. “Come with
my army and I will meet Sisera and all his hosts; but
if thou remainest behind, I will not stir horse or foot
from mount Tabor where my army lies.” The prophetess
put her ephod upon her shoulders, and taking only
her sacred wand, marched forth with him. Sisera, a
brave and experienced, though youthful general, was
defeated and losing his chariot in the battle, fled on foot,
and was taken and slain by a woman called Jael, to whose
tent he came for shelter.

“I have also read that narration,” I answered, “in
the writings of your Seer.”

“You will then recollect that she cut off his head with
her own hand. It was sent hither to the prophetess
Deborah, and laid by the messenger upon this stone by the
door; but she humanely commanded it to be sent back
and buried with his body, which, at her request, Barak
had conveyed to his mother who, from her lattice, was
waiting his return as a conqueror, when she beheld approaching
his headless body brought back upon a bier
of boughs.”

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“When did this heroine live?” I asked of the intelligent
and interesting young prophet.

“About two hundred and fifty years ago. Here is an
apartment,” he continued, “which is invested with pleasing
yet most painfully touching associations. About
one hundred years since, there was a noble and brave
general, whose name was Jeptha. He had a fair daughter,
called Phigenia. Her beauty and gentle character
made her universally beloved. Her warlike father idolized
her, while she returned his fond affection with all
the tendor ardor of a daughter's love. It was a pleasing
sight to see them both together, and witness his prideful
regard as he gazed upon her lovely face, and met the
soft eyes of filial trust and confidence with which she
looked up to him. When he came from the wars she
would be the first to descry, from the tower of his castle,
his tall form and waving crest; and the first, when he
entered the gate of the city where he dwelt, to welcome
him with cries of joy and gratitude at his safe return;
while he would bend over from the saddle and lift her
slender form to his mailed bosom, and kiss her cheeks
with tear-sparkling eyes and words of parental love.
When he reached the palace, she would, with her delicate
fingers, untie the fastenings of his brazen helmet, arrange
his gray locks, and attend to his comfort in the thousand
ways known only to pure and unselfish filial love.

“At length the King of Ammon, who reigned on the
east of Jordan, invaded the land. Jeptha was called
upon by the people to become their leader in the war,
and they invested him with authority as a prince and a
Judge over them: the highest office in the nation. His
daughter was at this time sojourning in Mizpeh at his

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house with her friends. But when he became Judge of
Israel, he forthwith sent her to Ramah with his sister to
make ready this palace, as he intended after the war to
dwell here. For eighteen years, the Philistines had oppressed
our nation and conquered us in every battle, so
that we were in a measure subject to them, and for that
period had no Judge in Israel. The election of so distinguished
a soldier as Jeptha caused great joy; and all
the people sent offerings to Ramah, and also to Gibeah to
repair the houses of the Judges which had been suffered
to fall into desolation.

“The people of Ramah rejoiced that their Judge was
about to make his habitation among them, and gave their
money freely to restore it; and his fair daughter had
soon the palace ready for the reception of her father
when he should return from the field.

“In the meanwhile Jeptha, on the east of Jordan, had
been making preparations to give battle to his adversaries.
On the eve of attacking them, he stood before his
captains, and raising his right hand to God made a
solemn vow, which he sealed by the oath of God, that if
the Lord would give him victory over the army of
Ammon and deliver their adversaries into his hand, on
his return to Mizpeh, whatever came forth out of the
gate of the city to meet him, he would offer it as a burnt-offering
unto the Lord his God! Little did the warlike
father suspect who would meet him. Phigenia, his daughter,
having got this palace all in readiness, and anxious
to hear news from her father, and obtaining none after
three days' suspense, said she would go as far as Mizpeh,
as she could sooner there get tidings from the
land of Ammon whether there had been a battle and her

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father were safe. So she returned with her maidens and
friends to Mizpeh. Hardly had she entered within the
walls of that city, ere a messenger came into the town,
running and saying that a great battle had been fought,
and Jeptha victorious! The next day, from the battlements,
the conqueror, with a small war-worn retinue
attending him, was discerned galloping across the valley
towards the gates. The whole city went out to hail
their deliverer; and as they drew near him, falling back
a little, they let Phigenia advance first to meet him, at
the head of a company of the maidens of Mizpeh with
timbrels and dances.

“When he looked up and saw her, he uttered a great
cry of agony, and leaping off his horse to the ground,
rent his mantle, and covering his face, refused to embrace
her, saying,

“`Alas, my daughter! alas! How camest thou hither
to meet me and to break my heart?' And she said,
(while all stood amazed at his grief,)

“`What grieveth thee, O my father? Art thou not
covered with glory? Has not God blessed thy sword
with victory? I have come forth to meet thee, like a
loving and fond daughter, to hail thee conqueror of
Ammon, when thou hidest thy face and turnest from
me in sorrow! Art thou wounded, O my father, and in
pain?'

“`Wherefore should I not hide my face and weep?'
he answered, gazing upon her with a haggard visage.
`Listen, my child! I vowed a vow to God before the
battle that, if he would deliver Ammon into my hand, I
would sacrifice as a burnt offering to Him, the first object
that met me on my return home! Lo! Thou art

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come, alas, alas, to make thyself the victim! Would
God I had fallen on the field by the sword of Ammon, or
lost the battle with infamy, ere my eyes beheld thee
here! But I have sworn to God thy death, and thou
must die!'

“Then all the people with the maidens lifted up their
voices and wept sore at these dread words; but the
lovely Phigenia, with a firm voice though with a marble
face, said,

“`My father, if thou hast sworn, thou canst not forswear
thine oath! Do with me according to thy vow! Hath
not the Lord given thee victory over thine enemies, thus
accepting thine oath? And wilt thou withhold the sacrifice,
or shall I the victim? No, my noble father! I am
ready to die—to have purchased thereby this victory of
my country and the glory of thine arms!'

“`Ah, dearly purchased by thy sweet death, my child!'
he answered, falling upon her neck and holding her
lovely and slender form long in silence against his
mailed heart. At length he stood up and said, with
husky words,

“`Thou shalt not die! Heaven will spare my child!'

“`Then what price wilt thou pay back to God, O my
father, for the victory? I am no longer thine, but consecrated
by thy vow to heaven! Better I should meet
my death on the altar of fire than thou shouldst be false
to thine oath on the field of victory.'

“`Yes—there is no hope—none—no—alas! thou must
be slain!' he said sorrowfully. Then suddenly added
firmly,

“`Prepare thyself for the sacrifice, my daughter!'

“`Not now—oh, not here, my father!' she thrillingly

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cried as he drew his sword and made a sign to her to
kneel! `Thine oath named not the hour! I will not
shrink—oh no, I will not shrink from the death! But
spare me two months, O my father, to prepare myself
for the altar of sacrifice!'

“Gladly the poor father caught at this respite and
bade her go, and with her maidens make ready to be
offered up, at the end of that time, a burnt-offering to
God!”

Here the youthful prophet Nathan paused. I had
listened with the deepest and most painful interest to his
narrative.

“Was this beautiful virgin sacrificed by her father?” I
asked.

