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m i the sum; sUnday, January. 24, im, . .
ii mm i -
,, 0K1T JKJTrr AOOJCJ.
sK- Tfc Faaraoha TVh Kaew
SH Ttwi VTka Kaew Bias Nat.
K On of the most Imposing na Important
'ff- bookt published In tbe last twelve months li
'Ox The Strangle nf the XntCme br O. MAsruto.
m edited br Prof. A. H. Barer, and translated by
gt M. L. McCixnx, (Appletone). Id this quarto vol-
K ' una of oma eight 1. Hired pagee have a con.
W llnnetlon of tie former work, la which tba
gl author traced the dawn of civilization In tba
Jri valley of tba Nile and tbe Euphrates. The
Kt, perloil coTered br the main body of tbe pre-
K cnt book extends from the beginning of the
'K eighteenth to the end of tbe twenty-first Egyp-
IK ttan dynasty. It u the period of expansion
jfc which brought the Egyptian monarchy Into
'm rivalry with the Hlltlto power in Northern
,K firr'ft and with thn Ilabylonlane and As-
m' errlans. There are. however, two preliminary
'W chapters dealing with the first Chaldean empire,
Mf orwhet, until very lately, pawed forsuoh: with
! ft . tbe dominion of tbe Hyksos Invaders In Egypt:
E and with thealtuatloa of Byrla at the beginning
K or tbo EgyUan conquests. What we have hera
' te the ipectacln of Africa and Alia lu mortal
combat. IlAbrlonla ha once carried Ita empire
toth frontiers of Egypt, nnd the Nile land
Itself has been held In bondage by the Hyksos
stranger from Asia. In return, Egypt hai
driven back the ware of Invasion to the border
of Mesopotamia, ban substituted an empire
of II own In Syria for that of the Baby
lonian, and has forced the Ilabytonlan king
to treat with It Pharaoh on equal term. In the
?' track of war and diplomacy cam trade and
K commerce. Western Asia was royered, for a
& time, with road along which the merchant and
H the courier trarellrd Incessantly, and tbo whola
I civilized world of tba Orient wa temporarily
I knit together In a common literary culture and
I common commercial Interests. In a word, the aga
V of Itolatlon was mccceded at this epoch by an aga
i of Intercourse, partlr military and antagonistic,
f partly literary and peaceful. It Is this age of
Intercourse. Its rise and character, lis decline
r. and fall, which Prof. Maspero has depicted.
I We should add that. In two chapter of tba
I present book, the relation of Menephta to the
I Israelite eiodus and the Inraslon of tba land of
I Canaan by the Hebrews are discussed at con-
alderahle length.
I The reader runst not look In the body of thl
X volume for any reference to tba very latest dls
lr coverts In Chaldea, They throw new llgnt
l' upon the period ooyered by tha previous work,
f "Tha Dawn of Civilization," and must wait to
be noticed by Prof, Maspero nntll anew edition
8 of that book Is called for. A brief acconntof
I these discoveries, however, will be found In a
I. preface contributed by Prof. A. If. Sayee. It Is
pointed nut, for Instance, that at Talto M. da
I Barcesba brought to light a library of mora
than thirty thousand tablets, all neatly ar
il ranged, piled In order, one on tha other, and
- belonging to tha age of Gudea(D. C. 3700).
Many more tablets of an early date have bean
oneartbed elsewhere by Dr. Bcbell. working for
the Turkish Government. But the moat Im
portant find has been at Nlfftr, tha ancient
Nippur, In northern Babylonia, where the
American expedition, organized by tbe Unl-
j' varsity of Pennsylvania, has at last brought to
fc a close Its long work of systematic excavation.
I Here Mr. Ilaynea has dug down to tba vary
i foundations of the great temple of EI-LII. and
' tbe chief blstorlral results of his labors bava
r. been published by Prof, llllprecht. It seems
t that about midway between tba summit and
tbe bottom of the monnd Mr. Itaynes laid bars
I a pavement constructed of huge bricks stamped
with tha names of cargon of Akkad and his
t - son, Nararo.Sln. IIo found also tha ancient
I wall of the city which had been built
by Naram-SIn, soma forty-five feet wide.
I The debris of ruined buildings, wblch lies be-
f low the pavement of Sargon, Is more than thirty
.7 feet In depth, while that above It. the topmost
'. stratum of which brings us down to the Chris.
". tlan era. Is only some tblrty.four feet In height.
J We may form soma Idea from this of theenor-
moon age to which the history of Babylonian
:. culture and writing takes us back. Prof, nil-
s preobt quotes with approval Mr. Haynes'a
S words: "We must cease to apply the adjective
earliest to the time of Sargon, or to any age or
t epoch within a thousand years of bis advanced
f clvlllzatlnn." Many of tbe inscriptions which
belong to the pre.gsrgon age of human culture
- have been published by Prof. llllprecht. Among
i them la a long Inscription In one hundred and
f thirty-two lines, engravnl on multitudes of
larso stone vases presented to the Temple of
El-Lll by a certain Lugal.Zagglsl. This King
f was the son of tha high priest of the " Land of
the Bow," as Mesopotamia waa then called. He
. not onlr conquered Babylonia, but founded an
'; empire which extended from tba Persian Gulf
J to tbo Mediterranean. This wa many centuries
jr before Jargon and Akkad followed In his foot
f, steps. It Is made clear by Mr. Haynes'a dls
. coverles that the dynast which rose at Vr In
I laur days (about B.C. 2700). and which baa
J been hitherto known as "the first dynasty
of Ur." must be dethroned from that
f place of primacy, nnd relegated to a secondary
I position. The succeeding dynasty, which also
f made Ur Its capital, and whose Kings were the
Immediate predecessors of the first dynasty of
.' Babylon, must henceforth be termed tba third.
" The historical accuracy of Cargnn's annals,
moreover, baa been fully vindicated. Not only
t bava tha American excavators found the con
It temporarymonumentsothlmandnfhlsi-nn.but
also tablets dated In the years of bis campaigns
1 against "the land of the Amorltea." In tliurt.
' Gargonof Akkad, fo lately apoken of a a half
i mythical personage, has now emerged Into tha
full glare of authentic history.
i In the present notice we con One ourselves to a
glanco at what Prof. Maspero has to tell us
K about tba Hyksos Invasion of Egypt, and wa
J ihall also Indicate In a few paragruoha tlio sub-
E stance of his references to tho Israelites. We
I' follow Maspern's epelllr.g and also bis chro-
!' nology, according to which the Hyksos Irrup-
t tlon took place about S340B. C, and the eight-
' aenth, or conquering, Egyptian dynasty began
V about 1000 U. C.
k T
V Bearing In mind tho date Just mentioned, the
f twent) .fourth century B. C, we can see that, at
I- that epoch, Egypt, senarated from the confines
i of the Babylonian empire by only a narrow
Isthmus, loomed on the western horlzonnf the
Chaldean ruler, and appeared to beckon to her
,1 rival, Her natural fertility, the Industry of her
Inhabitants, the stares of gold and perfumes
f wblch she received from the heart of Ethiopia,
V wore well known through the ro-'ngu to and fro
J of her caravans, and the recollection of her treas
i tires must have frequently provoked tho envy of
r Aslatlo courts. In their eyes she seemed uu
' doubtedly aklndof KIDorrulo. Egypt had, how
J ' ever, strangelydccllned from her former power,
t and tbe linn of princes who now governed her
had little 111 common with the Phnraolis who
J had rendered hr name formldaliie under the
twrlfth dynasty. Hhe waa now under the rule
f of the Xnites (fourteenth dynastyl whose liiflu.
r ence was probably confined to tho Deltn, and
' extended merely in name over the Bald nnd
14 Nubia. Tho feudal lords, alwas ready to
reassert their independence as soon as the cen
. tral power waied, slmrrd between thorn the
possession of the Nile Valley below Memphis;
, tho Princes nf lhebes. who Here probably dr-
acendantaof Uslrtasen, uirned the largest flef.
