[figure description] Page 182.[end figure description]

My Dear Father:—The last letter which I sent to you,
was written during an extraordinary tumult which
prevailed in the city, an account of which I promised to
give you in the present one. I will do so now. When,
on the morning of the Passover, it was noised abroad that
the Prophet of Galilee was entering the city by the gate
of Jericho, the whole city was stirred, and from houses
and shops poured forth crowds which turned their steps in
that direction. Mary and I went upon the house-top,
hoping to see something; but far and near was visible
only a sea of heads, from which a deep murmuring arose,
like the ceaseless voice of the ocean chafing upon a rocky
shore. The top of the gate-way was visible from the
place where we stood; but it was black with the people
who had crowded upon it to look down. There was heard,
at length, an immense shout, as of one voice, which was
followed by a swaying and onward pressure of the crowds.

“The prophet must have entered the gate,” said my
cousin Mary, breathlessly. “How they do him honor!
It is the reception of a king!”

We were in hopes he would pass by our house, as we
were on one of the chief thoroughfares; but were disappointed,
as he took the way round the foot of Mount Zion,

[figure description] Page 183.[end figure description]

and ascended the hill of Moriah to the Temple. A part
of the ascent to the house of the Lord is visible from our
roof, and we had the satisfaction of seeing the Prophet at
a distance. We knew him, only because he was in
advance, and the people, while they walked near him, yet
left him a little space. The nighest one to him, Mary
said, was her cousin John, though at that distance I could
not have recognised him; but the eyes of maidenly affection,
though mild as the dove's, are as piercing as the
eagle's. The head of the multitude disappeared beneath
the arch of the Temple, and thousands upon thousands
followed after; and in the rear rode the young Roman
Centurion, whom I have before spoken of, at the head of
four hundred horse to keep order in the vast mass. Mary
could not recognise him, saying it was too far to tell who
he was; but I knew him not only by his air and bearing,
but by his scarlet pennon that fluttered from his iron lance,
and which I had bestowed upon him; for he told me he
had lost one his fair Roman sister, Tullia, had given him,
and as he so much regretted its loss, I supplied its place
by another, worked by my own hands. As this was an
act of kindness only, to a stranger, dear father, I know
you will not disapprove of it; though being done for an
idolator may not please you. But I am full of hope, dear
father, that this noble and excellent youth may yet become
a Jew; for he loves to listen to my teachings from the
Prophets, and last week he told me that he could never
weary hearing me read to him from the books of Moses,
and from the sublime Psalms of King David; which, he
says, surpass any poems, either in his own tongue or the
Greek. Thus, by attention and forbearance, I assuredly

[figure description] Page 184.[end figure description]

believe that he may be led to renounce his idolatrous faith,
and become a worshiper of the God of Hosts.

The multitude, as many as could gain admission,
having entered the great gate of the Temple, for a few
minutes there was a profound stillness. Mary said:

“He is worshiping or sacrificing now.”

“Perhaps,” I said, “he is addressing the people, and
they listen to his words.”

While I was speaking, there arose from the bosom of the
Temple a loud, irregular, strange outery of a thousand
voices, pitched to high excitement. The people without
the gate responded by a universal shout, and then we
beheld those nighest the walls retreat down the hill-side in
terrified confusion, while, to increase the tumult, the
Roman horse charged up the hill, seeking to penetrate
through the masses, to reach the gate out of which the
people poured like a living and tempest-tossed river, before
which the head of the cohort recoiled, or was overwhelmed
and down-trodden! I held my breath in dreadful suspense,
not knowing the cause of the fearful scene we beheld, nor
to what it might lead. Mary, who knew both her father,
and her cousin and betrothed, were exposed to whatsoever
danger was treatening those who had gone into the Temple,
became overcome by her apprehensions of evil to them,
and, burying her face in her hands, she sunk down almost
insensible by my side. My attention was then drawn to
her, away from the scene on Mount Moriah, and leading
her down into the apartments of the house, I saw no more
of what followed. But a quarter of an hour had not
passed, when Samuel Ben Azel, who had the day before
come up from Nain, to the Passover, with his mother, who

[figure description] Page 185.[end figure description]

is a distant relative of Rabbi Amos, entered, and explained
to us the cause of the scene I had witnessed, assuring
Mary at the same time of the safety, both of her cousin
and her father. His account was thus:

“The Prophet Jesus having entered into the Temple
with the multitudes following him to see what he would
do, found all the courts filled with merchants, changers of
money, and sellers of cattle to the sacrificers. Portions of
the sacred place were divided off by fences, in which
thousands of sheep and cattle were stalled; and between
almost every two columns of the vast portico sat at their
tables men whose business it was to change the foreign
money brought by the Jews from Greece, Egypt, Elam,
Parthia, and Africa, who had come up to the Passover,
for Jerusalem and Roman coin, which only the sellers of
the cattle and sheep will receive for what they sell. On
his way to the inner Temple, the Prophet found his path
so obstructed by the stalls, and the tables of the brokers,
that he had to go round them, and often turn back and
take a less hedged up avenue. At length finding, upon
the very lintel of the Court of the Priests, a priest himself
engaged at a table as a money-changer, and near him a
Levite, keeping a stall for selling doves and sparrows to
the worshipers, he stopped upon the step, and, turning
round, cast his calm, terrible eye, (for it was terrible then,
mild as it was before,) over the scene of noisy commerce
and bartering. Every face was turned towards him in
expectation. The half-completed bargain was suspended,
and buyer and seller directed their gaze, as by a sort of
fascination not unmingled with a strange awe and fear,
upon him. Those who had crowded about him, drew back

