New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1919-01-05
comforted, set his lips to endure to the

comforted, set his lips to endure to the
end
When | saw this, shame came upon me
and an agony of remorse For all my life I
had seen such sights and had taken for
granted that such men were worthy of
death. Why, all Judea was. dotted with
crosses and on them men had died. All over
the world such deaths were inflicted by
those in power. Since the beginning
of time it had been So Man had al
ways tortured man. Because of my neglect
these things had been. | had agreed that
that should be which need not have been.
The anguish that man gives to men was
my fault, too. But Jesus had not been
blind. He had seen the pain of man and
had raised his voice against the cruelty.
showing men the remedy His message
would have saved the world from such hor-
rors. God spoke through him. for his nat
ure was greater than ours. But the great
engine of government had caught Jesus and
He was dying and l was His murderer and
the murderer of the men who died with
Him. Because of my blindness my friend
must die. l turned my face aside and wept.
AS the day drew on a certain awe seemed
to fall upon the crowd, and the Knockers
went, and few were left save friends of
Jesus. The depression still held the SOL
dlers. They had nailed the prisoners to the
cross as part of their days work, but
they had worked in silence, and now they
did not hinder the lovers of Jesus from
drawing nearer. Mary the Mother of Jesus
and Mary Of Magdala and the other women
came and stood close to the crosses, and no
man ordered them away. Jesus opened his
eyes and saw his mother standing there and
John, who had come UP behind the women
He called out the name of John, who came
closer, and Jesus said
you viii take care of her. John?v and
John, choked with tears, put his arm round
the shoulders of Mary.
Jesus said to His mother,
He will be your SON. His lips were
parched and He spoke with difficulty. His
eyes closed again The women wept aloud,
and Longi0us, taking a pike from one of the
soldiers, tore handful of hyssop from
bush growing near by and stepped it in
bowl Of tie soldiers wine and tying it on
tie pike moistened the lips of Jesus. Jesus
opened Lis eyes and smiled in thanks.
He viii not last long" said Longinus to
the women to comfort them. :"These others
are stronger. They have hours of this be-
fore them. We soldiers have heavy work
to do sometimes"
The bot sun beat down upon the heads of
the cruclfied and their limbs We're swelling
whore the ropes tied them Gesmas still
writhed and muttsred but even his strength
was failing. Dysmas hung half fainting
with his long anguish. Jesus moved his
head uneasily against the hard wood of the
cross as sick man moves his head on a
hot pillow, hid my eyes from their dying
faces, for great reverence came upon me.
and VINO was to gaze upon their agony?
A thunder storm was blowing up from
the mountains and the clouds hid the sun
The women stood praying for Jesus and
the thieves and the centurion leaned on the
pike and was silent. Simon and the soldiers
were silent, too. For long time we STAYED
thus.
Suddenly Jesus opened his eyes and gave
loud cry. The gladness in his voice
startled all who heard, for it seemed a
shout Of victory.
at is finished" he cried. Father, into
Thy hands commit Ny spirit"
And with that cry He died.
The centurion, turning away in awe, gave
the pike back to the soldier from whom he
had borrowed it. He stood silent for mo-
ment. and then he said,
Truly, this man was a Son of God"
And Simon the negro with a sob gathered
up his baskets and went back into the city.
but the women, weeping bitterly, stayed by
the cross.