Com, nnd, although bt.uo slight rcriiple iiisv
' tiae prevented them from atsumlng the spe-
t'lflo Inslgula of roaliy, they flit forward,
peertlieless, claims to the substauco of rojsl
i' .' power. A favorable opportunity wus thuspie
aented to an Invader, and the Chaldeans, might
V- hare attacked with impunity a people so dlvMnl
',, among themseltes. They stopped sboit, hear.
V' aver, at the southern frontlsr of Pyria, or. If
t they pushed further vtestward, Unas without
r any Important results. Distance from head-
quarter, or, possibly, reiterated attacks of the
t Elnmltes upon Mesopotamia, prevented them
j, from placing In the field a force adequate to an
I uncsrtaklng so niomeutous. What they had
f net dared to eutuie, however, others more
1 audacious were to accomplish. At thl juncture,
so runs Msnutho's summary of Egyptian his
tory, "there came to us aklng uamed Timaliis.
Under this king, then, I know not wherefore.
the Ood caused to blow upon us a baleful
wind, and. In the face of all proba-
', blllty, bands, from tba East, people of an lu-
v noble rain, cam upon ua unawares, attacked
'a ta oououry, and subdued It easily and without
t
flthtlng." Prof. Maspera aurresU that tba
Hyksos, or Shepherds, may have owed their
rapid victory to the presence In their armies of
a farter bltherti unknown to tha Africans, the
war rharlot, and that before tha horse and his
drlvsr the Egyptians gave way In a body, just
aa the Axtees did before the mysterious cavalry
of Cortex. It Is certain that tha horse was un
known, or. at any rate, bad not been employed
In Egypt prior to tha Invasion, while w find It
In general ue Immediately after the expulsion
of tbe Shepherds. On the other band, tbo nsa
of tha war chariot In Chaldea, at an epoch
I prior to the iltkeos Invasion, Is now proved;
It Is, therefore, natural to suppose that the
Hrkso used the chsriot In war, and that
the rapidity of their conquest wa due to It. At
all event, the Invaders appeared aa a cloud of
locusta on tha banks of the Nile. Towns and
temples were ptllsged nnd burned: tbe new.
comers at first massacred all they could of tha
male population. reduced to slavery those of the
women and children whose lives they spared,
and then prnclalmtda their klng&alatl ne
of tbelr chiefs. He established a temblanceof
recnltr covenment. ckose Memphis as his cap
ital, and ImposeJ a tax upon tha vanquished.
Tho perils, however. Immediately threatened
him. In tht eouth the Thehan lords, taking
matters Into their own hands, after tha down
fall of the Xnites, refused the oath of allegiance
to Palatls, and organized an obstinate re
sistance; In tbe northeast he bad to
taka measures to protect himself against
an attack of theCnaldsans or of the Elamltea,
who were oppressing Chaldea. From the na
tives of the Delta, who were temporarily par
alyzed bv their reverses, he baa, for the mo
ment, little to fear. Restricting himself, there
fore, to establishing forts at the strategic points
In the Nile Valley, In order to keep tbe Thebans
In check, he led the main body of his troops to
tha frontier on the Isthmus. Pacific Immigra
tions bad already Introduced Aslatlo settlers
Into the Delta, and thus prepared tha war for
securing the supremaoy of the new ruler: other
wise bow could we explain tha fact that tha
Shepherd klnga maintained themsetvee after
a fashion, In at least parts of the Delta,
for 700 years. In the midst of these
strangsrs. and on tha ruins of an ancient town,
connected by tradition with the myth of Osiris
and Typhon, thn first Shepherd King, Halatls.
constructed an Immense Intrenobed camp capa
ble of shelrarlng 340,000 men. He visited It
yearly townness tha military manoeuvres, to
pay soldiers and to preside over the distribution
of rations. This permanent garrison protected
him from a Chaldean Inraslon, a not unlikely
event aa long as Syria remained nndar tha an
premacy of tbe Babylonian kings; It furnished
his successors also with an Inexhaustible supply
of trained soldier, thus enabling them to com
plete tha conquest of Lowsr Egpt. Years
elapsed before tha princes of tba aoutb
would declare themsshes vanquished, and
five Shepherd kings, ending with A, passed
their lifetime "In a perpetual warfare, desirous
nf tearing up Egypt to the very root." Tha
Theban princes who, at this time, were contlna
ally nnder arms against tha barbarians, were
subsequently clssaed In a dynasty by them
selves, the fifteenth of Manetbo, but they at
last succumbed to the Invader, and Assea be
came master of the entire country. His suc
cessors. In thilr turn, farmed a dynasty, tha
sixteenth, tha few remaining monuments of
which are found scattered over tha length and
breadth of tha Nile valley from tbe shore of
the Mediterranean to the rocks of the first
cataract.
If.
Tha Egyptians who witnessed tha advent of
this Aslatlo people called them by the general
term Amnu. Asiatics, or Monatlu, men nf tha
desert. They had already given the Bedouin
the opprobrlou epithet of Shautu. pillager or
rnhbera, which aptly described them, and they
subsequently applied the same name to the In
truders, II lq Shausu, whence the Greeks de
rived their word Hyksos for this people. Wa
are, however, without any clua a to the real
name, language, or origin of tha Invaders. The
writers of classical times were unable to come to
an agreement on these questions: soma con
founded tba Hyksos with tba Phoenician,
other regarded them aa Arab. Modern schol
ars have put forward at Isast a dozen
contradictory hypotheses on tbe matter.
The Hyksos have been asserted to bava been
Canaanltes, Etamltes, Hlttttes, Accadlans,
Scythians. The last opinion found great favor
with tbe learned aa long aa they could believe
that the sphluxss discovered by Marlette repre
sented the Shepherd King Apophls. or one of his
predecessors. As a matter of fact, these monu
ments present all the characteristics of the
Mongoloid type of countenance, the small and
slightly oblique eyes, the arched, but eomewhal
flattened nose, the pronounced ohrek bones nod
well covered Jaws, tbe salient chin and full Up,
slightly depressed at the corners. These pecull
arltlea aro also nb-erred In the three heads
found at Damanhur. In the colossal torro dug
uu In the Kayo-im, In the twin figures of
the Nile, removed from Tanls to the
Bulaq Museum, and upon tbe remains of
a statue In the collection at the Villa Ludovlsl
In Home. The same foreign type of faco Is also
found to exist among the present Inhabitants of
certain villages scattered over the eastern part
of the Delta, and the conclusion was drawn that
I these people were the direct descsLdi ntsof the
1 Hyksos, This theory wns abandoned, iinverthe
less, when It was ascertained that the sphinxes
of San had been carved rarny centuries before
tbe Invasion for Amenemhat III., a King of the
twelfth dynasty. In aplto of the fact we
possess, the problem, therefore, remains un
solved, and the origin of the Hyksos Is still as
mysterious as ever. From all the evidence
accessible, however, we gather that tho
third millennium before our era waa
repeatedly disturbed by considers. b'o migratory
ir.ororaents. Tho expeditions far afield of
Elamlte and Chaldean princes could not have
taken place without seriously perturbing the
region over which they passed. They must
have encountered by tho way many nomadic or
unsettled tribes, whom a slight shock would
easily displace. An Impulse once given. It
uieded but lltllo to accelerate or Increase the
movement; a collision with one horde reacted
on Its neighbor, who either displaced or car
ried others with them, and tbe whole multi
tude, gathorlng momentum as tbey went, were
precipitated In tbs direction first given. A
tradition picked up by Herodotus on his
travels relates that the Phoenicians had
originally peopled the eastern nod south
ern ehores of the Persian Gulf; It was
also said that Indnthyrses. a Scythian King,
had victoriously scoured the whole of Asia, and
bad penetrated as far as Egypt. Either of these
Invasions may have been the cause nf the
Syrian migration Into the Delta, In Maspero'a
opinion, the least Improbable hypothesis Is that
which attributes the appearance of the Shep
herds (about tbe middle of tht twenty
funrth century B. C.) to the arrival In
the NuUralm of tlioio Khatl, or Hlttitea.
