IX.
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The longer I remain among this people, my
mother, the more strange do they seem; but the
more too do I become bound to them, and especially
to the members of this household.
They are a people beyond any other religious,
and yet, as I suppose, beyond any other superstitious
and wicked; which seems to proceed
from this, that they make distinctions between
the worship of God, and virtue; and consider
these two things as not necessarily joined together.
Not but what the same error is to be
observed elsewhere, but that here it appears to
be more universal. Prayers are made upon all
occasions, and in all places, but they are a ceremony
by themselves; and being once said, the
matter is over; so much was due to God by
command, agreement, or custom, or tradition,
and the debt has been paid. Then how their
life shall be ordered is another affair, and governed
by interests, rules, and motives which
belong to itself. Some who are esteemed to
stand at the head of the religion, and who
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generally are of the Pharisees, are as remarkable
for their want of goodness, or rather as
notorious for their vices, as for their piety toward
God shown in a strict observance of the
Sabbath and the least points of the Law. So
long as religion shall be held as somewhat
distinct from virtue must it continue to be so;
and so long will the faith in one God, in which
we may justly boast over all other nations, be
little better for the interests of goodness than
the Roman's faith in many.
But at the same time is it true, that some
have been instructed even as it was my
fortune to be by thee. Their religion hath been
connected with their life; their many prayers
and fastings, their sacrifices and offerings, their
goings up to the feasts, their observance of the
law to its smallest requirement in every outward
rite and act, has all been done not in the place of
virtue, but in addition and as incentives to it.
Of this sort I need hardly say to thee are Onias
and Judith. They are careful observers of the
law; but while exact in the mere ceremonial
part, they are even more exact in what pertains
to righteousness. Nay, they would by many
be thought to neglect observances on which
others greatly pride themselves, though none
can be found to charge them with any infringement
of the greater matters of the law. The
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hypocrisies and over-righteousness of the
sees are not theirs, nor the indifference
the Sadducees. They believe in Moses
the Prophets — in the law that guides
in this life, and in the resurrection at
last day, for which the law fits them
its commands. But they pretend not
more than they have. They are content
do what to them seems necessary, without
ing to gain the admiration of others by extraordinary
acts of piety and the observance of
the lesser points of the law. Truly, their
are beautiful. Onias indeed oftentimes
severe and harsh; but he is a just man
fears God, and serves him in that very
which to him seems right. The law
the traditions, which are its interpretation
are to him the lights — the greater and
lesser, by which he draws every breath
shapes every step in life. He asks for
more or better. He sees no defect, there
nothing incomplete to be supplied. If the
were truly kept, Israel, he says, would rise
her proper glory, and would overshadow the
whole earth, — prosperity and riches and
and glory would make the land of Judea
wonder of the earth, and the seat of an ever
lasting kingdom, for its felicity, like the paradise
of the first pair.
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Judith, though her reverence for the law is
great, and though she reads diligently the
prophets, and observes their precepts, and performs
the required rights, is yet secretly sad and
unsatisfied. So much have I gathered, not
from any set disclosure she hath made of her
thoughts, but rather from the language of her
countenance, from words that have dropped
from her, and yet more from what she hath not
said when certain subjects have formed the
matter of discourse. With the rest of the people
she is anxiously dwelling on what the future
shall reveal, but differing from them, her
hopes are of some one, who shall prove himself
to be a reformer of the manners of her nation,
as much and as well as the subduer of her enemies.
She thinks that the medicine needed is
partly that which shall purge the heart. So
that when she speaks of the Messiah, it is as a
prophet and a priest that she delights chiefly to
regard him. She asks for a teacher and a guide,
who shall lead her farther into a knowledge of
God and of things invisible, than she can now
penetrate. The priests of the law do not give
her what she asks — the law itself is dark and
refuses to speak of the things of which she
desires most to learn. The harp of David,
though the music is sweet, and all the tones it
speaks find an accordant response in her soul,
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yet are not its notes enough to answer one by
one to the wants she feels. The harmony is
not complete.
For myself, my mother, I judge that this
people want liberty first — truth afterwards.
