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Article THE LEVITE. ← Page 3 of 7 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Levite.
and plant the goddess of victory in your mysterious sanctuary . " " Prince , " exclaimed the honor-stricken Hebrew , " e ' en if our city falls , thou wilt not profane the Temple ? " " To Jupiter and Victory have I sworn to consecrate it , " haughtily answered the idolater . " Oh , for one hour ' s freedom ! " cried the Levite , " how vain should be that boast . " " It shall be fulfilled , and thou and thy famished minion shall witness itexposed upon the cross before the city walls . " " Tyrant
, , my child ! upon the cross ! no , no , thou art human , mercy , mercy !" Trembling with terror at a cruelty , which exceeded his ideas of even Roman barbarism , the old man would have bent his hitherto stubborn knees in supplication , had not his daughter restrained him . " Father , " she exclaimed , " bend not to this proud man the knee sacred to ONE alone , he would but mock thy prayers , and triumph in thy agonies ; if it be HIS will that I should so perish murmur not , but say , that will be
done , if not , the words of yon proud worm are idle powerless threats . Farewell , " she continued , an expression of deep scorn mantling her once fine features ; " little was wanting to complete thy shame ; thou hast condemned a woman to the cross ! and stamp thy immortality of infamy in blood . Prince , victor , Roman , the Jewish maiden scorns thee . " Drawing the veil once more over her countenance , Rebecca calmlawaited the commands of tbe tyrant . " Lead them from the
y tent , " he exclaimed , hoarse with rage , " guard them as you would your lives ; to-morrow , with the dawn , they die—give orders for the assault —in lingering agony they shall behold it , and mourn too late their scorn . " The guards roughly seized their prisoners , and led them from their leader ' s presence , the chieftains alone remaining in the tent to
receive their final orders from their imperious general ; these were hastily but not inaccurately issued by Titus , who , with all his crimes , was an able soldier ; a few expressions of reverence , impatiently received , intimated that they might retire ; Claudius , who had listened to the sentence pronounced upon the captives by his leader , with indignant agony , followed them from the tent , revolving in his mind the means of saving , if possible , the high-minded Rebecca from her dreadful fate . Many were the emotions of the wretched Claudiusas he descended
, the Mount of Olives ; love , pity , admiration , and despair mingled the cup of bitterness ; of the difficulty in delivering the Jewish maiden and her father he was well aware . The danger , in the present excited state of his feelings , he reckoned not . " Life , " he exclaimed , " has long been a burthen , and cannot be better thrown away than in her service ; a tear , " he added , " may perchance bedew my memory . " Musing upon the means of accomplishing his purposehe gradually approached that part
, of the camp appropriated to the prisoners ; many were chained to stakes driven in the ground , others confined in rude huts of skins , these were chiefly the females and the wounded , whose neglected state had alread y generated a fever in the camp ; in a tower , a little from the road side , leading to the tombs of the kings , were confined five hundred wretched Jews , condemned by the inhuman Titus to suffer upon the cross with the coming morninga number of soldiers with a centurion were
sta-, tioned beneath , and seemed so intent upon listening to the hymns of their captives , that they observed not the approach of Claudius , who , attracted by the melody , involuntarily slackened his pace to catch the strain , alas how different from those which formerly they had chaunted in the Temple .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Levite.
and plant the goddess of victory in your mysterious sanctuary . " " Prince , " exclaimed the honor-stricken Hebrew , " e ' en if our city falls , thou wilt not profane the Temple ? " " To Jupiter and Victory have I sworn to consecrate it , " haughtily answered the idolater . " Oh , for one hour ' s freedom ! " cried the Levite , " how vain should be that boast . " " It shall be fulfilled , and thou and thy famished minion shall witness itexposed upon the cross before the city walls . " " Tyrant
, , my child ! upon the cross ! no , no , thou art human , mercy , mercy !" Trembling with terror at a cruelty , which exceeded his ideas of even Roman barbarism , the old man would have bent his hitherto stubborn knees in supplication , had not his daughter restrained him . " Father , " she exclaimed , " bend not to this proud man the knee sacred to ONE alone , he would but mock thy prayers , and triumph in thy agonies ; if it be HIS will that I should so perish murmur not , but say , that will be
done , if not , the words of yon proud worm are idle powerless threats . Farewell , " she continued , an expression of deep scorn mantling her once fine features ; " little was wanting to complete thy shame ; thou hast condemned a woman to the cross ! and stamp thy immortality of infamy in blood . Prince , victor , Roman , the Jewish maiden scorns thee . " Drawing the veil once more over her countenance , Rebecca calmlawaited the commands of tbe tyrant . " Lead them from the
y tent , " he exclaimed , hoarse with rage , " guard them as you would your lives ; to-morrow , with the dawn , they die—give orders for the assault —in lingering agony they shall behold it , and mourn too late their scorn . " The guards roughly seized their prisoners , and led them from their leader ' s presence , the chieftains alone remaining in the tent to
receive their final orders from their imperious general ; these were hastily but not inaccurately issued by Titus , who , with all his crimes , was an able soldier ; a few expressions of reverence , impatiently received , intimated that they might retire ; Claudius , who had listened to the sentence pronounced upon the captives by his leader , with indignant agony , followed them from the tent , revolving in his mind the means of saving , if possible , the high-minded Rebecca from her dreadful fate . Many were the emotions of the wretched Claudiusas he descended
, the Mount of Olives ; love , pity , admiration , and despair mingled the cup of bitterness ; of the difficulty in delivering the Jewish maiden and her father he was well aware . The danger , in the present excited state of his feelings , he reckoned not . " Life , " he exclaimed , " has long been a burthen , and cannot be better thrown away than in her service ; a tear , " he added , " may perchance bedew my memory . " Musing upon the means of accomplishing his purposehe gradually approached that part
, of the camp appropriated to the prisoners ; many were chained to stakes driven in the ground , others confined in rude huts of skins , these were chiefly the females and the wounded , whose neglected state had alread y generated a fever in the camp ; in a tower , a little from the road side , leading to the tombs of the kings , were confined five hundred wretched Jews , condemned by the inhuman Titus to suffer upon the cross with the coming morninga number of soldiers with a centurion were
sta-, tioned beneath , and seemed so intent upon listening to the hymns of their captives , that they observed not the approach of Claudius , who , attracted by the melody , involuntarily slackened his pace to catch the strain , alas how different from those which formerly they had chaunted in the Temple .