CHAPTER II.

ANNE'S gentle and well informed elder sister, Fanny, willingly consented to join Anne in her reading; and the curiosity of both was soon highly excited for the subject suddenly assumed a character which made it peculiarly interesting to Fanny.

The Jews might have expected to enjoy more peace when Christianity spread its mild tenets abroad, after Constantine had established it as the religion of all the Roman empire. But, unhappily, it did not prove so. There was no spirit of humility in the minds of the Jews, to enable them to receive instruction: they persuaded themselves that their sun of prosperity would rise again; and in the mean time they spent their days of humiliation only in the study of their Talmud.

At this time, they pretended to be great adepts in magic; by means of which they sought to delude themselves and others. Constantine or

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dered a conference to be held at Rome, between the Jews and the Christians; at which his mother Helena and himself were present. Sylvester, the Pope, attempted to convert the Jews by arguments; instead of reply, they brought in a huge ox ;-they whispered in its ear, and the animal fell down dead. It was the secret name of their great God, they said, that had awe-struck the animal. "How is it," asked Sylvester, "that you, who know that name so well, do not fall down dead also? But," added he, "if this ox shall come to life again, will ye believe me?"— "Yes," they all shouted. Sylvester then prayed fervently to God, through Christ; and the ox sprang up, and began to move about and feed. The story adds, the Jews present were all baptized.

Constantine rebuilt and beautified many parts of Jerusalem; and Queen Helena took a peculiar delight in it so that it rose from its ruins in magnificence and splendour. The church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the hill of Calvary, where Jesus Christ was buried, after He had been ignominiously crucified by the Jews; while Mount Moriah, on which their own Temple had stood, was left untouched.

The Jews, who had rejected and murdered the

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Saviour, whose tomb was thus sanctified, and the quiet but powerful influence of whose religion had thus spread over the heathen world, could not meet with much sympathy from the Christians. Hence we find the laws of Constantine full of rigour against them. They were not only strictly prohibited from entering the Holy City, but were heavily taxed, and forbidden to intermarry with Christians, or to possess Christian slaves.

To avenge themselves, the Jews would allow no stranger to settle in either of the four cities which they still possessed, namely, Cæsarea, Nazareth, Capernaum, and Tiberias.

A story was raised that one of their patriarchs, having been converted, was, on his death-bed, secretly baptized; and, it was further said, that Joseph, his physician, who was with him at the time, had been so much struck with what he witnessed, that, after the old man's death, he got into his house, and finding there the Gospels of Matthew and John, and a Hebrew translation of the Acts, he eagerly read them and became a convert. To this it was added, that, being detected reading these books, he was ignominiously whipped; but, escaping to the Christians, he was publicly baptized, and became so

zealous for the faith, that he became the founder of numerous churches throughout Judea.

The Jews were allowed a short respite from oppression and ignominy, and the indulgence of a few bright hopes, during the reign of Julian, called the Apostate. This prince, hoping to further his ambitious designs by conciliating the Jews, released them from the heavy bondage they had been subjected to; and he issued an edict for rebuilding the Temple on Mount Moriah.

A new season of prosperity seemed to be now opening to the Jewish world. The Jews flocked from all quarters to help in this great work. Every treasure box was unlocked; the hoarded gold and silver were poured out; those who had no money, lent their hands; and the women gave up their most valued ornaments. Many of the tools were made of costly metals; there were shovels and baskets of silver; while women carried heaps of rubbish in their finest shawls. The blind and the aged came to try to assist. Materials without end were collected. Timber, burnt brick, mortar, and clay, were prepared in abundance. The hopes of the Jews were unbounded; they called Julian their promised Messiah. The Christians, on the other hand,

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looked on with amazement, eagerly asking each other, "Will this devoted city be rebuilt? Will the murderers of the Saviour of the world again see their Temple arise ?"

Their murmurs, however, together with the hopes of the Jews, were crushed at once. The work was begun; a trench was dug for laying, the foundations; when a flame of fire arose, with a terrible explosion. Confusion was spread; the workmen vanished; their labours were over. An earthquake and numerous extraordinary appearances are said to have accompanied this event; which, most probably, took its rise from combustible matters having been placed in the caverns beneath the hill at the time of the siege, and having lain there very quietly till they came in contact either with some heat, or with the open air, then exploded.

The Christian lookers on and the Jewish workmen, however, both agreed that it was a miraculous interference of Heaven, to prevent the continuation of the work. The Jews smarted, but submitted to the rod of an offended Deity. Indeed, without this, their hopes would have been shortly disappointed; for the early death of Julian extinguished every remaining spark of hope from the breast of every Jew.