who long alterward were to fight so obsti
nately against tho ariutea both of the Pharaohs
and the Nlnevlte K'ngs. They descended from
the mountain regions In whloh tho Halysand
the Euphrates take their rise, and If the bulk
nf them proceeded no further than thealles
of the Taurus and the Amnnos, snme, at least,
may have pushed forward as far as the prov
ince nn tho wrslrrn slioro of tho Dead
Sea. Tha most adventurous among them, rein.
forced by the Cnunaiiltes and other tribes hlch
had Julnrd thrill on their southward conrer,
luuy li.no rrnisod tl.c Isthmus of buuz, anil,
flndltu: a i tupiu weaknnrd bydlsoord, experi
enced i.ndlClcutty In replacing t.iunailvc ilynas.
ties Willi thulr own urnarUn uluefi, Masporo
believes that both their name and oilgl'i were
well Known to the lyptUns, but the latter dis
dained to apply tn them any term bm that of I
" shemau," strangers, nnd. In referring to them,
usod thu some vague nnpellatlor-s which they
applied to the Bedouins of the blnaltlo penin
sula, namely, monutlu, monof Urn desert, or
shepherds, or sallu, archsrs. They rucreeded
in hldlns the original name of their conquerors
so thoroughly that, in the end, they themselves
forgot it, and kept tho secret of it from posterity.
XII.
The remembrance cf the cruelties with
which the Invadora at flrst aullled their con
quest lived lcg afterward) It atlllj stirred
tbe wrath of Manetbo after a lapse cf twen
ty centuries. The viator were known as
the "plague." er "pesta." and every possi
ble crime and impiety was attributed to
them. But, the brntalitlea attending tbe
original Irruption one passed, the Invaders
soon lost their barbarlo traits and became rap
Idly civilized. Those of them stationed In the
frontier encampment at Avarls retained the
military qualities and characterlstlo energy of
their races the remainder bccicco tiilclUUi
to thslr new compatriots, and were soon
recognizable merely ty their long hair, thick
beards, ami marked features. Their sover i
eigne seem to hare early comprehended that It J
was mora to tl-elr Interest to axplolttbecountry j
than to plllsge It: as, however, none of thsrn ;
n as competent to understand the Intricacies of I
the treasury, they were forced to retain tha
services of the majority of the acrlbea who had
managed tbepubllo accounts under the native ,
Kings. It is an Interesting fact tbat the same
thing has taken plsc,e on every occasion when
Egypt baa been conquered by an alien race; the
Acbssmenlan Persians and Greaka made us of
tha native employees, as did tho Homans after
them: so did the Mussulman Arabs and
Turks. Once schooled to the new state of af
fairs,, the Hyksos invader readily adopted tbs
refinements of civilized life. Tha court
of tha Pharaohs, with It pomp and,
Its assemblage of official, both great
and small, waa revived around tha parson of tha i
new aoverelgn: the tttlea of tba Amenembata
and tbe Uslrtassns, adapted to these "prince
of foreign lands," served tn legitimatize them
aadescendantaof Horns and son of the Sun.
They respected tba local religion, and went so
far as to favor those of tha native god whose
attribute seemed to connect tbem with some
of tbelr own barbarous divinities. Tbe chief
deity of their own worship was Baal, tha lord of
all. a cruel and savage warrior: hi rasemblaoo
to Bit, tha brother and enemy of Osiris, was sa
marked that be waa Identified, with the Egyp
tian deitr uuder tha empbatlo additional till
of tha Great Bit. His temples were erected In
the cltlea of tha Delta, aide by side with' tha
aanctuarles of tha old feudal gods, both at
Bubastls and at Tanls. Tanls. now sharing
with Memphis tba dignity attached to tba
capital, reopened It palace and acquired freeh
distinction from the royal presence within IU
walla. Apophls, one of the Shepherd Kings,
dedicated several tables of offerings In that
city, and engraved his cartouches upon the
aphlnxea and standing colossi of tha Pharaoh
of tha twelfth and thirteenth dynasties. II
waa, however, honest enough to leave tha tn
acrlptlopa of his predecessors Intact, and not to
appropriate to himself tha credit ot work be
longing to tbem. Another HyksoiKIng, Khlanl.
who may be tba Ianus of Manetbo, was not so
easily satisfied In respect of artlstlo achieve
ment, Tha atatna bearing his Inscription,
tbe lowsr part ot which waa discovered
at Bnbastls. seams to have been really
carved for himself or for on of his
contemporaries. It Is said to be a work pos
seslng no originality, though of very commend
able execution- Neltnerdoea a small gray gran
ite lion, also dating from tbo rclsn of Khlanl,
whloh, by a slrangs fate, found It way to
Bacded. raise our estimation of tbe modelling
of animals In the Hyksos period. It Is heavy In
form, and tbemuxiU In no way recalls the fin
profile of the lions executed by tha Egyptian
sculptors of earlier limes. The pursuit ot
science and the culture of learning aeem at tbla
epoch to have been mora eff ectnally perpetuated
than the fine arte; a treatise on matnematlca,
ot which a copy baa cams down to ns,
seems to have been recoplod. It not re
modelled. In the twenty-second year of
Apophls IL Maspero thinks. In fine, that
If wa had mora monuments or documents
treating of this period wa should per
ceive that tbelr sojourn on tha banks of tbe
Nile waa Instrumental In causing a speedy
ohange In the appearance and character of tha
Hyksos, Tho bulk of tbs strangsrs re
tained to a certain extent their coarse coun
tenances and rude habits; they showed no apti
tude for tilling the soil or Bowing grain, bnt de
lighted In tha marshy expanses ot tha Delta,
where tbey gave themselves np to a semi-savage
Ufa of hunting and tending cattle. Tha
noble among them, on tbe other hand, clothed
and schooled after tba Egyptian fashion, and
holding flefa or positions at court, differed but
little from the native feudal chiefs. Wa see
here a case of what generally happens when a
horde of barbarians settle down In a
highly organized conntry wbtcb, by a
stroke of fortune, tbey have conquered; aa
soon aa the Hyksos had taken complats posses
sion of Egypt. Egypt, In her turn, took posses
sion of thsrn, and those who survived the en
ervating effect of her civilization were all but
transformed Into Egyptians.
IV.
