The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-10
JeZebel.

When Miss Lafayette McLawS turned
to the Bible for a character to weave into
a tale of fiction she made the best selection
possible. Jezebel was a beautiful woman
with a will that would not brook restraint.
Historians have viewed her in different
lights. To orthodox Israel she was the
concentration of all that was wicked and
paganish, but to the world at large she
was merely shrewd ambitious woman.
Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbael, King
of Tyre and Sidon and became the wife
Of Ahab, King of Israel. She welded great
influence over her husband and induced
him to worship the idols of her own land
instead of Jehovah. She also caused many
Israelites to desert their own religion,
but several thousand remained true to
their God, and later, when her husband
and son had been killed, the true Israelites
flung her from a palace window and her
body was devoured by dogs. Such, in brief,
is the story of Jezebel but Miss McLaws
has expanded these brief facts into a ro
nance of absorbing interest, filled with
dramatic incidents.
Miss McLaws's first book published last
year, was when the Land was Young,
a story of the sixteenth century. 1t was
so successful that when "Jezebel" was
announced this summer many critics had
doubt whether it would be as popular as
her first novel. However, when the book
was read and reread for flaws, there was
nothing but praise for the young author
She has handled the character of Jezebel
in a manner to leave no opening for
purists, either moral or grammatical, to
criticise JeZebel is painted in her true
colors in language that cannot offend the
most orthodox of religionists. King Ahab's
meeting with her the first time, a pretty
little romance in itself, is briefly told. the
Amon's love for Ruth, the daughter of
Naboth, and the most beautiful of Israel's
maidens. An interesting feature of the
book is Miss McLaws's account of the
battles King Ahab fought with his enc
mics. She makes Zuor, the court dwarf,
tell the story throughout. An extract from
the work gives some idea OF Miss McLaws's
literary style:
THE mat over the door was thrust aside.
and King Ahab strobe in and stopped.
saw puzzled look creep into his eyes as
he gazed at the yelled woman, who neither
came forward nor did him obeisance A
moment they faced then turned with a
cry of gladness, such as / have not heard
pass her lips since the old days at Tirzah
JeZebel dropped her wimple and ran for
ward to meet him. He received her in his
arms, rested his cheek against her shining
hair, and saw that tears ran down over
his cheeks.
'Didst thou so long for me?' he asked.
after her first burst Of weeping had ceased,
and she lifted her face from his breast.
Yea she answered, and her face was
as pink lotus blossom new washed with
dew. could no longer live away from
thee.
Yet thou hast not been kind to me- he
said. lifting her face and gazing into her
eyes. Sometimes l feared that thine heart
had changed, that thou lovedst me no
longer
"'And / thought it was thee who no
longer loved. for they told me that the
elders sought secretly to persuade thee to
take Ruth TO wife TO make her thy queen
she answered, smiling as she chided him.
They told thee?' he exclaimed. and
saw the color flush up into his face
'Jezebel also saw the betraying color, and
drawing away from his encircling arms.
she replied:
toned: Did they speak the truth?
Yea, he told her. They spoke the
truth
Thou answered them?
He placed his hands upon her shoulders
and turned her facing him.
When thou d1dst consent to come to
Israel. Ethbaal gave thee TO Omri as my
fore all people At Tirzah we. thou and /.
covenanted that / should take into my
household only such of thy damsels as
thou gavest me. Thou hast never given me
Ruth. Then tell myself what answer Ahab
made to the elders of Israel
Her eyes dropped. the pink stole I'D.
coloring her throat. her cheeks her brow.
and she hung her head as a shamed child
'Jezebel,' Ahab said. and one arm slipped
from her shoulder and encircled her waist
For an answer she turned her face toward
him. and with all the gentle shyness of a
was Israel forgot, the man OF God, Ruth.
and even the widow of Shiloh and her great
SORROW"
The book is illustrated and Handsomely
printed. Lathrop Publishing Company, Bos-
ton.