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Now if from these five points a line be traced

To each alternate point, we shall obtain
The Pentagram, or Solomon's Pentangle,
A charm against all witchcraft, and a sign,
Which on the banner of Antiochus
Drove back the fierce barbarians of the
North,

Demons esteemed, and gave the Syrian
King

The sacred name of Soter, or of Savior. Thus Nature works mysteriously with

man;

And from the Eternal One, as from a centre,

All things proceed, in fire, air, earth, and water,

And all are subject to one law, which broken

Even in a single point, is broken in all ;
Demons rush in, and chaos comes again.

By this will I compel the stubborn spirits, That guard the treasures, hid in caverns deep

On Gerizim, by Uzzi the High-Priest,
The ark and holy vessels, to reveal
Their secret unto me, and to restore
These precious things to the Samaritans.
A mist is rising from the plain below me,
And as I look, the vapors shape themselves
Into strange figures, as if unawares
My lips had breathed the Tetragrammaton,

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We should soon learn which of us twain usurps

And from their graves, o'er all the battle- The titles of the other, as thou sayest.

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Even as thou wilt. And from that very Jesus of Nazareth!

hour

Thou wast made whole, my darling! my

delight!

THE DAUGHTER.

Mother, it is He!

VOICES.

He hath called Lazarus of Bethany

To the transcribing of the Law and Prophets.

Out of his grave, and raised him from the He used to say, and never tired of saying,

dead!

Hosanna in the highest !

PHARISEES.

Ye perceive
Behold, the

That nothing we prevail.

world

Is all gone after him!

THE DAUGHTER.

What majesty,

What power is in that care-worn counte

nance !

What sweetness, what compassion! I no longer

Wonder that He hath healed me !

VOICES.

And glory in the highest!

PHARISEES.

Rebuke thy followers!

CHRISTUS.

The world itself was built upon the Law.
And ancient Hillel said, that whosoever
Gains a good name, gains something for
himself,

But he who gains a knowledge of the Law
Gains everlasting life. And they spake
truly.

Great is the Written Law; but greater still
The
Unwritten, the Traditions of the
Elders,

The lovely words of Levites, spoken first
To Moses on the Mount, and handed down
From mouth to mouth, in one unbroken
sound

And sequence of divine authority,
The voice of God resounding through the
ages.

Peace in heaven, The Written Law is water; the Unwritten
Is precious wine; the Written Law is salt,
The Unwritten costly spice; the Written
Law

Rabbi! Rabbi! Is but the body; the Unwritten, the soul
That quickens it and makes it breathe and

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He looked as one astonished, and made answer,

How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not
That I must be about my Father's busi-
ness?

Often since then I see him here among us,
Or dream I see him, with his upraised face
Intent and eager, and I often wonder
Unto what manner of manhood he hath
grown!

Perhaps a poor mechanic, like his father,
Lost in his little Galilean village
And toiling at his craft, to die unknown
And be no more remembered among men.

CHRISTUS in the outer court.

GAMALIEL.

The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' This brawler is no Jew, he is a vile Samaritan, and hath an unclean spirit!

seat;

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CHRISTUS.

Woe unto you, ye Scribes and Pharisees, Ye hypocrites! because ye build the tombs Of prophets, and adorn the sepulchres

Of righteous men, and say: If we had lived

III

LORD, IS IT I?

CHRISTUS.

When lived our fathers, we would not have One of you shall betray me.

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Ay, thou hast said. And that thou doest, do quickly.

JUDAS ISCARIOT, going out.

Oh, had I here my subtle dialectician,
My little Saul of Tarsus, the tent-maker,
Whose wit is sharper than his needle's Ah, woe is me!

point,

He would delight to foil this noisy wran

gler!

CHRISTUS.

Jerusalem! Jerusalem! O thou

That killest the Prophets, and that stonest them

Which are sent unto thee, how often would I Have gathered together thy children, as a hen

Gathereth her, chickens underneath her

wing,

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And ye would not! Behold, your house is O Master! though all men shall be of

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fended

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