If, even In the time of tbe native Pharaohs,
Asiatic tribes had been drawn towards Egypt,
where tbey were treated as subjects, or almost
as laves, the attraction wnlch she possessed for
them roust have Increased in Intensity under
the Shepherd Kings. They would now find the
country In tho hanJaof men of the sme races i
aa themselves; Egyptlanlzed, It la true, bit not
to such an extent as to have completely lost
their own lanzmze and tbe knowledge ot their
own extrautlon. Such Immigrants were the
more readily welcomed, since thrro lurked
a feellbg ameng the Hyksos that It wa
necessary to strengthen themselves against the
slumbering hostility of the indigenous papula
tion. Tbe royal palac must have mora than
once opened its gates to Aslatlo counsellors and
favorites. Canaanltes and Bedouins must often
have been enlisted for tbe intremhod camp at
Avarls. Invaslqns, famines, civil war, all
teom to have conspired to drive Into Egypt not
only Isolated Individuals, but whole families
and tribes, Tha family or tribe of the Uenl
Israel, wbo entered the country about this time,
has since acquired a unique position In the
world's history. Tbey belonged to that race of
Semitic extraction which wa Know, by munu
roruts and traditions, to have besn scattered in
ancient times along the western shores of the
Persib'i Gulf and on tho banka of the Euphra
tes, Those situated nearest to Chaldea and to
the sea led, apparently, a settled exist
ence; they had been civilized from very early
times; they cultivated, the soil, and employed
themselves In industries and commerce. Other
tribes of the same family occupied the Interior
of tbe continent; tbey lived in tents, and de
lighted In tbe roving life of nomads. A com
paratively ancient tradition rvlatea that the
Hebrews arrived In Egypt during the reign ot
" Aphubls." a Hyksos king, doubtless one of the
Apophl, and, possibly, the monarch who restored
the monuments of the Theban Pharaohs, and
engraved his name on tbo sphinxes of the great
sovereigns of the twelfth dynasty. Tba land
which tbe Habrawa obtained la tbat wblch,
down to the present day. Is moat frequently
visited by nomnds, who find there an uncertain
hospitality. The tribes of tbe Isthmus of Sues
aro now. In fact, constantly shifting from
on continent to another, and tbelr encamp
ments In any place are merely temporary. The
lord ot the soil must. It ho desires to keep them
within hit borders, trtst tbem with the greatest
prudence and tact. Should tbe Government
displease them in any way, or appear to curtail
tlulr liberty, they pack up their tents and take
(tight Into tbe desert. Tho district occupied by
them oue day is, on tho next, vacated, and left
to desolation. Maspero believes it probable
tlmt the same stato of things nxlited in '
ancient times, and thai the border nouies on
the east of tho Delta wrm In turn tnliiMted
or deserted by the lludoulns ot tbe period,
Tho towns were few lu number, but a
cries nf forts proteoted tho frontier.
There, )ic ever, were mere v. lllage strongholds,
Perched on thu summit of soma eminence, sud
snrroundcii by a strip of corn-land. Jlej ond the
frontier extended a region of bare rock, or a
wide plain saturated with the ill-regulated sur
plus water nf the Ir'ilidatloiis. The land of
Goshen was bounded b) tho cities of Hrllnpr.lls
on the south. Bubaslis on the west and Tunis
and Mendes on the north. The garrison at
Avarls could easily keep watch over it and
maintain order within it while at the same time .
defending It against Incursions from the east. '
The Beni-Israel throve In these surroundings,
to well adapted to their traditional tastes.
Even It their subsequent Importance as !
a nation naa been overestimated, they did I
..v.t.A...-..1.,y,-rjgj
not, at Isast, shsr the fata of many other
foreign irlbeia, who, when transplanted Into
Egypt, waned and died out, or, at the endof two
or three generation, became merged In the na
tive population. In pursuing tbslr calling a
shepherds, almnH within sight ot the rich cltlea
of the Nile valley, they never forsook tbe God
of their fathers to bow dewn before the Enneads
or Triads of Egypt: whether their God was al
ready known to them as Jabvah, or was wor
shipped under tbe collective name of Elohlm,
I they served Him with almost nnbnken fidelity.
I even In the pressnee of Ra and Osiris, ot Thlah
and Sit.
For hundreds of year the Shepherd Kings,
j seated at Memphis or at Tanls. remained not
only abaoluto masters of tha Delta, hut also
I overlords of all Egypt, and the princes of
Thebes paid tribute to tbem. Even from
tha time when a prince of Thebes declared
I himself an Independent ruler, a century and
a half elapsed before the complete expulsion ot
1 the Uykvoa from the Delta. It was Ahmosts,
' tba founder of the eighteenth ds nasty, who
oosted tha Shepherds from the last towns occu
pied by them. It was not without reason that
the official chroniclers of later times separated
him from his ancestry, and mada him tba hetd
of a new dynasty. No doubt, his forefather
of the seventeenth dynasty bad bean long press
ing tbe Asiatics toward the East, but even when
lh Shepherds had been driven Into Avarls,
they were still adversaries not to be despised.
Forced by the continual pressure of tha
Egyptian armies Into this corner of the
Delta, tht y were, aa a compact body, the mora
able to make a protracted resistance against
superior forces. Aa long as thsy could hold
thslr around at Avarls, a reinvaslon wa alwaya
possible, and It wae by driving them from tbla
last stronghold that Ahmosls averted the dan
gsrof reconqnesU After the destruction of the
Intrenched camp at Avarls, and tha expulsion
of tba Hyksos lords, tha vanquished Aslatlo
people In the Delta, hemmed m, as they were,
by a network of fortresses, were reduced to a
rabbi of serfs, to be taxed and subjected to tha
corvee without merer.
V.
Wa past to tha reign of Menephtah, the eon of
Items II. of the nineteenth dynasty. Al
though during his reign the disintegrating
Process, whloh had begun In the old age
of his father, was checked to a consid
erable extent, there were already Indications
that Egypt waa drifting toward It downfall.
The feudal barons who had been restricted br
tbe strong sovereigns of the eighteenth and
nineteenth dynasties to the position of simple
officers to the King now profited by an epoch of
comparative laxity to recover a many as pos
sible ot tbelr ancient privileges. The Invasion
of tbe peoples of tbe sea, tha rivalry of claim
ants to the throne, and the Intrigues of Minis
ter had, one after tha other, served to
break tha bonds whloh had fettered the
fendal nobles, who In one generation managed
to regain that liberty nf action ot which they
had been deprived for centuriea. Tbera wa
another danger threatening the country besides
that arising from the weakenlngot the hands ot
tha sovereign and tha turbulence of the barons.
For som three centuriea tba Theban Pharaoh
bad been accustomed to bring Into the country
after each victorious campaign thousands of
captives. The number of foreigner around
them had thus Increased to a notable degree.
Tbe majority of thee strangers. Indeed; had
either died without Issue or their posterity bsd
becomo assimilated with tba Indigenous Inhab
itants. In some places, on tha other hand,
they bad accumulated In auch propor
tions that thay ware able to retain among
themselves the remembrance of tbelr
origin, tbelr religion, and their custom
and, with these, the natural desire to leave tha
country of their exile for their former father
land. As long as a strict watch was kept over
them they remained peaceful subjects, but aa
soon as this vigilance waa relaxed rebellion waa
likely to break out, especially among tbae who
worked In the quarries. Traditions ot the Greek
period have preserved certain romantio epi
sodes In tha history ot theaa captive. Some
Babylonian prisoners, for Instance, brought
back by Sesostrls, and unable any longer to en
dure the exhausting work to which they were
condemned, broke out Into open revolt. They
made themselvea masters of a position al
most opposite Memphis and commanding
tba river, and they held their ground
thtr with euch obstinacy tbat It was
found needful to aire np to tbem tbe
province wblch they occupied; they built
there a town which they afterward called Bab
ylon. A similar legend attributes the building
of the neighboring village ot Trolo to captive
from Troy. The traltered barbarian tribes of
the Delta, whether Hebrews or ths remnant of
the Hyksos, had endured there a miserable lot
ever since the accession ot the Ramesatdes.