“Alas, yes!” he answered sadly. “She at once came
hither to stay until the expiration of the two months,
during which time she lodged here in this place with her
friends; save that every day she would go into the groves
of the hills, which you behold near the city, where a holy
prophetess dwelt, and lament in touching songs her fate,
to be doomed to die so young! for life was naturally
dear to her. She also prayed much there, and sought to
consecrate herself with the aid of the prophetess by
prayer and fasting for the sacrifice. At length the day
came for the fulfillment of the dreadful vow made by her
father! He had passed the intervening time in his house
at Mizpeh clothed in sackcloth, and spoke to no man
for nearly three-score days. Then came he hither and
in the little vale which you behold from this angle of the
wall he erected an altar with his own hands. In this room
before you the hapless virgin was attired for the sacrifice
in robes of pure white, wearing on her head a crown

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of white roses. She went firmly forth at the hour of
evening sacrifice, descending with her train of weeping
maidens through the gate of the court below, and so across
the hill which you now see covered with olive-trees, and
thence entered into the vale. By the altar stood the
dark and stern father, his drawn sword in his hand!
He appeared like a marble statue rather than a living
man. Thousands looked on in religious awe from the
walls and hillsides.

“The sweet victim, embracing her young friends, released
herself from their clinging arms, and approaching
her father, would have knelt before him for his blessing;
but he forbade her with a gesture, and said, `Let me
kneel and ask thy forgiveness, O dear lamb, for my rash
vow, and for the deed my hand must do in its fulfillment
this day!'

“He knelt down before her, all the while keeping his
eyes turned away that he might not look on her face,
and she placed gently and lovingly her folded hands
upon his head, and said,

“`I have nothing to forgive my father! I die for my
country's victory, and for thy honor before God and the
people of Israel! Now, farewell!'

“For a moment she rested in his arms, then kissed his
forehead, and gently disengaging herself, with a firm
step ascended the altar. He rose and followed her—tottered
to her side like a man overcome of wine—and as she
kneeled in an attitude of prayer upon the wood laid for
the burnt-offering, he sheathed his glittering sword in her
snow-white bosom; then kindling the fagots with his
torch, he fell to the earth insensible, and lay there as one
dead.”

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“It is a sad, sad tale,” I said, perceiving that the
prophet was silent. “Did the father live?”

“He never smiled again! He lived a few melancholy
years, weary of existence, and unfit for war or rule, and
died the sixth year after his fatal victory, at Gilead, where
he was buried, for he never entered this house of Naioth
in Ramah after her death. His head reposes upon an
urn containing the ashes of his lovely victim!”

I thanked my intelligent guide for this touching narrative,
and surveyed with renewed and tender interest the
room consecrated by the last presence on earth of the
hapless, yet amiable, courageous, and pious Phigenia.

We then continued our way out of the city to the hill-tower,
from the lofty top of which I beheld for the first
time the mighty Sea of the West. My emotions deprived
me of speech! I could only gaze with wonder and awe!
How shall I describe the spectacle, to give your majesty
an idea of its sublimity and illimitable grandeur! It appeared
to my eye as if I could see off the earth into
boundless space; for the sea and sky were both of the
same azure tint, and the meeting line of water and air
was not perceptible. There was in fact no visible horizon!
The far distant strand of Palestina, full twelve
leagues west of us, but more by the roads, seemed the
jagged edge of the world! I never experienced before
such ideas of vastness and remoteness. The atmosphere
was pure as crystal. As the sun declined, the narrow
belt of sea became silvered with its light, and looked like
a brilliant river without a farther shore flowing around
the verge of the world! Your majesty must pardon a
little enthusiasm in one who beholds, such a sight, for the
first time!

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My guide, whose grace of manners, gentleness of
speech, and intelligent conversation, attracted me more
and more towards him, and who seemed to have a profound
acquaintance with his country's history, and to
know how to instruct without ostentation, now directed
my attention to the surrounding scenes. In one direction
he pointed to where Joppa lay, a famous seaport,
but not in sight; gave me the names of the mountains
which we stood upon, those all about us, and indicated
with his hand the direction of Hebron, south. The
valley of the Jordan, the dark mountains of Nebo beyond,
and, also, the Sea of Sodoma lay to the east.

On our return from the summit, we crossed the little
valley of the sacrifice of Phigenia, called the “the Vale
of the Oath.” It was a gloomy spot, overhung with rocks
on one side, and deserted even by flocks and herds; and
since that day, one hundred years ago, no man has tilled
or sown thereon! I stopped near a pile of stones, half
buried and covered with wild vines and moss. It was
the remains of the altar of Jeptha! left as a lasting monument
of his rash vow! On our walk we had just passed
a beautiful garden, when we came to a large mausoleum
all in ruins, and apparently of great age. Perceiving
that I regarded it with interest, the prophet said,

“This is called the tomb of Joshua! But there is
another sepulchre in the rocky sides of the mount of
Bethel, which is also claimed by the Benjaminites as his
burial-place. There is no doubt that this was erected
as a sepulchre for one of the ancient Canaanitish kings,
and his coffin removed by the conquerors; doubtless the
body of Joshua was placed here! At least tradition,
which is history to us, gives its testimony to this effect.”

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While I was meditating upon the spot, and recalling the
glorious career of the Hebrew conqueror, and the ingratitude
of his nation in permitting his sepulchre to perish,
or to be in doubt as to the place of his burial, the Hebrew
prince and the young harpist of the School of the
Prophets appeared walking in the path, side by side. The
prince at once joined me, excusing himself for neglecting
me. I replied, I had been in good hands, and had derived
much information from my companion.

“In that case,” said the prince, smiling, “I will not take
any blame to myself. My lord Arbaces, this is my friend
David of Bethlehem, of the School of the Prophets!”

The youth, who had just asked of Nathan some question,
met my salutation with modest frankness, blushing like a
maiden; evidence of a right and noble disposition, and of an
ingenuous nature uncorrupted by the world. I could not
but regard with admiration his extraordinary beauty, of
which I have before spoken! He seemed a superior being,
especially when I recalled his wonderful performance on
the harp, and his voice so rich with melody and pathos.
Here a fourth person joined us, a young man in the dress
of the School. His name was Asaph, and he brought a
message to the prince from the Seer. We all went towards
the palace together, when I parted with the intelligent
prophet, expressing warmly my obligations to his
courtesy, for he had given me full four hours of his time.
The handsome Bethlehemite also left us at the foot of the
terrace, the prince taking his hand, on separating, with the
affectionate manner of a twin-brother.

It was my privilege to occupy the same apartment
with the royal prince. When I seated myself to recover
from the fatigue of my walk, I related to him what I

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had seen and heard. We discussed the conduct of Jael
in slaying Sisera: the prince giving it as his opinion that
“she was justifiable as he was an enemy of God; as in
permitting him to go in safety she would have been condemned
as an enemy to her people: she had no alternative
but to do as she did.” On the contrary, I contended,
your majesty, that the rights of hospitality are
always sacred; and the enemy who seeks protection
under its shield cannot be harmed by the host without
crime.

Of the fatal vow of Jeptha we also spoke. I said that
“a rash vow is a great wrong; but if it involve a greater
wrong, the least of the evils should be chosen. He had
better have been perjured, than for his oath's sake commit
a crime which has no parallel.

“Your God, my noble prince,” I added, “would
rather have forgiven the vow than received the unnatural
sacrifice.”

“As Jeptha alone was guilty,” said the prince, “he alone
should have been the sufferer. He ought to have sacrificed
himself rather than the innocent Phigenia! Suicide
is a crime, and so is murder! He could have chosen
between the two! But she has left to the world a noble
and touching memory, and a sublime example of filial
obedience and piety. Her sacrifice has made her immortal.”

