The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-08-15

I'D 4
PontIus PiIate Armed His Soldiers
With Clubs In DerisiOn.
It was Pilates custom to come to
his official residence kind OF palace
!: for public business during all feasts,
and he was there that day; but he
was ia a very ugly frame Of mind.
Such men as Ben Nassur, aided by
zealots from other places, were arous-
ing their followers more and more
from hour to hour, until at last an
angry multitude sWarmed around the
gates OF Pilates house, oursing him
in tine name OF the Law, and of the
Temple. They iclamored tor the ,resti-5
tuition OF the treasures taken from the
priests; the cessation Of the aqueduct
work, which the tall OF the tower $50
plainly declared to be wicked; and
they fl1ri0usly ,demanded athe removal
OF the Temple guards.
1 The Roman governor had mot the
least idea OF granting any of these
demands, and he determined ITO teach
the angry Galileans ia lesson. He
sent to his camps for "a large num-
Der OF soldiers They were mot to
come in .armor, hut in ordinary cloth
ing, and were to be armed only with.
clubs. Strong men can do Ia great
deal OF damage with heavy ,cudgels,
but Pilates idea was to express in this
way his soldierly contempt for a jew
ish mob. His men were ordered to
surround 1t and to wait for such COM
mands as he might give them.
Cyrn's fear of the rabbis and priests
grew stronger as he drew near the
Temple. There was no mother place
ON earth, he believed, where: IA sacri-s
flee to God could be offered as solemn
" as upon the brazen gold
altar of burnt ofering, which he and
his father were soon to see.
6 Louder and louder grew the sounds.
OF the tumult In the open space be-
fore the governors palace, but Cyril
and his father could no longer hear
it, for they were now in outer court
Of the Temple. They advanced to-
ward the steps leading up to the gor-
geously gilded portals Of the inner
court. Here they were met by a Lee
wife to whom Ezra at once handed
the heecy offering which he had
brought and SO carried in his arms.
During several minutes, however,
there had been strange sounds beyond
the gate Of the outer court. and they
were fast growing louder. Era and
his son led the way into the inner
court, and they followed. I'm a mo-
ment more Cyril could see the smok-
ing altar, the splendidly arrayed
priests, the chanting Levites, the
swinging censers, and all the grand
appliances of the Temple worship.
Everything was splendid beyond his
fmaginings; but he could not look at
it for more than a moment Behind
him, surging through the gate into
the outer court, filling that space, and
then pouring on into the inner court,
came shouting, shrieking, maddened
multitude.
Pilates club-men had been doing
their brutal work only too well, and,
if his soldiers carried clubs only, other
enemies Of the Galileans (and they
were many had seized this opportun-
ity, for steel blades were flashing
among the pursuers. An angry mob
were now pitilessly shifting down the
Jews who had protested so Zealously
for the Temple and the Law.
They did not pause at the gate Of
the inner court, but, in moment
more, there were slain Galilenas ly-
ing among the the bodies of the ami
mails prepared for sacrifice, and the
revenge Of PLATE upon those who had
upbraided him was becoming terrible.
The priests and other Temple officers;
were fleeing. From .'The Swordmak-
er's Son. BY w. o. stoddard, in st.
Nicholas .5@5 III