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Article THE LEVITE. ← Page 2 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Levite.
" tremble at my wrath . " " I tremble only at the name of Him I serve , if , " continued the Hebrew , " human terrors could move me , ere this I had been overwhelmed . Look at me well—famine is in my frame—its pangs gnaw my very heart . I have watched my children perish beneath its rage , one by one , but this weak girl—all miserably perish—what can thy wrath do more ? " " Tortures , " added Titus , with a vindictive frown . " They can only kill" said the Levitewith a look of calm
, , resignation ; " they cannot reach the soul , the immortal part ; beyond the tortures and the sufferings with which man goads his fellows faith beholds ambrosial plains—bright palms of waving gold—and the freed spirit ' s perfect blest reward . " " Vain fable , " interrupted the Roman , " d . oes not this contest prove whose gods are mightiest , our hundred deities , or thy weak Unity . " "Blasphemer , peace ! " thundered the Jew , trembling with indignant wrath , " peace , lest the God of Israel
unveil the terrors of his brow , and crush thee ; though for awhile his wrath hath slumbered , and his countenance is turned from Judah ' s supplications , Rome , the heathens' pride , the destroyer of our race , the world ' s vain master , shall learn to tremble at his name . " "As tliou shalt at my wrath , " replied Titus ; " but first this maiden , cast aside thy veil . " " The daughters of Israel remove not the veil , " modestly replied the female captive " " in the of the strangerI beseech
, presence , you spare me . " " What ! " exclaimed the tyrant , " thou art fair , and wouldst by affected modesty and coyness enhance the value of thy beauties ; obey nie , or my guards shall rend the covering from thy rebellious brow . " ' ' Nay , " resumed the maiden , " I will not afford thee a pretext for cruelty—behold , O , Titus , how fair are now the daughters
of Jerusalem ! casting aside the embroidered gauze , the speaker displayed a countenance so attenuated by want and misery , that even the surrounding soldiers regarded her with feelings of commiseration ; the effect on Claudius was electrical , for in the wreck of human loveliness before him , he recognized his adored Rebecca ; but , alas , how changed , how faded ; the dimpled smiles which had haunted his imagination were buried in the fearful hollows of her sunken cheeks , the grave alike of her health and beauty ; the lipswhich so lately swelled with richest
, sweets , now withered and shrunk , disclosed the still unrivalled whiteness of her even teeth ; her large black eyes beamed wiih a dying lustre in their caverned sockets . Reduced almost to the frame of humanity , the famine-struck girl stood before her former lover ; repressing the curse that rose on his indignant tongue , the unhappy Claudius retired behind tiie chair of his tyrant master . "" Sooth , " said Titus , regarding her with something like compassion , " if all the daughters of Jerusalem are
like thee , there will be scant beauty to crown the soldier ' s toil ; thou shalt at least bear witness to the clemency of Rome , return ivith thy father to yon rebellious city , persuade its defenders to submit , deliver up the Temple with its treasure to my generals , send me the leaders of the revolt in chains , and I spare the lives of the inhabitants . " " Prince , " replied the Jewish maid , with firmness , " such words suit not a Hebrew lipseek some other to bear thy proffers to Jerusalem . " " And thou
, , priest ? " demanded the Roman . " Would but incite them to rall y to the Temple , and fall beneath its ruins , ere own a pagan conqueror , " replied the Levite . " Obstinate race ! " exclaimed Titus , the worst passions of his nature roused by the unshaken constancy of his captives ; " be vour destiny fulfilled , to-morrow will I enter your walls by storm ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Levite.
" tremble at my wrath . " " I tremble only at the name of Him I serve , if , " continued the Hebrew , " human terrors could move me , ere this I had been overwhelmed . Look at me well—famine is in my frame—its pangs gnaw my very heart . I have watched my children perish beneath its rage , one by one , but this weak girl—all miserably perish—what can thy wrath do more ? " " Tortures , " added Titus , with a vindictive frown . " They can only kill" said the Levitewith a look of calm
, , resignation ; " they cannot reach the soul , the immortal part ; beyond the tortures and the sufferings with which man goads his fellows faith beholds ambrosial plains—bright palms of waving gold—and the freed spirit ' s perfect blest reward . " " Vain fable , " interrupted the Roman , " d . oes not this contest prove whose gods are mightiest , our hundred deities , or thy weak Unity . " "Blasphemer , peace ! " thundered the Jew , trembling with indignant wrath , " peace , lest the God of Israel
unveil the terrors of his brow , and crush thee ; though for awhile his wrath hath slumbered , and his countenance is turned from Judah ' s supplications , Rome , the heathens' pride , the destroyer of our race , the world ' s vain master , shall learn to tremble at his name . " "As tliou shalt at my wrath , " replied Titus ; " but first this maiden , cast aside thy veil . " " The daughters of Israel remove not the veil , " modestly replied the female captive " " in the of the strangerI beseech
, presence , you spare me . " " What ! " exclaimed the tyrant , " thou art fair , and wouldst by affected modesty and coyness enhance the value of thy beauties ; obey nie , or my guards shall rend the covering from thy rebellious brow . " ' ' Nay , " resumed the maiden , " I will not afford thee a pretext for cruelty—behold , O , Titus , how fair are now the daughters
of Jerusalem ! casting aside the embroidered gauze , the speaker displayed a countenance so attenuated by want and misery , that even the surrounding soldiers regarded her with feelings of commiseration ; the effect on Claudius was electrical , for in the wreck of human loveliness before him , he recognized his adored Rebecca ; but , alas , how changed , how faded ; the dimpled smiles which had haunted his imagination were buried in the fearful hollows of her sunken cheeks , the grave alike of her health and beauty ; the lipswhich so lately swelled with richest
, sweets , now withered and shrunk , disclosed the still unrivalled whiteness of her even teeth ; her large black eyes beamed wiih a dying lustre in their caverned sockets . Reduced almost to the frame of humanity , the famine-struck girl stood before her former lover ; repressing the curse that rose on his indignant tongue , the unhappy Claudius retired behind tiie chair of his tyrant master . "" Sooth , " said Titus , regarding her with something like compassion , " if all the daughters of Jerusalem are
like thee , there will be scant beauty to crown the soldier ' s toil ; thou shalt at least bear witness to the clemency of Rome , return ivith thy father to yon rebellious city , persuade its defenders to submit , deliver up the Temple with its treasure to my generals , send me the leaders of the revolt in chains , and I spare the lives of the inhabitants . " " Prince , " replied the Jewish maid , with firmness , " such words suit not a Hebrew lipseek some other to bear thy proffers to Jerusalem . " " And thou
, , priest ? " demanded the Roman . " Would but incite them to rall y to the Temple , and fall beneath its ruins , ere own a pagan conqueror , " replied the Levite . " Obstinate race ! " exclaimed Titus , the worst passions of his nature roused by the unshaken constancy of his captives ; " be vour destiny fulfilled , to-morrow will I enter your walls by storm ,