The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-03-17

messed. I forbear to depict scene for
Iscene-the cruel trials before Caiaphas
and Annas, the rough treatment by
the soldiers, the whole torment Of
Imartyrdom, which the God in man had
Ito go through with. The way in which
1.-THE actors perform all things, with
what nicely of perception-how all
the scenes, however boisterous. are
lsti1I kept within the bounds of good
TASTE. To realize this we must wit
mess it. Amidst all this again comes
the affecting scenes Of the faithless
disciples; the repentance of Peter; the
terrible ending of Judas. And now
lthey drag Him, the man without SIN,
Ito Plate. tht he may pronounce upon
lhim the sentence of death A fresh
Igleam Of hope rises in our hearts. The
noble Roman sees through the machi-
nations Of the Jewish High Council
Like sledge hammer blows his forci-
BILE arguments fall upon the heads of
1.-THE High Priests, and it really does
one good to hear him tell them the
truth. But he is too weak to set the
Savior free. He sends him to Herod
THAT the latter may condemn him. But
this worldly sensualist, who had John
1.-THE Baptist executed in cold blood.
finds no fault in the Lamb OF God. He
lsends him back again to PLATE, but
PLATE again refuses to pass the SEN
ltence Of death and asks to hear the
general voice of the people. In the
meantime, however, he orders Christ
Ito be scourged. And now the awful
torture is continued Christ is bound
Ito the pillar, scourged, and when COW
Tered all over with blood. crowned with
the crown Of thorns. The manner in
(which this scene is enacted, how the
lsoldier who put the crown of thorns
on him first of all puts on the iron
glove so as not to hurt himself, and
the way in which the men press the
lcrown, with crossed swords, down on
1.-THE noble head-it is all so cruelty yet
lquietly carried out that it cuts into
Jour very souls, without, at the same
time, offending our aesthetic feelings.
He wishes to hear the voice of the
lpeople. "Let him hear it, cry the
High Priests. and already that distant
murmur of an uproar begins to sound
| in the streets of the city. Headed by
the High Council, spurred on by the
| infiammatory words of the fanatical
Ipriests, the misled, maddened crowd,
Iamong whom are the traders which
IChrist drove from the temple. rushes
tout of all the streets of the city. AS
| a mighty flood, the rioters move on to
the front of PLATE palace. Pale with
fear, crying revolt" rebellion" the
servant rushes out. The words of the
High Priests fall like firebrands
among the frenzied mob, kindling
flames of ungovernable fury Once
again the governor, Pontius PLATE,
endeavors to save Christ: II will re-
lease unto you Christ instead of this
murder of Barabbas" But NO. they
| cry out once more, saying, Away with
this man, and release unto US Barab-
bas." Not even the pale countenance
| of "Ecce Homo" can move the infur-
lated rabble. When once the surging
wave of passion has taken possession
of the brains and hearts of men, their
eyes are closed for the noble and beau
| tiful and their hearts are dead to all
sense of sympathy His blood be
I upon US and our children" they cry.
lOh, wretched, blinded humanity, how
Ioften have We called down from heav-
en- the curse upon you and your de-
Iscendants, from which whole genera
tions have had to suffer- PLATE is
forced to yield He washes his hands
saying he is innocent of the blood of
this just person, and breaks his staff
Reluctantly the words proceed from
his mouth: Take We him and cruelty
him." Now come the two wonderful
tableaux: Isaac bearing the wood for
the sacrifice up Mount Moriah' and
the Setting up of the brazen serpent
as symbol of the Crucifixion." Again
the curtain rises and we see the group
iof the holy women, anxiously seeking
their Lord, and knowing yet nothing
Iof the fate which is to befall him.
Tout of one of the city streets comes a
sad procession; a criminal who is be-
ling dragged to execution. Unhappy
mother! Now becomes verified that
(which was prophesied of thee, that
word shall pierce thy soul; be firm, do
not break down o tortured heart,
when thou seest Him-the innocent
man himself dragging the cloth to
IGolgotha. For the third time he falls
iunder the heavy burden. Then they
take the cross off his shoulders and
lput it upon Simon of Cyrene: and
Inow the women, lamenting and be-
lwailing Him, approach. But we hear
1.-THE gentle voice of the patient suffer-
Ter saying, Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not Tor me, out weep Tor your
selves and for your children" Thea
Veronica hands Him the linen cloth %
wipe the sweat from his brow, but
soldiers drive the women away and
there remains but one consolation to
them, that of following the procession
Ito the place of execution. The scene
lchanges, Jesus now being on Golgotha
The chorus approaches, singing the
funeral dirge. The chorus has COM
Ipleted its song of lamentation A
noise heard from behind the curtain
accompanies the last verses Ham
mering! What can it mean? No the
very thought of it is too awful! We
hear it; we try not to listen to it, The
silence Of death prevails among the
laudience. The blows OF the hammer
become more distinct; the curtain
lrises. There he is lying, his feet to-
wards us, stretched out fiat on the
cross, which is on the ground, and they
ldrfve the nails through his limbs with
Il heavy blows They bore through those
tender hands which have never done
70