I. 
 
 
GIFT OF 
 Gladys Isaacson 
 
 
BEN-BEOR 
 
 A STOEY OF THE ANTI-MESSIAH. 
 
 IN TWO DIVISIONS. 
 
 PART I. LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 
 THE MAN IN THE MOON, 
 
 A COUNTERPART OF WALLACE'S " BEN HUR." 
 
 PART II. HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 
 THE WANDERING GENTILE, 
 
 A COMPANION ROMANCE TO SUE'S " WANDERING JEW." 
 
 H. M. BIEN, 
 
 Author of '' Oriental Legends" "Feast of Lights " "Samson" "Purim" etc. 
 VlCKSBURG, MlSS. 
 
 BALTIMORE : 
 
 PRESS OF ISAAC FRIEDENWALD Co. 
 1891. 
 
COPYRIGHTED, 1891, BY H. M. BIEN. 
 
 GLADYS ISAACSON 
 
TO HIS LORDSHIP, 
 
 BARON DE HIRSCH, 
 
 THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS 
 
 AND 
 
 COSMOPOLITAN PHILANTHROPIST, 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 BY 
 
 HIS DEVOTED AND FAITHFUL ADMIRER, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 jv27847 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 "Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgerwht." 
 
 The history of civilization, culminating in the 
 successful establishment of the Republic of the 
 United States of America with her immense possi- 
 bilities, is as important as it is interesting. 
 
 To the investigator of human nature it becomes 
 patent that during all the past ages powerful agen- 
 cies have been systematically working to suppress 
 the rights and liberties of the people; upholding 
 serfdom and superstition for the benefit of a few 
 privileged classes. 
 
 Well may these persecutors and haters of man be 
 called as a unit " The Anti-Messiah," whose story 
 under the name of BEN-BEOR " a well-known 
 biblical character, "BALAAMBEN-BEOK" (see Num- 
 bers xxii. 5-O. T.) is represented in the following 
 pages. 
 
 Incidentally interwoven with the ultimate over- 
 throw of the a foul conspirator" are the fate and 
 leading events of that strange remnant of nations, 
 "the Jews." This story will relate the important 
 part played by them, even in their humiliation, as a 
 mysteriously divine power to help on the slow but 
 sure progress of the steadily coming ideal millennium, 
 
V PREFACE. 
 
 "when the nations shall beat their swords into 
 plowshares and their spears into priming-hooks." 
 
 Volumes have been written as history proper, of 
 continuous data and events. To such the author of 
 this story is largely indebted for the groundwork 
 material wrought into this novel. The sources from 
 whence this information had to be garnered are too 
 numerous for giving credit by name in each instance. 
 Sincere thanks are hereby tendered to one and all. But 
 the reading masses at this time do not take kindly 
 to the bulky literature of the student; preferring to 
 be taught en passant) in more interesting and lighter 
 ways, by books clothed in the attractive garb of 
 romance, introducing into them the important 
 records of the past. 
 
 A large number of original historical documents, 
 attainable to professional research only, are embodied 
 in the following work. 
 
 Such an effort is attempted in this novel. 
 
 The book is divided into two parts, each one rep- 
 resenting the mysterious person, the "Anti-Messiah," 
 around which the interest of the events to be related 
 centers and is carried along. 
 
 These are subdivided into smaller episodes, each 
 complete in itself, and yet so connected as to form 
 one unique whole. 
 
 May the humble trial of this peculiar authorship 
 find ardent friends and lenient critics. 
 
 Such is the fervent hope and wish of 
 Yours devotedly, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. THE MAN IN THE MOON. 
 
 LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 
 
 PAGI 
 
 THE FINDING OF THE MANUSCRIPT. By the Editor and 
 
 Publisher 3 
 
 THE FALLING OF THE AEROLITE 4 
 
 INTAGLIO I. ON TO THE MOON 7 
 
 INTAGLIO II. THE ROYAL PROCLAMATION 12 
 
 INTAGLIO III. THE PRIME MINISTER'S STATEMENT . . 15 
 INTAGLIO IV. MALKAH LEVANAH : 
 
 Section I. Her Mortal Youth. Sec. II. The 
 Finding of Moses. Sec. III. Balack and 
 Balaam. Sec. IV. The Wise Man of the East. 
 Sec. V. In Captivity. Sec. VI. The Blessing 
 and the Curse. Sec. VII. The Intoxicating 
 Cup. Sec. VIII. After Death Spirit Life . . 25 
 
 INTAGLIO V. THE PRISONER'S EVIDENCE 52 
 
 INTAGLIO VI. THE RECORD BY THE CHIEF SCRIBE . . 57 
 INTAGLIO VII. HARROWING SIGHTS ON EARTH ... 59 
 
 INTAGLIO VIII. REVOLUTION 62 
 
 ADDENDUM I. By the Editor and Publisher .... 65 
 
 PART II. THE WANDERING GENTILE. 
 
 HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA I. PECULIAR HALLUCINATIONS . . 71 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA II. TITUS AND BERENICE . . 80 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA III. SIMON BAR GIORA 91 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA IV. BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHARYB- 
 
 DIS 99 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA V. A WOMAN SPURNED . 108 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VI. THE RAPE OF THE TABLETS - 116 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VII. PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY . 120 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VIII. PESTILENCE AND FIRE IN 
 
 ROME 128 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA IX. A PSEUDO-MOSES 140 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA X. MAHOMET v. JUDAISM . 159 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XI. THE LAST OF THE KHAZARS . 175 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XII. PETER THE HERMIT 190 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIII. THE FIRST CRUSADE . . . 205 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIV. THE ORIGIN OF THE BLOOD 
 
 ACCUSATION . . ... 221 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XV. BLACK BARTHEL ... 229 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVI THE FLAGELLANTS .... 236 
 Section I. How Strasburg Became Free. Sec. II. 
 The Pestilence. Sec. III. The False Accusa- 
 tion. Sec. IV. Foiled Again. Sec. V. The 
 Torture. Sec. VI. The Flagellants at Stras- 
 burg. Sec. VII. Retribution. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVII. TOMASO TORQUEMADA . . . 273 
 Section I. A Retrospect. Sec. II. Mediaeval 
 Profundity. Sec. III. A Momentous Wed- 
 ding. Sec. IV. Misericordia et Justitia. 
 Sec. V. The Fortune of Hope Blasted. Sec. 
 VI. A Grand Auto da Fe. Sec. VII. A Frus- 
 trated Complot. Sec. VIII. The Expulsion of 
 the Jews. Sec. IX. The Dawn of Light Afar. 
 Sec. X. Tomaso Torquemada. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVIII. THE ART OF ARTS ... 334 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIX. THE FIGHT AGAINST THE 
 
 TALMUD . . 347 
 
 Section I. Dominicans and Franciscans. Sec. II. 
 Joseph Pfefferkorn. Sec III. TheM'Shumet 
 at Work. Sec. IV. The Abbess of Clarissa. 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sec. V. In Camp. Sec. VI. The First Effort. 
 Sec. VII. Before the Archbishop. Sec. VIII. 
 Johannes Reuchlin. Sec. IX. A Short Arm- 
 istice. Sec. X. Signed, Sealed and Delivered. 
 Sec. XI - Aftermath. 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XX. THE REFORMATION 389 
 
 Section I. A Change of Base. Sec. II. Johan- 
 nes Tetzel. Sec. III. The Fiat Goes Forth. 
 Sec. IV. The Lull Before the Storm. Sec. V. 
 The Rebel Thomas Munzer. Sec. VI. The 
 Nuns of Nimptsch. Sec. VII. Creed-making 
 - and its Results. 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XXI. SABBATHAI ZEVI 435 
 
 Section I. --Beautiful Esther. Sec. II. Scien- 
 tists and Literati. Sec. III. Sabbathai Zevi. 
 Sec. IV. --The Affianced of the Messiah. 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XXII. THE CLIMAX ; FREEDOM 
 
 TRIUMPHANT 478 
 
 Section I. A Resume. Sec. II. The Coming 
 Crisis. Sec. III. Westward Ho ! Sec. IV. 
 A Great Conclave. Sec. V. The Phantom of 
 the Sea. Sec. VI. The Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. Sec. VII. The Recluse of the 
 Mountains. Addendum II. Missing Links 
 Found. Sec. VIII. --The Last Episode : Rabbi 
 Perez Mendes' Story. 
 
PART I. 
 
 LUNAR INTAGLIOS 
 
 THE MAN IN THE MOON. 
 
 A STORY 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM HEBREW INSCRIPTIONS 
 FOUND ON AN AEROLITE 
 
 A RECLUSE OF THE MOUNTAINS 
 
THE FINDING OF THE MANUSCRIPTS. 
 
 The editor and publisher owes it to the readers 
 of " Ben Beor" to explain how he came into pos- 
 session of the manuscripts containing that story. 
 During a destructive conflagration which ravaged 
 the part of New York where he was domiciled, 
 he had the misfortune to lose an extensive and val- 
 uable library. This made it necessary for him to 
 commence anew to collect books, the tools of his 
 profession. Ever alert now for this object, the fol- 
 lowing advertisement in one of the great dailies 
 attracted his instant attention : 
 
 "For Sale: A large number of second-hand 
 books. Will be disposed of at a bargain, as the 
 owner requires the room of their present storage. 
 Apply, etc., etc" 
 
 Repairing to the address given, a large commer- 
 cial establishment of the city, after a short exami- 
 nation of the volumes, a bargain was struck, and the 
 complete library of a Hebrew theologian, " Rabbi 
 Perez Mendes," transferred to the shelves of the 
 new purchaser. The original owner of these liter- 
 ary treasures, who had officiated for many years as 
 the minister of a leading Jewish congregation, was 
 dead. His only daughter, Judith, had been mar- 
 ried to one of the merchant princes of the metrop- 
 olis. She too had departed this life. Her be- 
 reaved husband became the owner of these books. 
 A fine financier and successful importer, the 
 otherwise excellent man had no literary tastes, and 
 the library taking up a great deal of house-room, 
 was packed into boxes and sent for storage to his 
 
 (3) 
 
BEN BEOR. 
 
 warehouse. Here the collection was found to be 
 ill/the^ way, aleo, and so it was sold. One of the 
 cases had been tilled with written matter, no doubt 
 of great importance to its owner, but useless and 
 of no value to any one else. Sketches of sermons, 
 outlines for learned disquisitions, and some abstruse 
 linguistic studies made up the greater part of the 
 papers. 
 
 At the bottom of this case, however, carefully 
 preserved, were found two immense rolls of manu- 
 scripts. These naturally excited the finder's curi- 
 osity. On opening, and perusing the contents, 
 which occupied several days, he was rewarded with 
 the discovery of one of the most quaint and ab- 
 sorbing narratives imaginable. Believing that 
 others would be delighted, amused and instructed 
 by what seems more than the hallucinations of the 
 over-excited brain of the author "A Recluse of 
 the Mountains," the complete story is here laid 
 before an intelligent and cultured reading world. 
 
 A STRANGE PRELIMINARY EPISODE. 
 
 THE FALL OF THE AEROLITE. 
 
 Near the southeastern boundary of New York, 
 at the foot of Mount Riga, in early times, there ex- 
 isted a great natural wonder. It was a cavern or 
 passageway into the mountain. Its opening re- 
 sembled a roughly cut doorway into a great rock. 
 A diminutive stream of water trickled down from 
 the heights through this opening. The way into 
 the cave was a sharp downward incline, in the 
 shadow of giant trees, and among ugly looking 
 boulders, strewn around as if by some mighty 
 volcanic upheaval. Viewed from the bottom and 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 5 
 
 looking up from its deep recesses, it appears as 
 though there had once been a narrow chasm, but 
 by some mighty eruptive disturbance, sending huge 
 masses downward, the rocks had met at the top, 
 and partly filling the opening, left but a treacher- 
 ous footpath through it all. 
 
 Here, towards the end of the summer in the year 
 1776, a strange event transpired. It is midnight. 
 A dense darkness prevails. Ever since noon, heavy, 
 ominous clouds have hung over this region. Sud- 
 denly the storm bursts forth in all its fury. A tor- 
 nado of wind drives the rain in sheets over the 
 drenched ground. Incessant flashes of lightning 
 cross the skies. Amidst the uninterrupted roll of 
 thunder can be heard the fall of majestic oaks, 
 snapped like saplings by the storm. 
 
 Far away on the horizon, amidst the screeching 
 and howling of the elements, a spark of fire ap- 
 pears. As it circles nearer and nearer it increases 
 in size and luminosity. It lights up the murky sky 
 for miles. At its swift approach the revolt of na- 
 ture increases, as if to herald the nearing of the 
 startling phenomenon. 
 
 On comes the ball of fire, increasing in intensity. 
 A train of sparks, looking as if millions of stars 
 had been hurled from above, accompanies the 
 flaming stranger. 
 