The truths for which a soul like Judith's
sighs would fall on stony ground falling
upon the hearts of slaves. In the slave the
thoughts are bound as well as the limbs. They
cannot think or feel as men, who cannot move
and act as men. The outward bondage becomes
necessarily one that is inward also, seeing
the body and the mind are one. Is it not in
vain therefore to look for any great advantages
to come from a prophet, who shall not first appear
and act in the character of a deliverer and
conqueror? So thinks Onias, and so thinks the
nation. When the looked-for Messiah shall
appear, it is certain, so judges the whole people,
that he will appear as one who shall first of all
bring deliverance to the captive, and a ransom
for such as are under bonds; nor can any signs
in heaven or on earth show the approach of the
true Shiloh, but such as proclaim him prince
and conqueror.
How astonishing the news I hear through
thy letters and the common channels of the
present ascendency and power of Sejanus!
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With any due proportion of humanity and modesty
it is not to be doubted, that he might have
founded a name and authority that might have
overshadowed Tiberius. But, surely, the gods
having now decreed his destruction have made
him mad. Is it possible Romans should endure
such remorseless cruelties? What a fate is this
of a city and empire like Rome, — with an emperor
buried in a desert island, old in years and
older in crime, feebler through lust and intemperance
than through age, the object of universal
detestation, yet ruling these many millions
with the mere breath of his mouth, and besides
him, this second self in Rome, carrying on his
own schemes of cruelty and ambition, pleasing
his great master in proportion to his excesses,
since the iniquity of the satellite serves as a
shield for that of the principal. When will the
justice of God overtake such wickedness? You
are alarmed, my mother, at such language, lest
spies and informers should bear it to the secret
tribunals of power. Be not afraid. My letters
are entrusted to none but known and faithful
hands. Besides we are not of the noble Roman
families. We are not a mark high enough
for the emperor or his tool. Nevertheless read
them in secrecy, with doors and windows closed;
and then carefully conceal or destroy them.
The coming to Beth-Harem of C. Sentius
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Saturninus, my mother, has, both to the inhabitants
of the city and to us of the household of
Onias, proved anything rather than an evil.
His presence, together with his soldiers, has
acted as a wholesome restraint on the licentious
rabble, and the quarrelsome factions within the
walls, keeping or restoring peace where Herod's
authority was wont oftentimes to fail; and to
us he shows himself well disposed to cultivate
our society and friendship, and make himself
of service in many ways. When the
duties of his office allow him a season of recreation,
he seeks the precincts of thy brother's
dwelling, and either walking up and down on
the banks of the Jordan in company with thy
son and niece, sitting under the vine-covered
arbor, of which I have told thee, or else at the
table, partaking of the hospitality of Onias, we
have enjoyed many hours of agreeable intercourse.
He is youthful for the rank he holds,
but his great merit in campaigns, both in Germany
and the East, have won for him early advancement.
The qualities of his heart are as
remarkable, as those of his intellect; so that
even in the army he has been called the good
Centurion. If rigorous in preserving discipline,
he is not unnecessarily severe. His justice
may always be relied upon; and when he punishes,
it is against the feelings of his nature; he
would pardon if it could be done with safety.
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It was the last Sabbath that Onias made a
supper for Saturninus, at which sat down many
guests besides. Shammai, Eliel, Zadok, and
Eleazer, rulers, and doctors of the law from
Beth Harem were also there. The house was
bright with the multitude of lamps, and the
tables bent beneath the wealth both of the service
and of the meats with which it was loaded.
Music was added to the entertainment, which
came to us not too loud nor yet too faint, from
a neighboring apartment; and as the feast drew
to a close, there were gathered on the grounds
before the dwelling other members of the
household, the servants, the husbandmen, and
all of every other humble office belonging to
this great vine-dresser, where to the sound of
the timbrel, pipe, and harp, and by the light of
the fading day and the new moon, they joined
in dances common to the inhabitants of the
country. When we had sat at the tables the
usual time, we then resorted to the portico and
the rooms overlooking the Jordan, where for
our entertainment we either watched the movements
of the rustic dance, or fell into such discourse
as our thoughts were led to by the time
and place, and the objects around us.
“Thus it is,” said Saturninus to Judith,
“that you of Judea keep your day of worship.
It is not so with your people, as I think, in
Rome.”
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“So it may seem,” said Judith, “because there
by the necessary confinement of a city,
usages are not made visible to every eye
here, and you, I doubt, were never, when
Rome, within the dwelling of a Jew.”
“I must confess,” replied the Centurion, “
never was; but I can truly affirm that this
not been because of any hostility which I have
entertained toward your nation, but simply because
chance never threw me into their society.”