After two days passed as guest of the venerable Seer,
at whose feet I also sat with his School of youthful prophets
to listen to the words of wisdom that fell from his
lips, I at length bade him farewell and received, kneeling,
his blessing. He desired me to convey to your majesty
his remembrances, and to ask you to read a copy

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of the sacred books of his people which he has presented
to me for your acceptance. He says your reign will be
happy and prosperous if you continue just and virtuous,
but that sins and oppression in kings (evils happily unknown
in your majesty's rule) are more severely punished
by the God of the heaven and earth than the transgressions
of other men! That “kings are vicegerents of
the supreme King on high, and should rule with equity
and judgment.” He showed me how all the wars in
which his nation have been involved were actual scourges
of their God sent upon them for national transgressions.

Having taken a kind leave, at the foot of the stairs, of
my intelligent friend Nathan, who promises to become a
leading man among his countrymen, young David came
forward to me and grasping my hand said, in a manly
way and with graceful dignity:

“I am sorry, my lord prince, you have come to find
our country troubled by the hordes of the Philistines,
whose presence will perhaps prevent you from going, at
present, farther south than Solima or Hebron. News
are come within an hour that they even menace this
place.”

The prince had already heard the tidings, and ridden
to the gate to learn their origin. There I found him
not long returned from a visit of filial duty to his mother
at Bethel, surrounded by the captains and officers of the
garrison. I learned that an army of four thousand men
was within ten leagues of Ramah, having already occupied
several towns on their route. The prince promptly sent a
force of eight hundred men to defend a pass in the mountains
of Ephraim, made some valuable suggestions to the
general who commanded in those parts, and at length,

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rode forward with me on the way to Hebron, his own
and my body-guard escorting us.

On our way we passed the rocky heights of Solima
with a bold castle crowning the southern eminence, still
held by a pagan garrison of Jebusites; the place having
withstood since the days of Joshua the assaults of the
Hebrews. There it towered in strength and pride, an
inaccessible fortress of the ancient masters of the land
in the very heart of the kingdom. Your majesty may
suppose that I gazed upward towards its frowning battlements
with deep interest, from the narrow valley
which it overhangs and through which we traveled.
Upon my expressing my surprise to the prince that so
small a castle should have held out for more than four
hundred years, he said that it was formerly the citadel
of the chief city of the land, Solima, once the capital of
the kingdom of a wise and virtuous Syrian prince, Melchisedek,
and that Joshua conquered the city itself, but
left the citadel to be subseuently and at leisure reduced;
but other places demanding his attention, it remained
unattacked up to the time of his death; and since then,
though often assailed, it has never been conquered. The
garrison is however peaceful, and seldom molests our
people.

The same day we passed across a portion of the plain
of Mamre before Hebron, where the three great Kings,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lay buried in the cave of
Machpelah; which interesting spot I have visited since I
arrived here. In it also reposes the embalmed body of
the eminent and virtuous Prince Joseph, once governor
of Egypt, who, at his dying, commanded the Hebrews to
bring it with them from the land of the Pharaohs and

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here bury it; thus singularly prophesying not only their
departure from Egypt, but their conquest of this land.

In the plain of Mamre I found encamped my caravan,
and retinue of Assyrian soldiers. The next morning I
entered the city, and was conducted by the Hebrew
prince into the presence of King Saul.

p614-157 LETTER V. Arbaces, the Ambassador
To Belus, King of Assyria.
Ambassador's Camp, Plain of Mamre, before Hebron.
My dear cousin and King:

[figure description] Page 146.[end figure description]

The city before which I am encamped, your majesty,
is one of the oldest in this part of the earth, even older
than ancient Tanis, once the capital of the northern
Egyptian realm. It is said to have been founded by a
giant named Habro, or Hebra, of the race of the old
kings of Palestina. When Joshua conquered the land,
it was the stronghold of a Canaanitish king, who himself
was of gigantic stature, of the family of Anakim.

It is built upon a bold and rocky hill, and looks with
its lofty battlements, immense walls, and strongly founded
towers, to be impregnable. Hence the king has recently
selected it to become the capital of his kingdom, when
he shall have completed his palace, and strengthened and
enlarged its fortifications. It is partially encircled by
the vale of Machpelah, a portion of the valley of Mamre,
of which with its gardens, and white flat-roofed villages,
and groves of palm trees, and enclosures of fig, pomegranate,
and apricot trees, it commands a noble view.
Around this vale stand precipitous hills, which are separated
by deep passes, that approach close to the walls in

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one direction; but a small number of soldiers can prevent
an enemy from penetrating through them to the city.
Without doubt it will be made by the monarch the
strongest city in this extraordinary kingdom of walled
and battlemented towns and garrisons.

I regret to have to inform your majesty that the apprehensions
of the prince are realized. The Philistines
have actually thrown out their advanced troops so far as
to cover the road towards Egypt, and intercept all travel
in that direction. They have a two-fold motive, perhaps,
both to plunder carvans and cut off supplies from
King Saul in Hebron. I shall, therefore, be under the
necessity of remaining here until a battle is fought, and
the way opened; which I trust will be in a very few
days.

The king is diligently assembling his army, and the
prince is active in lending his efficient aid. In case of
an attack upon these troublesome foes, I shall not withhold
my services and those of my battalion of Assyrians.
A spy reports that the force south of Hebron numbers
ten thousand men, which evidently intend some important
movement. The king is strengthening the city at every
point, and troops are pouring in from all parts of the
kingdom, brave looking men, but poorly armed: for this
nation has not yet recovered from the loss of all its arms
in the early days of Samuel, when the Philistines, mastering
the country, took away from it every sword, spear,
battle-axe, and weapon of war. The little intercourse
of the Hebrews with other countries, and the total absence
of commerce among them, has been an obstacle
to their replacement. Almost the first inquiry made of
me by King Saul, after I was presented to him, was, “if

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arms in abundance were in Assyria, and if your majesty
would permit your merchants to sell one hundred thousand
weapons of all arms to the Hebrews?”

Courage and zeal will not effect much in war without
serviceable weapons. The profound policy of the Philistines
in disarming their conquered foes is now clearly apparent.
An hour since a thousand Hebrews marched
past towards the town. Not half of them were armed
in a soldierly manner; and these not uniformly; while
the rest either carried sharpened bits of iron or steel
secured to the ends of staves, or shouldered reaping
hooks; and, indeed, many of the swords I saw had been
rudely shaped out of sickles and scythes. An army,
thus imperfectly armed, however brave the material, can
not have confidence in itself on the field. The Philistines,
on the contrary, are well harnessed for battle; are
mailed in iron, and defended by helm and cuirass. Besides,
they have battalions of chariots of iron with broad,
curved knives secured to the ends of the axles, while their
horsemen are numbered by thousands, all clad in panoply
of steel, and wielding formidable lances. Moreover,
they have, as I am told by the Hebrews, a body-guard of
one hundred giants, sons of Anak, who attend their king
who is also a gigantic warrior, six cubits or more in
height or nearly ten feet! He is with the main army
west of this, so report the spies, encamped in a large
plain which is darkened by his countless hosts. The division
south of us I have seen; for, doubting the accuracy
of the observations of the men of Beersheba, who
brought the report that they held the southern high-road,
and resolved, if the way should appear to be at all open,
to strike my camp and advance, without an hour's delay,

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rapidly towards Egypt before it should be wholly closed
against me, I took fifty men with me immediately, and
started off in that direction. After four hours' riding I
reached an elevation over which the road wound, and beneath
me saw a sight which confirmed the report, and depressed
my hopes of being able, for some time at least,
to continue my journey in the direction of the Nile. In a
narrow plain, across the green bosom of which wound the
yellow, dusty high-way towards Egypt, stretched the long,
white line of the camp of the thousands of the Philistines.
Their number had been exaggerated, as I perceived there
could not be, in all, more than five thousand men. As
my eyes fell upon them, they were going through military
evolutions. Chariots in long lines were wheeling across
the plain; bodies of cavalry charged hither and thither;
men-at-arms in columns were marched and counter-marched;
bowmen were discharging flights of arrows,
and spearmen throwing their long weapons at imaginary
adversaries. Banners fluttered, plumes tossed,
swords flashed, helmets gleamed, lance-points glittered
in the sun, and the noise of the chariot wheels, the loud
thump of hoofs, the tramp of many running feet, the
wild shouts of the chiefs, and wilder answering cries of the
soldiers filled the air; while over the strange and warlike
scene rolled clouds of dust reflecting a hue of gold from
the beams of the setting sun!

