, adopted child of
Israel! to give the promise of thy youth to the study of our grand old
religion, and, like the infant Moses, discovered amongst these
bulrushes of Chincoteague, to be the reviver of our faith, the
statesman of our sect. Yea! the rebuilder of our Zion. It has been
ordained that these things will be done, and, by the stars of Abraham;
it shall be so!"

"My father," said young Abraham, "God will keep all His promises."

The Jew took from a chest of massive cedar wood, empty of all besides,
the precious crucifix.

"Look on that," he exclaimed. "Dost thou know what it represents?"

"No," answered Abraham.

"It is the symbol of the faith in which thy father died. A Hebrew
impostor, one Jesus, was nailed by the Roman conquerors of Jerusalem
to a cross-piece of wood. He affected to be the son of David and the
Saviour of men. My son, in the name of his punishment the children of
Israel have been burned at the stake, dispersed abroad among the
nations, and hated of mankind. Preaching his imposture thy father and
thy mother were suffered to die for their consistency. See what I have
done with the bauble! The years I have expended on thy mind and
comfort have cost me money. From that crucifix, one by one, I have
plucked the precious stones for thy education. Here, from the side,
where they say the soldier's spear was thrust, I have sold the costly
ruby. The nail in the feet, a sapphire, paid thy Jewish matron. The
emerald in this right hand purchased thy books. I send thee abroad
with the price of the diamonds in the crown."

"Father," said young Abraham, "the image is hallowed to me for thy
piety. It is Humanity, O my father! that has made me devoutly a Jew,
and thee, unsuspectingly, a Christian."

He sailed away upon the Eli. His parting words had affected old
Issachar so much that his mind returned along the course of years to
the Christmas night he had passed in the outcast preacher's hut, and
the curious story of Jesus he had read there in the New Testament and
in the presence of the dead.

"To-morrow is Christmas," said the Jew; "a hallowed day to me, because
it brought me a son whose obedience and piety have gratified the exile
of my old age. Although these Christians have covered him with their
despite, his excellent charity remembers it not. I will be no less
magnanimous, and I will cross the bay and attend the Methodist worship
at Snow Hill on Christmas morning, that I may communicate its
fri