plains of Dura. By some strange providence, he saw fit to send me hither,
with imperative instructions to remain until some unpleasant affairs
between the two governments are amicably adjusted; and before this can be
accomplished, the great idolatrous display will have passed. Your minds,
undoubtedly, have been much troubled in view of the unpleasant position
in which ye are placed. So hath the mind of your beloved cousin. Already
I know full well that, with holy courage, ye are ready for the trial. The
flames of a fiery furnace must fail to frighten a true Israelite from the
worship of the God of his fathers. Past favors are not to be repaid by
proving traitors to the God of Israel. We are the temporal subjects of
the King of Babylon it is true, and in anything that interferes not with
the command of Jehovah, we are happy to render him willing obedience: but
with us obedience to the higher law is paramount to all other
considerations. The words of a loving mother are yet fresh in my mind.
The morning on which we left our beloved Jerusalem, she called me to her
apartment, and, among a multitude of other good things, she said, 'The
same integrity to the law of thy God will certainly secure thy prosperity
among strangers. Thy path may occasionally be obstructed; but trust in
God, my son, and all will be well. The land whither thou goest is a land
of universal idolatry, where the God of thy fathers is not known, and
where his worship may cause universal ridicule. Heed them not. With thy
face toward Jerusalem, let thy petitions daily ascend to the God of
Abraham, and he will direct thy paths. Never prove a traitor to the
religion of thy fathers. My son will be obedient to the laws of his king
that do not come in contact with his religion; but if ever thou art
required to render obedience to any law that clashes with the law of thy
God, remember, my son, that disobedience to that law must be rendered,
even unto death if required. Let "Obedience to the Higher Law" be thy
motto; for thy mother would sooner hear of thy death as a martyr to the
religion of Judah, than of thy promotion to a throne by apostasy.'