I turned away satisfied that, if this were the high-way
down to Egypt, I must be content for a short time to
remain encamped in the beautiful vale of Mamre.

I have since learned that by retracing my way to the
Jordan and recrossing that river, I can gain the wilderness
of Moab and Edom, and by a longer route of great

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hardship, through a country of dangerous and fierce people,
whose hand is against all men, ultimately reach
Egypt. I would, far rather than risk this route with its
increased distance, cut my way, O king, with my thousand
brave guard through the camp of the Philistines.
I shall remain here a few days and see what will be the
issue. We have already been detained nearly one week,
and are all impatient at this delay, which I trust will soon
terminate.

I will now recount to your majesty the particulars of
my interview with the Hebrew monarch. The day following
my arrival at my camp, the prince, who had left
me the evening previous to hasten to the presence of his
royal father, came out to my tent and said that King
Saul desired then to see me. Passing on foot through
the massive portals of the city which was crowded with
troops, I accompanied the prince along a street narrow
and steep, which seemed to be lined alone with stone barracks
for the accommodation of the garrison. Beyond
these we entered a fine square surrounded by various
castellated edifices, with towers intermingled, and all ancient
and imposing in appearance. This square was
filled with illy-armed Hebrew soldiers, who were being
drilled by their captains, while on every side from the
inner courts was heard the sound of forging-hammers
beating iron into weapons of war. Crossing this animated
place we traversed a short street which led into
a noble court-yard, on two sides of which were fair gardens;
the third was open to the plain of Mamre with
its verdant valleys and cliff-like mountains, while the
fourth was occupied by a half-erected palace on which
numerous workmen were employed. Near it stood the

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Hebrew architect, whom five days before I had parted
with at the cross-ways where we fell in with the caravan
from the far-south land of Sheba. The palace-builder
recognizing me, saluted me with dignity, and desired us
to admire his noble building, which, being in good taste
and admirably proportioned, I praised as it deserved,
when he remarked “that after it should be completed it
would surpass all other palaces in the world.” I could
not but smile, your majesty, at this little exhibition of
vanity when I recalled the one hundred and seventy
superb palaces within the walls of Nineveh, the least of
which is more noble and beautiful than any edifice I have
seen in this land, and especially when I thought upon the
magnificence of the “Palace of the Kings,” half a league
square, and your royal mother's alabaster palace, its
roof of beaten gold, and its columns of silver, marble,
and cedar-wood, inlaid with ivory and pearl!

Thence we proceeded towards a singular tower very
large and square at the base, and rounded at the top
with an iron gate leading into it.

“That is the `house of shelter' for men-slayers when
they fly red-handed to this place from the avenger of
blood,” said the prince; “for Hebron is one of the cities
of refuge. This is their abode at night, made secure to
protect them from secret assassination should their adversary
steal into the city to slay them. In the day
they go about their occupations like others. Thou seest
at the grated window one of the fugitives whose pale face
shows he is too ill to-day to be abroad.”

At length the prince stopped before the portal of a
low wall which, from the appearance of the foliage rising
above it, enclosed a garden. A sentry in a coat of

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mail and iron head-piece, and armed with a battle-axe,
paced to and fro in front of it, while two other Hebrew
soldiers similarly accoutred, stood within the entrance
also on guard. Upon beholding the prince, the sentinel
saluted; and we passed into a spacious area paved with
stone, and containing a fountain, shaded by a single palm
tree. Opposite to the entrance I saw a large stone
edifice, which seemed like most of the public edifices in
this land, to have been once a temple or palace of the
ancient Canaanites. Between a double row of trees,
chiefly the oleander and myrtle, with here and there a
flowering acacia, we approached this mansion.

In the massive and carved old door-way stood two men-at-arms,
tall, strong, mountaineer-looking fellows, armed
with short swords. They wore helmets with a low crest,
bright red tunics, corslets of steel, or cuirasses of polished
iron, or of thick leather, gilt and embossed; with greaves
of brass: altogether a singular armor! These soldiers
were of the tribe of Gad, and a part of the king's body-guard;
bold, fighting looking men, and would evidently
do their work thoroughly on the field of battle. They
did homage to the presence of my princely companion, who
conducted me to a broad stair-case, so shallow that I was
not surprised subsequently to hear that the king, in one
of the fits of madness that sometimes come upon him, had
once spurred up them on horseback.

At the top of the stairs we came upon a wide corridor,
at the end of which was a door, where also stood a sentinel.
Many persons were walking up and down this
entry, or ante-chamber, waiting for audience. Some
were chief captains in full armor; others, elders of the
city in flowing beards and long robes; others, citizens of

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distinction, richly attired; others, persons who came to sue
for mercy or for justice, or to present petitions. To all
of these the prince, in returning their respectful salutes,
spoke a word, now of promise, now of hope, now of sympathy,
now of confidence. Among them whom should I
discover but the governor of Jericho, who had just arrived
in obedience to a summons from the king? He recognized,
and met me with great cordiality, and when I asked
after his fair daughter Adora, the greatest heiress and
most beautiful virgin in Israel, of whom I have before
written to your majesty, he answered that he had brought
her with him, and that she was at the house of his
brother, the captain of the city. Upon hearing this news,
I must confess to your majesty that I was not a little
gratified; for the presence of so charming a person
would serve greatly to relieve the tedium of my compulsory
stay at Hebron; for at Jericho I saw her often at
the house of the chief governor and elder, her father, and
learned to esteem them both as valued friends.

“Does the king know thou art in waiting?” asked
Jonathan of him.

“I have sent in word by the chief chamberlain, your
highness, about an hour ago,” he replied.

“I will recall you to his mind. Is thy business pressing,
my lord?” he continued, addressing the noble looking
governor.

“It may be to his majesty. He desires to hire sixty
talents of gold for this war! I am here to say that I
and my friends can oblige him with it all!”

“I rejoice to hear it, my good governor! I know my
father needs money to pay his army. With your kind
aid all will go favorably! I will let him know you wait.”

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Here I overheard a low voice say to some one, “He
will see no one to-day, I fear. The dark spirit is upon
him.”

“Will my lord of Assur do me the honor to dine to-morrow
with me and my daughter at my brother's?” asked
the governor of me, as we were passing on.

“I will gladly accept your excellency's invitation,” I
replied; “for all my time hangs on my hands. I only
fear you will see me too often!”

“Do not fear that, my lord Arbaces,” answered the
stately and handsome Hebrew ruler, smiling.

We passed by the sentinel, and entering, I found myself
in a large and beautiful apartment adorned with sculpture.
Gilded panels, enriched by painted flowers, were set
between ranges of columns of polished marble, inlaid with
ivory and colored woods, and burnished to the hardness
of porphyry. At the lower end were hangings of various
colors richly variegated with needle-work; and the ceiling
was decorated to represent the azure vault of heaven
studded with stars of gold. The opposite extremity of this
noble room was filled by a throne elevated three steps above
the floor, and overhung by a splendid canopy of cloth
of gold. Behind the throne, which was a magnificent
chair of ivory, inlaid with devices in silver, and covered
by Tyrian velvet of a dark purple hue, enriched by needle-work,
was a great window through which came blowing
the cool breezes from the mountains of Adoniram,
which were visible not far off with their rugged shoulders
and dark brown sides, dotted with flocks and herds.