The rebuilding of the cltle which had been de
stroyed there during the wars with tbe Hyksos
had restricted the extent of territory on which
they could pasture tbelr herds. Ramses II.
treated them an slaves of the treasury, and the
Hebrews were not long under his rule before
they I ecan to look back with regret nn
the lime nf the monarch "who knew Joseph."
"The Egyptians set over tbem task mailers to
aflllct them with their burdeus. And tby built
for Phar.ioh treasure rltics-Plthom and Ham
sea. But the more they afflicted them, the rnre
thrr multiplied and grew. And the) "-cro grieved
becauso ot the children of Israel " 1 he natlonM
tradltlona of the Hebrews Inform us that tho
Pharaoh, usually Identified with Ramses II.,
In displeasure at seeing them Increase so might
ily, notwithstanding his repressions, command
ed the midwivrs to ttranglo henceforward tha
male children at their birth. Moses, It Is well
known, escaped. Further details regarding the
condition nf the Israelites under Ramses II.
and his son, Menephtah, nre supplied In the
following lines of tbe Biblical narrative i
"They made their lives bitter with hard
bond igo In mortar and In brlok, and
In all manner of rervlco In tbe field."
Naturally, the unfortunate serfs awaited
only an opportunity to esrape from the cruelty
of their persecutors. Eventually, as we know
from tha Scriptural account, tha Hebrews, or. at
least, those ot them who dwelt In the Delta,
made their escape from their opprvssort, and
took refuge In the solitudes nf rabla. A large
number of accredited historians concur In be
lieving that this exodns took place In the reign
of Menephtah, and Prof. Maspero points out
that the evidence ot the triumphal inscrip
tions lately discovered by Prof. Petrle seems
to confirm this view, for It relates that the
people of Isrsllu were destroyed, and bad no
longer a teed. The context Indicates prottr
clearly that thene l!.t -cited larailu wore, at
the time when the Inscription was made, rotue.
where sonth of Syria, rorslhly In the nelphbor.
hood of Askalon and Uzr. If It li the Biblical
Israelites wbo are here mentioned fur the first
time on an Egyptian monument one might sup
pose that they bad Just quitted tbe laud of their
slavery to begin their wanderings through the
desert. Although tho peoples ot the sea and the
Libyans, who conjointly assailed Egypt in tba
time ot Menephtah, did not suoceed In reaching
the Hebrew settlements In thn land of Goshen,
the Israelites may hare profited both by the dis
order Into which the Egypllaus vvsre thrown by
the liivsders ond by the consequent v Ithdrawal
to Memphis ot the tiuups previously stationed
on tbe east of the Delta, to break away from
their servitude end cros the frontier. If. on .lio
other l.aud, tho Israllu mer.t nned In the time
nf .Menephtah am to be regarded as tribe still
dwelling among the mountains ot Canaan,
while the greater part of the race had emi
grated, ceuurles before, to tbo banks of the
Nile (an opinion adopted by Petrie, after ma
ture consideration), them Is nn need to eeek
lonir after Menephtah for a ilato sulllns the clr
cutnstanres ot the Exodus. The years following
the reign ot bell II. offer favorable conditions
for such a dangerous enterprise; the break up
of the monarchy, the dhsccrds of the bainnt,
the revolts among the rnptires, nnd the
supremacy of a Somite over the other feu
dal chiefs must h.irr mlnlmUid the risk.
The author of this book, for his part, can rend
Ur uudersland how. In tbe midst of such na
tional disorders, a trlbo of foreigners, weary of
Itilot, might escape from its settlements and
botako Itself toward Asia without meeting with
.strenuous opposition from tha Pharaoh (not!
IL), who( would, naturally, ba too auch pro
I ' jt-.l It '- r.. -i a-.-A j
occupied with hi own pressing necessities to
troubt himself ranch over the escape ot a band
ot serf. Prof. Maspero baa given Ma reason
for assigning lha Exodus to this period In a let
ter to f.1. Elfhtbal, but thor have been accepted
only by Wledmann In his "Egyptian Ulstor."
VI.
This much wa know from tha Bcriptnral nar
ratlve that, bavins cro-sd the Red Sea. the
Israelites pinned their course to tha notlhcast
on the usual road leading Into Byrla. and then.
turning toward the south, at length arrived at
Slnal. Whether we assign tbe Exodus to the
reign of Menephtah or to that of Setl II., It was
a moment' when tha nations of Asia were stir
ring. To proceed straight to Canaan by the
beaten track would hivve been to run the risk of
encountering their moving hordes, or of Jostling
aualnst the Egyptian troops who still rrrrtsuned
the outlying strong held on the east. 1 he fugi
tive hnd, therefore, to shnn the great military
roads, to avoid coming Into murderous con
flict with ths barbarians, or running Into the
teeth ot Pharaoh' pursuing armv. The des
ert offered an appropriate asrlum to people of
nomadlo Inclinations like themselvea: tby be
took themselves to It as If by instinct, and spent
there wandering Ufa for several generations.
Prof. Maspero concedes that this explanation or
the wanderings otitis Israelites has been doubted
by most historians, but he submits that It has a
cogency, one we admit the reality ot the
sojourn in Egypt and the Exodus. It Is certain
that thelsraelita. when they set out from Egypt,
wen not yet a nation. They were but a confused
horde, flying with their herds from their pur
suers: with no resource, badly armed, and unfit
to sustain the attack of regular troops. After
leaving Slnal. they wandered for some time
among tbe aolltndea of Arabia Ptr-a In search
of som uhlnhablted conntry where they could fix
their unta, and at length eettlvd on tbe border
of ldumse. ta the mountainous regions sur
roundlsg Kadesh-Harnea. Kadesh had from
ancient time a reputation for sanctity among
the Bedouin of th neighborhood; it rejoiced
In the possession nf a wonderf ul well the Well
of Judgment to which visit were mada for
the purpose of worship and for obtaining the
"Judgment" ot God. The country Is a poor one,
arid and burnt up. But It contain w ells which
never fall, and wadys, or valleys, suitable for
tha culture of sheep and for the rearing of cat
tle. A roving tribe which became possessed of
a region In wblch there was a perennial supply
of water waa fortunate Indeed, and a frarmont
of tbe psalmody ot Israel at the time of
their sojourn here still echoes In a measure th
transport of Joy to which the people gave way
at the discovery of a new spring: "Spring up.
O well; sing y unto It: the well which th
princes digged, which the nobles of th people
delved with th sceptre and with their staves."
The wanderers took possession of thla region
after some successful brushes with tha enemy
and settled there without being further troubled
by their neighbor or by tbelr former master.
The Egyptians, Indeed, absorbed In tbelr civil
discords or la wars with foreign nations,
soon forgot their etcrpvd slave and never
troubled thsmselves for centuries over what
bad become of tbe poor wretches, until. In tbe
time of tha PtoUmlee. when they had
learned from the Bible something of the people
of God. they began to seek In their own annals
for traces of. tbslr sojourn In Egypt and
of tbslr departure from tbe country. A new
Egyptian version ot the Exodna was tha result.
