NAOMI

OR THE

LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM

BY

MRS. J. B. WEBB

AUTHOR OF "HELEN MORDAUNT"

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL GLASGOW, MANCHESTER, AND NEW YORK

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

HELEN MORDAUNT

OR

THE STANDARD OF LIFE.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN ABSOLON.

PREFACE

TO

THE SEVENTEENTH EDITION.

If when this book was first written the Author could say that the "signs of the times pointed strongly towards the Holy Land and the once glorious city of Jerusalem, and that the eyes of many—both Jews and Gentiles—were turned thither in anxious expectation," how much more emphatically may the same assertion now be made!

The interest felt for God's ancient people, the Jews, has been gradually increasing; and their condition, as a people, has been greatly improved. Many decrees have been passed in their favour in various lands; and in few civilized countries are they now subjected to either persecution or contumely. Moreover, the hearts of multitudes of Christians are awakened to feelings of love and sympathy towards their elder brethren of the Jewish Church: the servants of Christ "think upon the stones of Jerusalem, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust."

All this, combined with many other circumstances to which the attention of the world has been called of late years, leads us to hope that as the threatened judgments of the Lord have been awfully accomplished in the dispersion of his chosen people, his promises for their restoration may ere long be found equally sure. We know that there is a "tribulation—the great one"—yet to be brought on the land of Israel, and on her gathered population; but that will usher in their final glory and redemption. Then the same Almighty power which has turned the fruitful field into a "desolate wilderness," will cause that "wilderness" to "blossom as the rose;" and the same hand that once scattered the Jews over the face of the world, and made them a proverb and a by-word to the Gentile nations, will "bring them again to their own land," and make them the "joy of the whole earth."

While we contemplate the present fallen condition of the children of Israel, and the desolate state in which their "good land"—once "flowing with milk and honey"—is still lying, our minds naturally revert to their former glory, and the unexampled prosperity with which they were blessed: and we ask wherefore they have thus been degraded from their high position? God's word gives the answer—"Because they rebelled against the Lord, and lightly regarded the judgments of the Most High:" and, believing that such considerations may be both interesting and profitable to young readers, the Author ventured—with a full sense of her own incompetence to do justice to the subject—to attempt a narrative, the scene of which is chiefly laid in Jerusalem; and the period it embraces is one of the most eventful and calamitous that has ever been detailed in history. It may be thought that the circumstances of horror and bloodshed have been dwelt on with too much minuteness; but let it be remembered that all the events here related, and many others far more appalling, did actually

take place when God avenged himself on his rebellious people: and let it further be remembered, that these things were intended not only for the chastisement of the Jews, but also for the warning of the Gentiles.

We know, from the declaration of Christ himself, that a greater tribulation is yet to come on the earth. God grant that we may be warned in time, and prepared to meet it! May we be among those blessed servants of the Lord for whom a surer refuge—a more glorious Pella—will be provided in that day, that so we may "escape those things that are coming on the earth, and stand before the Son of Man!"

The Author cannot forbear here expressing her sense of the favour and indulgence with which her attempt to portray "the last days of Jerusalem" has been hitherto received; and her earnest hope that it may have led some of her readers to feel a greater interest in the Jews, and to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Let us pray also for their conversion, and their preparation to meet their expected Messiah: for thus shall we be exercising the highest duties of Christian charity, and repaying in the best manner our obligations to those unto whom the promises of God were first made, and "from whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came."

ILLUSTRATIONS BY BARTLETT.

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Tombs of the Kings

NAOMI, AND MARY THE SISTER OF LAZARUS

Bethany

Interior of the Golden Gate

Exterior of the Holy Sepulchre

Sculpture on the Arch of Titus

DEATH OF ANANUS

Absalom's Tomb

Bethlehem

SALOME INTERCEDING FOR NAOMI

Fountain of the Virgin

Convent at Santa Saba

Group of Cattle

MARY OF BETHANY INTERRUPTED BY JAVAN

Bedouin Arabs

Tomb of Rachel

Christian Ladies

Tombs of the Kings

Tombs of the Kings

ZADOK AT THE ALTAR

Vaults of the Harem

THE ESCAPE OF TITUS

Attack of the First Wall

FAMINE AND MADNESS

Burning of the Temple

Tombs of the Kings

NAOMI

CHAPTER I.

