Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ

d furnished them with every comfort at his command; and thither, without loss of time, he conducte

f the great feast, then near at hand. He could not enter the least sacred of the courts of the Temple. Of necessity, not less than choice, t

attempts at reflection only intensified. In the almost savage bitterness of his humor many mad impulses took hold of him. The opportunities of the highways presented themselves with singular force of temptation; he thought seriously of insurrection in Galilee; even the sea, ordinarily a retrospective horror to him, stretched itself map-like before his fancy, laced and interlaced with lines of passage crowded with imperial plunder and i

emer found a pleasure in fashi

ng of the Jews--come to you with the dominion spoken o

ld follow! How many mouths performing the office of trumpets wo

he spe

set apart and dwelt upon a power ample enough to raise and support a Jewish crown over the wrecks of the Italian, and more than ample to remodel society, and convert mankind into one purified happy family; and when that work was done, could any one say the peace which might then be ordered without h

-towns in distant India, provinces in northernmost Europe; and that, though they frequently saluted him with tongues unacquainted with a syllable of the old Hebrew of the fathers, these representatives had all the same object--celebration of the notable feast--an idea tinged mistily with superstitious fancy forced itself upon him. Might he not after all have misunderstood the Nazarene? Might not that person by patient waiting be covering silent preparation, and proving his fitness for the glorious task before him? How much bette

ack-bearded, came and asked for Ben-Hur at the tent; his interviews with the

iends of mine

ieve. It seemed too securely intrenched in a great fame and an assured popularity. The very vastness of the attendance in and about the city brought with it a seeming guaranty of safety. And yet, to say truth, Ben-Hur's confidence rested most certainly upon the miracul

f March--counting by the modern calendar--and the twenty-fifth. The evening of the latter day Ben-Hur

eel; but without notice from any stranger. In the houses passed there were no tenants; the fires by the tent-doors were out; the road was deserted; for this was the first Passover eve, and the hour "between the evenings" when the visiting millions crowded the city, and the slaughter of lambs in offering reeked t

ode, and lo! Jerusalem before the fall, in