 The place from which I, " The Recluse of the 
 Mountains," had intently observed this atmospheric 
 commotion, is the entrance of the cave, at the foot 
 of this declivity, where I now dwell. Terrified, I 
 fly to my subterranean abode. The celestial visitor 
 of midnight strikes the earth with a deafening 
 crash, right at my door, thereby making a prisoner 
 of me walled in, as it were, in the bowels of the 
 earth. In my consternation, I did not at first com- 
 prehend my horrible situation ; but the intense 
 
6 BEN BEOR. 
 
 heat of the monster-meteor, as I. now saw the fiery 
 body to be, soon brought me to my senses. What 
 am I to do ? aged and feeble, with no other tools 
 than yonder spade and hammer! Should I be 
 spared a fearful death by being roasted alive, my 
 provisions will soon give out and I must die of 
 starvation. Was ever man so terribly situated ? 
 
 Thick beads of perspiration drip from my fore- 
 head. In my frenzied despair I snatch the ham- 
 mer. Scarcely knowing what I do, I approach the 
 boulder, and with all the power left in my withered 
 arms, strike. Am I awake, or is all this a dream ? 
 As if by magic, the monster which holds me im- 
 prisoned falls to pieces. In my joy at being re- 
 leased from my awful predicament, I did not at 
 first notice that the aerolite had broken into long, 
 even slabs. As soon, however, as I became aware 
 of it, irrepressible curiosity took possession of me. 
 I approach the debris and examine the plates by 
 their own light. They are red-hot. One of them 
 lies with its inside surface turned directly towards 
 me. I can scarcely believe my eyes : it is covered 
 from top to bottom with writing characters 
 which I recognize to be Hebrew. I now proceed 
 with great caution to make egress and ingress pos- 
 sible. It is daylight when, with my few utensils, 
 I succeed in removing the obstacles out of my 
 way by carefully drawing them inside of my cave. 
 Spread out as the parts lay there, it took several 
 days before they cooled sufficiently to be easily 
 handled. All were numbered, and therefore easily 
 arranged in consecutive order. 
 
 I am impatient to commence the work of trans- 
 lating the strange inscriptions into the English 
 language. Once perfectly familiar with the vernac- 
 ular of the Scriptures, it is years since I had occa- 
 sion to use it. I must obtain the necessary books 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 7 
 
 to refresh my memory. This is a difficult task. 
 Procuring a trusty messenger, one who had done 
 errands for me before, I gave him written instruc- 
 tions and despatched him to the city. When at 
 last he returned, he brought some old, worm-eaten 
 tomes a Hebrew Pentateuch, grammar and dic- 
 tionary. And now there commenced for me the 
 absorbing study of the intricacies and irregularities 
 of the Oriental tongue. The worry with these, 
 and my impatience to unravel the mysteries on the 
 plates, were so engrossing that I forgot everything 
 else yea, as it will be shown in the sequel, my 
 own identity. It became a mania, a perfect hallu- 
 cination, straining the tension of my mind to its 
 utmost. 
 
 At the expiration of a long time I cannot now 
 tell the number of weeks and months I felt com- 
 petent to commence my ardent labors. From the 
 very start, the story therein revealed became so en- 
 trancing, so absorbing that I did not rest until 
 the whole record on the meteor was completely 
 translated. The precious sheets, which came to me 
 so strangely, are certainly the hugest intaglios in 
 existence, and embody, as I shall give it here, the 
 full history of that mystic person called " THE 
 MAN IN THE MOON." 
 
 INTAGLIO THE FIRST. 
 
 ON, TO THE MOON. 
 
 Herewith is submitted an account of events which 
 recently transpired here, on the Moon; inclusive 
 of authentic testimony relating thereto ; inscribed 
 by duly authorized experts, upon plates of jasper, 
 in my native tongue, the holy Hebrew language. 
 
8 BEN BEOR. 
 
 These were delivered to me, the Prophet Elijah, 
 after being collected with greatest care by the offi- 
 cial scribes, on command of their royal master. 
 The leaves of stone, now carefully cemented to- 
 gether, I shall send earthward through space, from 
 this planet, the Moon; trusting that they may 
 safely reach at the appointed time my native 
 globe. May it then be vouchsafed that some sa- 
 gacious and learned person find them. Such a one 
 will discover that the apparently solid block con- 
 sists of finely divided slabs, on which he may read 
 a full account of a fierce and most terrific rebel- 
 lion, suppressed by me, which threatened to destroy 
 and perhaps utterly annihilate this lunar hemi- 
 sphere, and also, as seemed most likely, of a large 
 portion of the inhabited earth and stellar worlds. 
 
 These celestial annals will constitute an eternal 
 warning to all ambitious malefactors and wicked, 
 crafty schemers ; teaching them the supreme les- 
 son that a higher Power forever rules arid watches 
 over the destinies of the universe, which no auda- 
 cious interference may thwart or ungodly opposi- 
 tion can annul. 
 
 Know then that the fiery chariot in which I 
 was so mysteriously and miraculously translated 
 from the abode of human mortals, a detailed 
 account of which is given in sacred scripture 
 (2 Kings xi.), rose from my Palestinian father- 
 land, steadily and with measureless velocity, 
 through the endless spheres. The wonderful ve- 
 hicle must have appeared to my astounded dis- 
 ciples like a flaming monster. Propelled by the 
 power of two enormous wings, it carried me up- 
 ward with ease and comfort. I lost all knowledge 
 of time and space, and ceased to feel the wants and 
 necessities of my former nature. Thus I drifted 
 along, experiencing the most delightful sensations. 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 9 
 
 Many, many years of mundane reckoning must 
 have elapsed, when at last I came in sight of a 
 luminous heavenly body. Nearer and nearer I 
 approached. As the distance decreased, views, 
 gorgeous in beauty and splendor, appeared on this 
 orb. I could distinguish mountains, lit up on their 
 tops with a sheen of silver, rubies and roses. 
 Shortly after, oceans, lakes and rivers came in 
 sight, forming indescribable combinations of brilli- 
 ant colors. Valleys came into view, where grew 
 trees, the grandeur of whose foliage exceeded any- 
 thing I had ever seen. I soon also beheld plains 
 studded with a luxuriant growth of vegetation and 
 flowers, beautiful beyond all mortal imagination, 
 and whose perfumes, superlatively sweet and exhila- 
 rating, already reached me. Amidst these I sighted 
 a colossal, seemingly endless semicircle of heaven- 
 towering buildings, whose roofs and spires glistened 
 in the morning sun like columns of porphyry 
 studded with diamonds and sapphires. From my 
 yet dizzy height I saw a public square extending 
 for miles. This was black in many places with 
 stirring, fiercely lighting, wildly gesticulating crea- 
 tures. As I came still nearer I noticed that their 
 furious combat abruptly ceased. I perceived also 
 that the contestants resembled my own kind, but 
 were of a ghastly, fierce and combative nature. At 
 last my chariot landed right in the centre of the 
 circle. One army of the heaving, shouting multi- 
 tude made ready to throw itself frantically upon 
 my person, when he who seemed to be leader of 
 the other party of warriors, exercising all his 
 authority and energy, protected me from them. 
 
 I alighted from my chariot, and as I set my feet 
 on the apparently solid ground, I felt a peculiar re- 
 bounding sensation at every step. It seemed as if 
 I was carried involuntarily forward. However, 
 
10 BEN BEOR. 
 
 there was no time granted me for any special 
 observation. The august leader, after a short con- 
 sultation, advanced with his followers, close to 
 where I had halted. By an instantaneous inspira- 
 tion I, according to our Oriental fashion, bowed 
 myself repeatedly and deeply to the ground. Imi- 
 tating my example, he and his host also, and in the 
 same manner, made obeisances. Imagine my great 
 astonishment when their chief addressed to"me, in 
 correct and fluent biblical Hebrew, the following 
 greeting : 
 
 " Hail, illustrious messenger of the Lord ! Wel- 
 come to the Moon ! Thy coming has been foretold 
 in our annals and traditions. The Holy One be 
 glorified, that He hath vouchsafed to let us behold 
 thee face to face. Know then, we have long 
 awaited thee. At no time could thy arrival among 
 the children of the ' Levanah ' (Moon) have been 
 more opportune and welcome than on this day, 
 for we are in great need, trouble and anxiety. 
 Often have we cried out unto the Lord for mercy 
 and aid, and have lifted up our eyes unto the endless 
 heights whence shall come our help. Blessed be 
 thy coming among us, and" may be blessed thy 
 dwelling in our midst !" 
 
 These words sounded to me, not like human 
 speech, but like the notes from a trumpet. As 
 soon as he had concluded, his attendants, from be- 
 neath their magnificent garbs, produced small, opa- 
 line instruments, and placing them to their lips, 
 they brought forth such strains of melodious music 
 as never before had greeted human ears. 
 
 Then marching ahead, their chief placed his arm 
 in mine and led me triumphantly into a magnifi- 
 cent edifice which stood conspicuously out in gran- 
 deur and beauty from all the rest. Close as he 
 was to me, I could not feel his touch ; but by some 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 11 
 
 unknown influence I was impelled forward with a 
 motion which resembled the modulated heaving to 
 and fro of a w r ell-trained camel. We soon en- 
 tered the portals of the gorgeous palace of him 
 whom I learned to be titled " Melech Haivanah." 
 The whole imperial establishment, with its fabu- 
 lous wealth, comfort, and a countless retinue of ser- 
 vants, was placed at my disposal. The chief then 
 informed me that he and his people considered me 
 of divine authority, and that as such I was now 
 constituted their highest judicial tribune. Oral 
 and documentary evidence would at the earliest 
 possible moment be brought before me. This ap- 
 pertained to a stirring and ominous event a revo- 
 lution now agitating all the lunar inhabitants. I 
 was to finally adjudge the transgressors. 
 
 A sovereign proclamation was at once issued to 
 every part of the satellite, for the purpose of im- 
 mediately assembling the inhabitants, to give testi- 
 mony and hear judgment. 
 
 It was now night. A semi-darkness, which fol- 
 lows gradually the brilliancy of a long day, bring- 
 ing out in magnificent splendor all the visible 
 constellations of the horizon. As I stand in one 
 of the huge porticoes of this palace, gazing heaven- 
 wards, I behold with amazement what I believe to 
 be the earth. Resembling a gigantic ball of 
 polished steel, it sweeps through the spheres in 
 majestic grandeur. But most bewildering and 
 overwhelming is the appearance in that section of 
 the sky where the sun has lately disappeared. 
 There, at this instant, the sky is lit up like an iri- 
 descent crown, from which extend longer or shorter 
 volumes of rays, now one-colored, blending white; 
 now in all the brilliant hues and tints of a rain- 
 bow, enveloping the gorgeous landscape in a sheen 
 and halo of supreme glory. 
 
12 BEN BEOR. 
 
 INTAGLIO THE SECOND. 
 
 THE KOYAL PROCLAMATION. 
 
 We, Meleeh and Malkah, King and Queen of 
 the Moon, with strange and deeply apprehensive 
 emotions for which our speech yields no fitting ex- 
 pression, issue this our sacred and regal proclama- 
 tion, for the purpose of exposing the causes of the 
 revolutionary state in our realm : 
 
 We command that from the ranks of our im- 
 perial scribes a number of the most distinguished 
 for diction, erudition and skill be hereby commis- 
 sioned to indite upon imperishable material, at the 
 will and pleasure of our Messianic messenger, sent 
 to us by the Father of the universe, the full text 
 of this our sovereign mandate, together with such 
 testimony and evidence as will be given by the 
 chiefs and sages of our people, relative to our 
 present condition. Let our confidential counselors 
 and advisers appear and fully relate the awful 
 events which have resulted in the present danger- 
 ous attitude among our subjects. 
 
 To this time, before the thoughts of our people 
 were disturbed by non-lunar agitations and agita- 
 tors, ours was a condition without grief, sorrow 
 or envy. Here we are placed on probation, to re- 
 deem ourselves gradually, and be re-accepted by 
 the great Father, whom in our existence in a 
 former life we had offended. From time immemo- 
 rial, all who have been privileged to rise to this 
 preliminary state of atonement have steadily and 
 conscientiously labored to attain the object of their 
 ultimate reconciliation with our Creator. This 
 task of merciful redemption continued until woe 
 -to the hour! a person crafty, skilful, learned and 
 unregenerated came among us. Disappointed am- 
 bition and jealous passion were rekindled in him 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 13 
 
 soon after his arrival. Traitor and rebel, lie inces- 
 santly has tried to seduce our unwary people into 
 his wicked schemes. The first evidence of his 
 retrogression was by his inventing and constructing 
 a huge eye-tube, with great magnifying power. He 
 must have learned this art from the " astrologers 
 of earth," perverting the beneficent use of ad- 
 vanced science there, to his own selfish plans and 
 objects here. For this purpose he utilized the 
 crystallized rocks of our mountains. On one of 
 the highest eminences which tower over this city 
 he had erected his observatory, and from there 
 learned whatever transpires on earth, communicat- 
 ing industriously the guilty knowledge to the 
 eager, listening and excited people. Permission to 
 erect these buildings had been obtained by false 
 and hypocritical representations. The vacillating 
 multitude had been continually informed, for a 
 revolutionary purpose, which he had most cun- 
 ningly devised, of whatever was going on over 
 yonder on the mundane sphere, in whose wake our 
 lunar globe follows. A great many of you, our 
 people, were thus led astray by this arch-fiend, who 
 schemed to use you for vengeance on your sover- 
 eigns. Your sleeping passions awakened, and 
 your curiosity inflamed, you gloat greedily on all 
 the folly, sin and crime transpiring continually on 
 our terrestrial neighbor. By this wicked waste of 
 your energies, your dormant mortal vices have 
 been re-aroused, and these have caused among us a 
 perilous state of revolutionary commotion. With 
 the ordinary means at our command, we can no 
 longer control the mutiny. Newcomers continu- 
 ally arriving, as heretofore, shadow-creatures like 
 ourselves, yet in the lowest state of spiritual de- 
 velopment, instead of falling into line to work out 
 by slow degrees the task of regaining their lost 
 
14 BEN BEOR. 
 
 perfection, now join blindly our ungovernable, re- 
 bellious subjects. 
 