In which Hebrew tradition waa clumsily blend
ed with the materials of a seml-blstorlcal
romance, of whloh Amenothee III. ot tha
eighteenth dynasty waa mada th hero. His
Minister and namesake, Amenothee, son of
Hapu. left Ineffaceable Impressions on th
minds of the Inhabitant of Thebes; he not only
erected th colossal figures In the Amenophlum,
but he constructed the chapel at Delr el Me
dlnab, which waa afterward restored In Ptole
malo times, and where ha continued to be
worshipped as long as the Egyptian re
ligion lasted. Profound knowledge ot tbe
mysteries ot tnagto wa attributed to
him: on this subject he wrote certain
worke which maintained thslr reputation for
mora than a thousand years after his death, and
all that was known about him marked him out
for th Important part he came to play tn the
romantic stories so popular among the Egyp
tians. The, Pharaoh In whose good grace he
lived had a desire, so the legend runs, to behold
tbs goda after tha exampli of his ancestor.
Home. Tbe son of Hapu Informed blm that ha
could not succeed In his designs until he bad ex
pelled from the country all tbe lepera and un
clean persons who contaminated It. Acting on
this Information, tbe king brought together all
those who suffered from physical defect, and
confined them, to the number of 80,000, In ibe
quarrt of Turan. There were priests among
them, and the gods became wrathful at tha
treatment to which tbelr servants were ex
posed; the soothsayer, therefore, fearing tbe
divine anger, predicted tbat certain people
would ahorllr arrive, who. forming an alliance
with the Unclean, would, together with them,
hold away In Egypt for thirteen year. He then
committed suicide, but the Klog nevertheless
had compassion on tha outcast, and granted to
tbem, for their exclusive use, thn town of Avarls.
which had been deserted since the time of
Ahmosls the founder of the eighteenth dy
nasty. Tu outcast formed themselvea Into a
nation under tbe rule of a Hel.oitltn priest
railed Osar'yph, or Moses, who gavn them laws,
cioblilrsd them, and Joined his forces with some
drscsnJants of trie previ'"il- expelled then
herds al Jerusalem. The Pharaoh Amenothas,
taken by surprise at this revolt, and remember
ing the words of hlsdeeeased Minister, took flight
into Ethiopia. The Shepherds, tn league with
tbe Unclean, burned tbe towns of tha Delta,
sacked the temples, and broke tn piece the
ttat jea of the gods: they forced tbe Egyptian
priests to slaughter even their sacred anlomlMo
cut tbem up and conk tbem for tbelr fore, wbo
ate them derisively In thoir customary feasts.
At the endof thirteen years, however, Ameno
thee III. returned from Ethiopia and defeated
tho enemy, driving then back Into Byrla, where
the remnant ot tbem became, later on, the Jew
ish nation.
Prof. Mssnero reminds us that this Is only a
romance lu which a very little history Is mln
gled with a great dual of fable. In Ploleraalo
times, the scribes, and even the people at large,
were aoquamled with the fact that Egypt had
besn In danger ot dissolution nt the time whon
the Hebrew s left the banks ot the Nile, but tbey
were Ignorant ot lh details as well as of the
precise date and of the name nt li reigning
pharaoh. A certain similarity tn eound sng
tested to them the idea of identifying
the prince whom the Cbronlclir ca.lcd
Menepthes, or Ameiiepihes. with Amenothes
III., and thereupon they proceeded to give
to a jharnnli who revlly belonged to the
nineteenth d) nasty t ua Minister who hail
ecrved nndcr a king of the eighteenth; at the
same time they metamorphosed tbe Hebrews
Into lepers allied with the Shepherds. From
this strange combination thero resulted a nar
rative which at once fell in with the tastes of
the lover of the marvellous, and wa accepted
as an adequate tubstltute for the truth, which
bad been long forgotten. M. W, H,
A Hebrew View or the Lire or, Teens.
Some time ago we reviewed a remarkable book,
entitled "Spirit of the Biblical Legislation," In
w I ii,h the nnthur, a Hebrew savant, Mr, M.if
rtli'ti I'lri'iiu undertook t tet forth the hu
mane and tnU'raut teiiurof tlieluliiiudlo tench.
Ing. He hnsnow published tlio flist Installment
nf n new nor:., called The .tMrfal.-Zci-iil, the
luillal vnluuiv being dci otcd to J'tut at ,af
artth. Ills e-plratlons and His ethical legists
tlon. Th author's aim is in hrlpz nearer tu oue
another tho vailous laces and coeds, by show
ing tbat all of them lisvo a common stock of
ethlrsl Ideas, and his hope Is that, by mitigating
sectarian prejudice and misunderstanding, he
may contrlbu.e something tow ird the extension
ot peacu and good will. Of the book before us
the most interestlLg feature ,i the author a ac
count of the lift) and deu'h of Jesus from tbe
Jewish point of view. Nirat- thirty pages r.r
devoted to this subject: these we shall endeavor
to condenso Into a few psragrapbs.
I. .
Otone thing th author Is entirely convinced,
Jesus t Nazareth Is no fiction. Ha did exist.
Us contemplated reform on th pattern of the
,,' t j.j s JJ-
Easenlan Soclsly. Tbat oclty wa hi tnodsl
of th kingdom ot heaven upon eartht acorn
munlty In which ther wa no rlghtof private
property, no marriage, no greed, vlolenoo, een
susllty, wrong-doing, brutality, nor ambition:
no misfortune, no vie, nn sin II" contem
rtaled. In tbe first plsce, a rellgiou reform,
tion In Judea, He (ought to revive the Mosaic
legislation and to abrogate the superposed rab
binical observances, Mr. Fluearel think that,
lowly,h myhv realized that not a, sew of
tha peotateurhlcal laws, also, remnants of pro
Mosaic ages, were suptrannuated.as already th
Talmud had regarded them. In tlia second
place, he contemplated a social reform, a redis
tribution of wealth on tho pattern of the Essen
Ian community. He, further, may have con
templated Innovation against th Jewish
aristocracy, lay and prlsttly: and. lastly,
revolution against Rome and against tba gods
of Rome, the reesiabllehmsnt of prophstlo
monotheism and rthtcs. tbo kingdom of
heaven upon earth. Having thus set himself
against tbo hlerarchs and the rich, agalnit
the Hebrew Pharisee and Sadueecs, against
Rome's world dominion and tbe dominant
polytheism, be eventually comprehended that
ha had provoked alt the power of th lime,
social, political, and religious; that all authori
ties were agslnst him. and that, therefore, the
crisis of his life waa at hand.
According to the author of this work, who Is a
profound stndsnl of the Talmud and ot Jewish
history, the current view of tha trial of Jesu
cannot be reconciled with the Mosalc-Talmudlc
code. Th popular notions do not tally with
tbe provisions of th Mosaic lew. We are as
sured that a careful perusal of thoso provision
will afford conclusive proof tbat Jesus conld not
be tried, ranch less condemned, by a regular
Jewish court or Sanhedrim: that his Judicial
condemnation and execution cannot be laid at
the door of th Mnsalc-Rabblnlcal Jurispru
dence; that, aaa matter ot fact, Jesus wa not
tried by a regular court; that he wa
tried, if at all, by what w should now
term a packed Jury, mad up of th
creature of the high priest, th high clergy,
and the aristocracy, whom he had repeatedly
and vehemently denounced, and by whom In
turn ha waa remorselessly persecuted. It la with
peculiar Interest that we follow Mr. Floegel'a
review ot the Mosalo criminal Jurisprudence,
so far as it bears upon the caa of Jesus. It Is
pointed out that the Mosalo law condemns unto
death any falsa prophet who would persuade
the people to worship fats god. Bat Jesus
never did anything ot tha kind. Evan If he
claimed tha role of a Messiah, this waa not
tantamount to Idolatry, nor to th worship
of falsa gods, for Messiah means th
anointed and appointed Jewish leader, a
Davldlo king. According to Jewish mys
tics, tbs Messiah would be tha ton of
God. a even David I termed by the psalmists;
but ha would b not Ood, not coeUrnaL not a
likeness nor a partner ot tbe Deity. He would
be, and remain, a creature, however exalted
and sublime. Several men, before and after
Jesus, laid claim to the Messlahshlp, but never
did a Jewish court criminally punish them:
they were not condemned by the Jewish na
tion; on tba contrary, they were lamented. By
Rome, Indeed, they were punished, but by their
compatriots they were followed enthusiasti
cally to war and death. On Ezeklah. a Mealah
claimant, waa executed by Herod, for which th
latter waa accused of murdsr before the San
hedrim, and would have been put to death
had he not found an opportunity to escap.