“I doubt not your word,” replied Judith. “
it had been your fortune to have mingled with
in Rome, you would have found I may
to say mainly the same observances there
here; for we are to a wonder the same people
the earth over. How say you, Julian? for you
testimony must be beyond dispute.”
I said that it was certainly so.
“The stranger, however,” observed Saturninus,
conceives of this day as if it were
a day of fasting and worship alone.”
“It is far otherwise,” answered Judith. “We
worship indeed on this day, and we rest from
labor, as do also our cattle and servants; but otherwise
it is a day of feasting, not of fasting. I
must be the strictness with which labor of every
kind is prohibited which hath given origin to
the feeling you have expressed. Labor is
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indeed absolutely forbidden — that is the great end
of the appointment. Our merciful law hath taken
good care of the humble and the poor in this, that
the rich and the great cannot deprive them, nor
even the more helpless dumb beast of this repose.
No man however great in Israel dares
compel the toil, or even permit it, of man, woman,
or animal. This you will allow is both wise
and merciful.”
“It is indeed,” replied the Roman. “I wish
that in this point at least, the law of the Jew
were also the law of the Roman and of the
world.”
“But” continued Judith laughing, “so exacting
is our law on this point, that were you, Saturninus,
to become one of us, and were so much as
to break the law in the least iota, even by bearing
your sword or lance from one place to another,
we should stone you even to death.”
“Alas then,” replied Saturninus, “I can never
be a Jew. But I suppose you speak but in jest.”
“Well,” said Judith, “we are not so savage
or so strict now. If you will become a proselyte,
I can promise you an easier yoke. Nay for
that, some of our doctors make it light enough.
But that must not be heard by our Rulers.
Shammai's voice happily shields us. We need
not fear being overheard, when he hath the
argument.”
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A loud burst of merriment from the group of
dancers before us here for a moment interrupted
our conversation. Judith, springing from her
seat and beholding the gayety of the peasants,
their wives, and children, could not be restrained
from joining them, but saying that she would
return soon bounded along the portico and down
the flight of steps and in a moment was in the
midst of them the merriest and most agile of all.
Such an example being given, I was not slow to
do likewise, so that till we were well wearied
with our exertions we continued to mingle with
the dancers and partake their pleasures. The delight
which the accession of Judith to their numbers
occasioned, — whom all of her servants and
dependents seem so to love that her service is their
highest pleasure, — was very manifest in the increased
hilarity with which they engaged in
their sport as soon as she became one of them.
When we returned to the Portico, Saturninus
was seated and conversing with the Doctors,
whom we also joined. They had been evidently
talking of the synagogue, for Saturninus was
inquiring of Shammai, why the stranger from
Enon had that morning been denied the privilege
which he sought of speaking to the people,
while others were freely allowed.
“Should a man,” answered Zadok before
Shammai could find his words, “who is a
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follower of one that is reported to be rather in the
keeping of an evil spirit than of his own, be
allowed to speak in the name of the Lord? It
is not every one, though he may esteem himself
wise and as one of the elders, whom we are
ready to take at his own word. It was not
hard to guess with what new insolence he
would have entertained our ears.”
“Nevertheless,” said Eleazer, “I would gladly
have heard what it was he was so swollen with.
His own mouth, I doubt not, would have condemned
him more than any reproof of ours.”
“So without doubt it might have been,”
interrupted the bitter voice of Zadok, “but so
it might not have been, and had the bag of wind
once found vent, who can tell what blasphemies
would have flowed abroad, to seduce, and deceive,
and pollute the hearer? What John hath
done, he would have striven to do.”
“His mouth was well stopped,” said the
other.
“Aye,” said Eliel, “it was — for the people
would have heard him gladly.”
“I should not marvel, if on the next Sabbath,”
said Eleazer, “they clamored more still to hear
him.”
“Let them clamor,” replied Zadok, “they are
neither rulers nor doctors, nor will all their uproar
make them so. There are the streets and the
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highways; let him use them, and none will
hinder. Ere the next Sabbath it were no
wonder if the half-witted populace of Beth-Harem
took him for the Christ himself, as I
hear in the region of Genessareth they begin
to do his master.”
“So it is indeed reported as I learn,” said
Eleazer, “but it is reported also that he says
plainly he is not the Christ.”
“He saith it to-day mayhap,” rejoined Zadok,
“but let the folly of the people in those parts
increase, as it is the nature of folly to do, and
carry greater crowds than now to his Baptism,
and we shall see what his meekness will do.