 Worse than this, the same scheming brain 
 which produced that ill-omened eye-tube has lately 
 discovered and mixed chemicals of the most terrific 
 explosive power. We were in duty bound to forc- 
 ibly seize and confiscate them. Experiments made 
 in our presence prove conclusively that with a 
 sufficient quantity of this new, hitherto unknown 
 compound, a large portion of the visible universe 
 might be blown into atoms. We have caused this 
 dangerous person to be held in solitary confine- 
 ment. A large quantity of the terrible substance 
 which he manufactured lias been carefully con- 
 cealed, and the place of its storage watched day 
 and night by trusty servants. The knowledge of 
 the existence of this murderous mixture has gotten 
 abroad, and even now you, our unruly people, are 
 plotting to gain possession of it and thereby over- 
 throw our power. This accomplished, you mean 
 then to destroy the largest portion of our planetary 
 neighbors, and making slaves of the rest, appropri- 
 ate to yourselves all their possessions. 
 
 In our sacred annals and by long tradition it has 
 been foretold that such an inevitable crisis must 
 surely come, upon us, but that in the hour of 
 
 Greatest peril a sublunar messenger, sent direct by 
 rovidence, would avert a crime, the commission 
 of which would forever doom us to eternal damna- 
 tion. The prophecy is now fulfilled ! In the very 
 hour of our greatest need, when the combat for our 
 overthrow is upon us, the divine ambassador of the 
 Lord hath arrived ! 
 
 We therefore, by the power vested in us, as your 
 King and Queen, command that all our subjects, 
 inclusive of our chiefs and counselors, shall forth- 
 with appear before the great Prophet in the public 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 15 
 
 square before our palace, with such evidence, testi- 
 mony and annals as shall enable him fairly and 
 impartially to pronounce judgment. So that his 
 will, as the will of the All-Father, be done ! 
 
 Signed, sealed and promulgated in this first 
 period of the heavenly messenger's arrival. 
 
 MELECH HALVANAH, 
 MALEAH L'VANAH. 
 
 INTAGLIO THE THIED. 
 
 In obedience to and conformity with your royal 
 mandate and proclamation, O gracious Melech and 
 Malkah, and for the people and counselors of state 
 here assembled, and with delight and satisfaction, 
 no less than great apprehension, I, the Prime 
 Minister of State, appear before thee, divine mes- 
 senger of the Lord, in my own behalf as well as 
 that of my associates and fellow-officers. I hope 
 and pray that thy auspicious presence among us 
 may be the signal for allaying the fearful disturb- 
 ances now threatening this realm. May it restore 
 to our good and benignant rulers and their turbu- 
 lent subjects the beneficent peace, harmony and 
 good-will which have existed here beyond the 
 memory of the oldest generation, but which now 
 are greatly endangered. 
 
 I came to this sphere from a dark abode, where 
 1 had been consigned to atone for my cruelty and 
 a despotic exercise of power, in life on earth, the 
 maledicted king, Eameses of Egypt, who enslaved 
 a free people. After an immeasurable time of 
 purification, by untold terrible sufferings below, I 
 rose at last to the ameliorated condition vouchsafed 
 
16 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to the repentant offenders on this moon-sphere. 
 Here I was elevated by degrees to the exalted 
 office of Counselor of State. Cheerfully do I now 
 come forward to testify as to what I know authori- 
 tatively concerning the subject at issue. Fore- 
 most I bear witness, that during the long period in 
 which I have been attached to this court, my 
 beloved, worshipped sovereigns have, by their mild 
 rules, regulations and best of laws, created a gov- 
 ernment the like of which can be found only 
 among the angels who throng around the throne of 
 the Lord. The freest exercise of liberty, secured 
 by the participation of all classes in devising and 
 framing the codes of legislation, produces that 
 happy state of affairs which brings about mutual 
 good-will between rulers and subjects. Nowhere 
 is there any cause for discontent. 
 
 All have the blessed privilege of living in frater- 
 nal relations, enjoying universal equality and free- 
 dom, and the possible advance and elevation of the 
 individual. In fact, the reigning powers are simply 
 executive chiefs. They share responsibility and 
 labors with trusted and well-proven ministers. 
 The only right reserved to them exclusively is to 
 declare inoperative any ordinance which without 
 mature consideration has been enacted. 
 
 The great underlying principle of our govern- 
 ment consists in steadily advancing all classes as- 
 signed to this sphere to the once lost favor of our 
 Maker. The pardoning power is vested as a pre- 
 rogative in the throne. It happens seldom, and 
 in only isolated cases, that a turbulent spirit, under 
 rash impulses, becomes refractory and liable to 
 legal penalties. The high privileges of their 
 majesties may then forgive freely and generously, 
 restoring the erring to their former condition, if 
 the offender truly repents and petitions for pardon. 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 17 
 
 We have three classes of inhabitants. 
 the Newcomers, arriving, no one knows whence, 
 regularly and steadily increasing the sum-total of 
 our population. Emerging in a low state of re- 
 habilitation of grace, they are assigned to such 
 public works as are in progress of construction at 
 their arrival. Males and females are employed in 
 accordance with their capacities and inclinations. 
 
 They receive from the general store-houses, 
 everything necessary for subsistence and comfort. 
 At no time are they required to labor to over-exer- 
 tion. The greater portion of their existence is 
 spent under carefully selected tutors, who watch 
 over their mental improvement. No inconsider- 
 able attention is paid to innocent and exhilarating 
 amusements. They choose their- own officers and 
 chiefs, who maintain order, regularity and industry 
 among the ranks, keep the records of individuals 
 as to behavior, progress, and increased spiritual ad- 
 vance, and represent this class also in the differ- 
 ent councils of our nation. At the end of stated 
 epochs, those who by faithful discharge of duty 
 and general good conduct have reached the point 
 of promotion are, amidst great festivities and joy- 
 ous jubilations, advanced to the Second Class. 
 This consists of subjects who, after long and careful 
 training, by which they have attained skill, taste 
 and refinement, are permitted, according to talents 
 and natural gifts, to participate in the designing 
 and execution of the higher works of art, or in the 
 study and advancement of the sciences and all 
 branches of learning. Before one can advance to 
 this department he must evince and prove the ut- 
 most exactitude for any work, the finest sensibili- 
 ties in deportment, and the very highest ambition 
 to excel. Sluggards, drones and shirks, after cau- 
 tion and reprimands, are consigned again to their 
 
18 BEN BEOR. 
 
 former grade. In this second class the work is 
 regularly alternated with intelligent amusement, 
 consisting of musical and dramatic feasts, together 
 with games which tax the ingenuity of the mind. 
 This department also selects from its best and 
 most favored members such officers as are required 
 to preserve discipline, order and decorum, and for 
 representation in the national councils. 
 
 A great but honest and good-natured rivalry ex- 
 ists among the aspirants for such places. It is an 
 absolute condition to have held some such post of 
 honor before any member has a claim for being 
 elevated into the Third Class. Advancement to 
 this order occurs only at remote periods, requiring 
 special proclamation from the reigning sovereigns. 
 Trying ordeals and the approval of every member 
 already inscribed on the rolls here are the condi- 
 tions for admission. Purity, unselfishness, justice 
 and righteousness, as indispensable qualifications 
 for every member in this exalted sphere, preclude 
 the exercise of prejudice or wrong towards those 
 whom they are as anxious to welcome as the ap- 
 plicants are to be admitted. This circle of the 
 elect occupies itself mainly with devising and over- 
 seeing the educational, social, moral and devotional 
 institutes and the general welfare of the whole 
 community. Every one here must contribute 
 works of knowledge, wisdom and truth on the 
 loftiest plans of piety and moral goodness. They 
 select from their number several dignitary officers: 
 First, a Counselor of State, who holds the highest 
 rank in all public deliberations and presides over 
 the regular meetings of the representative common 
 legislature. "Why thy humble servant ever was 
 chosen to this honor, I cannot account for. Over- 
 ruling Providence at last must have accepted my 
 remorse and repentance, and granted forgiveness to 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 19 
 
 this extent to one who had spent a mortal life in 
 error, cruelty and crime. Next, co-ordinate with 
 my lofty office, are these thy servants who stand 
 here by my side : the High Priest of morals and 
 religion ; the great Purveyor of common comforts ; 
 the Administrator of law and justice; the Head 
 Warden of public property, and the Captain-Gen- 
 eral of the regal guards ; each one with distinct 
 and precisely defined duties and obligations. My 
 report would be totally incomplete were I not 
 fully to explain the glorious tasks and fate which 
 thus far have always awaited those of our number 
 who are chosen as our sovereigns. His Majesty 
 " the Melech " is always selected by a necessary 
 unanimous vote from the ranks of the high coun- 
 cil, and this choice must be approved by all the 
 classes. When so confirmed, his consort, if he have 
 one if not, he must select and take one by right 
 of her conjugal alliance, shares with him all the 
 duties and honors of the throne, and becomes 
 thereby " the Malkah." As soon as they are 
 crowned which is done amidst the prayers and 
 jubilees of the whole nation, attended by long 
 feasts of rejoicing they devote themselves thence- 
 forth to the most scrupulous, faithful and zealous 
 discharge of their regal duties and prerogatives. 
 At last, in due course of time, arrives the final 
 mysterious translation of these rnonarchs, and with 
 them such officers and members from the third 
 class who are deemed worthy, to the blissful realm 
 of the purified, re-accepted host of salvation 
 whether to some other celestial sphere for higher 
 and final approbation, or direct to the throne of the 
 Redeemed, we are not permitted to know. As the 
 period of this august event approaches, unwonted 
 heavenly signs appear. The constellations of the 
 stars shine brighter; the earth glows more brilli- 
 
20 BEN BEOR. 
 
 antly, and the corona of the sun, where that 
 mighty world moves, increases in caloric and lumi- 
 nous force. With, tears and wailing begins the 
 leave-taking. Those so beloved, so endeared, so 
 cherished and revered by their fellow-dwellers on 
 this orb will soon be gone. Yet it is the climax, 
 end and object of our temporary residence here, and 
 this consideration reconciles us to the sad farewell 
 with our friends. Soon the heavenly spheres sencl 
 forth strains of triumphal music; showers of light 
 and fire blaze forth suddenly. Then impenetrable 
 darkness; and when this is gradually lifted, the 
 selected are with us no longer. Forthwith their 
 successors are chosen, the sovereigns crowned, and 
 the new officers installed to their places of duty. 
 Mourning and weeping are changed into a season 
 of rejoicing and jubilees, and everything soon pro- 
 ceeds in its usual course. 
 
 Authorized by these my beloved coadjutors, I 
 will, on the basis of the information thus far con- 
 veyed by my testimony, add such further evidence 
 in our cause as may be deemed necessary for thee, 
 great prophet, to fully understand and adjudge 
 the great disturbance by which our realm has 
 lately been thrown into confusion, imminent dan- 
 ger, and apprehended destruction. To this will 
 finally be added a full statement by my fondly 
 loved sister, our adored Malkah. She is in ex- 
 clusive charge of the most important department 
 of u Supervision of Domestic Life." In her posses- 
 sion is information which will throw full light on 
 the perplexing affairs now dominant among us. 
 Thou wilt next deign to have brought before thee 
 the wondrous prisoner of state, the cunning de- 
 signer of the fatal magnifying lenses and crafty 
 inventor of the infernal explosive, by means and 
 power of which he has become the origin and 
 cause of all our troubles. 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 21 
 
 Lend thine ear then patiently to the recitals in 
 behalf of my compeers, who have entreated me to 
 make for them the following reports and give 
 special information concerning the sad changes 
 in our former condition. O, benign ambassador 
 of the Lord! behold to what our recent placidity 
 of governmental affairs has been brought, since 
 that accursed mechanician has arrived among us. 
 
