CHAPTER XIV
FAITH
There is nothing in the history of ancient or modern times that can at allhelp us to realise the feelings with which the Jews regarded their Temple.To them the sacred building was not only the very type and embodiment oftheir religion, but it represented also the magnificence of their wealth,the pride of their strength, the glory, the antiquity, and the patriotismof the whole people--noble in architecture, imposing in dimensions, andglittering with ornament, it was at once a church, a citadel, and apalace. If a Jew would express the attributes of strength, symmetry, orsplendour, he compared the object of his admiration with the Temple. Hisprophecies continually alluded to the national building as being identicalwith the nation itself; and to speak of injury or contamination to theTemple was tantamount to a threat of defeat by foreign arms, and invasionby a foreign host--as its demolition was always considered synonymous withthe total destruction of Judaea; for no Jew could contemplate thepossibility of a national existence apart from this stronghold of hisfaith. His tendency thus to identify himself with his place of worship wasalso much fostered by the general practice of his people, who annuallyflocked to Jerusalem in great multitudes to keep the feast of thePassover; so that there were few of the posterity of Abraham throughoutthe whole of Syria who had not at some time in their lives been themselveseye-witnesses of the glories in which they took such pride. At the periodwhen the Roman army invested the Holy City, an unusually large number ofthese worshippers had congregated within its walls, enhancing to a greatdegree the scarcity of provisions, and all other miseries inseparable froma state of siege.
The Jews defended their Temple to the last. While the terrible circle wascontracting day by day, while suburb after suburb was taken, and towerafter tower destroyed, they were driven, and, as it were, condensedgradually and surely, towards the upper city and the Holy Place itself.They seemed to cling round the latter and to trust in it for protection,as though its very stones were animated by the sublime worship they hadbeen reared to celebrate.
It was a little before the dawn, and the Outer Court of the Temple, calledthe Court of the Gentiles, was enveloped in the gloom of this, the darkesthour in the whole twenty-four. Nothing could be distinguished of itssurrounding cloisters, save here and there the stem of a pillar or thesegment of an arch, only visible because brought into relief by the blackrecesses behind. A star or two were faintly twinkling in the open skyoverhead; but the morning was preceded by a light vapoury haze, and thebreeze that wafted it came moist and chill from the distant sea, wailingand moaning round the unseen pillars and pinnacles of the mighty buildingabove. Except the sacred precincts themselves, this was perhaps the onlyplace of security left to the defenders of Jerusalem; and here, within aspear's-length of each other, they had bound the two Christians, doomed bythe Sanhedrim to die. Provided with a morsel of bread, scarce as it was,and a jar of water, supplied by that spurious mercy which keeps thecondemned alive in order to put him to death, they had seen the Sabbath,with its glowing hours of fierce pitiless heat, pass slowly and wearilyaway; they had dragged through the long watches of the succeeding night,and now they were on the brink of that day, which was to be their last onearth.
Esca stirred uneasily where he sat; and the movement seemed to rouse hiscompanion from a fit of deep abstraction, which, judging by the cheerfultones of his voice, could have been of no depressing nature.
"It hath been a tedious watch," said Calchas, "and I am glad it is over.See, Esca, the sky grows darker and darker, even like our fate on earth.In a little while day will come, and with it our great and crowningtriumph. How glorious will be the light shining on thee and me, in anotherworld, an hour after dawn!"
The Briton looked admiringly at his comrade, almost envying him theheartfelt happiness and content betrayed by his very accents. He had nothimself yet arrived at that pinnacle of faith, on which his friend stoodso confidently; and, indeed, Providence seems to have ordained, that inmost cases such piety should be gradually and insensibly attained, thatthe ascent should be won slowly step by step, and that even as a manbreasting a mountain scales height after height, and sees his horizonwidening mile by mile as he strains towards its crest, so the Christianmust toil ever upwards, thankful to gain a ridge at a time, though hefinds that it but leads him to a higher standard and a farther aim; andthat, though his view is extending all around, and increasing knowledgetakes in much of which he never dreamed before, the prospect expands butas the eye ascends, while every summit gained is an encouragement toattempt another, nobler, and higher, and nearer yet to heaven.