The throne was vacant. On each side of it stood a
tall, bearded man in steel armor, leaning upon a long
two-edged sword that shone like silver. In front,

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kneeling upon an embroidered cushion, was an Ethiopian page,
richly attired, who seemed patiently to await orders to go
and come. By a column, on which was fastened a leaf
of brass as a writing-table, stood a long-haired secretary
without a beard, his reed in his hand, and his silver ink-horn
hanging at his girdle that bound, by a gold buckle,
the long blue gown which he wore beneath a short, green
tunic. He was not writing, but engaged in conversation
with a gorgeously clothed and pompous-looking chamberlain,
who, with his green wand in his hand, was awaiting
the commands of the monarch.

Walking at great strides up and down the long hall,
his eyes fixed upon the floor, his arms folded across his
herculean chest, and his large, noble features overcast
with troubled thought, I beheld the king himself. It
could be none other! It was not necessary for the young
prince to look at me and say in a low tone touched in
sorrow:—

“There is my father!”

His majesty took no notice of us, but walked by to
the foot of the throne, and then returned to the lower
end of the room, thrice, before he seemed to be aware of
our presence in his audience chamber. I had therefore
an opportunity of observing him. He was the most
magnificent looking man I ever beheld! Tall, with
almost the proportions of a splendid giant; yet, from the
perfect symmetry of his limbs, carrying himself with a
firm, graceful, and noble air! His head was grand!
and covered with short masses of curling locks, which
were black as night! His ample forehead reminded me
of the godlike brow of the statue of Sardanapalus in
front of your majesty's palace. He seemed to be about

[figure description] Page 156.[end figure description]

fifty-six or eight years of age, a few silver threads woven
into his heavy beard, which covered only his upper lip
and cheeks, betraying that he had passed the goal of
fifty. He was royally attired in a suit which was half-armor,
half-citizen's costume; his majestic breast being
protected by a corslet curiously woven of silver chains,
while a silver helmet with a white plume flowing around
the golden crest covered his head. Over his broad,
kingly shoulders was thrown a short crimson mantle
clasped by a pair of steel lion's claws. A short dagger
was stuck, unsheathed, in a broad belt of leopard's skin,
which confined his coat to his waist. There was an air,
partly of barbaric splendor and partly of courtly ease, in
his appearance and bearing. Without question, he was a
man of decided intellectual character and strong passions,
with undoubted power over men, and whom it would be
madness willfully to enrage or disobey.

As he paced up and down, his great noble eyes wore
a sorrowful and heavy look: they seemed to hold no light
in them; but, like mist-hidden stars, to be under the
veil of the cloud resting on his soul's horizon! His
proud, fixed lips, the bent brow, the awful expression of
settled gloom betrayed the strength of the terrible emotions
which tore and lashed his haughty spirit, chafed by
the anger of his God and the displeasure of the powerful
prophet! It was painful to gaze upon this wreck of the
once proud, ambitious, and generous-hearted king, of the
lion heart and eagle eye, who had been chosen, above all
his fellows, to be anointed the first KING of his ancient
race! I thought I could see the storm rolling across
the darkening sky of his soul, as fiery thought after fiery
thought flashed like forked lightnings from his

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surcharged brain at the reflection that he was the mark of
his God's wrath, the abandoned of his Spirit, the victim
of his vengeance! He seemed at one moment to cower
under this pressure, and dropped his head lower and
lower; but the next, as I watched his face, I thought I
could see a look of defiant despair developing itself amid
the gloom. I was not mistaken! He stopped near us,
raised his majestic head with an air of fierce anger, and
shaking his open palms towards heaven with eyes kindling
he cried, with fearful emphasis and in appalling,
passionate tones,

“I defy the God of Israel! Sacrifice? So I did! Who
should let me? Was I not priest as well as king? 'Twas
not to Baal, nor to Ashtaroth, nor to the gods of the accursed
Philistines, I slew the victim, but to the—
What! art thou come, my son?” he suddenly spoke in
a natural and even tone, as at this moment his eyes
rested upon us! The transition, from his sublime and
terrible appeal to heaven to this pleasant tone of voice,
was like magic most wonderful. “I did not notice thee!
I—I—” here he passed his hand slowly across his forehead
as if collecting his thoughts; and the cloud slowly
passed away, and with a benign and noble, yet touching
voice, as if the waves of emotion still trembled a little
even after the dark simoom of passion had passed by, he
continued,

“I hope you have not waited! This youthful stranger
is, I doubt not, the Prince Arbaces of Assyria! I welcome
you to my poor court, noble ambassador. My son
has spoken of you so favorably that I already regard
you as a friend. I rejoice that you came into Judea!
It is my desire to hold relations of the strongest

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friendship with your monarch! At present we are a young
kingdom, and it will require time to give us position and
name among the kingdoms of the earth! I trust your
royal master, Belus, is well and at peace in all his
realm.

“He is well, your majesty,” I answered, and would
have sent a personal message to you by me; but so infrequent
is the intercourse between my country and the
west, and Belus has been so short a time on the throne,
that he had not heard that your people had changed its
government to that of a monarchy; although I have
learned that you have been many years king!”

“Many years!” he repeated slightly frowning, and
then smiled; “yes. But if not long enough to have
made my name known on the Tigris, I have reigned I
fear to little purpose; for I have not even expelled the
Philistines from my borders! But, young prince of
Assyria,” he added, stamping his foot with sudden fury,
“how can a king reign and conquer and bless his kingdom,
with Heaven armed against him, Hell leagued to
destroy him, and earth's most powerful Seer hurling
prophecies of evil upon his poor head?”

“My dear father,” said Jonathan, touching his arm
and speaking as tenderly as he would to a child, “the
holy prophet holdeth no anger! He is but the mouth
of God! He pities you, and —”

“Pities! Samuel of Ramah pity Saul the king?
The haughty prophet may beware! By the head of my
father, if he pities me, I will slay him did he cling for
safety to the very wings of the cherubim!”

This was spoken with insane violence. His eyes shot
forth fire. His face flushed with his burning blood!

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His whole mighty form was dilate with strong wrath!
He foamed at the mouth; he shook his clenched hands
towards Ramah as if he saw visibly the prophet: he
laughed aloud! He stood before us a madman!

Suddenly a rapid and troubled gesture, made by the
prince to a distant part of the hall, was answered by a
strain of music upon a stringed instrument, evidently from
unpractised or trembling hands. The irate monarch,
whose whole pride of character had been suddenly and
sharply wounded at the idea that he whom he regarded as
his enemy pitied him, paused at the sound, turned slowly
towards it, and fixing his terrible eyes, blazing with
supernatural splendor, upon a gallery where two players
dressed in white stood performing, he seemed for a moment
to be listening; but a false note being struck, he uttered
a shout of vengeance and scorn, and drawing the dagger
at his belt, he sprung forward with death to the unhappy
players in his eyes.

“Mockest thou me! Darest thou?” he called to the
unhappy musicians. In a moment I stood before him.
It was an act wholly impulsive!

