The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-09-18
until the elimination Of the grca

story, the figure of Christ appears Nv.
once. and then for a moment, but owe:
all that happens in the Intervening
years hovers the gentle spirit; thrilling
as the episodes are in themselves,
strongly as the characters are por-
trayed, they are but preparation Tor
what is to follow, mere worldly set
ting for him who was too great Tor all
save a few to understand at that time.
Some twenty-one years after the
scenes at the manger, a young jew
Ben-Hur, prince of Jerusalem, rlch,
happy, ambitious, was standing Dy d
parapet of his palace, watching the
progress of ValeriuS GratuS, imperial
governor of Judea. AS the Roman
PASSED beneath the wall amid the jeers
and insults of the Jews the young
prince leaned far out TO see the new
governor: a tile was displaced and, as
bitter fate would have it, fell full upon
the governor The accident was not
fatal; but it was an opportunity for
exemplary justice, especially as the es-
tates of the Jew were very desirable
to the governor and his friend Messiah
hitherto almost brother to Ben-Hur
though the latter had been. The I'M
happy Jew was sent as rover to the
galleys, where the limit Of life was at
most but a year. His mother and sis
ter were immured in a secret cell in
the Tower Of Antonio, where they
were doomed to the fate of the lep-
ers. The only act Of kindness Ben
Hur could remember during the years
that followed was on the day he was
dragged to the galleys. "The hand
laid kindly upon his shoulder awoke
the unfortunate man, and looking up,
he saw a face he never forgot-the
face of boy about his own age,
shaded by locks of yellowish bright
chestnut hair; face lighted by dark
blue eyes, at the time so soft, so ap-
pealing, so full Of love and holy pur-
pose, that they had all the power of
command and Will" That was In
Nazareth.
How Ben-Hur in time became g
rover on the flagship of Airrus, dunn
vir and admiral, how the flagship was
destroyed in great sea fight, how
Ben-Hur rescued the admiral, became
his adopted son and heir, learned at
Rome the manner of Roman war and
Roman sports, returned to the East
a Roman officer in the train of q con-
sui setting forth on great campaign
against the Parthians; how he dis
covered that his fathers old steward
Simonides had succeeded in saving
from confscatiOn the vast intangible
wealth Of the Hurs and had multiplied
it many times, till the young Roman
Jew was the richest private citizen
In the world the discovery that Mes
sala was entered for the highest stake
in the great sporting event of the
orient; how Ben-Hur won the affection
Of Ilderim, the Arab sheik, who had
entered his steeds Of the desert for
the great event-all this leads up to
the dramatic encounter Of the famous
chariot race. The author drew his
description of the race from one writ.
ten over twenty-three hundred years
ago by the tragic poet. Sophocles. II
is one Of the curiosities Of literature
that the great scene, through the pages
of Lew Wallace's novel, has become
as famous on our stage as 1t was SC
long ago on that Of Greece.
BY his victory in the arena Ben
Hur exacted ancient Jewish justice
on his hated adversary, who was
crushed in body and impoverished III
fortune, he had wagered on his sue
cess all the wealth he had stolen from
his former friend. The victor almost
fell prey, however, to the vampire
daughter Of Egypt who was rival FOL
his love with the gentle Jewish Esther
But henceforth his thoughts were con
centrated on him who was attracting
all eyes. Was he Messiah or king
Ben-Hur, in his hatred of Rome, in NJ.
| pride Of race, dreamed only of kint
Of this world, who should right an
Gent wrongs and exalt his chosen PEG
pie. And so he threw himself witt
all his force, with all his wealth, witt
all the knowledge gained at Rome
into making secure and strong the wa.
Of the king whom he would follow
But it was for one supreme IN thlhs
spiritual rather than material tina
| the way was being made ready. AM
Ben-Hur's mother, rescued with he
daughter from her long Imprisonment
by a chance change of jailers, bu
| hopeless lepers both, saw the trutl
| sooner than her son.
"'Oh Master, Master" she cried a
he passed upon the road. Thou sees
our need; thou canst make US clean
Have mercy upon us-mercy!
"Believest thou I am able to d
| this" he asked.
"1Thou art he Of whom the prophet
spake-thou art the Messiah she re
piled. His eyes grew radiant, his man
ner confident.
"sWoman,' he said. great is tn
faith; be it unto thee even as tho
wilt"
And so. in the end, Ben-Hur recoe
nized what Balthazar had known fror
the beginning. "Oh wise Egyptian
hearkcn! Thou alone were right-th
Nazarene is indeed the son OF Coo
lror,,r,.h+ 1910 nv the Post Publishing c.