His sordid attire, his fastings and prayers are the
gins and snares to catch fools, and when the
multitude of them hath sufficiently grown, he
will have cheated himself, as well as them, into
an opinion of his own greatness he did not at
first entertain. Fools make fools.”
“It were well methinks,” said Shammai, “if
there were not so many others to set gins and
snares of the same sort to cheat those whose sight
is small. If John catches the people in that way,
he is not the first who by fastings and long
prayers has gotten a good opinion among the
people, which, if they could have seen behind
the veil of his prayers into his deeds, might not
have retained its fragrant odor.”
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It was easy to see at whom Shammai shot
his shaft, for Zadok's brow grew darker and
his lips drew back from his long teeth as he
said;
“It is no crime to observe the Law of Moses
even to a tything of mint and cummin, that
I have ever heard. The blessing of Jehovah is
upon such. The law is the law, and it is not
kept except it be kept.”
“Most true, Rabbi,” said Shammai, “In respect
of the rites of the Law, they are delivered
with exactness and are kept but in one manner.
In respect of other things we have choice.
They are not so weighty. In them justice may
be put by for a time; so did David. The Jew,
who should strive to be more than he, surely
would seek to be righteous overmuch.”
Zadok stroked his beard but answered not.
“But if that be truth,” continued Shammai,
“which we have lately heard, the world will
not long be afflicted with either the wisdom or
the folly of this madman, if he be indeed a
madman.”
“What is it? what is it?” said Zadok
reviving.
“Why this,” said the Ruler, “that he is
thrusting himself into Herod's affairs, which is
much as if he leaped into a lion's den.”
“That is news indeed!” replied the other.
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“Ha! ha! I had not heard it. But what is it
he hath done? Let us hear.”
“Behold now,” said Shammai, “how this
learned Doctor scenteth evil afar off and snuffeth
up the odor thereof as of a pleasant sacrifice.
It were a charity to his soul not to answer him.
Why is the heart made to delight in misfortunes
of others and vent curses on them? The
Jew by his nature, young Roman, curses thee
and all thy people.”
“As I judge,” replied Saturninus, “it is the
Jew that curses, and not the man who lives under
the Jew. A Jew infant reared in Rome
would not speak such curses. It is your law
that shuts your hearts against the love of others.
Nature has no such tuition.”
“No, Saturninus,” quickly interrupted Judith,
“it is not our Law so much as the traditions
which have supplanted it. True it is, our
people were made the instrument to destroy
impure and idolatrous tribes, and have been
instructed not to mix with any nations, worshippers
of many gods. But this was, that a
purer religion might be preserved among one
people at least, that should be a pattern to the
rest of mankind. The Jewish is the only people
who cleave to one God, without image or
picture through which to adore him, or by which
to conceive of him.”
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“What is it he hath done, Shammai,” said
Zadok, with impatience, “what is it he hath
done? let us know.”
“That is true,” rejoined Saturninus. “But
it has availed little to mankind that you have
held a better faith, while a spirit so hostile
toward others hath prevailed. For men are
little inclined to copy those whom they hate, or
by whom they are hated.”
“Doubtless that is so,” said Onias, “but the
truth hath been too great to be wholly destroyed
in that way. Just as the sun shines through
dark clouds and thick mists, so hath this truth
shone through all our errors, vices, and wickedness,
and cast some light upon those who were
sitting in darkness. We have hindered it much,
but not altogether. Our commerce, and even
our wars have served to carry it abroad.”
“Yea,” said Shammai, “that is so; but after
all that hath been done for us, and in spite of
the law and our worship, the Jewish world is
but as any other. Jerusalem smells not sweeter,
I fear me, to the Lord, than Rome or Alexandria.”
“The man is mad,” quoth Zadok, “and
speaketh blasphemy. Verily, Shammai, it were
a righteous act to cast thee out of the synagogue.”
“Then,” said the ruler, “would there be at
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length a chance of my amendment. A man is
rarely better than his companions.”
“Hear him!” said Zadok, “Hear his railings!
But cease now, and let it be known
what thou hast heard of John.”
“It is this only, that he raves madly against
Herod for what he is reported to purpose concerning
Philip's wife. The king, trusting to
have ended his iniquity in peace ere it got much
abroad is now as mad as he.”