“Oh, king, most wise and good! Thou art too just
to harm the innocent, or stain the purity of thy sceptre
by a deed of blood on those poor harpists, thy slaves!”
I said with a firmness and force, which I am since surprised
at, as well as at the result. For an instant, as I
stood in his path, the glittering steel which he held waved
in his hand, irresolute above my heart! I held his blazing
eyes steadily with mine. Jonathan would have come
to rescue me from what he believed certain death, (for
my sword was undrawn,) when with a sudden change of
purpose he sheathed again the bloodless steel, his face

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relaxed its stern and violent expression, his eyes parted
with their fierce fire, and with a look of amity and regard
he laid his hand upon my arm, and said:—

“Thou art right, prince! Saul the man is not so mad
that Saul the king forgets justice and mercy! I see
thou dost not think I am mad, like this Samuel and the
rest of the Hebrews! Thou seest in me only an unhappy
king. Thy voice, I perceive, has neither pity nor
reproach! I am now calm! The dark spirit that at
times possesses my soul has flown! He cannot bear
words of kindness! Prince, pardon my discourtesy to
thee!”

How my heart bled for him! Deeply did I sympathize
with this poor monarch, who seems to be cast down
with a consciousness of his madness, and keenly mortified
by its exhibitions; alternately depressed by the idea
of the displeasure of his God, and grieved at his sins
by which he has incurred it; now melancholy with despair
of reconciliation, now maddened by the certainty
that his kingdom is to be taken from him, and his
sceptre given into the grasp of a stranger! I am sure
that your majesty will feel deeply for the unhappy Hebrew
king, and that you will wish that his great punishment
might terminate after a due time, and, the heavenly
powers, propitiated, secure to him and his posterity his
kingdom.

He was now thoroughly composed. What had first
excited him was explained to us. An hour before we
came in, he had received an impudent and haughty challenge
from the Philistine king, written with the blood
of one of his spies, (who had been taken and slain,)
upon a piece of sacred parchment of the holy law. It

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had been shot into the window fastened to an arrow, and
fell at the side of the throne as the king sat thereon
giving audience.

One should know, in order to comprehend the full insult
of the challenge, with what superstitious reverence
the Hebrews regard their sacred parchments. If a man
see a fragment on the ground he dare not pass it lest
one of the names of their God be upon it, and it be
trodden under foot! It is a great crime in any way
to desecrate it; but ONE of his mysterious names no man
ever wrote or dares to write! The Scribes express it by
a blank space! But others may lawfully be written.
The Philistine knew this. Moreover, blood is deemed
sacred by the Hebrews! To make use of it, as was
done by the Philistine, was therefore a two-fold insult;
not to speak of the slaughter of the poor spy whose life
supplied the stream in which the reed was dipped. The
boldness of the bowman, who could approach so near
the walls, unseen, as to send through the window a shaft
with the challenge secured to its feathered end, increased
the wrath of King Saul. In vain the bearer of the bold
challenge was sought for! The king, in the meanwhile,
commanded his scribe to read it.

“To Saul of Kish, King of slaves, Goliath of Gath
sendeth greeting: By this writing he challengeth him to
single combat for his crown! In the valley of Mount
Gebo, before Socho, he awaiteth Saul the Hebrew,
King of slaves! Why should thy army all perish?
Come forth out of the city and let us two men-of-war
decide our quarrel. He that conquers shall have both
kingdoms and wear both crowns. Send me speedily thine
answer, thou dog of a Hebrew, son of Kish the herd.”

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There is little to marvel at that King Saul, with his
morbid and irate temper, should have been thrown into
a great rage by this missile! The arrow, with the challenge,
I saw lying upon the floor as we entered, but had
then no idea of their signification.

Having conducted me to a seat by his throne, the
dignified king now quietly conversed with me about Assyria,
the number of the chariots, horsemen, and foot-men
in your majesty's armies, inquired as to your age and
personal appearance, was amazed when I described to him
the vastness of your dominions, and the magnificence of
Nineveh with its million of souls. He inquired about
your forges of armor, your mines of iron, of gold,
silver, and copper; your pearl fisheries on the South Sea,
and your fleets trading to remote Tarshish* in the east,
and to Ezion-geber on the Red Sea of Ethiopia. He
said he would gladly purchase arms in Assyria for his
people, and desired me to ask your majesty to dispose
of as many as would fully arm his hosts, which I promised
to do; and he has resolved to send a caravan to
Assyria with me on my return from Egypt, in order to
bring them hither. We conversed an hour. The prince
seeing the placable mood his father was in, secretly removed
the arrow and its message from the hall, and disappeared;
and as he passed through the ante-room, he
benevolently, though reluctantly, granted in the king's
name the prayers of all who waited, and sent them
away joyful; and forbidding any one to intrude into
the king's presence that day, he went to aid the generals
to organize the army.

Poor young prince! How heavily his father's calamity

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weighs upon him! His position, too, is singularly anomalous!
I have just said he granted the petitions of those
poor people who sought the king's clemency or favor, but
granted them reluctantly. He felt that in doing it he
was usurping a right which was not justly his, for though
he was the king's son, he knew he was not to succeed
him in the kingdom; and therefore had no authority
to act in the kingdom, as one who was by and by to
reign, might perhaps, lawfully do! I have already stated
to your majesty that the sceptre was to be taken from
Saul by the God who conferred it upon him in his earlier
years, and given to another; that the prince not only
knows this, but is well aware who the person is, who is
to supplant himself in the royal succession.

This evening, while I was seated in my tent, reflecting
upon the extraordinary scene which occurred to-day during
my visit to the king, the curtain of my tent was
raised and the prince entered. I received him with more
than my usual friendly warmth, and he took a seat by
me. After a moment's silence he said,

“My dear Arbaces, you have now seen my father, and
can understand his calamity. I am sure you sympathize
with me, and feel deeply for him with your generous nature.
Once how heroic, noble, majestic a king was he, until that
unhappy day when he usurped the sacred office of Sacrificer
to God! It has cost him his peace, his mind, his reason, the
loss of the Spirit of God, and, ultimately, will cost him the
loss of his throne! But I will not intrude our griefs upon
you. I have come to say that my father has decided to march
against the Philistines without delay. There are twenty
thousand Hebrew soldiers in, and within an hour's march
of, Hebron. We move the first division at sunrise

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to-morrow. I have come to ask you if you would like to
accompany me, as I go with it! Do not think I am soliciting
your aid, I only desire your company; and have
thought you might wish to see a battle; for unless the
enemy prove too great in numbers we shall offer him
battle within three days. He is encamped about thirty
miles to the north-west, in a broad plain enclosed by
mountains. His hosts are reported by our spies to be
very great. We shall advance with the army we have
with us, and leave orders for any fresh bodies of troops
to follow.”

“I will not only go with you as a friend, my dear
prince,” I said; “but I will take with me six hundred
of my body-guard, leaving the residue to guard my encampment.
I now offer you and the king the assistance
of my brave Assyrians! Be sure they will do good
service.”

The prince warmly thanked me and then said, “I will
make known your kind offer to the king; but I fear his
pride will lead him to decline it; for if the victory is
won, he would desire the whole glory should be with his
own army; and if he is defeated, he would be mortified
to involve in the disgrace the soldiers of an ambassador
who is merely passing through his kingdom on a mission
of peace to a foreign potentate.”

“I see, my dear prince, you speak your own sentiments
as well as those you think will be your royal father's,”
I answered with a smile. “At all events, I
will accompany you with my guards; and if there prove
to be no need of their service, they shall remain neutral.”

At this moment the prince glanced his eyes upon the

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little roll of parchment called the “Story of Ruth,” which
I had been reading by the light of my tent-lamp when he
entered.

“I see you interest yourself, noble Arbaces, greatly in
our writings,” he said.