[figure description] Page 186.[end figure description]

farther and farther, slowly but irresistibly widening the
space between them and him, they knew not by what impulse,
till he stood alone, save nearest him was John, his
disciple. The uproar of the buying and selling suddenly
subsided, and even the loud looing of the cattle, and the
bleating of the sheep, stopped as if a supernatural awe had
seized even the brute creation at his presence; and only
the soft cooing of doves stirred the vast, death-like stillness
of the place, but a moment before a scene of oaths, cries,
shouts, running to and fro, buying and selling, the ringing
of money, and the buzz of ten thousand voices. It was
as if a hurricane, sweeping with deafening uproar of the
elements over the lashed ocean, had been suddenly arrested
and followed by a great calm. The silence was dreadful!
It stopped the very beating of my heart. Every eye of
the vast multitude seemed to fasten itself on the Prophet
in expectation of some dread event. I thought of the
world hereafter to be assembled before the tribunal of
Jehovah, awaiting their sentence. The step of the Temple
upon which he stood seemed to be a throne, and the
people before him expecting judgment. Suddenly the
silence which had become oppressive, was broken by a
young man near me, who gave vent to his feelings by a
piercing shriek, and fell insensible upon the marble floor.
There was a general thrill of horror, yet the same awful
stillness succeeded this startling interruption. That one
intense shriek had spoken for us all, given expression and
outlet to what we all felt. Suddenly the voice of the
Prophet was heard, clear, authoritative, and ringing like
the trumpet that shook Sinai when the Law was given,
and made all the people to quake:

[figure description] Page 187.[end figure description]

“`It is written, my Father's house shall be called a
House of Prayer! but ye have made it a den of thieves!'

“He then picked up from the pavement at his feet a
small cord, which some one had thrown down, and
doubling it in the form of a scourge, he advanced. Before
him fled the changers of money, priest, and Levite, sellers
of oxen, sellers of sheep, and sellers of doves, escaping in
such haste from the terrible displeasure of his countenance,
that they left their property to its fate, seeking only their
personal safety.

“`Take these things hence,' he cried, `make not my
Father's house a house of merchandise!'

“Such a scene of confusion and flight was never witnessed
as now followed! The whole mass was in retrograde
motion. I was borne along with the current.
Money-tables were overturned on all sides; but not the
most avaricious thought, at that moment, of stopping to
gather any of the gold and silver which the rushing thousands
trampled beneath their feet. It was not the whip
of small cords before which we fled, for he touched no
man therewith; but it was from his presence! We were
driven like chaff before him. To the eyes of all, the little
whip seemed to blaze and flash above their heads, as if it
were the fiery sword of a destroying angel. Nothing but
terror, flight, escape, was thought of. In a few moments,
the Priest's Court of the Temple was cleared of every
soul, and we were driven across the Court of Israel and
the broader Court of the Gentiles, towards the south
gate. On looking back, I saw that the prophet no longer
pursued, but stood alone, Master and Lord of the Temple.
The whip was no longer in his hand; and his whole

[figure description] Page 188.[end figure description]

attitude and expression of face was changed from that of
their late terrible power, to an air of the profoundest compassion,
as he looked after us, still flying from his
presence.

“But I had no time to marvel at this extraordinary
change, for the multitude still sought escape, and bore me
onward, and I lost sight of him. At the gate we were
met by a cohort of Pilate's cavalry, and pressed backward
into the Temple. The scene now became appalling. What
with the Roman spears in front, and the Prophet behind,
the multitude fearing to go either way, trode one upon
another, trampled the weak under foot, and filled the air
with curses, shrieks, and horrible outcries, of mingled pain,
rage and terror. How I escaped, I know not,” added
Samuel, as he completed his narration, “but on finding
myself outside of the gate, I at once, with hundreds,
sought shelter in the city, and happy am I to have reached
this place of security; for the Romans are scouring the
streets, driving all the people into their houses.”

When Samuel had ended, and we were wondering at
this new exhibition of the mighty power of the Prophet
Jesus, the street in front of our dwelling was filled with
persons seeking their homes. Some cried, “the terrible
Prophet!” others, “the Romans!” and some, by their
outcries, seemed to fly from equal fear of both. In the
midst of this tumult, dear father, I sat down to write you
my last letter, while the events were fresh, and lest other
events should come in and crowd these from my mind.

