leaned upon a broken wall, and again listened with more attention; for the voices of Anna and her mother I knew were mingling in the strain. But I had not stood and listened long, ere another sound of a very different kind from an opposite quarter fell on my ear-the distant rumbling of many wheels, the trampling of horses, and the confused murmur which betokens the movement of many feet. My apprehensions at once interpreted the meaning of the sound. It rapidly approached, and in a moment more a body of artisans, with their implements of labor, and massy engines for the levelling of walls, accompanied by a crowd of the populace and a small guard of Roman soldiers, came into view, and moved on toward the spot where I stood. At the same instant, as it were, the inhabitants of the street up which the army of destroyers were marching, the neighboring streets, and the square inhabited almost wholly by Jewsbecame aware that the long threatened and overhanging evil was now at hand and about to fall, and poured forth to witness or to resist the desolation. As if by the power of magic a multitude now stood in the spaces, where but a moment before were but a few idlers like myself. The worshippers within the Synagogue, warned by messengers from without of the sacrilege about to be committed, we now saw descending the lofty steps in slow procession, bearing in their hands the books of the law. They fled not at the prospect of the approaching danger, but gathered around the walls of their ancient temple, as if, by their presence alone with their revered priests and elders at their head, they could avert the storm that had gathered over them, or touch with compassion the hearts of the rude servants of irresistible power, now about to commence the work of destruction. That troop of slaves with their implements-axes, saws, bars, and battering rains,—at the same time drew near, and spread themselves, as if without delay to begin their work, attempting to thrust back with violence the crowds which accumulated around them. But to this first and necessary work were these men unequal, for they had to contend not with the vile rabble that might have been found in the neighborhood of a theatre or a market, but with women, and children, and aged men, the mothers, wives, and sisters of many of the chief citizens of Cesarea, together with the priests and ministers of their worship. And they were met, too, not by return of blows or violence of any sort, but with tears and intreaties, and importunate cries of deep distress, imploring them to withhold their hands, nor bury in VOL. XXVII.—3D S. VOL. IX. NO. II.

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ruins the venerable temple of their faith. The loud sound of wailing and lamentation, arising thus from the voices of the women, mingled in strange and mournful confusion, with the rolling of the heavy wheels, the cries of those who managed the engines, the oaths and vociferations of the workmen, the shrill braying of the trumpets, and the hoarse commands of the Roman Centurion, as he essayed to preserve what order he could, hemmed in and oppressed by so great a crowd of human beings. Pilate had ordered that no assault whatever should be made upon the Jews, unless first assailed by them; and that indulgence should be shown to natural expressions of sorrow and indignation; but that open resistance should be punished without mercy. It happened soon, therefore, that the Centurion, not being permitted to resort to any measures of violence, found himself separated from the soldiers, and the soldiers from one another, by the irresistible pressure of the crowds. This was indeed of little consequence at first, because there were no signs of any other resistance being made, than that which proceeded from the weeping of the women, and the passionate exclamations of the men. But as soon as the workmen had succeeded in planting their engines, and raising their ladders, and were preparing to ply their various instruments of destruction, a scene of horror ensued, which, if that Roman could have controlled his soldiers, might in some sort supposing any humanity to have dwelt in his bosom-by his interposition have been prevented. For when, after having in the manner I have said planted their engines in the proper position, and they were then for the first time about to ply them upon the walls, the Jews, who immediately encompassed them, could no longer restrain themselves, but threw themselves, the women not less than the men, upon the engines, and clung madly to the wheels, to the beams, and even to the head itself of the rams, and also rushing in placed themselves between the instruments and the walls, so that neither could the workmen ply their engines, nor, if they could, was it possible to do so without crushing vast numbers of the people that were upon them, around them, or lying prostrate before them. Such reverence and love are there among them for the place and the object of their worship. But when neither by entreaty, nor by such force as they could use, was it possible to tear these miserable beings from their fatal grasp, and when every warning had been given them that there would no longer be any delay, then

by the force of the artisans were the engines drawn back, and when they had been so held a few moments, were let drive against the walls, and all those who had chosen so to devote themselves miserably perished. Shrieks of agony, cries of horror, and imprecations of divine vengeance at that filled the air. Yet it now availed not. The engines were quickly drawn back again, and again driven against the walls, destroying all who still were in their way. But when by the Jews, who still possessed their reason, it was thus seen that no signs of devotion and no proofs of constancy could prevent the fated devastation, they then, as it were with one accord, determined that their wives and children should no longer be permitted to be either witnesses or sufferers in what was further to ensue; and they were borne away not without force, so full were they of the spirit which is ready to sacrifice itself in the service of its God, to the dwellings which bordered upon the space in which the Synagogue stood. Long before this I had with anxiety searched in the crowds for Anna and her mother, but in vain. But while I with others was engaged in this service of placing the women beyond the reach of danger, it was with the greatest joy that I discovered them already secure upon the roof of one of the loftiest dwellings.

