Zadok adored his daughter; and this burst of parental feeling was excited by the sudden fear and horror to which Javan's words had given rise. The thought of his lovely Naomi being consigned to death and ignominy, as an apostate and blasphemer, had roused up all the tenderness which he had partially concealed, but could not banish, ever since the discovery of her lamented change of religion. She turned in grateful astonishment at this unexpected expression of his love, and falling at his feet, she would have kissed the hem of his garment; but he raised her up and embraced her with all his former affection, while he uttered a benediction which had not gladdened her heart since the time when first she had offended him, and rebelled against his authority.
Even Javan was moved, and Amaziah seized the moment to appeal to him.
"Behold, Javan," he said, "what is the love that a father has for his child! Our son is as dear to us as your sweet sister is to her parents. Judge then what must be our feelings while we know that Theophilus is in the power of his enemies—of those who would rejoice to shed his blood, and think that by so doing they should offer up a sacrifice acceptable to the God of mercy. Your power is great—your talents are respected by those on whom I believe his fate depends. Listen then to the entreaties of your family, and show that you are indeed zealous for the honour of God, by imitating Him who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness."
"Amaziah," replied Javan, "I am not insensible to the feelings of nature and humanity. I delight not in seeing the affliction of others; and if I could terminate your anxiety, and procure the liberation of Theophilus without compromising my well-known and declared opinions, and countenancing a heresy which my soul abhors, I would gladly do so. But the pure faith which has descended to me unsullied from our father Abraham is dearer to me than any considerations of a personal nature. Your son is an apostate. He has cast off the God of his fathers, and gives to a creature, a mere man, the honour which belongs to Jehovah alone. Therefore is he cut off from his family and his nation—nay more, he is wiped away from the book of life, and consigned to perdition. And shall I—a son of Aaron—lend my aid to rescue him from the punishment which he so well has earned? Shall I be the means of setting him at liberty, to disseminate his accursed doctrines, and carry the same spiritual pestilence into other families that he has brought into his own? No! by the altar of God I swear that so long as he cleaves to his idolatry, so long may he pine in a dungeon; or, if his judges see fit, he may be torn limb from limb, and given to be meat for the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field. But let him renounce his errors, and seek the pardon of his offended God by confession and sacrifice, and I will procure his release. Amaziah, look to your own safety. You have narrowly escaped sharing the same fate as your son; and I warn you to abjure your heresy, or to flee at once from the city. Judith and Claudia are known and marked as Nazarenes; and Naomi too is suspected. I have power to shelter her at present; but even that may fail, and my sister may be seized on and offered as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of insulted Heaven! O God of Jacob! what woes have been brought on thy peculiar people by the impostures of the crucified carpenter's son."
Javan left the room, and retired with hasty steps to the terrace, where he remained a great part of the night, pacing to and fro, and revolving many anxious thoughts. All his better feelings had been excited by the scene which he had just witnessed, and it was only by recalling to his mind the sentiments of severe fanaticism that generally reigned there, that he had been enabled to banish the rising emotions of tenderness and compassion. But now he had checked what he considered a weakness. Bigotry and mistaken zeal resumed possession of his soul, and all his thoughts were directed to the paramount object of bringing back his cousin to Judaism, or making him a fearful example of vengeance, as a warning to Naomi, to Amaziah, and to all who were in like manner perverted.
He left his family in sorrow and dismay. Those who adored Jesus of Nazareth as their Saviour, and worshipped him as God, were filled with horror and indignation at hearing his holy name blasphemed; and all were overpowered with the conviction that no hope remained of the liberation of Theophilus. Zadok endeavoured to speak comfort to his afflicted relatives, by urging them to use their influence in persuading his nephew to renounce Christianity; but Amaziah bade him cease such dreadful suggestions, and declared, while tears of deep emotion flowed down his manly cheeks; that he would rather behold his son—his only and beloved son—given up to the worst tortures that the spirit of persecution had ever yet devised, than hear him by one word deny the Lord who bought him with his own blood.
No one ventured to raise their voice in opposition to this declaration of the afflicted but undaunted father, and with heavy hearts the family dispersed to seek such repose as their sorrows would permit.
CHAPTER XV.
The sun rose bright and cheerful on the morrow—that day so ardently desired by Claudia, as the day of her departure from Jerusalem, and the termination of all her fears and anxieties. But it proved a day of trouble and sorrow, and brought with it no comfort, no hope.