The sun was slowly sinking behind the lofty buildings which crowned the hill of Zion, and its departing beams were glowing on the marble walls and golden pinnacles of the Temple, when young Naomi and her friend Claudia came forth from the dwelling of Zadok the priest, and wandered down the lovely little stream of Siloë. They passed through the Water Gate, and entered a garden of luxuriant fruit-trees, which extended to the margin of the brook Kedron on the east, while its southern boundary was watered by Siloë's rippling waves, which flowed into the Kedron at that spot. Here the two maidens seated themselves, to enjoy the balmy freshness of an evening in an eastern clime, and to gaze upon the glorious city which lay before them, now hushed in silence as the day declined, and the clear blue vault of heaven that stretched without a cloud above their heads.

"Naomi," said Claudia, "how sweetly the peaceful silence of this quiet spot comes over my soul, after the noise and tumult of the day! When my father sent me from the Roman camp, to take refuge with you in your Holy City, I hoped to have found safety and tranquillity, but instead of the calm cheerfulness which reigned within these walls in former years, when I spent so much of my happy childhood with you, I now find nothing but discord and rebellion; and instead of the sweet sounds of the timbrel and pipe, I hear the din of war, the clashing of arms, and the trampling march of soldiers in their military exercises. My spirit sinks when I look forward to the scenes we may yet witness. Our legions will surely turn their march towards Jerusalem, when the conquest of the cities of Galilee is completed; and what can your troops, though brave, hope to do, when opposed to the soldiers of Vespasian? or how will your gates and boasted walls be able to stand against the powerful engines of the Romans?"

"We fear them not, Claudia," replied the high-spirited young Jewess, and her bright black eyes flashed as she spoke; "we fear them not: Never shall our holy and beautiful city be given into the hands of those fierce and cruel idolaters. Forgive me, dear Claudia, but though they are your countrymen, and you have been brought up in their impious religion, I cannot forbear expressing my firm conviction that the God of our fathers will yet preserve us from these Gentiles, nor suffer the house where He has placed his name to be again trampled on and defiled by those who know him not."

"I forgive you, Naomi; indeed, I love to see you when these proud thoughts fill your breast. You look like our majestic goddess Minerva, and only want a panoply of mail to personate her well. My heart is of a different mould to yours; and I admire your spirit, though I cannot emulate it. You should have been born a Roman, and you would have rivalled any of our heroines of old."

"Better far to be a daughter of Israel," replied Naomi. "Better far to be one of God's own people, though now for our sins we are degraded and in sorrow, than to belong to that nation who are employed in the hand of Jehovah to chastise his chosen race! Soon will He, for whom we wait in eager expectation, appear in the clouds in glory, and rescue his children from all those that oppress them. Then shall the people who worship stocks and stones be driven away before the brightness of his coming, and his own adopted children be exalted for ever!"

The colour mounted into the usually pale cheeks of Naomi, as she thus expressed her own enthusiastic feelings, while her eyes were fixed on the darkening sky above her, and her hands upraised, as if even then she awaited the sound of the trumpet, and the vision of the Messiah coming in the air. The expectation of his immediate appearance was, at that period, very widely diffused and strongly felt by the Jews; and it is supposed that this vain hope had greatly encouraged them in their revolt, and obstinate resistance against the power of the Romans. They entertained a firm conviction that their great Deliverer would shortly be manifested to his people, and that although for a time their oppressors had been permitted to triumph over them, yet their destruction as a people would never take place; and that in their hour of greatest extremity their King and Saviour would appear, to re-establish the throne of his father David, and to raise their nation to a glory and prosperity surpassing that of Solomon.

