without resistance.

"My stay in Jerusalem, thou knowest, was but short, and my facilities for
observation were not very favorable; but owing to peculiar circumstances,
I became partially acquainted with those in Judah who left deep and happy
impressions on my mind. I found a few young men of the kingly line, who,
in my opinion, were far superior in mind to any I ever had the pleasure
of beholding."

"Dear father! that is saying much. Then they must have been very
different from their royal relation, of whom thou speakest."

"Thou hast well said, my daughter. Happy would it have been for that
distracted nation if one of those youths had graced the throne of Judah,
instead of the profligate Jehoiakim."

"Then it appears, surely," said the daughter smilingly, "that true
excellence and superiority are not confined to Chaldea. But I hear
nothing in praise of Judah's maidens."

"The maidens of Judah are fair--some of them exceedingly fair. Thou wilt
wonder, perhaps, to hear that the peculiar grace and artless eloquence of
one of these maids of Judah so affected thy father's heart, that he could
not refrain from shedding tears."

"And have these interesting captives arrived in the city?"

"Yea, my daughter, they are already in Babylon."

"And shall not thy daughter have the pleasure of seeing this orphan maid