“They are deeply interesting to me as well as wholly
new,” I replied. “Your whole history is wonderful! Beginning
with the calling of Abraham out of Assyrian
Chaldea by a voice from the heavens, and coming down
to his obedience, and his march from the Euphrates to the
Jordan guided by a dove (which at night shone like a
star, as one of your ancient books records); to his wars
here, and to his kingly dominion in this very land, Hebron,
his chief seat of authority, while this plain was his burial
place; to the romantic incident of Isaac his son
sending to Chaldea for his wife, and her being brought
to him veiled; to the wonderful career of Jacob; the
selling of Joseph; the famine which drove them into
Egypt; the sudden elevation of the youthful Joseph to
power; his revelation of himself to his brethren; first
their amazement, and then their terror lest he should
avenge himself on them, and their joy at his forgiveness;
their presentation before Pharaoh; the death of Joseph,
and his dying injunction that his descendants should take
his bones to this very plain where his ancestors had been
buried; and the extraordinary fact that one hundred
and eighty years afterwards the descendants of himself
and brethren did actually leave Egypt and come to this
land and bury the bones of Joseph with his fathers in
this cave of Machpelah, which I can by day behold in
full view from here, my tent door; the power of your
God exhibited in the dividing of the Red Sea, and of the

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Jordan, and in many other mighty deeds! all these
events and incidents are parts of a wonderful history,
such as mere human invention could never approach in
interest or in marvels. From the beginning to the end,
it possesses a singular harmony of proportions and
dependencies, one event leading to another, and the
whole wrought out from foreseen and foreshaped circumstances
by a wisdom and power which must have
perceived the end from the beginning. Before its narration,
all the legends of our Persian poets are insignificant
and weak. What will be the ultimate end, who
can foresee? But without doubt there is a Future before
you commensurate with the past, and which has been in
part foreshadowed by the Past.”

When I had ceased, the prince regarded me a moment
steadfastly and said:

“You understand our nation. Without doubt, we are
working out some mighty problem in which God is interested,
and of which we are but the blind instruments.
Our prophets plainly teach us that whatever we do, we
but prefigure something yet to come—that all our national
events and our religious rites are but types of some
great thing to be developed in the ages yet future; that
our tabernacle, our sacred Ark, our altar of incense, our
lamb sacrificed morning and evening, our seven candlesticks,
our shew-bread, our holy of holies, our High
Priest, the breast-plate and ephod, the urim and thummim
with its dazzling light, the scape goat, the jubilee,
the offering of atonement and expiation; all are not
what they seem, but foreshadow a mighty reality yet to
come forth out of the splendor of a glorious future! They
teach that all we are as a nation, in all we are and do,

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we hold but the place of the scaffolding by which a fair
temple is upreared, which, when the holy edifice is completed
in all its symmetry and fair proportions, is removed
and cast aside as of no further value, now that the
end for which it was made use of is achieved! We are
a mystery to ourselves.”

“I should gladly hear all that your priests can reveal
of your religious rites and usages,” I answered.

“I will give you the opportunity at an early day,”
answered the prince. “We were speaking of the Book
of Ruth. It was written by the youthful David my friend
whom we saw at Ramah. It is a noble and sweet poem,
though not rhythmical; but taste and feeling, and to
know the art to touch the finer chords of the soul with
the pen make the poet! What a lovely character is his!
how courageous yet how diffident! how ingenuous his disposition!
how true are his instincts to the purest emotions
of our nature! I love him, Arbaces, passing the love
of maidens and he not only returns my full affection, but
I believe that my friendship is necessary to his existence.
In each other's presence we are perfectly
at peace!”

“I am interested to learn more of him,” I answered;
“for he made upon me a deep impression not only from
the extraordinary beauty of his face and the manly grace
of his bearing, but especially from his marvelous skill
on the harp, and his harmonious voice, which is full of
sweetness and power!”

“You shall hear all that I think will interest you, my
dear prince,” said the royal Hebrew youth as he replaced
the flexible parchments of the Book of Ruth in their
chased silver casket. “My friend is the son of the

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Hebrew Elder, Jesse, and was born at Bethlehem, the
rocky castellated hill we passed an hour after leaving the
fortress of the ancient and unconquered Jebusites, on
the right hand. His father is a man of mark and of
substance, and also a shepherd following the honorable
pursuit of our patriarchal forefathers. This worthy citizen
is, moreover, the grandson of Ruth the wife of Boaz,
the owner of the wheat field where she gleaned after
his reapers. Thus Jesse is not of our pure Hebrew
lineage, for the beautiful Ruth was from the land of
Moab!”

“Who was Moab?” I asked; “and where is his
country?”

“On the east of the sea of Sodoma,” kindly answered
the prince. “Moab was one of the sons of Lot the nephew
of Abraham, born to his eldest daughter after the destruction
of the cities of the plain. This unnatural
child became the head of a powerful nation. He was
born about the same time with Isaac our great ancestor!”

“If then,” I replied in my desire to obtain full information
of this people, “the Moabites are descended
from a nephew of Abraham, Ruth being of his race
traces her ascent equally with you Hebrews to the
grandfather of Abraham, in whom both you and the
Moabites meet! She can, therefore, hardly be called a
foreigner! This rich shepherd Jesse therefore, her
grandson, has the same blood that Abraham had in his
veins!”

“True,” courteously answered the prince; “but by the
command of God all collateral kindred to Abraham were
cut off, and only the immediate descendants of the kingly

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patriarch recognized as the people of God's peculiar
care. He has never called himself the God of Lot or of
Moab, but only of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob;” this
is his name to us in the Past, Present, and forevermore!
Moreover the descendants of Lot's daughter through her
son Moab have run in a diverging line from ours for nearly
nine hundred years!”

“Pardon me, my dear prince, for this interruption,” I
said. “Be so kind as to proceed.”

“When my father had displeased the Almighty by his
usurpation of the priestly office, and sparing where he
should destroy, as well as by two or three acts of impatient
and reluctant obedience to His divine authority, He commanded
His Prophet Samuel to go and anoint another
king over Israel, saying, “I have rejected Saul from
being king!”

“Who was Saul thy royal father, O prince, in his
youth?” I inquired. “Was he distinguished by any
remarkable lineage?—descended from Moses or Joshua or
any of the warrior Judges, that he was chosen in the beginning
as the first king of the Hebrews?”

“No,” he answered; “my father was of the smallest
tribe—the younger brother Benjamin's tribe—of the
people. His father was a man wise in council, brave in
battle, and eminent for his great strength and valiant
deeds. He was a tiller of the land; and herdsmen, with
a few men and maid servants, and his sons also, served
him in the care of his herds. With our God, my Prince
Arbaces, human distinctions are wholly disregarded.
As once he chose Abraham, the son of a carver of idols,
out of Chaldea to be the father of our nation, and Moses,
of humble parentage, to lead them out of Egypt, and

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Joshua, the son of a poor man, to conquer the promised
land for us, none of them being of kingly lineage, so
chose he out Saul the son of Kish the herdsman, from
the valley of Mount Ephraim, to reign over his people,
when they demanded a king. In stature, dignity,
courage, and generous qualities, my father was worthy
of this high distinction, from what I learn of those old
men who knew him in that day!”

“I should suppose so,” I answered, “from the majesty
of his form now, and his striking appearance, although
it is plain I behold only the splendid wreck of the former
grace and dignity which he possessed.”