"It will be daylight in an hour," said Esca, in a far less cheerful voice,"and the cowards will be here to pound us to death against this pavementwith their cruel stones. I would fain have my bonds cut, and a weaponwithin reach at the last moment, Calchas, and so die at bay amongst them,sword in hand!"
"Be thankful that a man's death is not at his own choice," replied Calchasgently. "How would poor human nature be perplexed, to take the happymethod and the proper moment! Be thankful, above all things, for the boonof death itself. It was infinite mercy that bade the inevitable delivererwait on sin. What curse could equal an immortality of evil? Would you livefor ever in such a world as ours if you could? nay, you in your youth, andstrength, and beauty, would you wish to remain till your form was bent,and your beard grey, and your eyes dim? Think, too, of the many deaths youmight have died,--stricken with leprosy, crouching like a dog in somehidden corner of the city, or wasted by famine, gnawing a morsel of offalfrom which the sustenance had long since been extracted by some wretchalready perished. Or burnt and suffocated amongst the flaming ramparts,like the maniple of Romans whom you yourself saw consumed over against theTower of Antonia but a few short days ago!"
"That, at least, was a soldier's death," replied Esca, to whose resolutenature the idea of yielding up his life without a struggle seemed so hard."Or I might have fallen by sword-stroke, or spear-thrust, on the wall,like a man. But to be stoned to death, as the shepherds stone a jackal inhis hole! It is a horrible and an ignoble fate!"
"Would you put away from you the great glory that is offered you?" askedCalchas gravely. "Would you die but as a heathen, or one of our ownmiserable Robbers and Zealots, of whom the worst do not hesitate to givetheir blood for Jerusalem? Are you not better, and braver, and nobler thanany of these? Listen, young man, to him who speaks to you now words forwhich he must answer at the great tribunal ere another hour be past. Proudshould you be of His favour whom you will be permitted to glorify to-day.Ashamed, indeed, as feeling your own unworthiness, yet exulting that you,a young and inexperienced disciple, should have been ranked amongst theleaders and the champions of the true faith. Look upon me, Esca, bound andwaiting here like yourself for death. For two-score years have I strivento follow my Master, with feeble steps, indeed, and many a sad misgivingand many a humbling fall. For two-score years have I prayed night andmorning; first, that I might have strength to persevere in the way that Ihad been taught, so that I might continue amongst His servants, eventhough I were the very lowest of the low. Secondly, that if ever the timeshould come when I was esteemed worthy to suffer for His sake, I might notbe too much exalted with that glory which I have so thirsted to attain. Itell thee, boy, that in an hour's time from now, thou and I shall bereceived by those good and great men of whom I have so often spoken tothee, coming forward in shining garments, with outstretched arms, towelcome our approach, and lead us into the eternal light of which I darenot speak even now, in the place which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,nor the heart of man conceived. And all this guerdon is for thee, cominginto the vineyard at the eleventh hour, yet sharing with those who haveborne the labour and heat of the day. Oh, Esca, I have loved thee like ason, yet from my heart, I cannot wish thee anywhere but bound here by myside this night."
The other could not but kindle with his companion's enthusiasm. "Oh, whenthey come," said he, "they shall find me ready.
And I too, Calchas,believe me, would not flinch from thee now if I could. Nay, if it be Hiswill that I must be stoned to death here in the Outer Court of the Temple,I have learned from thee, old friend, gratefully and humbly to accept mylot. Yet I am but human, Calchas. Thou sayest truly, I lack the long andholy training of thy two-score years. I have a tie that binds me fast toearth. It is no sin to love Mariamne, and I would fain see her onceagain."
A tear rose to the old man's eye. Chastened, purified, as was his spirit,and ready to take its flight for home, he could yet feel for human love.Nay, the very ties of kindred were strong within him, here in his place ofsuffering, as they had been at his brother's hearth. It was no smallsubject of congratulation to him, that his confession of faith before theSanhedrim, while it vindicated his master's honour, should at the sametime have preserved Eleazar's character in the eyes of the nation, whilehis exultation at the prospect of sharing with his disciple the glory ofmartyrdom, was damped by the reflection that Mariamne must grievebitterly, as the human heart will, ere her nobler and holier self couldbecome reconciled to her loss. For a moment he spoke not, though his lipsmoved in silent prayer for both, and Esca pursued the subject thatoccupied most of his thoughts even at such an hour as this.
