"None so well as I,' he quickly replied, can take you to his dwelling, for I am Onias of Beth-Harem.'

"At this unlooked for announcement, I was amazed as you may well suppose, my mother, and could only say in return, that I then was his nephew, Julian of Rome, the son of Naomi.'

"Not less astonished than I was thy brother in his turn. He welcomed me hastily to the land of our Fathers, and would not doubt that, when I had dwelt for a time beneath his roof, I should take too deep root in the soil ever to flourish again in that of Italy. He asked with great affection after your welfare, and wished that you too had undertaken your travels to the East. For a long time we conversed of the condition and welfare of our family, dispersed as it is so widely in Italy, Greece, Egypt, and Syria. He ended with saying, that he trusted ere long that events of such a kind would take place in Judea, as to call back all wanderers and residents in foreign lands to their native soil; new scenes were about to unfold. "Since leaving the cottage among the hills, where we had been so hospitably entertained, we had journeyed on through a richer and more highly cultivated soil. Although the region was still hilly, and rocks were to be seen jutting out on the sides of the hills, yet was there no spot to be discerned from their base to their summits, which did not bear testimony to the labors of the husbandman, and was not burdened with the products of the latter harvest. Villages on all sides, wherever the eye could reach far around, were seen half buried amongst the dense foliage of these regions, and the high ways everywhere filled with the heavy wains, drawn by oxen or bulls, and laden with fruits and grain. Never had I beheld a region that gave so many proofs of industry and skill on the part of the inhabitants; or where the population appeared to enjoy more of the common comforts of life. We were still winding along among valleys of utmost beauty and fertility, when as the hills on the north began to open, Onias said, that we were now within the territory of Samaria, which, for his own part, he would gladly have avoided; but seeing, as he judged, that I should feel desirous to pass by a place so famous as the city of that name, he had departed from the course which he was accustomed to pursue when he crossed over from the sea to Beth-Harem. 'Soon,' said he, as we reach yonder hillock on the summit of which VOL. XXVIII. -3D S. VOL. X. NO. I.

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you can already see the ruins of the tomb of Ahab, will you obtain a view of the city.'

"In a few moments we stood on the place to which he had pointed. The ruins of what had been a structure of some magnificence covered the spot, over which towered palms and cypresses. Before us and below us lay the city, built upon an elevation of an oval form in the midst of an extensive plain, bounded on all sides by a circle of hills. We ourselves were upon a part of the southern range which thus hemmed it in. At a distance were visible, toward 'the sea, the tops of Carmel, and toward Galilee Mount Tabor, towards the Jordan Hermon and Gilboa, and behind us Gerizim and Ebal; while in the north, like the light clouds that were above us, we could just discern the snowy peaks of Lebanon. The city glittering beneath the rays of the sun, then not far above the horizon, gave unexpected tokens, in both the extent of the walls and the overtopping structures within, of its extent and of the wealth of its inhabitants. I expressed to Onias my delight and surprise.

"What you see,' he replied, 'is the work of Herod; not, as you may believe, of those half-idolaters. Herod wanting a strong hold here in the heart of the land, rebuilt Samaria, which, since the destruction of it by Hyrcanus, had lain in ruins. Now, by reason of the immense sums which Herod expended in the building of the walls, and in erecting temples and theatres within, and especially because of the multitudes of new inhabitants, Greeks, Jews, and Romans, whom he compelled to remove thither, it is grown to be a place of some consequence, but not of so much as its foolish inhabitants are fain to believe. They are a bastard race. Upon a Gentile stock have been grafted decayed and rotten branches from all parts of the earth, so that there is as little of the blood of the Jew in a Samaritan, as there is of the true faith of a Jew in his doctrine. Come on, let us give them our backs. May their prosperity decrease daily.'

"I would willingly have lingered longer on a spot so agreeable in itself, and which spread out before the beholder so wide and beautiful a prospect. Inwardly resolving at some future time to return and examine at my leisure a country that seemed to offer so much to reward the observer, I followed Onias, and Samaria was soon hidden again behind hills and woods.

'Sebaste,' said Onias, abruptly as we resumed our journey, 'Sebaste is the name which Samaria now bears, given to it by that flatterer Herod; a Roman name to a Jewish town as ill sorted as a born Jew with a Roman name. What ill chance gave thee the name of Julian?'

"My father, I answered, would have it so, who he might know was no lover of his own race.

"I might have guessed as much,' replied Onias; Rome weaned him from Judea. And when Rome spoiled him of his Jewish nature, it wrought a greater ruin than sometimes when it spoils a kingdom. Thy father was born for greater things than he ever performed. His days were passed in amassing wealth; they should have been spent at the head of armies.'

"So,' said I, 'is it ever the nature of the more powerful to draw everything over to itself. The greatness, splendor, and renown of Rome, dazzle the young mind and easily take it captive. It was but a little while since, that to be known to be a Jew, was to me the great affliction of life. In truth the shame

of my descent has been to me the only evil I have suffered from my birth. Wealth could satisfy every wish of my heart, but it could not cause me to be born again; it could not change the hue of my skin, nor the features of the face.'