 Successfully arousing the discontent of our 
 people, he lias made great numbers mutinous by 
 ridiculing their submissive obedience to the estab- 
 lished order of our laws. Watching from the ob- 
 servatory, lie would explain to his followers what 
 he saw going on among the race of humanity, upon 
 yonder terrestrial globe. It is certainly astonish- 
 ing how the instrument placed in the tower will 
 bring to view, in clearest detail, even small objects 
 millions of miles away. This is unquestionably 
 due to the peculiar properties of a brilliant quartz 
 abundantly found in our mountains. By an easy 
 manipulation, these pebbles are readily ground into 
 disks and finely polished. Through this process 
 they attain enormous sight-power, which this 
 person has greatly increased by arranging several 
 of such glasses in an immense longitudinal tube. 
 If it be thy pleasure, at the conclusion of hearing 
 our testimony, thou may'st convince thyself of all 
 with thine own eyes. From this source the villain 
 tells his eager listeners of battles raging on earth 
 between different sections. Riders on strange 
 quadrupeds, he tells them, fly from place to place. 
 Chariots resembling the one in which thou hast 
 made thy appearance among us, are driven in end- 
 less numbers hither and thither. Hosts of people, 
 armed with fearful-looking weapons, march against 
 one another. Cities, towns and hamlets go up in 
 fire. Now one is declared victorious, and then the 
 other. 
 
22 BEN BEOK. 
 
 The conquerors carry those not slain, loaded in 
 chains after them, possessing themselves of their 
 females, whom they make their wives or concu- 
 bines. They despoil the countries so conquered of 
 everything valuable, and take the lands. I myself 
 have looked through that tube and observed this 
 to be the fact. Even thou, in thy supernatural 
 character, wilt find it difficult to realize the over- 
 whelming extent of the havoc and butchery which 
 thou shalt behold when making observations 
 through that instrument. By hearing continued 
 recitals of such wild events, our people are aroused 
 to passions beyond control. The triumph of glitter 
 and glory ; the wallowing in sensual pleasures ; 
 the heaping up of treasures and possessions of 
 riches by one party at the expense of another; the 
 deeds of crime and sanguinary vengeance perpe- 
 trated, and enjoyed with ghoulish glee; the feast- 
 ing and revelry in the gorgeous halls, attended by 
 mad music and lascivious dances ; the frailty and 
 debauchery of women and the unscrupulousness 
 and folly of men such are the pictures continually 
 portrayed before the eyes of our lunar inhabitants. 
 Then he has fired their imaginations by holding 
 out a possibility, through his scientific inventions, 
 of leaving our present abode on the moon and tak- 
 ing forcible possession of the earth, with all its 
 wealth and pleasures. " Too long,' 7 he exclaimed 
 to the deluded shadow-creatures, "has this orb, 
 like unto a wind-blown cloud, followed obedi- 
 ently her planetary sister. We will teach, with 
 fearful lessons, our arrogant lord and master that 
 the time has come for us to command and others 
 to obey." Thus envy, jealousy and savage anger 
 are raised to fever-heat. Numbers from all classes 
 have been enticed away from us. They no longer 
 content themselves with the quiet life to which 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 23 
 
 they heretofore have been accustomed. Labor is 
 abandoned. Various excuses for quitting work are 
 put forth. Hours are too long reward is too small 
 conditions are too hard. All crave to be masters 
 none will serve. Fanatical dreamers stir up 
 those who were heretofore docile. Such, who 
 formerly took pride in their handiwork, now rave 
 against hated situations. Educational efforts are 
 laughed at as effeminating. Teachers, no less infat- 
 uated by folly and false principles than their 
 pupils, invent and propagate theories by which the 
 whole structure of our society ultimately must be 
 ruined and shattered. Everywhere the spirit of in- 
 subordination and revolt becomes visible, and vio- 
 lent outbreaks may be expected at any moment. 
 It ia impossible at present to know whom to trust 
 or whom to suspect. All boundaries of respect, 
 loyalty and affection are effaced. Remonstrances 
 with the masses and chiefs are in vain. Warnings 
 that they, by destroying the free and liberal govern- 
 ment under which we live and have so splendidly 
 prospered, will soon relegate them to the fearful, 
 black abode of chaos, suffering, vassalage and tor- 
 ments, are not heeded. But our crowning misfor- 
 tune comes from certain secret associations and so- 
 cieties which have sprung up among us. Their 
 members, by a most cunning policy, are pledged 
 with awful oaths never to reveal their objects and 
 doings. Here, villainous and shocking plots are 
 propagated, under the direction and guidance of 
 unprincipled, degenerated and wily officers. Had 
 these organizations been directed to proper and 
 noble purposes, they might have become powerful 
 agencies for good. Perverted as they are, they 
 have developed into most destructive means. 
 
 Especially injurious has all this perversion been 
 to our spiritual affairs, in this, that while here- 
 
24: BEN BEOR. 
 
 tofore we were one people in the worship and 
 adoration of our "All-Father," we acknowledged 
 in Him the one, great, omnipotent Power who 
 directs, governs and loves every creature ; He who 
 punishes sin, but in mercy never forsakes the sin- 
 ner altogether: in this simple faith we had no 
 doubts, no controversies. It formed the only stan- 
 dard by which all were admitted; every action 
 was adjusted by this scale ; it guided us to purity 
 of thought, and raised us in our moral conceptions 
 of truth, with the inspiring hope of final redemp- 
 tion ; but now, all is in a condition of upheaval 
 and commotion in imitation of the fierce struggles 
 which prevail on earth concerning creeds and 
 faiths. 
 
 They know of the splendor of temples, whose 
 altars drip with the blood of human sacrifices, 
 dedicated to all kinds of silly idols. They then 
 are told of Mount Zion, on whose eminence an 
 edifice rears its domes and towers heavenward, 
 dedicated to the service of the One great Jehovah ; 
 while His priests now revel in debauchery, and 
 vie with each other in efforts for domineering 
 power. 
 
 They are cunningly made aware of the fact 
 that there are hosts of men who neither believe in 
 a God nor have hopes, faiths or loves, and yet 
 pretend to be happy and content, by their maxim, 
 " Live to-day and die to-morrow." And while our 
 deluded subjects should know better from their 
 former experiences, yet all these representations 
 have so beclouded their minds and consciences 
 that they now make new religions and imitate all 
 the grotesque and ludicrous performances which 
 they know exist on earth. 
 
 In all of this we have a clear demonstration of 
 what the example, teachings and influence of one 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 25 
 
 
 
 bold, bad man may do. These so unfortunate 
 complications, with others such as will be brought 
 to thy knowledge, have produced a crazed and 
 anomalous condition of our people, manifested by 
 the insane and unaccountable purpose to storm the 
 citadel where is stored the terrible explosive, and 
 possessing themselves of the chemicals, liberate the 
 rebel who manufactured it, and under his leader- 
 ship blow up the earth. 
 
 Such an attempt was in progress at the moment 
 of thy arrival, at the instant of our great need. 
 
 May the will of God be done ! Selah. 
 
 INTAGLIO THE FOUKTH. 
 
 MALKAH LEVANAH. 
 
 Section I. Her Mortal Youth. 
 
 I, Malkah Levanah, on whose brow sleeps im- 
 perial honor, stand now before Messiah's mystic 
 messenger with lips unsealed by the hand of con- 
 fession. Obedient to the mandate which says to 
 my spirit : " Roll back the ages of silence, unwind 
 the shrouds of centuries, exhume a dead life from 
 the embrace of time," I unloose my thoughts like 
 white-winged doves over the wild waters of memory. 
 
 The tree of eternity lias borne the blossoms of 
 repeated centuries since the beginning and end of 
 my earthly existence, when the spirit which now 
 reigns " Queen of the Moon " wore that wan, 
 throbbing mantle of flesh, endowed with so se- 
 ductive a fairness that it won for its hapless posses- 
 sor wild worship, wedded to wilder woe. Now, after 
 the lapse of long ages, as I recall the dew-gemmed 
 hours of my youth on earth, strange, sweet emo- 
 tions bud into my consciousness like flowers spring- 
 
26 BEN BEOR. 
 
 % 
 
 ing up on a grave ; and as with faltering grasp I 
 unwrap the winding-sheets of long eras of silence, 
 endless recollections assail me, as the pungent odors 
 from the yellow linen of a mummy. 
 
 While on earth I was no stranger to thy people, 
 O august ambassador of the Lord ! and believe 
 that even now the chosen descendants of Father 
 Abraham hold me in grateful and loving remem- 
 brance as the only daughter of the great Pharaoh. 
 " Merris," the dove-eyed, the brilliant, the beauti- 
 ful, was the pride of the palace, the pet of the 
 people. When as a little child I played in the 
 royal gardens with my beloved brother Rameses, 
 obsequious servants followed every footstep, antici- 
 pating my slightest wish. Did my glance, travers- 
 ing the path of the gorgeous butterfly, rest for one 
 instant on a flower, its bloom lay instantly in my 
 hand ; if, charmed for the moment by the sweet 
 chorus of the singing birds, I turned a listening ear, 
 the cages were opened for my childish fingers to 
 fondle the tame singers. I smiled on a fruit and in 
 a twinkling it lay before me, mirrored on a plate of 
 crystal or gold. In a word, I, the king's proud 
 daughter, was surfeited with admiration, attention 
 and love. Surrounded by every gorgeous element 
 which could assist in developing an innate love for 
 all that was beautiful and sublime, my childhood 
 passed, and the dawn of womanhood found me 
 proud, ambitious, hopeful, impassioned, and brim- 
 ming over with all the exalted emotions of fervid 
 youth. Steeped in music, poetry and art, yet with 
 insatiate thirst I sought to drink from every fount 
 of knowledge ; bent eagerly over the papyri, all 
 musty with yellowed hieroglyphics of ancient 
 seers; watched with flashing eyes the wheeling 
 stars in their strange courses, striving to wrest 
 from those far-off lips their secrets, and passionately 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 27 
 
 yearned with an envious heart for the burning gift 
 of prophecy. 
 
 As the king's petted daughter I queened it in 
 the grand imperial palaces, my royal influences oft 
 swaying the throne itself, and my universal eru- 
 dition even gaining rne admittance to the secret 
 councils, when wise men of the nations met in 
 veiled conclave at the bidding of my Pharaonic 
 sire. Poets penned my praise, the magi hung over 
 my haughty head, predicting certain glories of 
 coming honors, and princes Sowed at my shrine, 
 devoted slaves, eager to win the marriage-ring. 
 But with joyous pulses yet unquickened by the 
 glowing influences of love, I proudly withdrew from 
 every aspirant and reveled in the wild sweetness 
 of my maiden liberty. Ah! that fateful moment 
 the richest and most eventful in a woman's life 
 had not yet arrived, when the angel of passion 
 would descend to trouble the pure waters of my 
 tranquil spirit. 
 
 Section II. Finding of Moses. 
 
 One balmy morning, when the whole exquisite 
 land lay palpitating beneath the sun's hot kisses, 
 surrounded by my maidens of honor a crown- 
 diamond encircled by sparkling jewels 1 sought, 
 as is the custom of Egypt's women, the limpid 
 waves of the holy Nile for my matin ablutions. 
 Poised on the velvet bank, one foot teasing the 
 rippling waters and blushing to view my nude re- 
 flection broken in the pure mirror of the stream at 
 a spot where rushes, gigantic lotus, leaves and 
 blooms hid me from intrusive eyes like a lace- 
 webbed mantle hark ! a musical note smites my 
 ear a gurgle, a coo, the sweet soft sounds of baby 
 laughter, and in one moment more a vision drifted 
 
28 BEN BEOR. 
 
 on my gaze which filled me with womanly rapture, 
 apprehension and tremor. Cradled amidst the 
 emerald papyrus- stalks and pillowed on softest 
 mosses, lay in a well- woven casket of impervious 
 matting a tiny infant, of beauty so marvelous that 
 its pure soul seemed to permeate its faultless form 
 like a reflex of light shining through a rose-colored 
 shell. One of my maids was at once beckoned to 
 my aid ; she quickly waded to the spot where the 
 little waif was rocked by the waters and brought 
 the infant to me. In a burst of delight I lifted the 
 lovely babe to my bosom and pressed my lips again 
 and again to its coral-tinted, smiling mouth. " It 
 is mine ! " I cried ; " a gift not only from the exalted 
 river, but from death itself. This little life which 
 Isis has granted me the happy chance to save, shall 
 henceforth be my care. Be his name called most 
 fittingly i the gift of the waters ' ' Osarsiph ' in 
 our native Egyptian tongue, ' Moses' in the Chal- 
 dee language." 
 