“Ah! that is good!” cried Zadok. “Now
we shall see what a prophet can do against a
king. Now we shall see how this tanner from
Enon will bear himself on the Sabbath.”
“Nay, they may claim thus much at our
hand,” said Shammai, “both John and his disciples,
that they are bold and fear no one, —
and that is a prophet's mark.”
“Now,” cried Zadok, “let us sing hosannas.
Shammai holds John to be a prophet! Let us
report it in Beth-Harem — Shammai, the
learned doctor and ruler of the Synagogue, that
stands between the market and the citadel, and
which once heard the voice of great Hillel,
Shammai, the Hebrew, the Greek, the Philosopher,
follows after John of Hebron with an uncombed
beard, unwashen hands, a beggar's robe,
and a leathern girdle about his loins” —
“The grinding of millstones,” cried
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Shammai interrupting the hoarse sound, “the braying
of asses, the shrieking of the wind among the
dry cedars of the Dead Sea, the creaking of the
wine press, are not to be named, Zadok, with
the shrill trumpet of thy voice. Thou needest
not repeat thy proclamation, for it has already
been heard beyond the walls of Beth-Harem.”
With these sayings, partly in jest, and as it
seemed to me partly in earnest, these learned
scribes and rulers took their departure, and returned
to the city. When they were gone, it
being still early, and the sounds of the dancers
and their music being over, we continued
sitting and conversing.
“These priests and rulers,” said Saturninus,
“take life lightly, if one may judge them by
their words. They seem each as if two persons,
the one light and sportful and open, the other
standing back, close, secret, and dark. They
appeared not to utter their true thoughts, but
to be playing with the subjects that came up.”
“It is partly so, indeed,” said Judith, “as
perhaps with all of us, at least with very many
of us, we are one thing to the eye, one thing on
the surface, but another quite to him who hath
sight to see beyond, and wit to draw up what
is there in the greater depths. Sometimes the
outer clothing is the fairer and better, but often
it covers over a worthier thing than itself, and
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conceals it from all but those gifted with a
sharper, and more penetrating vision.”
“Yet,” continued Saturninus, “in one thing
they seemed to agree, in showing dislike of the
prophet, who is said to have risen up, and to
have commenced the labors of a reformer. But
why should one be feared, who comes only as a
teacher of virtue?”
“The rulers dislike and oppose him,” said
Onias, “not because he is a prophet, if indeed
he be one, but because he is not more of one.
The common people, as you may have been
told, crowd his steps and hear him gladly.
They are caught with every one who sets up a
pretension like this.”
“But,” said the Roman, “even if he were
no more than a reformer of the morals of a
people, were I a Jew, I should receive him gladly.
It were a happy day for Rome, could some
one arise whom the gods should fill with a
spirit and a power to waken her from her slumbers
of death. There are many there, whose
prayer to the gods is, morning and evening, at
home and in the temples, for more knowledge
and light. For the darkness now is one that
may be felt. The people still worship the
ancient gods with faith in them more or
less. But the learned and the thoughtful ask
for a better religion than their ancestors have
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bequeathed, ere they can give it their belief
and their obedience. We are buried in mysterious
gloom. We grope as blind men, not
knowing whence we come nor whither we go.
We have an instinct, which teaches the reality
of some Cause equal to the production of this
broad world, and the overhanging sun and stars.
But we know him not; we know not how to
conceive of him, nor in what manner with most
acceptance to approach him, save that here also
our instincts serve us somewhat, but guide each
one a different way. What we mean by virtue,
we are persuaded with some general conviction,
must be the most pleasing offering we can
bring to the altar of the Supreme God; but
we know not in what proportion we should
bring him that offering, or others of prayer,
sacrifices, garlands, and music; moreover we
cannot tell how to think of our life, what it is,
and when to terminate — of death, what it is,
and to what with certainty it bears us. So that
we of Rome long for nothing more than for a
teacher and reformer, who should by his genius
exercise authority over the minds of men, and
by divine inspirations pour into them the light
of truth. I would give an ear even to one
of not more promise than this wanderer in the
wildernesses of Jordan, seeing that perchance
he may be filled with a divine spirit — for it
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would appear that we are not able of ourselves,
who see so little way, to say in what manner
and with what appearances a messenger from
God would approach us.”
“It is to me,” said Judith, “a pleasure to
hear such opinions. Dwelling, even as I do,
under a religious law, which hath the true God
for its author, even I desire a knowledge superior
to that which now, as a people we possess.