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Happy for thee, Julian, that a power higher than thyself ruled over thee and saved thee. Judea needs thee; and I trust to see thee answer to her call.'

"I said, that I was now bent upon knowing the exact statę of the country, that I might learn what part it became me to act. I could not in Cæsarea take sides with Philip, because, as I judged, he was over hasty, and outwent the judgment of the people at large, whereby he injured rather than benefited a good

cause.

"Nevertheless,' rejoined my Uncle, it was a sign of the times, and showed what is in the heart of the Jews. What happened in Cæsarea would have happened also in Jericho, in Sychar, in Bethsaida, nay even in Samaria; for so much may be said for Samaritans, that they love not Rome, but look, even as we do, for a deliverance from her dominion, and for a Deliverer. Julian, the time ripens! The wise and the good of our land, with impatience await what shall ere long be made manifest.'

"Onias said this in deep and earnest tones. I hoped that he would go on, but he paused.

"I then said, 'that even in Rome I had heard somewhat of that concerning which he spoke; but it was little and uncertain, and I knew not what to think. From my mother I had heard of a day of deliverance to which our tribe looked forward, and of the coming of the expected Messiah; but of what was truth and what was error, in such expectations, I knew nothing. Philip too had spoken of the same things. But, to me, it all seemed doubtful and baseless, without anything certain and fixed, to which the mind could attach itself; while that Judea was an oppressed and degraded kingdom, that her rights were withheld, her sceptre unrighteously wrested from her grasp, her liberties gone, were things that every eye could see; and the remedy for such evils not difficult to be devised, nor out of all hope to be carried into execution.'

"Onias, at this, looked upon me with an expression not easy to interpret. But words soon followed.

"Young man,' said he, 'your speech is both pious and impious. The piety, I believe, is your own; the impiety is your father's. Had God forsaken you, as your father did, you had now been altogether as one of the Gentiles. But He has watched over and redeemed you for ends greater than you now know of. When once beneath the roofs of Beth-Harem, I shall trust to weed out the errors that now offend thy mind, and plant in their place the seeds of truth. There be others there also, men learned in our laws, at whose feet a willing disciple shall drink in wisdom as water.'

"Onias, as he said these words, fell back into himself, as I perceive he is ever prone to do, and we continued our way in silence.

"The shadows of evening were now around us, and we were travelling still among the hills that stretch to the east and south of Samaria, but not in solitudes, for the country was everywhere thickly peopled, and the ways were yet filled with travellers to and from Samaria, and with the peasants of the neighboring places, returning home with empty or loaded wagons. I was looking to keep on our journey during the early part of the night, and reach the Jordan at least, before we slept; but my uncle now informed me that a little distance beyond where we were, we should arrive at the Inn of Jael nigh unto Thebez, where we should rest, for our beasts' sake, until the following day. While he was speaking we emerged from the hills and woods, and descended the last slope which conducted us to

the plains. As we thus descended, Mount Hermon was before us, over which the moon was just climbing; and beneath us lay the valley of the Jordan stretching to the horizon, covered with its villages, the nearer of which were clearly visible, with groves of the palm intermingled sending their lofty tops to the heavens. I was too much engrossed by the beauty of the scene to think of my companion; and we rode on, each pursuing his own thoughts, till we approached the Inn of Jael. This we found thronged already by those who had come to seek shelter for the night; for, at this season of the year, although a fierce heat is apt to rage through the day, the air becomes cold at night, and heavy dews descend, so that the covering of a roof or of a tent is necessary. We at first believed that there could be no room for us, the concourse of strangers was so great, the court yards being crowded with beasts and their lading, and the apartments and the roofs with their owners and attending slaves. But no sooner did Jael discover who was his guest than the room, which had been refused us by some to whom we had first applied, was quickly furnished. We were conducted to the roof where, a tent being spread over us, we partook our evening meal and rested for the night.

"When we had supped, and I then sat looking off upon the surrounding country and conversing, Jael, our host, joined us with low obeisances and formal speech. He hoped that the great Onias had returned in peace. All the country had lamented his absence. It was many days, and seemed months, since he had bestowed upon his poor dwelling the honor of his presence. I learn,' said he,' that thou hast been beyond Sepphoris even to Sidon.'

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"Farther than that, Jael,' replied Onias, even as far as Antioch and Edessa. What hast thou heard from Beth-Harem of late; are all well?'

"All are well,' replied Jael; 'to day a traveller from the East, and who had passed through the midst of Beth-Harem, reported, as from those who had knowledge, that all were well in the house of Onias. Thou wast not, then, at the outbreak at Cæsarea, where the mad-cap Philip, son of Sameas, threw all the city into a blaze.'

My uncle frowned as he said, 'Jael, thy soul is too much in thy purse. The Lord reward thee not according to thy zeal for him; for thy lot were then truly but as that of the wicked.' "Should I," said Jael quickly, plough up a wheat field with

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