 It is useless to tell thee this well-known history of 
 thy Hebrew people, were it not that sequels bear- 
 ing directly upon my earth-life became connected 
 therewith which never have been revealed to the 
 outside world, being kept undisclosed in the sacred 
 archives of our priests. In vain my prudent at- 
 tendants endeavored to check my transport by re- 
 minding me of my father's late decree. By this 
 the unfortunate descendants of the Hebrew Patri- 
 arch Jacob were doomed, as the feared and shunned 
 slaves of our nation ; to which had been added that 
 every new-born male child should be killed by the 
 hands of its own mother. No doubt this darling 
 foundling was one of these Hebrew children, placed 
 in the bulrushes by maternal love, stronger than 
 kings and princes, with the hope that her beautiful 
 offspring might be rescued by some providential 
 power. 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 29 
 
 " Nevertheless shall I keep him ! " I reiterated, 
 sealing the vow with many lingering kisses ; and 
 as his little dimpled hands fluttered on my breast, 
 the heart beneath throbbed strong and warm with 
 the firm impulses for his preservation and defense. 
 Not until long afterwards did I know that the joy- 
 ous eyes which watched me through the thickets 
 and the burst of thanksgiving that arose to the 
 common Father of all belonged to " Miriam," an 
 elder sister of my adopted son, who had placed her- 
 self there in agonized watchfulness to see what 
 would become of her loved little brother. 
 
 Approaching, she asked : " Shall I bring thee a 
 nurse for the little one?" I quickly consented, 
 and she presently returned with a finely-developed 
 matron, into whose care I gave the infant. As 
 I laid the babe in her trembling arms and he 
 cradled his sweet head on her bosom, the secret re- 
 vealed itself to me. The woman, who gave her 
 name as " Jochebet," was declared, louder than 
 thunder-tones could proclaim it, saluted by those 
 dimpling, speechless, milky lips, the mother of that 
 baby boy. Preserved from the savage mercilessness 
 of man and the unconscious cruelty of the waters, 
 the young Moses was restored to the cradle which 
 nature had ordained for him, the tender keeping of 
 his own maternal parent. When after a year the 
 little treasure, plump, healthy and of wonderful 
 growth, was returned to me at the palace, the king, 
 with a brief reproof softened by a doting, paternal 
 smile, excused my temerity, and the gift of the 
 sacred Nile was left to thrive under my guarding 
 eyes at the imperial court. 
 
 Section III. B alack and Balaam. 
 
 Chief among the many passions which by turns 
 swayed my mind and filled my youthful hours of 
 
30 BEN BEOR. 
 
 leisure was the graceful art of sculpture, for which 
 the Egyptians were already justly famous. With 
 the warm enthusiasm which distinguishes the pur- 
 suits of the young, I spent hours over my art 
 attempts, guided and directed by the most able 
 and accomplished masters. Just at this time, when 
 niy interest in art was most warmly aroused, the 
 royal prince "Balack," who was also a young 
 sculptor, came to my father's palace from the dis- 
 tant land of Moab. He was accompanied by 
 "Balaam ben Beor," one older than himself, en- 
 dowed with great wisdom, learning and skill in 
 the sciences which made him the superior of all the 
 priests and magi of our land. Both brought such 
 credentials which opened for them the golden portals 
 of highest honors. The strangers were received 
 with distinctions accorded to princely visitors. 
 
 Attracted by mutual tastes, small marvel that 
 the youthful Balack, always accompanied by his 
 ambassador, the ever-watchful Balaam, soon learned 
 to linger in the lofty studio of the young princess, 
 who with all her pride speedily enrolled herself as 
 his pupil. Still does his image flash out from the 
 ashes of time, like a spark of immortal fire which 
 death itself cannot quench. Still can I recall him 
 as I first saw him, glowing with the strength of 
 early manhood and crowned with the bloom of 
 youth. Majesty dwelt in his gestures, eternal 
 promise thrilled in hi.s glance, and genius was en- 
 throned upon his brow. In the crucible of his 
 daily companionship, by that mysterious alchemy 
 which must surely continue to exist even in the 
 vast laboratory of the " forever," each dull and 
 leaden minute was transmuted into gold, and the 
 hours furnished precious links of inexpressible 
 brilliancy to bind our souls together. The realiza- 
 tion which this long trance of communion por- 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 31 
 
 tended to my heart did not at once burst upon my 
 inexperienced consciousness. Learned in the mys- 
 tic signs of the zodiac, I could trace the sparkling 
 pathway of stars and understand the meaning 
 of their wanderings, but the strange and weird 
 signs of the passion of passions, though traced in 
 the horoscope of my own soul, were beautiful but 
 bewildering figures which my dazzled visions failed 
 to interpret. Picture a violet sky wrapped in the 
 palpitating darkness of the night. On the ame- 
 thystine rim of the horizon lies in hiding the mys- 
 terious principle of light, destined to dissipate the 
 sleeping shadows from the sky's soft bosom and 
 thrill it with the burning rapture of dawn. A 
 delicate pearly color steals timidly in the far-away 
 east. A roseate radiance lays hesitating hands on 
 the sombre garments of night. Softly and gradu- 
 ally the sable veil melts away and the snowy 
 corona of dawn is revealed. The light trembles 
 and flashes. A slow r illumination of crimson and 
 gold shines through her half-awakened eyelids. 
 Opaline glimmers of milk and flame tremble 
 through her lifting lashes. Gradually does the 
 rose-flush deepen on her blushing cheeks, does she 
 open wide her violet eyes; then, shivering beneath 
 the ecstatic kiss of light, she throws herself into 
 the passionate arms of morn. 
 
 Is this a faint image of the rise and growth of 
 divine love enkindled in my soul ? I have said it ! 
 
 Wrapped in the indecipherable mantle of the 
 unknown did my beloved come to me, and in 
 secret did we kneel at the passion-draped altar of 
 devotion and drink the sacred cup of earth's 
 sweetest but most dangerous potion. 
 
 It was not long ere the most auspicious moment 
 in my maiden life approached. One balmy morning 
 Balack and myself were engaged in finishing an 
 
32 BEN BEOK. 
 
 ideal group of alabaster, which we had planned 
 and executed together. Balaam had been sum- 
 moned to an audience with the king, and for the 
 first time we found ourselves alone. While en- 
 gaged in this artistic employment, our hands and 
 then our eyes met, and I felt as if a spark of light- 
 ning had suddenly shot to the centre of my heart. 
 Then he knelt at my feet, and with the most im- 
 passioned words avowed that he loved me that I 
 must be his own pleading, as if for life, but for 
 one word of approval, of reciprocation of his pas- 
 sion. It seemed as if I had lost the power of 
 speech and motion. Seeing me thus, he sprang to 
 his feet, pressed me in his arms and imprinted upon 
 my unresisting lips, which never before had been 
 touched by stranger, most enrapturing, never-to- 
 be-forgotten kisses. O happiness! O most exalted 
 joy that I experienced in that moment ! I could 
 not but return the pressure of his hand and answer 
 a faint "yes." 
 
 In this situation we were surprised by the coin- 
 ing of the old companion of my lover, who had 
 entered silently and unobserved. The flashing, 
 angry eyes of this unwelcome intruder boded 
 naught but evil. Placing his arm in that of his 
 master and urging immediate and pressing affairs 
 of state, they left me. Too late, alas! I found 
 that I had enkindled a most unholy passion in the 
 breast of this wicked old man, who in his furious 
 jealousy would prove henceforth my most bitter 
 enemy. By fraudulent despatches, which the 
 scheming monster no doubt held in readiness for 
 any case of emergency, he made my lover's instant 
 departure a necessity. 
 
 Who can describe the anguish which over- 
 whelmed us when the terrible moment of parting 
 arrived ? Then I had to learn, and to realize the 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 33 
 
 stern lesson, that it is man's part to do and woman's 
 to suffer. Clasped in the heaven of his embrace, I 
 nevertheless trembled on the very verge of despair 
 by this sudden separation. To my lacerated heart 
 he sought to apply the sweet balm of soothing 
 words and promises. It was a tearful, agonizing 
 moment, with the only consoling ray in the waver- 
 ing darkness of that hour hope for an early and 
 permanent reunion. 
 
 Blind mortals that we were ! In his over-anxi- 
 ety for my welfare and a desire to keep in direct 
 communion with me, he had, at the urgent request 
 of my father, consented to leave Ben Beor behind. 
 I submitted to his protection. Enchanted by his 
 profound learning and wonderful eloquence, King 
 Pharaoh had become so infatuated with the aged 
 hypocrite as to overwhelm him with honors, be- 
 stowing upon him the noble title " The Wise Man 
 of the East," making him the associate of Jethro, 
 the high-priest of Midian, and Job, the sage from 
 the land of Uz. These three now constituted the 
 chief counselors of the land. It had been given 
 out by the intriguing, wily schemer, that on ac- 
 count of the long absence of Balack from his 
 realms, a violent revolution had broken out in the 
 kingdom of Moab, which required the immediate 
 attention of the young prince. 
 
 As a compensation for retaining Balaam, King 
 Pharaoh furnished his princely visitor with a large 
 retinue of valiant charioteers and servants, con- 
 cluding on his departure an alliance and treaty of 
 peace and eternal friendship. 
 
 After the idol of my heart had left, the mount- 
 ing billows of my life sank to their old level, as the 
 tides of despairing sorrow subsided. Time, the 
 great harvester, went his tireless way. The 
 sheaves of days, weeks and months were bound up 
 
34 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and laid away in the eternal granary. A year 
 rolled round, but still no word of tenderness from 
 my absent lover winged its way to my waiting 
 soul. 
 
 Section IV. "The Wise Man of the East." 
 
 At my age, the buoyancy of }'outh, with the fer- 
 vor and zeal attending the various occupations into 
 which I plunged with greater assiduity than ever, 
 helped me to bear with patience and fortitude my 
 heart-hunger, and pass the time trying to forget my 
 troubles. In this I was greatly comforted by little 
 Moses, my cherished water-waif, who had grown in 
 strength and beauty. Words of childish wisdom 
 fell like pearls from his lips, and even my kingly 
 father with unwonted tenderness bent low his ear 
 when the rosy mouth of the toddler parted. Once 
 when the court was robed in its richest for the 
 annual assembling of "The Three Wise Men," it 
 happened that little Moses found access to the hall 
 where the royal council was in progress, and w r ith 
 the innocent freedom of a privileged favorite 
 climbed on the knees of the king, who petted and 
 caressed him. Rising upon his tiny feet, he laugh- 
 ingly kissed the sovereign and playfully snatched 
 the crown from the head of the king. Cooing 
 with childish glee, he pressed the glittering circle 
 upon his own ebony curls. Great was the dismay 
 at this babyish prank, and mutterings deep and 
 loud rolled through the assembly. This appropri- 
 ation of the crown was construed by Balaam, the 
 First Wise Man, as a prophetic omen of coming 
 treason by the offspring of the enslaved Hebrews. 
 Balaam did not hesitate to assert that in course 
 of years this infant would sting the bosom which 
 had warmed him, and attempt to dispossess the 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 35 
 
 Pharaohs of their throne. As a remedy for this 
 possible future emergency he advised that the boy 
 should be put to death ; but before any irrevocable 
 step was taken he requested that I be summoned 
 to the council and allowed a hearing. This was 
 accordingly done. Eobed as befitted the imperial 
 daughter, having been informed of what had hap- 
 pened, I stepped into the chamber of their deliber- 
 ations. Soon I found myself pleading with all the 
 passionate fervor of a woman's nature in behalf of 
 the dear innocent. I was listened to with pro- 
 found attention, especially by Balaam, who seemed 
 to transfix me with his flashing eyes, unremittingly 
 riveted upon my person. Yet my pleading seemed 
 in vain. 
 
 " Give him a test ! " cried Balaam. " Place be- 
 fore him two of the holy vessels of Apis. Fill one 
 with glittering gold, the other with live coals. If 
 he snatch at the fire he is but as other children, 
 frolicsome, inquisitive and guileless. If he grasp 
 the gold, construe it as you must ! " The vessels 
 were brought and placed before the child, who was 
 held in the arms of Balaam. With a little cry of 
 surprised pleasure the babe plunged his dimpled 
 hands into the glowing coals and carried them to 
 his mouth. With his first wild shriek of pain I 
 snatched him to my heart, liis tongue, lips and 
 fingers had been badly blistered. The test being 
 made, Ben Beor smilingly counseled that the pre- 
 vious sentence be revoked. So badly burned was 
 the boy's mouth that ever afterwards he was heavy 
 of speech. 
 
 Then in my trembling arms I carried him back 
 to my chambers, calling in the best healers of 
 the realm, and having him not only nursed back to 
 health, but also so guarded and watched that no 
 similar accidents might befall him. I meanwhile 
 
36 BEN BEOR. 
 
 provided for the ideal education of the child. So 
 surely did I contrive my plans for this that they 
 could not fail, no matter what future mishaps 
 should come to his foster-mother. It was my 
 highest ambition to have him brought up as a 
 statesman, a profound lawgiver, a student in the 
 intricate lore and mysteries of Egyptian priest- 
 craft, inclusive of all the wisdom, knowledge, tradi- 
 tions and religion of his Hebrew people, the 
 renown of which had often reached my ears. Es- 
 pecially was I infatuated with their religious faith, 
 which substituted for an endless number of gods 
 and goddesses in creatures often repulsive and ob- 
 noxious, the worship of One sole Deity, unseen and 
 unknowable, almighty, omniscient and all merciful. 
 "What a sublime contrast to our adoration of cow, 
 crocodile, ichneumon, and the thousand other things 
 declared sacred by our priests ! 
 