And with many, with multitudes in our unhappy
country, I wait for the redemption of
Israel, for a new comforting of the people of
God. And with certainty do we look for a
teacher, who shall complete and perfect the law
now given to us, and establish us in a condition
of virtue and happiness, as well as of outward
glory, we now cannot so much as dream of.
Night and day, day and night, do prayers go
up from this whole people, from the sinner as
well as the saint, from the child on its mother's
knee, as well as from him who is standing on the
borders of his grave, that God would please to
cause a new day to rise upon us, and his kingdom
to come and be established in the midst of
us. I cannot then but look with expectation
toward every one who approaches and gives
any signs that God is with him. What to
think of John I know not, nor do others, as it
would seem. The common people, who in
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some things see clearest — would not God endow
them with a sense to know his messenger
when he should come — follow after him, as
we hear, daily in increasing numbers, and by
baptism are enrolled among his disciples.
Would he were in this region, that I might hear
for myself and judge for myself.”
“My dear child,” said Onias, “think not of
John, nor of any great thing as to come of him.
He is nought, stark nought. I too at first looked
toward him with expectation, or rather with
a wondering curiosity, but God is not with him.
He too is a deceiver, or deceived, like so many
who have gone before him. In the early days
of thy mother Eunice all Judea was stirred
from its lowest depths, yet it proved in the end
but a delusion of Satan.”
“Of whom and of what speak you,” I asked.
“Doubtless the knowledge of what I would
speak of never reached thy ears, for it was
before thou sawest the light. I speak of the
child born at Bethlehem.”
“Not even a rumor,” said I, “hath ever
reached me.”
“It fell out in the latter part of the reign of
the great Herod. I even was but a child.”
“Herod I know; and of him heard much at
Cæsarea; but not of what you now name.”
“Surely,” said Judith, “have I heard from
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my mother, in my youth, tales of the wonderful
child born at Nazareth or Bethlehem — born
too I remember me in the stable of an inn,
whom kings came and worshipped. The rest
is gone from me, or has mixed itself with a
thousand such tales from the far East.”
“In Jerusalem and all the neighboring parts,”
said Onias, “as indeed throughout Judea, have
fables, — some with portions of truth intermingled,
passed from mouth to mouth. I then,
as I have said, was but a child, yet did many
things fall upon my ear, which sank in and
have not since departed. But I rather speak of
what afterwards came to my knowledge. All
Jerusalem was at that time in great expectation
of the immediate appearing of the Messiah, and
ready to convert anything beyond the facts of
every day into a wonder. Among a thousand
rumors no one knew what to believe, and
the events since that day have shown that there
was nothing to be believed. But the stories
handed down assert the birth of a child, as
thou hast said, Judith, in the stable of an inn
of Bethlehem, — whose parents were strangers of
Nazareth in Galilee, — and whose birth was declared
to some shepherds in the neighborhood
of the town by a vision of angels. As I think,
and as many thought then, what those peasants
saw was in their dream. Yet so confidently
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was the vision reported, and beside that, the appearance
of a bright star, pointing to the very
spot where the child lay, that many believed,
and it came to be a rumor throughout the city
and all the parts round about, that he who was
to be King of the Jews was at last born. This
coming soon, as it could hardly fail to do, to the
ears of Herod, alarmed him not a little; for it
was not unknown to him, that the people were
constantly looking when this future king should
come and assume his throne. Nay, there were
not wanting flatterers, who persuaded Herod
that he himself was the looked for Messiah.
But he believed them not. Yet not being ready
to surrender his power into the hands of any
other, and fearing, lest there might be some
truth in the tales which were passing from one
to another, and filled the city, he, according to
his nature, determined upon a cruel measure for
allaying his apprehensions; for he gave sudden
and secret orders for all the children in Bethlehem
to be seized and slaughtered, that so
the new-born king might perish with them.
Yet the order was not so secretly given, but
that a warning came to many in season, who
escaped the intended destruction. Among
them, it was affirmed by some, was the young
child, though by others it was asserted that
it had perished. But since, it has been well
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known that they fled — the parents and the
child — to their native place, where they have
dwelt, he who was to be a king, quite forgetting
his high dignity, living and laboring
humbly enough, subject to his father as a
carpenter. Wherefore the wonders related of
his birth are thus shown to be delusions or
worse. The only thing we know to have been
real was the destruction of innocent children
by the king, of which the parents of the child
were the cause, either by their own acts and
delusions, or the delusions and acts of others,
which they could not prevent. Their own
safety they effected, but left behind others miserably
to perish through their means.”