"Now while this duty had been performing, the Romans, taking advantage of the temporary dispersion of the crowd, plied vigorously on every side their huge battering rams, and clouds of dust, and the crash of falling stones gave evidence how rapidly the work was going on. The walls of the outer court and the porches were fast tumbling in ruins. But no sooner were the women disposed of, than the Jews, actuated by one spirit of revenge, forgetting in the heat of the hour the sacredness of the day and their resolutions of forbearance, and rushing in upon the workmen, by the overwhelming force of numbers, drove them from their posts. At this, the Roman horse, and at the same time also the Greeks, and all others who were hostile to the Jews, poured in to the defence of the workmen; and thus all around, both within and without the walls of the Court, and throughout all the surrounding streets, were the whole multitude mingled in bloody fight. As soon, however, as the Centurion had ordered to the attack the soldiers under him, then forth from out the courts of the neighboring houses, from the windows and doors, poured, fully armed, Philip, Simon, and their adherents; and, though on foot, fell with fury on the Roman and his troop.

The Jews were now concentrated on one side of the square, the Romans and the Greeks on the other, and with or without weapons, all were engaged. But the Jews, notwithstanding their desperate bravery, and the freedom with which they sold their lives, were no match for the cavalry of the Romans, and were soon seen to yield their ground, and were, indeed, falling back fast, when they were arrested, and made to turn again with success upon their enemy, by the sudden appearance of a small troop of mounted Jews, with one at their head, whose commanding air, and impetuous charge, inspired his countrymen with new courage. Come on,' cried he, ' men of Israel. For the Lord and Judea' — and, followed by his little band, fell with fury upon the Romans. It was at a moment when it was needful that fortune should show some favor to our people, though to me it was clear that they could not but soon be routed, and that with great slaughter for Philip, upon whom dependence was placed, more than upon any other, was just then nearly borne down by the advancing horse. But refusing steadfastly to retreat before those whom he hated, but feared not, and to whom, if so it must be, he was ready to sell his life, he sought, and engaged, hand to hand, with the Centurion. Though so unequal in their advantages, Philip made up for his position, in some manner, by his stature, and the superior strength of his arm. The fight hung long doubtful, but, alas! as it could not but be, the Centurion prevailed, and by a well aimed blow, clove his antagonist to the ground. At this moment the Jew horseman came up, and I looked that he should on the instant revenge the death of Philip; but suddenly drawing in his horse, he cried out, in the Hebrew tongue, Hah, Gentile, Gentile, beware the fate of Abimelech.' Had he to whom this was said understood what those words conveyed, he might, by stooping upon his horse, have evaded the messenger of death; but he knew them not; and they were scarcely uttered, when a stone from a roof struck him to the pavement. I raised my eye to the spot whence it it was Anna's form I there saw, bending over to behold the work she had done; but at the same instant, even as I gazed upon her with both wonder and sorrow, a javelin from the hand of a Roman pierced her through, and she fell back upon the tiles. There was then, my mother, no longer any Cesarea for me; and I flung myself from the place where, till then, I had remained, (that I might, in the event of the house being assailed, be at hand for the defence of Anna and her mother,)

came

and mingled as full of the spirit of revenge, as any in the thickest of the fight. But why should I now say more? that soon happened, which I had been looking for. The news of the affray had been carried to Pilate—a legion was on the moment despatched to the Synagogue, and with its overwhelming force soon decided the contest. But I heeded not its presence, I knew it not. Blind with passion and grief, I fought madly, till, as I suppose, I fell senseless, through loss of strength and blood.I awoke in a Roman dungeon. I am in the hands of Pilate. What the event will be, I cannot foresee. If I perish, though thou wilt lose an unworthy son, yet is he one who, in whatever else he failed, failed never in his love of thee. I can now say no more.

"These lines I am permitted to place in the hands of Zeno, the Greek, trusting that he will despatch them speedily to Rome. Farewell."

NOTICES AND INTELLIGENCE.

Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, translated from the Eleventh German Edition, by THOMAS J. CONANT, Professor of Hebrew, and of Biblical Criticism, and Interpretation, in the Literary and Theological Institution at Hamilton, N. Y. With a Course of Exercises in Hebrew Grammar, and a Hebrew Chrestomathy, prepared by the Translator. Boston: Gould, Kendall, and Lincoln. 1839. 8vo. pp. xvi., 326, and 60. - The character of Gesenius as a Hebrew scholar is now so well known in this country, that a commendatory notice of any work from him is hardly needed. Those, who are acquainted with his labors as a grammarian, a lexicographer, and an interpreter, know that in all these respects he stands unrivalled amongst his countrymen. Whilst he is equal to any of them in the depth and fulness of his learning, he surpasses all of them, with whom we are acquainted, in soundness and exactness of judgment, in keenness of critical sagacity, and in the logical and luminous order with which he disposes his materials. He unites English common sense with German freedom and depth of research; and presents to us the results of his in