which shone dazzlingly in the wild light of the flames; they supposed that incalculable treasures were laid up in 50 the sanctuary. A soldier, unperceived, thrust a lighted torch between the hinges of the door; the whole building was in flames in an instant. The blinding smoke and fire forced the officers to retreat; and the noble edifice was left to its fate. PART II. It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman-what was it to the Jew? The whole summit of the hill, which commanded the city, blazed like a volcano. One after another the buildings fell in, with a tremendous crash, ō and were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame; the gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light; the gate towers sent up tall columns of flame and smoke. The neighbouring hills were lighted up; and dark groups of people were 10 seen watching in horrible anxiety the progress of the destruction: the walls and heights of the upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with the agony of despair, others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shouts of the Roman soldiery, as they ran to and fro, and the 15 howlings of the insurgents who were perishing in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains replied, or brought back the shrieks of the people on the heights: all along the walls, resounded 20 screams and wailings; men, who were expiring with famine, rallied their remaining strength to utter a cry of anguish and desolation. The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from without. Men and women, old and 25 young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who intreated mercy were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The numbers of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead, to carry on the work of extermina80 tion. John, at the head of some of his troops, cut his way through, first into the outer court of the temple; afterwards into the upper city. Some of the priests upon the roof wrenched off the gilded spikes, with their sockets of lead, and used them as missiles against the $5 Romans below. Afterwards they fled to a part of the wall, about fourteen feet wide: they were summoned to surrender; but two of them, Mair, son of Belgo, and Joseph son of Dalia, plunged headlong into the flames. No part escaped the fury of the Romans. The treas40 uries, with all their wealth of money, jewels, and costly robes the plunder which the zealots had laid up—were totally destroyed. Nothing remained but a small part of the outer cloister, in which 6000 unarmed and defenceless people, with women and children, had taken refuge. 45 These poor wretches, like multitudes of others, had been led up to the temple by a false prophet, who had proclaimed that God commanded all the Jews to go up to the temple, where he would display his Almighty power to save his people. The soldiers set fire to the building 50 and every soul perished. EXERCISE 48. The Charnel Ship.-CHARLESTON COURIER 1 The night-the long dark night at last 'Mid crashing ice, and howling blast, 2 The storm had ceased-its wrath had rent And many a piercing glance they sent And sailor hearts their rude praise gave, 3 The breeze blew freshly, and the Sun On heaps of icy fragments won Sad trophies in the past night's war 4 But lo!-still farther off appears And anxious eyes, and hópes, and fèars, Its slow, strange progress mark; As it moves tow'rds them by the breeze 5 Near, and more near-and can it be, 6 ()" God of the Màriner! protèct Through perils which, ere now, had wrèck’d— (°) Ha! she has struck-she grounds-she stands. "Quick, man the boat!"-away they sprang, And rapid speed they made: The vessel stood-none answering spoke. 8 "Twas fearful-not a sound arose- Which filled each heart with fear; 9 He was alone-the damp, chill mould A pen in his hand had meekly told "Had they been in the ice, and wanted food." 10 They took his book, and turned away, The wife, in her death-sleep, gently lay, Who, seated beside his young heart's pride, 11 Oh, wedded lòve! how beautiful, How pùre a thing thou art: Whose influence even in dèath can rule, Can cheer life's roughest walk, and shed 12 There was a solemn, sacred feeling And softly from the cabin stealing, With thoughtful brows and haste, That Charnel Ship, which years before, 14 They left her in the icebergs, where A monument of death and fear, And, grateful for their own release, Thanked God, and sought their homes in peace EXERCISE 49. Life.-A Spanish Poem.-EDINBurgh Review. 1 Oh! while we eye the rolling tide, Let us the present hour employ, 2 Let no vain hope deceive the mind- Our golden dreams of yore were bright, 3 Our lives like hasting streams must be, That into one ingulfing sea, Are doomed to fall The sea of death, whose waves roll on, 4 Alike the river's lordly tide, Death levels poverty and pride, 5 Our birth is but a starting place; There all those glittering toys are bought, 6 Say then how poor and little worth That lure us here? Dreams of a sleep that death must break EXERCISE 50. Death and the Drunkard.-ANONYMOUS. 1 His form was fair, his cheek was health; His wife the fount of ceaseless joy; How laughed his daughter, played his boy; Till half its contents decked his head. 'Tis gone! but all the fault was his. |