 In order to accomplish my scheme I summoned 
 some of the foremost of our " magi " and " chardu- 
 mim," and after consulting with Amram, the 
 father of my beloved Moses, had several learned 
 Israelites, renowned for their knowledge and piety, 
 constituted a commission to take charge of the 
 future physical and mental development of my 
 adopted son. Placing at their disposal a large 
 share of my individual fortune, inherited from my 
 revered mother, I bound them by the most sacred 
 oaths to be true, faithful and loyal to their duties, 
 and then surrendered to them, with tears and end- 
 less kisses, the now five-year-old Moses. 
 
 Well it was that I had made these timely provi- 
 sions; for, alas! I was soon to be involved in dire 
 and unforeseen distress. Balaam, by having been 
 the means of saving my protege, fancying now to 
 have changed thereby my indifference towards him, 
 pursued me with passionate protestations of love 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 37 
 
 and amatory addresses, at the same time threaten- 
 ing that if I refused to listen to the promptings of 
 his burning heart he would reveal to the King my 
 clandestine engagement to a foreigner, an un- 
 pardonable crime in the eyes of all Egyptians. 
 Notwithstanding the awful prospect of being con- 
 signed to a living tomb as a priestess in one of the 
 temples, I answered his passion with indifference 
 And his ever-increasing advances with lofty scorn. 
 But his stubborn and wily nature disdained the in- 
 dignity of repulse. One night, with the ignoble 
 assistance of traitorous servants, he with dexterous 
 cunning abducted me in such a manner that no 
 traces or trailing suspicions of his villainous action 
 were left behind. 
 
 With one clamorous voice did the nation bewail 
 its lost princess, and no effort was spared to dis- 
 cover what had become of her. No one was more 
 assiduous in loud mourning and in extension of the 
 most lavish sympathy, even to shedding of copious 
 tears with the inconsolable king, than my unscru- 
 pulous kidnapper. In alliance with some well- 
 paid priests, he concocted and spread the report 
 that I had been wooed and won by a god who had 
 found me fair among the daughters of men. By his 
 artful manipulations he shortly presented the per- 
 emptory order of immediate recall by his sovereign. 
 Greatly regretted and highly honored by splendid 
 gifts, he was permitted to depart. 
 
 Section V. In Captivity. 
 
 After days and nights of constant travel, made 
 comfortable to me by every possible device, and 
 during which I received all the deference due to a 
 princess from the well-chosen attendants, our cara- 
 van arrived at last in the mountain-fastnesses of 
 
38 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Moab. Here, in apartments scarcely less magnifi- 
 cent than my own at home, I was kept in gilded 
 confinement. Soon Balaam arrived, and now be- 
 gan a constant persecution from him who knew me 
 to be entirely in his power. Persuasion and 
 threats were incessantly employed to wrench from 
 me consent to become his wife. Nay! once, when 
 inflamed by anger and lust he dared the attempt of 
 violently taking hold of my person, I snatched a 
 pearl handled dagger from his belt, and swore that 
 I would bury it either in my heart or his own if he 
 did not instantly unhand me. From the glisten- 
 ing of my eyes and the convulsive strength with 
 which he saw me bracing myself for the fatal 
 blow, he knew that I would be true to my word. 
 Never again was I subjected by him to a like in- 
 dignity. 
 
 My days and nights were passed in tearful la- 
 mentations. But what had become of my lost 
 lover? On reaching his kingdom he found indeed 
 truth in the report of his cunning confidential ad- 
 viser. The people had revolted against the tyran- 
 nical rule of his father, deposed him and proclaimed 
 the son, if he would return at once, successor to 
 the throne. Immediately on his arrival he was 
 borne in triumph to the palace, and amidst great 
 rejoicing and popular jubilees crowned and in- 
 stalled as sovereign of the realm. Under his wise, 
 yet strong rule the provinces soon quieted down, 
 the empire flourished, and everything seemed pros- 
 perous. Balaam, who resided a considerable dis- 
 tance from the capital, was appointed chief minis- 
 ter and royal adviser, and I, though kept in strict 
 seclusion, often heard from my attendants, who 
 soon learned to love and pity me, exalted accounts 
 of the glory and renown of the young king of this 
 realm. The slaves of my immediate service were 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 39 
 
 told that their charge was a mad prisoner who la- 
 bored under the hallucination that she was a stolen 
 princess. A long and weary time passed. I 
 might have grown reconciled to my cruel fate but 
 for the ever-repeated visits and never-ceasing, 
 repulsive and persistent professions of love by my 
 unyielding captor. After a while the new ruler of 
 Moab with his retinue of courtiers came often to 
 visit Balaam, the favorite of the realm. On one 
 of these occasions the young king in passing 
 through the halls of the castle casually came near 
 my apartments. 1 heard one of my servants no 
 doubt in compassion of my sad fate remark to 
 him : " Here we keep a beautiful lady detained be- 
 cause of her dethroned reason." Actuated un- 
 questionably by curiosity, the royal visitor com- 
 manded the portals to be opened. The key forth- 
 with turned in the lock. Mechanically I rose 
 from my seat and lifted my eyes. I recognized 
 him, and with a cry that re-echoed in the marble 
 walls of my prison I fell senseless to the floor. 
 He too knew me again. Kneeling before my pros- 
 trate form, his efforts to restore me to consciousness 
 were at length Successful. This then was Balack, 
 my adored lover ! The great, the true, the brave 
 and all-powerful king! And I was and remained 
 the choice of his fervent, burning affection. We 
 were indeed supremely happy ! 
 
 And Balaam? Tangled so unexpectedly in a 
 web of fearful guilt from which there was no es- 
 cape, he confessed all, and throwing himself on his 
 knees, he appealed for mercy to his outraged and 
 deeply-injured sovereign. I, yes I, reminded his 
 Majesty that it was the province of the mighty to 
 show forbearance, despite the fearful crime of abduc- 
 tion and detention, and succeeded, by the plenitude 
 of his love for me, in softening his anger and 
 
40 BEN BEOR. 
 
 obtaining pardon for the offender. The apparently 
 crushed and repentant criminal cried out, as if in 
 despair, that his sin sprang from the uncontrollable 
 excess of an unfortunate but sincere passion. Ar- 
 rangements were soon perfected for our immediate 
 departure. 
 
 When left for a moment alone, Balaam found 
 the opportunity to have access to my presence and 
 exclaim : " Revenge on thee and thine ! Revenge 
 on whatever thou lovest and cherishest ! Deep, ex- 
 quisite, unfathomable revenge of a foiled lover and 
 a disgraced man 1 " I derisively smiled, and com- 
 manded him to leave or I would instantly inform 
 his Majesty of this new outrage. And he left, but 
 with such fierce and terrible gesticulation as made 
 me tremble. I did not see him again till after 
 many years, when, as the sequel will show, I was 
 to feel his malignant vengeance. 
 
 Everything being ready, we started on our return 
 to the imperial residence. On the road I learned 
 from my betrothed that immediately when he 
 arrived home, even amidst the momentous affairs 
 of state, he had despatched trusted messengers to 
 the Egyptian court. These returning, reported that 
 I had mysteriously gone to the gods, which means in 
 Oriental language to have paid the debt of nature 
 by death ; that my aged father followed me to the 
 tomb, grief-stricken and despairing; and that the 
 whole land was in a state of turmoil and revolt, 
 caused by the unbearable tyranny of the new king, 
 Rameses, my own brother. An invasion of foreign 
 tribes had followed, and that then occurred the suc- 
 cesssful liberation and flight from Egypt of the 
 Hebrew slaves, under the leadership of a most re- 
 markable and wonderful hero. 
 
 Upon our arrival at the capital, the necessary 
 preparations completed, amidst the greatest mag- 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 41 
 
 nificence and pompous ceremonies, in presence of 
 the people from near and far, our nuptial ceremo- 
 nies were performed and two loving hearts were 
 joined. 
 
 Years passed in the utmost marital felicity. But 
 as there is no perfect happiness vouchsafed in the 
 sub-lunar world, ours was marred by the absence 
 of children in our household. We were growing 
 old silvery threads appeared in my glossy hair 
 yet never a word of complaint or murmuring 
 passed the lips of my ever-faithful husband, though 
 I could at times detect in him the sad conscious- 
 ness that there was no heir to his throne. An 
 Eastern woman only can measure the blighting 
 misfortune of being barren, children being con- 
 sidered the highest blessing of domestic life. 
 
 One day messengers mounted upon swift steeds, 
 so celebrated among the Bedouin tribes, brought 
 the surprising and unexpected news that an endless 
 host of the fugitive Hebrews in their invincible 
 might were successfully and miraculously crossing 
 the uninhabitable u Sahara Petrese." They had 
 reached the borders of Moab. A hasty council 
 consisting of the bravest and most skillful and 
 sturdy Ishmaelite chiefs was summoned. They 
 quickly assembled. After due deliberation it was 
 agreed that our warriors were no match for the 
 well-trained Israelitish hosts, unless some super- 
 natural intervention could be called to our aid to 
 help us fight the invaders. Then the king and the 
 magnates of the realm bethought themselves of Ba- 
 laam. It was resolved that it became necessary, 
 before venturing upon a life-and-death combat with 
 the Hebrews, to invoke him to come and hurl 
 against this dreadful host, Heaven's most awful 
 curses. An embassy of some of the foremost 
 chiefs, loaded with costly presents, was despatched 
 
42 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to him with the royal invitation to appear forth- 
 with and pronounce the potent maledictions. 
 
 Section VI. The Blessing and the Curse. 
 
 The old schemer in his mountain-retreat had 
 long abided his chance. Under some sanctimoni- 
 ous pretense he at first utterly refused the king's 
 behest. A second and more distinguished party, 
 with still more precious and rich gifts, was sent to 
 him. Reserving for himself the right " whether to 
 bless or to curse," he at last consented to come, 
 and on his arrival at the palace was received with 
 more than princely distinction. While the grand 
 preparation of bringing oblations and sacrifices to 
 our god, " Baal-Peor," was under way, it happened 
 that he casually met me for an instant alone. "I 
 shall not curse, but bless thy Moses ! " he ejaculated, 
 with the blandest and most insinuating voice and 
 mien, but with such a leer that it made me invol- 
 untarily shudder. " Moses my Moses ! " how the 
 name tugged at my heart and brought back a flood 
 of the most tender and affectionate recollections ! So 
 my long secretly-cherished forebodings at last were 
 confirmed. It was my foster-son, my water-waif, 
 who had grown up to accomplish the liberty of his 
 people, and who now was leading them past our 
 borders, to that promised land of which I had 
 heard so much in my maidenhood, as contained in 
 the Israelitish traditions. 
 
 Sad decree of fate ! Here was my own wor- 
 shipped husband now in deadly array against the 
 hero of my youth and his nation. I dared not 
 even breathe a word in their favor, the people of 
 my adopted country hating them so fiercely. And 
 yet, how I hungered and longed to speed to him, 
 to see the splendidly matured manhood, to press 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 43 
 
 him if only once again to my breast and, like a 
 tender mother, kiss him on his godlike brow! I 
 resolved at last to wait patiently and see whether I 
 could not intercede for him favorably with my 
 august husband. Alas! the sore turn affairs 
 shortly took ! 
 
 Balaam, true to his secret words, could not by 
 any means at command of Moab be induced to 
 curse Israel. On the contrary, at seven altars 
 erected by his request he pronounced the most vol- 
 uble and prophetic benedictions over the wide- 
 spread tents of Jacob, now erected at the foot of 
 our hills, in words as eloquent as ever fell from 
 the lips of heaven-inspired poet. They have been 
 preserved among the books of your sacred writ- 
 ings. E"o one, the king and myself included-, could 
 understand then the inexplicable policy of the old, 
 immovable seer. Too soon, however, his terribly 
 wicked designs were made manifest. When the 
 hypocritical jest was over a secret conclave met, 
 during which my husband and his companions 
 deemed themselves alone and unobserved. I had 
 found means to see and hear all that passed. How 
 shall I now find words to relate the harrowing ex- 
 perience ! 
 