It.
Again, the popular conception of ths trial
and death of Jeana deduced from tbe Goapel
narrative cannot be reconciled with th forms
of procedure prescribed by tha Talmudlc taw.
The entrant view of tha tragedy la that, on the
ave of the Passover. Jesus celebrated with bis
disciples tha customary family banquet He
then went up to tba mountain to pray and pre
pare himself far tha Imminent supreme ordeal.
Toward morning hewaa betrayed by adUclpla,
arrested by servant of tba High Prieet, brought
to tha High Priest's court, condemned by tha
assembled Judge, delivered over to Pilate, tba
Roman .procurator, who, after hesitating and
appealing for mercy to tha mob. at last con
demned him. had him executed, and. In th
evening, burled, an n one day. This Is, at
all events, the current view, though th
Gospel are not perfectly coherent and definite
upon th point. Mr. FluegeL while unwilling
to evlnoa a lack of respect for any sacred record,
points ont that what I eupposed to bava oc
curred waa. under Talmudlc law. Illegal and
impossible. According to Talmudlc law, no on
wa punished for religious opinions otherwise
then by a rebuke; acts, not opinions, were crimi
nal; least criminal of all were opinions of such
an abstract nature as the Messlab claims in
volve. Again, according to Talmudlo law, no
criminal conld ba condemned on hi own testi
mony, nor on a holiday, nor could he be con
demned on the same day on which be was first
acensed. It was forbiddsn to question an ac
cused person for the purpose ot eliciting
from him Information concerning the charge
brought against blm, much leas wa It
allowable to use threats or blows to extort
a confession from him. Self-accusation In
any shape or form was prohibited In a
Jewish court. Every crime mnst be proven by
tvto eyewitnesses ot tbe deed. Moreover, a
preliminary warning must have been given tha
defendant by those very witnesses, and this
Immediately before the commission of tbe
Imputed crime. Now, tbe Gospels show that
there were no such witnesses at alt, or. at least,
no harmonizing witnesses, but that the High
Priest asked Jeaus " whether he was tba son ot
God," and, receiving the answer "Thou say.
est," the High Priest condemned him. Mr. Flue
gel's comment is that this waa Roman method:
It was not Jewish law. Jesus could not be con
demned on vague accusations based on popular
rnrarr and hearsay, witbi'Ul any other di
reel testimony but his own admission. Mr.
Flurgel assert that, according to Mosaic
Rabbinical law, the Incrimination levelled
against Jesus rnuld have been capital only In
case the nerns-d had declared himself, in spit
of warnlLK. and before witnesses, not simply
the Messiah, but God himself, or Identical with
God. or an incarnation of Him. Hut, according
to tho synoptic Gospels, Jesus never claimed to
be Ocd, nor even, according to John
or Paul, did he clearly put forth any
such claims. In no particular did Jesus
transgress the law. He mnr hvo at the utmost
hinted nt a revision thereof. Nor, we repeat,
could Jems, or even Paul, have forfeited his
life for Idolatry, for both of them were Held be
llevera In tho one ole everlasting God of tbe
Bible. By the riiih.cis hand of Roma alone
could they b- crucified. And later, when they
protul vinorlous In death, Rome turned
around, shouted with tho victors, laid claim to
their Inherltanr and threw the blame upon tho
victims, the Jew , their own compatriots,
i T7"
It cannot. Indeed, be denied that Jesus spoke
disrespectfully of both the Sadducean and
Phnrlsean parties, and It may be, too. tbat he
hlntod at alterations of the Mosclo law Itself.
Touching this point, wo are reminded of the
Gospel phrases " Ye havo heard nf old
butltellynu V If such were tho very
words of Josiie. and not rather a later Roman
version, it might be argued that In. was a ,S.i)nm
Ma 'r, a "rebellious sage," nu Innovator who
despleii the constituted authority of the San
bedrlm, the sole legitimate guardians
and expounders of tlo law. Hut even
upon this assumption, wa are invited
to look nt the rabbinical enactments, I
li'.tng M.itmntililtfs as n safe culdei "Tht Grout
1'onil In Jerusalem of the squuro stone hall wan
the sourco of all tradition, the authority whom e '
flmved IUas nnd Julgmenls for all Israel, and
every believer otved obedience to that court.
Whosoever practlcallyillsnbeyrd It was a trans-gri-vor,
and. If he wero a publlo teacher, he
mls'.il be capltnlly punished. After the abo.
lltlon of that Great C'mirt nf Sanhedrim, differ
ences ufopliilor. aroso in Israel and there was
no authority tn settle them," Now wo are re.
minded by Mr. Fliiegel that. In tho llmenf Jesus,
the courl reforred to by Malraonldes hsd lost
Its political and cImlnal Jurisdiction. Hence
the law against the rebellious teacher could no
be applied. Again, the "rebellious teacher"
mentioned In the Thnra Is a rago of th sres
of Israel, who, ononeslngU point, differ with
them and teaches and act contrariwise to t Unit
such a onelsssld to deserve death. Hut' j,.
serves death only when, tetngannrda! ie-' m
or teacher, ordained by the Sanhedrim, he cts
upon his own Judgment, In tuntridlct!. to
theirs, while they, tbe SanhrdrlsU, urn -tlex
their sessions In tbe square stone hall in ths
Mount Morlnh Temple. If hewaionlyasiuilent,
not yet n doctor or rabbi, not jet oM tied
nnd legally authorized to teach publ'cly nut,
nevertheless, he did teach, he was n.vtacnt.h.
able. Even If he were an ordained teacher and
he taught, but onlr by way of theor), :nlu),
for practice, he was not punishable. Again, If
he taught In contra llctlon to the F-vnhedrljts,
and they were not In their official plac. he wa
not punishable. What now was the pr.cednrs
In the case of a rebellious lege "to ssilsfied th
highly technical definition) He and his
accusers bad to appear before threes success rs
courts, When all tbe three had d- Med
that he was wrong, he went home; if, a'trr.
ward, he continued to teach In open rebellion,
bnt onlr theoretically. nd cot for p'sxtlre. hs
conld not be punished; If hetanthi wltn u view
to practice, h wa taken to Jerusalem, be lor
the highest court, and there detained until th
next holiday, when capital punishment eras la.
dieted. What more conclusive proof ett
adduced tbat tha rabbinical criminal code wai
exceptionally dilatory, avowedly relneUnt to
Inflict punishment, and eager to give a defend
ant all possible chance ot escap I
IV.