Ah! my dear father, Jesus of Nazareth must be indeed
invested with powers divine! He who, with a word and
a look, for the whip in his hand could not, says Rabbi

[figure description] Page 189.[end figure description]

Amos, have hurt a child, can thus impel thousands of men
before him, could make THE WHOLE world fly from the terrible
majesty of his presence! My uncle, Rabbi Amos,
who, on his return from the Temple, corroborated what
Samuel had stated, added, that as Jesus stood alone, possessor
of the gold-strewn floors of the Courts of the
Temple, the High Priest advanced towards him, and with
awe, not unmixed with anger, demanded of him by what
authority he did these things, seeing that he took upon
himself to purify the Temple.

His answer was, “My Father's House must not be made
a house of merchandise. Zeal for the glory of His Temple
hath caused me to do these things.”

“Art thou the Christ?” asked the High Priest, still
standing some distance off from him.”

“If I tell thee that I am, ye will not believe.”

“When Christ shall come, he will restore all things,”
answered the High Priest.

“And I have begun this restoration by expelling from
the Temple those who defile it, and restoring it to be a
House of Prayer, according as my Father hath ordained.”

“And who is thy father?” asked Caiaphas.

“God is my Father; and to do His will am I sent into
the world. I came not of myself, but my Father sent
me. It is written of me, `He shall suddenly come to His
Temple, and be as a purifier and refiner of silver.'

“What sign showest thou that thou art sent, and hast
authority to do what thou doest here to-day within the
Temple?”

“Hast thou not had proof of my power from heaven,”
answered Jesus, stretching forth his hand towards the

[figure description] Page 190.[end figure description]

still terror-stricken multitude. “Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up! Be this to you, and all
Judea, the sign that I am sent by my Father, who is in
heaven. As He hath given me commandment, so I do!”

At this there was a great murmuring, said Rabbi Amos,
for many of the priests, with Annas also, had got boldness,
and drew near to hear.

“He cannot be a just man,” said Annas, “nor doth he
honor God, if he would have us destroy the Temple!”

“Yet if he be not sent of God, whence hath he this
power over men?” answered another.

“He doeth this by Beelzebub, whose prophet he doubtless
is,” said Annas, in a loud tone, “for a true prophet
would not seek the destruction of God's holy House!”

Thereupon, there was a multitude of voices, some crying
one thing, and some another; but the most part
asserting their belief that Jesus was a just man and divine
prophet. Caiaphas at length obtained silence, and said to
him:

“Tell us plainly—Art thou the Christ, the Son of
the Blessed, that we may believe in Thee?”

“I am!” calmly and firmly answered the Prophet; and
raising his eyes to heaven he added impressively, “I am
come down from God!”

When, adds my uncle, Annas heard this, he lifted up
his voice in an exclamation of horror, and, rending his
clothes, he cried out:

“Hear ye this blasphemer! Let us cast him forth
from the Temple which he pollutes!”

But no man dared approach the Prophet, whose mighty

[figure description] Page 191.[end figure description]

power had so recently been expressed in the expulsion of
the merchants and buyers from that sacred place.

“Bear witness,” then said he, sorrowfully, rather than
in anger, “that I have come unto my own, and ye have
received me not! This Temple of my Father, from which
you would drive me forth, shall no longer be the dwelling-place
and altar of Jehovah. The day cometh when your
priesthood shall be taken away and given to others, and
among the Gentiles shall arise to my Father's name, on
every hill and in every valley of the earth, holy temples,
wherein he shall delight to dwell; and men shall no
longer need to worship God in Zion, but in all places shall
prayer and praise be offered to the Most High. This
Temple, which ye have polluted, shall be thrown down,
till not one stone remaineth standing upon another; and
ye shall be scattered, because ye knew not the time of
your visitation?”

Thus speaking, the Prophet quitted the Temple, leaving
the High Priest, and priests, and Levites, standing gazing
after him, without power to utter a word. Rabbi Amos,
who saw and heard all this, says that nothing could have
been more striking than the contrast presented between
the two men, the High Priest and Jesus, (if it be lawful
to call him a man, dear father,) as they talked with each
other; the one clothed in magnificent garments, with a
glittering tiara upon his brows, his port lofty and proud,
his hair and beard white as snow, and his whole appearance
majestic and splendid with outward richness! the other
youthful, clad in coarse garments, with a gray Galilean
mantle folded about him, sandals much worn upon his feet,
and his whole garb mean and covered with the dust of his

[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]

journey on foot from Bethany; while the severe sadness
of his face, which seemed beautifully and touchingly
chastened by prayer and suffering, contrasted strongly with
the stern, harsh face of Caiaphas, flushed with anger and
envious hostility.

“He passed out of the Temple with an even pace,
neither looking back at his enemies nor followed by them.
I beheld John join him, and hastened to ask him to
invite him to my house to sojourn and eat the Passover
with me, but he disappeared and I lost sight of him. But
at the gate I encountered a man leaping and singing,
whom the Prophet had healed by a touch as he passed out,
though the man had been paralytic for thirty-one years.
Thus does this mighty person never cease to do good.”

Such, my dear father, is the account given by Rabbi
Amos of what passed in the Temple. That Jesus is the
Christ, is now beyond question; for he has openly acknowledged
it to the High Priest.

Adieu, dearest father. The servants are bringing in
boughs for the booths, and I must close this letter, with
prayers to our father's God for your peace and welfare.