"I would fain see her," he repeated dreamily. "I loved her so well; mybeautiful Mariamne. And yet it is a selfish and unworthy wish. She wouldsuffer so much to look on me lying bound and helpless here. She will know,too, when it is over, that my last thought was of her, and it may be shewill weep because she was not here to catch my last look before I died.Tell me, Calchas, I shall surely meet her in that other world? It can beno sin to love her as I have loved!"
"No sin," repeated Calchas gravely; "none. The God who bears such love forthem has called nine-tenths of His creatures to His knowledge throughtheir affections. When these are suffered to become the primary object ofthe heart, it may be that He will see fit to crush them in the dust, andwill smite, with the bitterest of all afflictions, yet only that He mayheal. How many men have followed the path to heaven that was first pointedout by a woman's hand? That a woman hath perhaps gone on to tread,beckoning him after her as she vanished, with a holy hopeful smile. No,Esca, it is not sin to love as thou hast done; and because thou hast notscrupled to give up even this, the great and precious treasure of thyheart, for thy master's honour, thou shalt not lose thy reward."
"And I shall see her again," he insisted, clinging yet somewhat to earthlyfeelings and earthly regrets, for was he not but a young and untraineddisciple? "It seems to me, that it would be unjust to part her from me forever. It seems to me that heaven itself would not be heaven away fromher!"
"I fear thou art not fit to die," replied Calchas, in a low and sorrowfulvoice. "Pray, my son, pray fervently, unceasingly, that the human heartmay be taken away from thee, and the new heart given which will fit theefor the place whither thou goest to-day. It is not for thee and for me tosay, 'Give me here, Father, a morsel of bread, or give me there a cup ofwine.' We need but implore in our prayers, of Infinite Wisdom and InfiniteMercy, to grant that which it knows is best for our welfare; and He whohas taught us how to pray, has bidden us, even before we ask for food,acknowledge a humble unquestioning resignation to the will of our Fatherwhich is in heaven. Leave all to Him, my son, satisfied that He will grantthee what is best for thy welfare. Distress not thyself with weakmisgivings, nor subtle reasonings, nor vain inquiries. Trust, only trustand pray, here in the court of death, as yonder on the rampart, or at homeby the beloved hearth, so shalt thou obtain the victory; for, indeed, thebattle draweth nigh. The watches of the night are past, and it is alreadytime to buckle on our armour for the fight."
While he spoke the old man pointed to the east, where the first fainttinge of dawn was stealing up into the sky. Looking into his companion'sface, only now becoming visible in the dull twilight, he was struck withthe change that a few hours of suffering and imprisonment had wrought uponthose fair young features. Esca seemed ten years older in that one day andnight; nor could Calchas repress a throb of exultation, as he thought howhis own time-worn frame and feeble nature had been supported by the strongfaith within. The feeling, however, was but momentary, for the Christianidentified himself at once with the suffering and the sorrowful; nor wouldhe have hesitated in the hearty self-sacrificing spirit that his faith hadtaught him, that no other faith either provides or enjoins, to take on hisown shoulders the burden that seemed so hard for his less-advanced brotherto bear. It was no self-confidence that gave the willing martyr suchinvincible courage; but it was the thorough abnegation of self, the entiredependence on Him, who alone never fails man at his need, the ferventfaith, which could see so clearly through the mists of time and humanity,as to accept the infinite and the eternal for the visible, and thetangible, and the real.
They seemed to have changed places now; that doomed pair waiting in theirbonds for death. The near approach of morning seemed to call forth theexulting spirit of the warrior in the older man, to endow the younger withthe humble resignation of the saint.
"Pray for me that I may be thought worthy," whispered the latter, pointingupwards to the grey light widening every moment above their heads.
"Be of good cheer," replied the other, his whole face kindling with atriumphant smile. "Behold, the day is breaking, and thou and I have donewith night, henceforth, for evermore!"
The Gladiators. A Tale of Rome and Judæa Page 56