“This is a strange story,” said I.
“Not so strange to us,” replied Onias, “who
are ever greedy of what is marvellous, and who
dwell on the borders of the land of fables.”
“Who,” asked Judith, “were these people
from Nazareth, that they should pretend to the
glory of being parents of the Messiah? Is it
not our belief, that he shall come of the House
of David? Surely their lineage might be
traced.”
“So much was true,” replied Onias. “It
was found, that they were in truth of that family,
though poor and unknown.”
“What, father, was the name they bore?”
asked Judith.
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“I have forgotten,” answered Onias; “nor
do I remember that of the child; though
among other feigned things it was sent abroad,
that an angel had announced the name by which
it should be called.
“Were there many who gave their faith to
such pretences?” I asked.
“It cannot be denied,” said Onias, “that
very many believed, and more waited in hope
to see what might come of it. But the more
wise and prudent saw not, in any of the things
affirmed, the signs that should fitly announce
the Messiah of Judea. Especially was it clear,
that he, upon whose shoulders was to rest the
government of Israel and of the world, would
not first breathe in the feeding trough of a
camel. It is not so kings are born; much less
the King of kings. How should the people
of God know their sovereign in such a form,
and how should they be guilty, should they
reject or destroy him? After a time no more
was heard of this wonder of Bethlehem; and
by the generations of to-day it is forgotten that
such events have been.”
“So, you will have us to believe,” I said,
“will it be with this John of Hebron.”
“That,” Onias replied, “is what I would say.
The signs of Judea's deliverer are not more in
this baptizing wanderer of the wilderness than
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they were in that peasant's child. And when
the people have run after him, and fed their
foolish hopes on chaff, they will return to themselves,
and wait. Many times have our hopes
been cast down, and they will be again if in
our folly we fasten them on this new preacher.
A good man he may be, but no more. He who
is to come hath not yet come; nevertheless he
may not be far off, but standing in the midst
of us while our eyes see him not. John indeed
speaks of one to follow him. But neither is
it he.”
Saying this, Onias rose and withdrew.
When he was gone Judith said, “My father
will not believe until such an one appears as he
looketh for, and John is far from that. But so
I, Julian, cannot judge. Are we to say how a
messenger of God shall manifest himself to
men, or what form, whether that of a servant
or a king, his Messiah shall take? Alas! for
me a king were a small gift indeed. What to
me were it if David again came forth from the
grave, or his greater son, or any of the Prophets,
and erected here in Judea the throne which so
many are impatient to behold? Of what avail
were such an one to me? My soul — and, Julian,
I am not alone — hungers for somewhat more nutritious,
that can feed and support a higher life
than that of the body — for an entertainment
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richer and more divine than could ever be had
in a king's palace. We have kings now, and
courts of luxury. I could resort to Herod, or
Pilate, or Philip, but what should I find there
that I want?”
“But, dear Judith,” said I, “do you not now
in saying this yourself commit the error which
you have just noted in Onias? He turns
away from this wild man of the wilderness,
this son of thunder, this unlettered and humble
child of nature, this stern preacher of righteousness,
because he does not agree with the
picture he has formed in his mind of the
Prophet whom God will send, when he sends
forth his Messiah; and do not you also make
your own thought the measure of what God
shall do, when you refuse your homage to a
king? Yet, surely, when the prophets speak
of him who is to come, it is of one who is to
govern Israel, and rule over the kingdom of
David — it is ever of the Christ, as King.”
“Yes, Julian,” she replied, “without doubt
I have condemned myself. I am wrong. I
should have no judgment in matters too high
for the reach of our poor thoughts. And yet
how can one, who feels the darkness within,
cease to conjecture and hope, and look forward
for that which the heart, as God hath made it,
pants for, as the spent hart for the water-brooks?
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But surely our wisdom is, as our office, to wait for
the signs in patience of the soul, which shall
give us assurance of the Prophet of God whenever
he shall appear. To you, Saturninus,
these opinions I suppose are strange and new.”