 After hurling the most bitter and blasphemous 
 scorn upon their reliance to be shielded and pro- 
 tected by the shadow of empty words, either curse 
 or blessing, Balaam proceeded to show in clear-cut 
 phrases what he had learned of the object and aim 
 of Moses, his plans and mission. With an irresist- 
 ible logic he demonstrated to his eager hearers 
 that the code of laws which the Hebrew leader, 
 like one inspired from heaven, had devised for the 
 government and life of his people, would ultimately 
 lead to universal freedom and happiness of the 
 individual man, as well as to their multiples, the 
 
44 BEN BEOR. 
 
 nations of this world. But while by this gigantic 
 civilizing process the lower masses were raised un- 
 til they reached such guerdon, the privileged castes 
 and classes would be utterly merged into the com- 
 mon lot. This should not be ! Master and slaves ! 
 is the watchword by which the thrones and altars 
 sustain and perpetuate their superiority over the 
 herd of humanity. Henceforth it is Balaam 
 against Moses! War eternal unto death between 
 " Baal-Peor " and " Jehovah ! " " The problem is 
 solved," he cried, "by employing in the service of 
 the high, ruling classes the passionate instincts 
 which govern the lower man, and forthwith we will 
 try their efficacy in this our struggle with those Is- 
 raelites. Listen then to what are my plans and 
 purposes: These Hebrews are stronger and by 
 far more numerous than we; therefore we must 
 weaken and decimate them. There is but one way 
 at present to achieve this. By their hot oriental 
 nature they are blindly susceptible to the blandish- 
 ments and wiles of the fair sex. Command 
 therefore, O king, forthwith that all our depraved 
 and loose women approach their neighborhood ; 
 that they use their charms and smiles to en- 
 snare them in their meshes ; but let them be in- 
 structed never to grant favor or kindness to their 
 victims except they first seduce them to bend their 
 knees and worship our idol Baal-Peor with all the 
 rites arid ceremonies which that service implies ! " 
 Such a hilarious, approving uproar this cunning 
 proposition evoked among his amazed hearers, that 
 for some time the deafening shouts prevented the 
 king expressing his full assent to the measure, de- 
 claring that with the coming morning his edicts 
 should go forth to set the plan into execution. 
 
 When the royal declaration had restored quiet, 
 Balaam continued : " But even the fullest success 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 45 
 
 of this scheme will give to the old condition of 
 things temporary relief only. Were we able to 
 kill every one of these accursed Semites, yet the 
 spirit, this giant mind of their leader has evoked, is 
 abroad, and the truths which he has taught cannot 
 be crushed. Unless an antidote be found, fare- 
 well to privileged castes, farewell to monarchs, 
 princes and nobility, and farewell to priesthood ! 
 Thanks to the gods ! 1 have found this also. Let 
 rny servants bring forth the filled urns of ' the 
 Spirits of Life,' which I have brought with me to 
 exhibit the powers of the same before you. Until 
 they come [two slaves had started to do his bid- 
 ding] let me say that I am experimenting with an- 
 other force to aid us, by which, whenever I shall 
 complete it for use, the masses which we now fear 
 will overpower us by numbers, if it comes to a con- 
 flict, we then will be able to destroy whole hosts 
 of them as if by unseen hands. Thus far the 
 explosive force to be discovered by the combina- 
 tion of chemicals is no<t attained, or I would have 
 shattered the armies of our invaders to atoms; yet 
 I am sanguine that by continued trials I shall ulti- 
 mately succeed." 
 
 Section VII. The Intoxicating Cup. 
 
 Here the servants returned, bearing each upon 
 his shoulders two well-sealed urns, and placed 
 these before their master. Golden cups were 
 brought forth and filled with the sparkling fluid. 
 Its insidious strength had been made palatable by 
 some aromatic flavor. Goblet after goblet was 
 emptied by every one of the company, and like a 
 magic potion it revealed its intoxicating influence 
 upon the unsatiated imbibers. As they grew wildly 
 excited, Balaam once more rose to his feet and 
 
46 BEN BEOR. 
 
 addressed tire king: " JVfy sire," he exclaimed, "all 
 our work will be vain and fruitless unless I have 
 thy immediate co-operation. It is a hard sacrifice 
 which I must ask, but if thon art not willing to 
 make it we may as well at once surrender to our 
 enemies. I have positive knowledge that the queen 
 is in greatest sympathy with the Hebrews. It 
 was she who rescued their Moses, when an infant, 
 from death in the waters ; it was through her influ- 
 ence that he was initiated into the lore and mys- 
 teries of the priests; and it will be she w r ho next 
 betrays every movement we shall make. Thou 
 either wilt be privy to their treason, or place her in 
 such seclusion and under such surveillance as to 
 prevent her sending aid to the enemy." 
 
 At this the king grew violent ; his eyes glared 
 like those of a madman ; his hands clutched at the 
 empty air, and with a voice thick and broken 
 with fearful oaths and imprecations he swore that 
 no wife of his should thus betray him and Moab ; 
 that the queen be placed at sunrise in the tower of 
 the castle, and there remaift under guard, day and 
 night, until all danger should be over. 
 
 Never before had I seen my husband so fierce, so 
 wildly aroused, so brutally angered, so full of pas- 
 sion and excitement. I felt sick at heart; all grew 
 dark before my eyes I fainted and fell to the floor. 
 What happened then I do not know. When I 
 awoke to consciousness I found myself in a dun- 
 geon-like room, the existence of which I never be- 
 fore had known. I heard the heavy tread of the 
 guardsman, pacing up and down before the door. 
 In spite of my tears, my screams, my utmost despair, 
 I was kept here for several days without being per- 
 mitted to see a living person. Food and water 
 were given me through an orifice which opened 
 and shut as if by magic. Light, dim and gloomy, 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 47 
 
 fell from the high ceiling above. All needed 
 comforts were amply provided. But, oh ! how 
 the time dragged ; how lonely, how miserably the 
 eternity of hours passed; what fearful thoughts 
 crowded upon my mind ; how often did I clutch 
 at the dagger secreted in my bosom, intending with 
 a blow to end my despair and existence. Yet at 
 the decisive moment courage failed me. Hope 
 against hope renewed in me the instinctive desire 
 for life. At last after several days I do not 
 know how many, for I had not the power to keep 
 track of time the door opened. It was towards 
 evening. Then entered Balaam, leading in Balack. 
 
 heaven ! what a change the short period had 
 wrought upon my hapless husband ! Once so 
 beautiful, haughty, brave, proud and manly I 
 saw at a glance that he was not even the shadow of 
 himself. Reeling and idiotic, he staggered to my 
 couch and fell down upon it like an inanimate 
 log. I threw myself on my knees before him; 
 
 1 kissed and caressed him, called him loudly by 
 every endearing expression of which he used to be 
 so fond ; I took his hands, wet them with my 
 tears, and pressed them to my heart. Alas ! alas ! 
 alas! he knew me not he recognized me no 
 longer. As I turned my face, Balaam with folded 
 arms and the most fiendish look stood before me. 
 His words came slowly and deliberately, every one 
 cutting into my agonized soul. Then he said : 
 u Behold my work ! Behold the dire vengeance of 
 a despised lover ! The drink which I have brewed 
 in my seething caldron has done its dire and 
 appointed work, as it shall do it henceforth forever. 
 Veiled at the beginning of its use with the sweet- 
 ness of a mild and undivined influence over heart 
 and brain, as the appetite grows it punishes the 
 abuse gradually but unfailingly with the torments 
 
48 BEN BEOR. 
 
 of hell. Look yonder, lady, how it changes the calm 
 and equable intelligence into swinish depravity, ac- 
 companied by boiling fever-dreams, causing the 
 drunkard's frenzy and madness, terminating ulti- 
 mately in the most horrible of all catastrophes con- 
 vulsive death. Thanks to my genius, these ravages, 
 now started, will go on through the years of eter- 
 nity! Thanks to my thirst to be revenged on fickle 
 woman, the whole sex shall forever be punished 
 most sorely for the torments of thwarted affection 
 inflicted upon me by a woman." 
 
 At this moment the king awoke from his death- 
 like stupor. With one desperate effort he sprang 
 to his feet. In an instant he had hold of Balaam 
 with a wild beast's fury. All his motions were 
 spasmodic; his disheveled hair rose on end; his 
 eyes protruded far out of their sockets. He held 
 hia adversary tightly clutched by the throat and 
 would certainly have strangled him, when all of a 
 sudden the combat ceased. The arms fell lirnp to his 
 side. He staggered back ; fell to the floor lifeless, 
 dead dead a corpse ! 
 
 The awful struggle ended, we both stood over 
 the inanimate form, I in utter consternation and 
 bewilderment, he in the glee of a ghoul feasting on 
 the ravages of murder. Presently he spoke: 
 "Now all obstacles are conquered. Now thou 
 shalt be mine, willing or not! Thou art my love, 
 my wife! Here I will clasp thee to my breast!" 
 As he made ready to spring towards me, I drew 
 the dagger hidden in my bosom. It glistened in 
 my hand. He hesitated for a moment, then stepped 
 back. I bent forward toward him. How I may 
 have looked in that instant I cannot tell, but I saw 
 him shudder. Then I launched a most fearful 
 curse on his head. The awful words came to me 
 like the rush of a cataract. I well remember the 
 last: 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 49 
 
 " Be accursed by men and women, 
 
 By little children's cry ! 
 Accursed by widows and orphans, 
 Accursed forever and aye ! " 
 
 How he winced and cringed as I now stood over 
 him ! Then, as if to strengthen myself for the fatal 
 deed, leaning backwards, I plunged the steel with 
 one decisive blow into my own heart, and instantly 
 a gush of blood streamed right into his blanched 
 face. Falling to the ground, I lay dying beside my 
 husband. Before I expired, however, I saw with 
 my already failing eyes the door opening. I heard 
 the maddening cry : " The foe, the foe ! Fly before 
 the Hebrews ! Fly, fly, fly ! " As I directed a last 
 glance towards the entrance, even with my ebbing 
 life, behold ! there stood he Moses ! I knew him 
 my own, my Moses ! Around his head a sheen 
 of glory, a flood of light. One last, lingering look 
 I cast upon the idol of my youth. Then all grew 
 dark, all was over. 
 
 Section VIII. After Death. Spirit Life. 
 
 Thus ended my earthly career. My spirit-life is 
 quickly told. Aside from the common frailties of 
 human nature, prone to sin and error, I had thrown 
 my mortal life into the face of Him who gave 
 it ; and although there were great and palliating 
 excuses, stern justice demanded purification and 
 atonement. It commenced with an incomputable 
 period of a blank, from which I, like one dazed, 
 gradually and by slow advancement returned to 
 the consciousness of personal self. Let me pass 
 a veil over the struggles of a soul yearning and 
 rising upwards, constantly and zealously climbing 
 by most minute progress towards the eternal 
 height of perfection. If sin committed under the 
 
50 BEN BEOR. 
 
 irresistible force of fate caused me the terror-inspir- 
 ing, trembling experience, O merciful Heaven ! 
 what must it be to the common suicide, who, with- 
 out even a justification like mine, perhaps in a mo- 
 ment of despondency, seeks exit from momentary 
 troubles and rushes in revolt toward the eternal 
 doom of despair ? Was it not part of my chastise- 
 ment to view constantly beneath me abyss beneath 
 abyss, seeing there the withering, writhing forms, 
 hearing the piercing, despondent cries of remorse 
 and penance ? At last these grew fainter and 
 fainter, to my supreme relief, as I felt myself borne 
 upward higher and higher, till finally they ceased 
 altogether. 
 
 At a certain stage of my advance from darkness 
 toward light I became conscious of other shadow- 
 forms, companions struggling alongside of me to 
 regain their lost goal. The perception of one 
 especially was at first like a far, far-oif strain 
 of harmony a vibration of attractive potency. 
 What intense gratitude then concentrated in all 
 my being at the thought that I was no longer 
 alone in efforts to rise upwards; that perhaps a 
 kindred soul shared sympathetically the regaining 
 process nearing our lost ideal ! " O God ! O 
 Father of mercy ! Might it be possible could it 
 be vouchsafed to my poor quivering spirit! this 
 to be him ! my earth-love ! twined together in our 
 hearts below, now to be destined here above as it 
 were hand in hand, once again to be united and to 
 work .out together soon, soon, soon, that part of 
 our celestial trial which ultimately shall bring us 
 before the mercy-seat of the all-loving One, re- 
 stored and re-accepted by His infinite grace ! " 
 This feeling, this depthless yearning, grew in tenser 
 and, as it grew, my neighbor-soul, no doubt at- 
 tracted strongly by a corresponding sympathy, came 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 51 
 
 nearer and nearer and its presence clearer to my 
 jubilant perception. Ages must have passed in 
 closing up the distance of this mutual approach. 
 Floating amidst the immeasurable spheres of an 
 endless horizon, like a sailor who descries land after 
 being driven by adverse storms on his protracted 
 voyage, there appeared now in the far distance 
 an ever-growing and increasing luminous globe, 
 whence I and, as I was surely cognizant, my 
 companions drifted with great velocity. Soon 
 I recognized the soft blue, pale light to be the 
 adored " Levanah," the beautiful Moon I had so 
 often gazed at in wonderment and delight during 
 the earth's starry nights of my mundane existence. 
 Gradually a change in my immediate surround- 
 ings, which began almost imperceptibly, took 
 place. From the misty nothingness in which I 
 floated thus far I had entered the mild, soothing, 
 lacteal atmosphere of the new heavenly orb to 
 which I now approached. Closer I came to it 
 and ever closer, until at last my ethereal being 
 landed amidst an immense multitude of shadow- 
 creatures, who had assembled as it seemed for my 
 reception. But I came not alone! With me in the 
 same instant my mysterious fellow-spirit was there 
 also. We recognized each other simultaneously 
 Balack and Merris once again reunited ! Ex- 
 ulting joy, heavenly exaltation rescued, saved, 
 redeemed ! It was nothing like the carnal, earthly 
 bliss with which lover meets the beloved, but the 
 rapturous, celestial emotion, no doubt thrilling 
 through Seraph and Cherub when kneeling at the 
 throne of the Eternal, chanting their " Glorias " 
 and "Hallelujahs." Entwined in each other's 
 spiritual essence, presently a voice, as if coming from 
 Above, proclaimed: "Work out here your final 
 salvation by goodness, holy unselfishness, love and 
 
52 BEN BEOR. 
 
 truth! " Happiness of happiness ! we were parted 
 no more, but allowed in the tasks assigned us here 
 to labor contentedly and joyfully, from the lowliest 
 and most modest station, bravely, untired ; cheer- 
 fully, in our purified soul-companionship, through 
 all the weary stages of our probation and re-eleva- 
 tion, until at last we have reached the highest 
 pinnacle as "Melech" and "Malkah," patiently and 
 prayerfully devout, awaiting the blessed hour of 
 our further translation to the sanctified realms, of 
 which we as yet are not permitted to know or may 
 not realize. 
 