Claudia was impressed by the vehemence of her friend's manner; but she regarded all her hopes as vain delusions, and, after a pause, she replied:

"Naomi, your wild religion blinds and deceives you, and in these visionary expectations you forget the danger of the present time. Instead of indulging in such idle dreams, your wisest course would be, to use all your influence in persuading your father to abandon this city while yet there is time, and throw himself on the clemency of Vespasian. Zadok's character stands high, both among the Romans and his own people, for wisdom, integrity, and courage; and if he were to take so prudent a step, and recommend it to his countrymen, his example would probably be followed by many, if not all; and oh! Naomi, what bloodshed and misery would be averted! Your nation would be restored to peace and security, and plenty would again be seen in those districts which our legions have already reduced to desolation. Had you witnessed all the horrors of war and massacre that I have done, I think even your courage would shrink from drawing such fearful calamities upon your beloved city. My blood curdles when I remember the miseries of which I was an unwilling spectator, while I accompanied my

father in Vespasian's camp. Truly I believe the sight of sufferings which she could not relieve, added to the fatigue and constant excitement of our military life, hastened the death of my dear mother. Would that the gods had permitted her and me to remain in Jerusalem when my father was called to join the army! Then I should not thus early have had to weep over her grave: but it was her fate, and I must submit."

The tears rolled down the fair countenance of Claudia as she spoke of her beloved mother, and ineffectually sought consolation for her death in the cold maxims of philosophy, which were all that the heathen system of religion could afford her. Naomi endeavoured, as she had often done before, to awaken in her dark mind the belief in one Almighty God, by whose superintending Providence all events are governed; but her friend was too firmly convinced of the truth of her own religion to be thus easily shaken, or induced to listen to the despised doctrines of a Jew; she therefore hastily resumed the subject of the war, and, in spite of Naomi's indignant replies, continued to urge upon her the necessity of submission to the overwhelming and resistless power of Rome.

"Claudia," said Naomi at length, rising from her mossy seat, and extending her hand towards the lofty walls and towers of the city, now dark in the shades of evening; "Claudia, I would rather, oh! ten thousand times rather perish beneath those sacred walls, if it be the will of Jehovah that the spoiler should again possess them, than live to see my people once more subject to the Roman power. We have nobly shaken it off, and never till we are exterminated will we cease to resist their oppressions, and assert our freedom. You wonder at my enthusiasm, as you call it; but be assured the same spirit animates every son and every daughter of Israel: and when your proud legions advance beneath these impenetrable walls, they will be received with such a welcome as shall prove that in Jerusalem at least the soul of our fathers still survives."

"May the gods preserve us from beholding the conflict!" answered Claudia, with a shudder, as she rose to accompany her friend towards their home: "I should regret then that I had persuaded my father to send me here, after my poor mother's death, instead of to Cæsarea, as he proposed; but my heart was with you, Naomi, and I felt that in your company, and that of your gentle mother, I should find comfort in my sorrow. My father's strong regard and high esteem for Zadok induced him to consent to my returning to your house, as your mother's letter so kindly proposed; and at that time he had no idea that the war would continue so long, or spread from Galilee into Judea. Should Vespasian bring his army against Jerusalem—as my father's last letter seemed to announce—he will of course send for me, and place me at Cæsarea, with his friends who dwell there, and from thence I could easily embark for Rome, and join my brother Marcellus. He has been residing in the capital with our uncle Sulpitius ever since we left Jerusalem two years ago; and he writes me glowing descriptions of the

splendour and magnificence of the imperial city. You know we were both so young when we came from our native land to Judea, that we had forgotten all her glory and beauty. Marcellus tells me that he is very soon to be enrolled among the emperor's troops, and then he will probably be sent into this country, if the war is not concluded. Now I shall rejoice to see my dear, kind brother again; and you too, Naomi, will not you welcome him? You were always the greatest friends; and every letter he writes is full of inquiries and kind messages to you. But, alas! I forget myself. If Marcellus comes to Judea, it will probably be as the enemy of your land and people; and this cruel war will separate those who have been brought up together, and loved each other as brother and sister from childhood."