“No more than the wreck, no more, my prince!” answered
Jonathan with a pensive look, shadowing his fine
face. “Samuel anointed him king in the presence of
many of the lords and high captains, and chief estates
of the land, and eventually crowned him with full regal
authority. The early years of my father's reign were
prosperous and happy. He strengthened himself in his
kingdom, he expelled our enemies from all our borders,
which in the time of the rule of Samuel's sons they had
invaded, and he carried his victorious arms beyond our
country into Syria, and in all his battles was conqueror.
But one of the nations (called the sons of Amalek) which
treacherously did our fathers great mischief when they
were wandering in the wilderness, Samuel the Seer had
commanded him to destroy utterly, by the express direction
of God. My father conquered the Amalekites, but
saved the King Agag and a portion of the spoil, against
this command. This, also, caused God's anger to be
kindled against my father, and was another reason of
his rejection as king! Yet with the people he was

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honored and admired as a successful warrior, as a wise ruler!
But who can stand against the anger of the Almighty!”

“Thy God is terrible in power, and glorious in majesty,”
I answered with awe; “who can offend him and
escape punishment? Aaron his great High Priest, for his
rebellion at the waters of Meribah, and for not preventing
the people in the wilderness from worshiping the
golden calf, was forbidden to see the promised land!
There is something singularly impressive and touching
in the departure of this aged and magnificent prelate to
ascend the mountain of Hor to die for his sin! There is
something awful and inexorable in the fiat of his God,
which commands him to go up in the sight of the whole
congregation, as if he would show them that the best and
gentlest of men must expiate their errors and sins
against him! The spectacle seemed to convey to them
the lesson, `If thus I cut off my consecrated High Priest
Aaron, (and forty years after his sin and yours is committed,)
how shall I spare you, when you sin and break
my laws?”'

I can imagine, your majesty, the noble chief priest
of this people in his pontifical robes, his flowing beard
and silvery locks, his form bent with one hundred and
twenty years, slowly ascending the elevated plain of
Mosera, and crossing it painfully, commence the steep
ascent of the peak of Hor. I see the vast multitude of
people follow him with their sorrowful gaze! As the
way wearies him, he leans upon the arm of his tall, strong
son Eleazer; while his patriarchal brother the equally
venerable Moses (soon afterwards to ascend Mount Pisgah,
farther north, and die alone, with the angels of God
to bury him) walks by his side, discoursing with him of

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the sublime and mighty truths of that other life, in which
the Hebrews believe. When the three reach the mountain
top, with the blue skies bending over them, and the
broad plains of Mosera and the valleys beyond, dark with
the hosts of Israel, watching them from afar, I see the
aged Pontiff begin slowly, and with trembling hands to
divest himself of the magnificent robes and gorgeous insignia
of his priestly office! First he removes from his
patriarchal head his mitre, with its veil of lace of blue
and fine linen, arranged in numerous ample circular folds
confined by a broad plate of pure gold, on which is inscribed,

“HOLINESS TO THE LORD.”

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the stately form of his son therewith. Over it he puts
the ephod, and also places the glittering onyx stones
on his two shoulders. Upon it he fastens the breast-plate
with its twelve stones, in four rows: the first containing
a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle, very precious
stones; the second row contained an emerald, a sapphire,
and a diamond; the third row a ligure, an agate, and an
amethyst; and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a
jasper; all set in ouches of gold with wrought gold borders.
Each stone was a signet, bearing engraved thereon
one of the names of the children of Israel.

Thus did the august and aged pontiff divest himself
of his insignia and marks of power as vicegerent of God
on earth, and transfer them, on the mountain-top, in the
sight of all the people and in the sight of heaven above,
to Eleazar his son to be the High Priest in his stead!
This sublime abdication of the Hebrew pontificate by the
command of his Lord being accomplished, behold the
majestic man of God kneel towards the people and bless
them! then folding his hands upon his breast, with one
look of faith, resignation, and meekness upwards, bow
his august forehead to the ground, and give up the
ghost.

“In the whole history of the departure of great men from
earth,” I said, addressing Prince Jonathan, “no account
equals the sublime spectacle of the death of the High
Priest, Aaron! That of Moses not long afterwards was
indeed impressive, but it wanted the details of transfer
of authority which rendered the abdication and death
of his brother so dignified and touching.”

“My dear Arbaces,” said the prince, “I am pleased
to find you so skilled in our history! Hitherto I have

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regarded the death of Moses, followed by the mystery
of his sepulchre, the more interesting of the two incidents.
You are right in giving preference in sublimity
and tenderness to that of the High Priest! But what
led us to this subject? Were we not discoursing of
David?”

“I had alluded to the awful severity of your God in
punishing sin, with immediate reference to your royal
father's sad rejection,” I answered.

“True, Arbaces,” he replied: “Our God is a consuming
fire to those who disobey him; but of long-suffering,
pity, and great kindness to those who walk in
the way of his divine laws. His power is infinite to
punish or to bless. But I will now resume my narrative
of my young friend David, the son of Jesse.”

But, your majesty, I will defer this interesting history
to another letter. I feel assured that nothing concerning
this wonderful people, whose God ever walks among
them, invisibly seeing all they do, powerful to protect,
and terrible to avenge, will be uninteresting to
you.

Farewell, and may the gods of Assyria be evermore
your majesty's friends, and the foes of your adversaries.

p614-188 LETTER VI. Arbaces to the King.
Camp before Hebron.
Your Majesty:

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A sand-storm from the south deserts swept over
the king's city and the plain of Mamre this morning with
fearful power. It darkened all the air so that the sun
gave no more light than the stars at midnight. Our
encampment was thrown into the wildest confusion.
Half our tents were blown down and swept away, and
for a time destruction and consternation prevailed. The
winds roared with ungovernable fury. Trees were uptorn
and whisked across the valley like autumnal leaves;
and even the towers of Hebron shook, and one of them
fell with a great crash into the moat beneath! The
atmosphere was surcharged with yellow sand so that it
could not be directly breathed without danger of suffocation
to all life. It lasted an hour, and did the work
of days of devastation in that brief time. The armies
of Saul, which had been marshaled by the chief captains
and high lords and generals to march forth to the war,
were thrown into disorder, and fled for shelter, or cast
themselves in terror upon the earth.

This destructive visitation has of course delayed the
advance of the army of the king for a day or two, as it

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will take some time to reorganize and marshal all the
dispersed forces. My own tent withstood the storm, at
least so far as not to be blown over; but it was damaged
and disordered. It is now near sunset, and we have almost
wholly restored everything to its former condition.
Quiet and order prevail immediately about me. I will,
therefore, resume my pen, and give you a transcript of
the residue of my conversation with the prince, within
the door of my tent last night.

“I will inform you,” said Jonathan, “how and where
I first met with David. I had been hunting the gazelle
with Prince Ishbosheth, my younger brother, who had
promised his sister Michal to capture a fawn and bring
it alive to her, when we came to a small valley west of
Bethlehem, up which a wild brown coney had bounded,
and after which the Egyptian hunting dog of my brother
took at full speed. At the same moment I caught
sight of a graceful gazelle perched upon a point of rocks
not far up the glen, and fitting my arrow to the bow-string,
hastened with my brother in the direction taken by
the dog. The ravine brought us into a narrow defile
closed in by nearly precipitous rocks. Up the sides,
leaping from projection to projection, the terrified rabbit
ascended, while the gazelle, still visible on the topmost
spur, seemed to be too intently and curiously watching
some object beyond us to see us. Ishbosheth, light and
swift of foot, was soon half way up the crags, leaving his
dog baying below. I quickly followed him, and upon
reaching the summit was about to draw my arrow to its
head upon the gazelle when Ishbosheth, who was a little
in advance of me, cried, `Come, quickly! Look in the
vale below!'

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