Even Zadok's self-command was failing, and the natural tenderness of his heart was ready to triumph over the lofty calmness that usually distinguished his manner and deportment. His wife and Claudia, Deborah, and all the other attendants wept aloud from sympathy and anxiety, while Amaziah bent his eyes on Naomi, and waited in almost breathless expectation of her reply to the appeal of Zadok. She had raised her face, and shaken back her clustering hair from her pale brow and weeping eyes, while Salome's words of kindness were whispered in her ear, and she had sought to interrupt her mother when she spoke of forgetting the faith she had so lately learned. But when Zadok addressed her she paused in deep reverence, and waited in silence until he called for her reply. Then she rose from her knees, and stood erect and self-possessed. Her mother's promise that she should return to the Jewish faith had startled her, and recalled her to a sense of her duty, and a confident reliance on the aid she had implored to keep her firm and unshaken under every temptation and trial. Her countenance was as pale as death, and the beating of her heart was almost audible, yet she spoke firmly. "My father, you have commanded me to renounce the faith which I have embraced because I feel that it is true. Sooner could I gaze up at the noonday sun, and say that it gives no light, than I can behold the character of Jesus of Nazareth, and say that the glory of the Godhead shines not therein. My soul was dark, my heart was hard, my spirit was proud and unhumbled, and therefore I knew not peace; when many months ago I met an aged disciple of Jesus Christ, and she told me of his power and his love, and the words that he spake, and the miracles that he wrought. She told me how he left his Father's throne on high, and lived with sinful men, in poverty and affliction on earth, to teach them how they ought to live. And she told me how at length he died, a sacrifice for sin and an atonement for us sinners; and having borne his Father's wrath, and drained the cup of sorrow that was mixed for us, how he rose triumphant from the grave, and ascended again to his God and our God, there to plead his death for our forgiveness, and to prepare mansions of everlasting peace and joy for all who truly love and serve him. When I heard all this, my father, I felt my heart was changed. Could I be too grateful to him who had done so much for me? Could I feel proud and self-righteous when the Son of God had died to wash away my guilt? Could I any longer put my trust in the blood of calves and goats to wash away my sin, when the blood of the Messiah had been shed as a perfect oblation and satisfaction? I received the Lord Jesus as my God and Saviour, and he has given rest unto my soul. Never, never will I forsake Him who gave himself for me!--never will I renounce that name whereby alone I hope to be saved!"