h,
another, of heaven; one part, gross body, the other, etherial spirit;
one part, life of the body, the other, life of the soul. Which of these
parts is the better, it is not hard to determine. Should I gain much by
defiling the heavenly, for the sake of the earthly? by injuring the
mind, for the preservation of the body; by keeping longer the life I
live now, but darkening over the prospect of the life that is
hereafter? If I possess a single truth, which I firmly believe to be a
truth, I cannot say that it is a lie, for the sake of some present
benefit or deliverance, without fixing a stain thereby, not on the body,
which by and by perishes, but on the soul, which is immortal; and which
would then forever bear about with it the unsightly spot.'

'It is so; it is as you say, lady; and rarely has the Jew been known to
deny his name and his faith. Since you have spoken, I find thoughts
called up which have long slept. Despise me not, for my proposal, yet I
would there were a way of escape! Flight now, would not be denial, or
apostacy.'

'It would not,' said Julia. 'And we may not judge with harshness those
whose human courage fails them under the apprehension of the sufferings
which often await the persecuted. But, with my convictions, and Piso's,
the guilt and baseness of flight or concealment would be little less
than that of denial or apostacy. We have chosen this religion for its
divine truth, and its immortal prospects; we believe it a good which God
has sent to us; we believe it the most valuable possession we hold; we
believe it essential to the world's improvement and happiness. Believing
it thus, we must stand by it; and, if it come to this--as I trust in
Heaven it will not, notwithstanding the darkness of the portents--that
our regard for it will be questioned except we die for it--then we will
die.'

Isaac rose, and began to fasten on his pack. As he did so, he said,

'Excellent lady, I grieve that thou shouldst be brought from thy far
home, and those warm and sunny skies, to meet the rude shocks of this
wintry land. It was enough to see what thou didst there, and to know
what befell thy ancient friends. The ways of Providence, to our eyes,
are darker than the Egyptian night, brought upon that land by the hand
of Moses. It is darkness solid and impenetrable. The mole sees farther
toward the earth's centre, than does my dim eye into the judgments of
God. And what wonder? when he is God looking down upon ea