Naomi was saved the embarrassment of a reply by their reaching her father's house; and she was glad of the circumstance, for the theme interested her feelings more than she wished Claudia to discover. Rufus the centurion had resided for many years at Jerusalem, holding a command in the imperial army, and his band composing part of the guards stationed in the city. Mutual obligations, and a respect for each other's character, had created a sincere friendship between him and Naomi's father Zadok, who, though he was a priest, and devotedly attached to the Jewish faith, was not blind to the generous and excellent qualities which distinguished the Roman soldier. Their families had constant intercourse, and their children grew up together in habits of familiar friendship. Naomi and Claudia regarded each other as sisters; nor did the difference of their religion or the contrast in their dispositions ever cause a disagreement between them. Marcellus was their constant companion, and their protector in their rambles among the verdant hills, and luxurious meadows and gardens

which surrounded the city; and the mutual attachment which grew up between him and Naomi was remarked and smiled at by their parents while they were yet children. But as they advanced in years, it caused some uneasiness to Zadok and his amiable wife Salome, who could not allow themselves to contemplate the possibility of a union between their beloved daughter and an idolater. Nor was such an intention ever entertained by Naomi her soul was peculiarly susceptible to feelings of piety, and she worshipped the God of her fathers with a sincerity and fervency of devotion which was not common in the days of degeneracy and hypocrisy in which she lived. Idolatry she regarded with unfeigned abhorrence; and while she loved her Roman friends with all the natural warmth of an affectionate heart, she grieved for their profane and impious creed, and many were the attempts she made to convince them of its folly. Hitherto her efforts had been entirely unavailing, and she could gain no further concession from her young companions than an acknowledgment that Jehovah, the God of Israel,

might certainly be a Deity; but they looked upon him merely as one of that host of deities in whom their religion taught them to believe, and by no means superior to their own false gods. This being the case, Naomi would have preferred death to a connexion with a Gentile idolater; and she persuaded herself that her attachment to Marcellus was nothing more than friendship.

When, however, Rufus and his family were called away from Jerusalem, and his son was sent to Rome to perfect his military education, she felt a void in her heart which convinced her that she had allowed too much of her happiness to depend on Marcellus, and she resolutely determined to check every thought and extinguish every hope that was connected with him. At the time of which we are now speaking he had been absent for two years; and her praiseworthy efforts had been so far successful that she had recovered her spirits, and entered into all her duties and occupations with interest and animation. She was gifted with a strong mind, and a proud, independent spirit, which enabled her to command her feelings to a great degree; and even her mother, who was usually her confident in all her joys and sorrows, believed that she had entirely forgotten the brave and amiable young Roman.

The return of her friend Claudia, to seek protection in Zadok's house, when the death of her own mother rendered it impossible for her to remain with Rufus in the camp, a source of great delight to Naomi; but it revived many recollections which she had long been endeavouring to banish from her mind, and she found herself listening with pleasure to Claudia's often-repeated praises of her brother, and the kind messages which his letters contained to herself; but she never spoke of him except as the friend of her childhood, whom, in all probability, she should never see again.

Perhaps the contrast between Marcellus and her own brother Javan had exalted the good qualities of the former in her eyes. Javan, even as a child, had manifested a cruel and unhumbled disposition; and his domineering spirit had been the frequent cause of disputes between him and Marcellus, who invariably took the part of the oppressed, and defended those whom Javan would have annoyed or injured. The affection which Naomi entertained for Marcellus excited his jealousy and indignation; and he often upbraided her with her friendship for idolaters, and used very opprobrious language to the young Roman himself, which, but for the interposition of their sisters, would have ended perhaps in fierce and fatal contests.