Snatch'd the food from her, trod it on the ground,
And mock'd her.

MIRIAM.
But thou didst not smite her, father ?

SIMON.
No! we were wiser than to bless with death
A wretch like her.

Fountain of Siloa—Night-An approaching Storm.

MIRIAM.

Javan, while I tread The path of duty I am following him, And loving whom I ought to love, love him.

JAVAN.

If thou couldst save or succour—if this night
Were not the last

MIRIAM

Oh, dearest, think awhile ! It matters little at what hour o' the day The righteous fall asleep, death cannot come To him untimely who is fit to die : The less of this cold world, the more of heaven, The briefer life, the earlier immortality. But every moment to the man of guilt And bloodshed, one like- ah me! like my father, Each instant rescued from the grasp of death, May be a blessed chosen opportunity

For the everlasting mercy—Think what 'tis
For time's minutest period to delay
An infidel's death, a murderer's

JAVAN.

Go! go, dearest ! If I were dying, I would have thee go Oh! thou inspher’d, unearthly loveliness! Danger may gather round thee, like the clouds Round one of heaven's pure stars, thou'lt hold within Thy course unsullied.

Titus, PLACIDUS, TERENTIUS, SOLDIERS, SIMON.

Titus.
Save, save the Temple ! Placidus, Terentius,
Haste, bid the legions cease to slay; and quench
Yon ruining fire.

Who's this, that stands unmoved
Mid slaughter, flame, and wreck, nor deigns to bow
Before the Conqueror of Jerusalem ?
What art thou ?

SIMON.

Titus, dost thou think that Rome Shall quench the fire that burns within yon Temple ? Ay, when your countless and victorious cohorts, Ay, when your Cæsar's throne, your Capitol Have fallen before it.

TITUS.

Madman, Speak! what art thou ?

SIMON.
The uncircumcis'd have known me heretofore,
And thou mayst know hereafter.

PLACIDUS.

It is hem
The bloody Captain of the Rebels, Simon,
The Chief Assassin. Seize him, round his limbs
Bind straight your heaviest chains. An unhop'd

pageant
For Cæsar's bigh ovation. We'll not slay him,
Till we have made a show to the wives of Rome
Of the great Hebrew Chieftain.

SIMON.

Knit them close, See that ye rivet well their galling links.

(Holding up the chains.) And ye’ve no finer flax to gyve me with ?

TERENTIUS.
Burst these, and we will forge thee stronger then.

SIMON.
Fool, 'tis not yet the hour.

TITUS.

Hark! hark! the shrieks Of those that perish in the flames. Too late I came to spare, it wraps the fabric round. Fate, Fate, I feel thou’rt mightier than Cæsar,

He cannot save what thou hast doom'd! Back,

Romans,
Withdraw your angry cohorts, and give place
To the inevitable ruin. Destiny,
It is thine own, and Cæsar yields it to thee.
Lead off the prisoner.

MIRIAM.
There are men around us !

JAVAN.

They are friends, Bound here to meet me, and behold the last Of our devoted city. Look, oh Christians ! Still the Lord's house survives man's fallen dwellings, And wears its ruins with a majesty Peculiar and divine. Still, still it stands, All one wide fire, and yet no stone hath fallen.

Hark-hark ! The feeble cry of an expiring nation.

Hark-hark ! The awe-struck shout of the unboasting conqueror

Hark-hark ! It breaks-it severs—it is on the earth. The smother'd fires are quench'd in their own ruins : Like a huge dome, the vast and cloudy smoke Hath cover'd all.

And it is now no more,
Nor ever shall be to the end of time,
The Temple of Jerusalem !-Fall down,
My brethren, on the dust, and worship here
The mysteries of God's wrath.

Even so shall perish,
In its own ashes, a more glorious Temple,
Yes, God's own architecture, this vast world,
This fated universe—the same destroyer,
The same destruction Earth, Earth, Earth,

behold, And in that judgment look upon thine own!

One summers day, near Sutton's Park,

As gazing from a hill,
I saw a thing minute and dark

Drink at the cooling rill.

And, wondering much, pursued my way,

When lo! a harmless wight
That scares poor children all the day,

And wicked men by night.