The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-14

given away, and the sun is yelled In
mourning, like vestal of the tomb o,
PLATE! evil awaits thee, if thou wilt not
listen to the entreaties of thy wife, Dread
the curse of a Roman Senate; dread the
powers of Caesar.
by this time the marble stairs groan-
ed under the weight of the multitude The
Nazarene was brought back to me.
proceeded to the hall of justice, followed
by my guard, and asked the people in a
severe tone what they demanded. The
death OF the NaZarene, was the reply
For what crime?' He has blasphemed.
He has prophesied the ruin of the tenn
Pile He calls Himself the Son of God, the
Messiah, the King of the Jews Roman
justice l said, Furnishes not such Of
lenses with death
Cruelty him, cruelty him! belched
forth the relentless rabble. The vocifera-
ton of the Infatuated mob shook the pal
ace to its foundations. There was but one
that appeared to be calm in the midst of
the vast multitude. 1t was the Nazarene
After many fruitless attempts to pro
tect Him from this fury of His merciless
prosecutors l adopted a measure which
at the moment, appeared to me to be tie
only one that could save His life. l or
dered Him to be scourged; then, calling for
an ever, washed my hands in the pres
ence of the multitude, thereby signifying
to them my disapDroval of the deed But
in vain. 1t was His life that those wretches
thirsted for!
often in our civil connections have I
witnessed the furious animosity of the null
titude, but nothing could be compared to
what Il witnessed in the present instance
1t might have been truly said that on this
occasion all the phantoms of the Internal
regions had assembled at Jerusalem The
crowd appeared not to walk; they were
borne along, whirling and rolling like llv-
ing waves, from the portals of the preto-
rum, even unto Mount Zion. with howl
ings, screams, shrieks and vociferations
such as were never heard in the seditions
of the Panonia or in the tumult Of the Fo-
rum.
by degrees the day darkened like a
winters twilight, such as was witnessed
at the death of the great Julius Caesar.
which was likewise toward the Ides of
March.
Il, the continued governor of rebel
lious province, was leaning against a col
umn of my palace contemplating through
the dreary gloom those fiends Of torture
dragging to execution the innocent Naza-
rene All around me was deserted. Jeru
salem had vomited forth her indwellers
through the funeral gate that leads to the
Germonica. An air of desolation and sad
ness enveloped me.
Toward the first hour of the night. az
1 was climbing the stairs of the pretorlum
1.-The steps of which were still stained with
the blood of the Nazarene-I perceived an
old man in suppliant posture, and behind
him several women in tears. He threw
himself at my feet and wept bitterly 1t is
painful to see an old man weep.
" Father said 1 to him mildly, who are
you and what is your requests?
g 1 am Joseph of Arimathea, replied he.
and am come to beg of you, upon INV
knees, the permission to bury Jesus of
Nazareth
Your prayer is granted said to him.
and at the same time ordered Manlius TO
take some soldiers with him to superin-
tend the interment, lest 1t should be inter-
fered with.
"A few days after the sepulchre was
found empty. His disciples published all
over the country that Jesus had risen from
the dead, as He had foretold.
"A last duty remained 10 be performed
and that was to communicate to the en-
peror these deplorable events. Itdid so on
the night that followed the fatal catastro-
phe, and had just finished the communica-
ton when day began to dawn. At that mo-
ment the sound of clarions, playing the air
of Diana, struck my ear. Casting my eye
toward the Caesarean gate, I beheld
troop of soldiers, and heard at distance
other trumpets sounding Caesars march.