Thl being th character nt the rabbinical leg.
lilallon. ran we, ak Mr. FluegeL accept It as a
historical fact tbat such a court, under such a
coda of laws, capitally condemned a prtvsts
man of spotless character, a pious Essene, no or.
dalned teacher, though a popular preacher, not
for act, but for utterance and doctrines which
might ba conatruable aa heresy: for mere mys
tical words which could bear any and every In.
terpratatlon: without witnesses or warning; n
a holiday? Can w believe tbat the victim was
surprised, arrested, maltreated, arraigned
and unanimously condemned, upon bis own
avowal, delivered to the Roman Governor, con
demned again and executed, all on one and the
same day? Here It Is pointed out tbat. If tha
condemnation by the high prlest'a court wss
"unanimous," thai fact alone rendered the
verdict null and void and acquitted the pris
oner. Th claim of unanimity Is a striking
proof that there was no regular Sanhedrim la
session on th occasion. Amonr th many rules
In favor of the defendant under the rabbinical
criminal code was tha provision tbat "a until
moua condemnation I equivalent to absolute
acquittal." For then the law upected partla
prejudice ana Judicial murder. There Is said.
however, tn have bean no dissenting vole In the
case ot Jesus. Tbe court, then, by wblch Jesus
wa tried was no Sanhedrim: he waa condemned
by apacked Jury, by political lynch law. The
truth Is, aa we have said, there wa In Judea at
lb time no criminal court. Th high priest
and hla friend possessed no authoritr to try
criminal cause. Th Sanhedrim had ns
criminal Jurisdiction any longer. Even wbea
tbey had had Jurisdiction, they never sat la
Judgment on the eve of a holiday or on a holiday.
They never punished opinions, but crimtcsl
deeds. Jesus bad committed no such deed. Hs
was. perhaps, an bereslarch. but there was na
Hebrew law criminally punishing possible or
actual heresy. Jesua waa no Idolater, cor
did he Incite to Idolatry, H plainly
and publicly professed th God and th
ethic of Moses and th prophet. If h
believed himself to b tha Messiah, that may
have been a political or mystical error, not a
punishable crime. Jesus was no ordained pub
lic preacher. He. therefore, could not.be treat
ed a a "rebellious sage." His Messiah hopes
and claims conld not ba legally proven nor dl
proven; tbey were toovaa-ne and Ideal for a
court of Judgment. The question of ths high
priest, "Art thou tha son of God 1" had no lecsl
ollh or point. Every Israelite could have an
awered: "Ye. I am. tor we ill are sons of
God." Moreover, a we bava said, ths high
priest had no rleht to put the question. In He
brew Jurisprudence a defendant had to be con
demned by his acts and by eyewitnesses, not by
hi own avowal or self-accusation. A free and
fair examination wa prescribed; no torture, no
tricky interrogatories, no threat or blow were
allowed. If att the Judges declared him guilty
the law absolved blm ipeo fatto.
To sum up this Hebrew eavant view ofth
lit and death of Jesus, the reel gist of the
accusation was not heresy, but a political
offence. He waa guilty of disturbing the peace,
the slumbers of men high In office, tbe eetab.
Ilshed social order. He did not respect tLelr
riches, nor their dignity, nor their pretended
Piety. He aimed at ethical, social and political
Innovation. Above atl. by his claim of MresUh.
ship, hs wa believed to bo an aspirant to an
actual crown. As such, he had attracted the
attention of the Herodlans and of the Roman
procurator: hence be hat) to die. That a
regular court condemned him the author of this
book declines to believe. For. as we have seen,
there waa neither court, nor crime, uor crimi
nal, nor witnesses, nnr a regular accusation. All
that can have occurred Is that the high offlc.als
In Jerusalem arraigned him aa a dangerous
social ana political agitator, and this was crime
enough for a suspicious Roman Governor li
waa as "King of tba Jew" that Jesus died.
Thus w a the (ahula over h'.s cross Inscribed.
Under precisely the same designation, many a
claimant of political p.iwr died before a-d
after him. I,nnc afterward. Indent, when the
deadJeaua proved to ba stronger than mU-.ity
Rome, she claimed Him aa her, made of H a
an enemy ot His people, and sut the blame of
His death at their door. While Jesu had em.
phatlcaliy declared Hie kingdom not to be of
this world, and ha 1 proclaimed His willingness
to render unto Osar what waa Civsar'e and l
God what was God's, Rome ultimately .all
claim to all that was God's a well as a.l that
was Caesar's, and assumed the dominion of the
world In the nam of God and the Messiah.
Ji ItJlAJUI.T.ty JIE33ZA1T.
Th fUraaa Heal That Isaa BFri tfi. la
Bakla-Reasarkakla Hierr or lis leader.
Braxll Is having trouble wlthaMesslsh who
has appeared In the Bute of Bahla, attended fy
a band of Dire thound fanato adherents,
armed ultn Winchester rifles and proclaim. ng
n holy war for the re-establishment of religion
and of the monarchy. He asserts that he Is
Jesus Christ, wears long hair and a blue tn Ic,
and keep near blm twelve disciples whum .,
rslls his npostl'i. H Indulges In eistal'-v s
Ions, durluy which he declares that he receives
his Inspiration from Rod,
Tim mnn's name Is Antoalo Conselhelro Hs
comes f'ora tho town of Aracaty. In thn pr-r-tnce
of (Vara, whero he had a aood deal . f
property and lived comfortalih ,nl a terrlWn
domestic tragedy befel him. Mis mother d
his wife were unable to agree, urn) in order o
put an end to their constant squabbles, he had
decided to move out of town v Ith his wife. Ills
mother then told him that tho reason fir l.sr
hatred of her dau hter-ln.taw wis that she was
betraying htm and that she would prove I'm
truth of her statement to blu. He gioa
out that he was going off on a Journey,
hid In ambush, mid nt nlat'tfa" saw a man .n
the dnrltliujs apprnarh'tii; his hnn'e. f nn... .
helro crept up to him nnd stretched hit i . ut
dead with one blow of his knife. Turn h -v
nminrd the body to find nut who his rh il .
and to his horror discuti-rrd that l.n lind n
his innther. To Inpiire tie success nf ht-
(anion plut tgn'iisr her lnuchler.n.l i
. J"'.;.'."1 '"i"1 r'o"'f mid acted ther"' t
the nrtltluus lover.
I'litiM'iieiro, -ut of his mind with despair i 'I
horror at hi act. Ild, and sm not Im ml n in
again until his inploits In llnh.a her.i nn knnn n.
Ills remorse had driven him tntn ruystlcwi . and
fnnatlrlrn. and tin found It ensy tu ,,ti nr
around hla; superstitious peiunntsv oliel'evrd
In hlH revtlatluiis. nn.t were re.vlv tr. obey him
bl nllj.utid toBlve up their live fur the h ily
I itisv. The region whuro they have co.lecleit .s
In tliii mountains on tha lionler o: tho dr.rrl
Interior. At first they wero left in ne. 1 ,t
after they had ratalil . i their au'lionly in a
number nf vlllngrs, inmp were netit aualn,t
them bv-tlie Government. A bvlllu was fought
!'i which CoiiKcilieltn ot 100 men kll'ert, but
the (Invernnienl lusses were equal v large Re
lenllv. nicurdltig in U Fijtii-u. the fanatic, were
tlirvutriilnelhu tnim nf .urlr. nn thnlaii
Francisco Rlver.nnd troops were hurrying there
from Alsgous. tin the coast. Conseluelro. how
ver. holds a very rtrong position, his men being
tntrenoned In the passes of unexplored m lUiif
tains .with a broad etretoh ot unknown ana ,
Ueiolste ooun try behind Ihsrn, '