Naomi

by Mrs. J. B. Webb

"O Marcellus," said his sister, "how you would have esteemed and loved him if the Lord had spared him to meet you as a brother! But you could not have valued him as he deserved, for that very constancy and faith which led him to brave death, would have appeared madness and folly in your eyes."

"What can you mean, Claudia?" exclaimed Marcellus, eagerly. "Did not Theophilus die a natural death? I have heard no particulars, for I have been unable to speak to Zadok in private."

"Then you have not heard that he perished a martyr to the name of Jesus of Nazareth! and you do not know that your unhappy sister had learned the way of salvation from him, and now finds all her consolation and all her hope in that faith, which you, alas! despise."

"My dearest sister," cried Marcellus, embracing her with the warmest expressions of joy and affection, "this is a discovery which I had not even hoped for. Then we are united by a tie even stronger and more sacred than that of our own near relationship. I too may glory in the name of Christian; and doubly do I now regret the untimely end of our poor Theophilus, since a union with him would only have strengthened you in this most holy faith, and not have tended, as I feared, to close your heart against the admission of the truth."

Tears of surprise and delight sprang to Naomi's eyes at this unexpected confession on the part of Marcellus; and when he turned a look of anxious inquiry towards her, and read the expression of her lovely and animated countenance, he could not doubt that all for which he had hoped and prayed was already fulfilled, and that the great obstacle which he feared might for ever have separated them, was already removed.

"Naomi," he said, "am I right in indulging the hope that you also share the feelings and the sentiments of my sister? It would be happiness indeed to hear your lips confess the name of Jesus the Messiah."

"Blessed be that name for ever!" replied Naomi with fervour. "I know that there is none other name under heaven whereby we may be saved."

"How merciful has the Lord been to us," said Claudia, "in thus leading us by various methods into the same way of salvation! When, my brother, did you hear of Jesus? and who opened to you the treasures of the Gospel?"

Marcellus related to his attentive auditors all the particulars of his conversion at Rome, and the various events which had since that time strengthened and confirmed his faith. And from Claudia and Naomi he learned the interesting story of their spiritual birth and admission into the church of Christ. Naomi did not dwell on what she had suffered, or the trials to which her faith had once been subjected; but Claudia was eloquent in describing the piety and the firmness of her friend, and the benefit which she herself had derived from her consistent character and holy life and conversation. All this was music to the ears of Marcellus. He had loved Naomi when he was a mere boy, and as he grew to manhood he loved her more and more. And after he had left Jerusalem, and entered into the gaieties and business of life, he still looked back with fond remembrance to the time when she was his constant companion; and her image was ever present to his heart and his memory. Never during his residence at Rome, or his subsequent wanderings, had he seen a being who could compare with the Jewish maiden, and all his hopes of future happiness were connected with her. Many were the fruitless schemes which he had at various times devised for getting admission into Jerusalem and seeing her again, and when he found that he was to have the happiness of meeting her at Joppa, his anxiety and impatience knew no bounds. But still there was one ever-recurring thought that damped his hopes and checked his desire of seeing her. He believed that Naomi was a Jewess in religion as well as by birth. She was the daughter of Zadok, the zealous Pharisee, the sister of the fanatical Javan; and could he ever hope that she would return the affection of a Gentile, and still worse, of a Nazarene? and even if she should yet remember him with the same feelings that she entertained for him in former days, was it probable that her father would consent to bestow her on a Roman soldier; or would his own conscience allow him to seek a union with one who could not share his most sacred feelings, and who would despise what he held most dear and holy? All these reflections rose strongly to his mind when he did again behold her, and almost made him regret that she appeared yet more lovely and more interesting than his memory had depicted her. But now to find that all his worst fears were unfounded, and that Naomi was like himself, a Christian, was greater happiness than he had ever dared to hope.

It was not long before Marcellus had ascertained that his affection for Naomi was returned, and that during his long absence he had been remembered with all the constancy that he could have wished; and he readily obtained a promise that if Zadok's concurrence could be obtained she would consent to be united to him as soon as the war had terminated. Until that period they must be again separated, for Naomi would not hear of leaving her mother under the present circumstances; and indeed she greatly feared that a more insurmountable obstacle would be presented in the opposition of Zadok to their wishes. Marcellus sought an interview with the priest immediately after his conversation with Naomi, and frankly declared to him his attachment to his daughter, and his happiness in knowing that she was not insensible to his love and constancy; and then he requested that all his long-cherished hopes might be crowned by a promise that she should be united to him in marriage as soon as the state of the country would permit him to enter Jerusalem and claim her. Zadok listened to his young and ardent friend with calmness, though with a clouded brow. Once he would have spurned his offers with disdain, and have declared that he would rather consign his child to the grave than bestow her on a Gentile and a Roman; but since her renunciation of her early faith, all his high hopes for her future destiny had faded away. He knew that she would never consent to become the wife of a Jew; and if he were to seek a partner and protector for her out of the pale of that religion which he regarded as the only way to heaven, where could he find one to whom he could confide her with more satisfaction than to Marcellus? All his ancient prejudices rose up to oppose the plan but esteem for the private character of the suppliant, and consideration for Naomi's own wishes on the subject prevailed. He consented, though unwillingly, that if at any future time Marcellus should come to demand his daughter, and be enabled to offer her a happy and peaceful home, he should be rewarded for his constancy by receiving her hand, and the rich dowry which was always intended to be her marriage portion.