“Not so,” replied the Centurion; “I have
been long in Judea, and the faith and the
hopes of her people are already familiar to my
ear, and my mind. I have heard much of that of
which you have now spoken, and ever listen with
satisfaction to any who converse of such things,
as thereby I become more exact in my knowledge
of the forms of religious faith, which prevail
among your people; and it has ever been the
thoughts of men concerning their religious observances
and doctrines, that have possessed for
me the highest power of attraction. As I enter
the precincts of the dwelling of a new people, it
is the first investigation with me, what is their
belief of the gods? or have they none? or do
they worship the forms of nature, and the instruments
of her power? Among you of Judea
have I alone found thoughts of God, worthy
of the mind to entertain concerning that
being, whom no mind can ever understand. I
mean among the common people, and the whole
people; for among us, philosophers have long
held and do now hold opinions on such things,
hardly less worthy to be reverenced than such
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as are to be found in your sacred books. But
with you, adequate thoughts and conceptions
of the Divinity are a universal inheritance.”
“So,” said Judith, “they may seem to you,
when you place them by the side of opinions
held by the Roman populace. But so they
seem not to me, and to many of our tribe who
wait for the coming of the Just One. Our doctors
and priests by their traditions, by which
they have changed the law delivered by Moses,
and in its place thrust their own figments, under
which they escape from the obligations of a
true piety, and in its stead offer to God and man
the dead sacrifice of a ceremonial exactness,
have corrupted not only our religion but the
very hearts of the people, and with truth doubtless
it may be affirmed, that beneath the fair
and painted show we make of faith and love,
their is hid unbelief, hatred, malice, and all
uncleanness. The visible and apparent goodness
is as a treacherous covering of verdure and
flowers over dead men's graves, through which
he who treads thereon falls into depths of foul
corruption, that the mind dares not contemplate.
Of your Roman people there must be more
hope than of us, we having perverted and thrust
from us a higher truth. I wait with hope to
hear good things yet of John. As yet all that
we learn is as nothing. We hear to-day by such
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as have come from farther up the river, that he
declares himself to be but the herald of one
greater than himself, but who that greater is,
or who himself is, only darkly hints.”
“So,” said I, “Ziba hath reported to me,
receiving it from those who deal in news at
Beth-Harem. The people, he says, are greatly
moved with curiosity, many having gone up
toward Galilee in the desire to see him. They
were not a little enraged that the rulers gave
not to his disciple, the Tanner of Enon, the
liberty to declare himself. But in private dwellings
they have heard him, and even on the steps
of the market-place. They intend that on the
next Sabbath his voice shall be heard in the
Synagogue, if any power of theirs can bring
it to pass.”
“The heart of our people properly so called,
Saturninus,” said Judith, “is better than that
of their guides and masters, our proud counsellors
and doctors. Among our sequestered valleys,
away from corrupt cities, they are still in
some sort a pure and simple tribe — believers in
the spirit of our law as well as formal observers
of the letter. Were a prophet indeed to
arise, it is from them I should look for a just
judgment concerning him, rather than from
their masters, the Pharisees and doctors.”
The moon now sinking below the horizon,
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and the inhabitants of the house having withdrawn
from their amusement, the Centurion bid
us farewell and turned toward the gates of
Beth-Harem.
It is not difficult to see, my mother, with
what attractive power Judith acts upon Saturninus.
He can neither hear other persons nor
see other objects, while she is near; nor is it
wonderful, for it is the same with all who approach
her. But it would, methinks, amuse
the dark Pilate, were it made known to him,
that he whom he sent into these regions to observe
and control an enemy, is already, as it
were, become the friend and associate of his
household. He may indeed know this, and
suppose that his spy has but so much the
nearer access for his observations. And it
would be so, were Saturninus capable of playing
two parts. But of that no one who had ever
looked upon his countenance, in which are
written, in characters that cannot deceive, honesty
and truth, could believe him guilty. He
comes to the dwelling of thy brother as a
friend, and will do none other than the offices
and acts of a friend. And truly in this manner
does he gain most successfully the ends of
his sojourn in Beth-Harem. For no one could
so secure the adherence and quiet of Beth-Harem
and its suburbs, as by showing himself
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the friend and companion of Onias. But as
friendly as he is toward Onias, so is he to the
inhabitants of the city, and especially to the
more religious among them. He has already
conferred many acts of favor upon the Synagogue.
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Ware, William, 1797-1852 [1841], Julian, or, Scenes in Judea, volume 1 (C. S. Francis & Co., New York) [word count] [eaf411v1].