 This ends my evidence and story. But now 
 when near the fulfilment of our fondest and 
 sweetest hopes, unexpected and unprecedented 
 troubles and commotions, caused by the appear- 
 ance here of my sub-lunar tormentor Balaam ben 
 Beor, have arisen and threaten new and immeasur- 
 able calamities, sorrows and misfortunes. In this 
 great emergency, next to our unbounded trust and 
 confidence in our great heavenly Father, we throw 
 ourselves upon thy protecting care and guidance, 
 O great messianic ambassador ! Help us, heal us, 
 save us ! So be it the will of our God, our Rock 
 and Redeemer ! 
 
 INTAGLIO THE FIFTH. 
 
 When the "Malkah" had finished her beautiful 
 and pathetic story, we adjourned the meeting to 
 the heights where had been erected the observa- 
 tory. The way thither led first through a long 
 row of palisades, at the end of which it continued 
 through grand avenues of towering trees, loaded 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 53 
 
 with a rich golden harvest of most luscious-looking 
 fruit. The Prophet, the Melech, and Malkah led 
 the way. The crowd followed. Upon reaching 
 the plateau we found everything arranged for our 
 reception. At the foot of the scaffolding on which 
 the gigantic eye-tube rested was erected a platform 
 for the accommodation of the august persons who 
 were to continue the hearing of the testimony. As 
 far as the eye could reach the space was crowded 
 with the shadow-people, assembled by the proclama- 
 tion of the king. Soon everything was in readiness. 
 A host of military men appeared with the prisoner 
 of state. He was bound and shackled. They 
 dragged him to this elevated point on the mount- 
 ains of the Moon. As he now stood before us he 
 began to speak : 
 
 " Forced hither before thee, all-potent stranger, by 
 the shadow-soldiery, serving under command of 
 the despised Melech, I am to make confession of 
 the part which I have acted in the present mutin- 
 ous state on this Moon. Deformed and crippled 
 by long imprisonment, yet could I have defied 
 them all, and with the strength of these arms have 
 put them to rout, were it not that unaccountable 
 restraints have paralyzed my strength. These fools 
 believe that their adamantine chains placed upon 
 my wrists confine me to their will. Look! the 
 spell has left me! I shatter them to atoms and 
 stand free and disenthralled before thee! And yet 
 with the power of a host, the overawing glances 
 of thine eyes leave me powerless as a reed before 
 the wind. Deign then to listen to my tale, but 
 know I ask neither for sympathy, pity nor for- 
 giveness. In two worlds, defiant, malignant, and 
 destructive have I raged. Now I feel tired and 
 worn out even amidst the luxurious revel of my 
 latest achievements. When thou hast heard me to 
 
54 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the end, grant me the only boon which I yet crave 
 entire and final annihilation. While living in the 
 terrestrial world below I was one of the great magi, 
 who by indomitable will, exhaustless patience and 
 never-ceasing thirst for knowledge attained to the 
 mysteries of profoundest lore, and fathomed the 
 depths of the occult sciences to such degree that 
 I could understand the secrets hidden from most 
 other minds. I was able to manipulate the secret 
 laws of mechanics and chemistry. Alas! instead 
 of employing the genius of my soul in the service 
 and for the benefit of my kind, I used it exclusively 
 for my personal aggrandizement ; and while 1 
 might have become the blessed benefactor of men, 
 and God's instrument for the advancement of 
 everything true, noble and good, I chose to pervert 
 my talents for the benefit of accursed and hateful 
 promulgators of priest-craft and tyranny, becoming 
 the vile means for debasing and debauching suffer- 
 ing humanity. Nor did I escape the certain law of 
 cause and effect. 
 
 Instead of realizing my schemes and dreams for 
 sway and rule, I reaped the malignity and hatred 
 of those who suffered by the pernicious results of my 
 labors, and the vilest ingratitude of all for whose 
 benefit 1 delved and toiled in realms where but few 
 of the selected chosen had been able to enter. 
 They simply used me as their tool, to be thrown 
 aside and cast away as soon as their purposes were 
 attained. Too late I realized the value of favors 
 from the great. Disenchanted and disappointed, yet 
 might my career have been different but for the 
 blighting discovery that one who owed to me the 
 preservation of his throne, sceptre and crown had 
 robbed and despoiled me of that one irretrievable 
 treasure, an idolized and madly-worshipped woman. 
 "While ceaselessly engaged in my laboratory and 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 55 
 
 among my books and manuscripts, over problems 
 by which successfully to hold in check his ever-re- 
 bellious subjects, he took from me the only being to 
 whom my soul was wedded and who I fancied 
 should become my wife. True, she objected to this 
 even when absolutely in my power. It was neces- 
 sary, therefore, unscrupulously to kidnap her from 
 parent and friends. 
 
 This is not an unusual procedure in our Oriental 
 fashion, when one wishes to possess himself of some 
 obstinate maiden. Yet when she at last to all 
 appearances received my wooing complacently, she 
 took the first occasion to betray me I never 
 learned how. She met my pretended friend and 
 patron. They had previously been acquainted and 
 indulged in some foolish flirtations. He carried 
 her away and actually married her. I swore ven- 
 geance ! vengeance to the whole race of mortals! 
 And faithfully, too faithfully have I kept my oath. 
 Goaded on by rage and desperation, I set free a demon 
 in that nether world which, under guise of pleasure 
 and exhilaration, has proved, and forever will prove, 
 the veriest instrument of perdition "Intoxicating 
 Drink"! The evil results of my malign calcu- 
 lations exceeded my most sanguine expectation. 
 Satan incarnate must have lent me the inspiration 
 for the accomplish rffent of this fell work. I have 
 had the satisfaction of seeing its first effects. My 
 false friend, on whom I maliciously practised to 
 ascertain its fatal results, went mad. Meanwhile it 
 besotted no less his whole realm. Onward and 
 irresistible it rolls now through all climes and zones, 
 overwhelming all conditions and spheres, high and 
 low, poor and rich, the ignorant and wise, the young 
 and old. Such is the fearful, horrible revenge of 
 one spurned and betrayed in love ! Though I have 
 quaffed the exquisite sweetness of my vengeance to 
 
56 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the very dregs, yet retribution, keen, sharp and 
 quick, with hollow-eyed torments, has followed in 
 the wake of my footsteps. As if to verify an old 
 adage, " Wherewith one sinneth, therewith shall he 
 be punished," I myself became the victim of my 
 lately invented beverage. My mortal career ended 
 with that frightful and stupendous finale reserved 
 for all drunkards the dread disease, a species of 
 terrible delirium. Spare me the recital of the shud- 
 dering torments which awaited me after I had 
 shuffled off the mortal coil. Suffice it to say that 
 for ages which seemed like eternities, amidst the 
 most excruciating remorse, consuming horrors and 
 the pangs of true repentance, at last there was 
 vouchsafed to me, as I fervently hoped, a proba- 
 tionary respite, by being permitted to enter on this 
 shadow-world. Alas and alas! the torments which 
 I hitherto had endured were trifles compared to the 
 trials that awaited me. Scarcely had I entered 
 here what must I behold ! Yonder villain who had 
 betrayed me; this woman who had spurned my 
 love here they are in the enjoyment of perfect 
 conjugal bliss; honored, loved and distinguished, 
 as falls but to the envied share of even the most 
 fortunate ; governing and ruling the whole realm 
 of this Moon as the " Melech " and "Malkah." 
 Then 1 learned by experience ^that there is some- 
 thing more bitter than death: something more ter- 
 rible than the sufferings of the infernal regions 
 Jealousy and Hatred ! At once anew awoke my 
 old passion. ]STo matter what thereafter be my 
 fate, no care what troubles should linger for me 
 in the future, once more I panted fiercely for 
 revenge to deal out destruction and calamity to 
 my rival and his doting bride. I have accomplished 
 it. Verily 1 have succeeded ! All here is now 
 ferment, confusion and anarchy. How I revel in 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 57 
 
 the coming chaos ! I see it all, as it were, already. 
 My work is- done, and now I am content. I have 
 lost all sense of fear or terror. Come what may, 
 I am prepared. There is but one wish left me, one 
 craving yet to be achieved. Grant it if thou hast 
 power ; deny it if thou seest fit annihilation 
 utter, absolute, final, moral and physical dissolution. 
 But do thou thy worst, I defy thee and our Maker I" 
 
 INTAGLIO THE SIXTH. 
 
 THE RECORD OF THE CHIEF SCRIBE. 
 
 Appalled and astounded did we stand, all who 
 were present at the awful, blasphemous recital 
 of our state prisoner. Consternation was visible 
 on every face, depicting a unanimous feeling. The 
 question no doubt prevailed in many breasts : " What 
 if there is no power to neutralize the revolting 
 viciousness of this malignant monster?" There he 
 stood, defiant and bold, quivering and panting from 
 the excitement and the extraordinary exertion. 
 The holy prophet alone appeared calm and wonder- 
 fully composed. Stern and resolute as his features 
 remained, yet there was something sublimely sad and 
 benignant in his eyes. With a sway of the hand he 
 motioned me to his side, and broke the oppressive 
 silence by the command : " Write ! Write down the 
 judgment of this wretched being. I shall now dic- 
 tate to thee his sentence : 
 
 " There is no annihilation in the code of the 
 Creator! Even a fiend like this criminal can- 
 not be blotted from the record of final mercy. But 
 extraordinary baseness requires special remedies. 
 Listen, then, to thy doom, unalterable and irrevoc- 
 able: 
 
58 BEN BEOR. 
 
 " Before tliou, Ben-Beor, wilt be permitted to 
 start anew on thy spiritual purification in the 
 depths and despair of Sheol ; and before thou mayst 
 thereafter recommence probation for atonement and 
 reconciliation with the All-Merciful : 
 
 " Back to earth thou hereby art consigned. 
 There thou must wander in thy human body from 
 generation to generation, without rest or quiet. 
 Driven by an irresistible impulse, from place to 
 place, from zone to zone, there, thou rebel, fiend 
 and seducer, shalt witness the baneful results of thy 
 accursed work. Rivers of blood and streams of 
 tears continually flowing in every quarter of the 
 globe, shall remind thee of thy wickedness and 
 crimes. Every felon of note shall become thy special 
 agent! The ignorant, brutal and debased shall 
 at all times be thy followers! But thy veriest suc- 
 cesses, evil though these be, shall yet be the certain 
 overthrow of sin. For every step of retrogression 
 wljiich thou shalt behold must witness still the glo- 
 rious, steady march of peace, progress, tolerance 
 arid liberty. And to the sworn foes of thy implac- 
 able wrath, the chosen people of Israel, though 
 they will undergo martyrdom by the hands of blind 
 hatred, yet to them is assigned the eternal mission 
 to bring about exalted salvation, the kingdom of 
 God. Thy worst punishment shall come by the 
 power through which other men find happiness in 
 their mortal lives: Forever the rapturous beauty 
 of Merris, thy first love, reproduced in some female 
 form, during the ages to come, shall prove thy liv- 
 ing torment. Creep on, miserable wretch, until 
 the measure of retribution for thy iniquity shall be 
 full ! The time at last will come when thou shalt 
 stray to a country as yet unknown and undis- 
 covered. In the morning-light of universal Free- 
 dom and religious Tolerance will there arise a new 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 59 
 
 nation. Then the malediction that rests upon thee 
 shall be changed into blessing. Then at last shall 
 the hour strike when in the solitude of cave-life 
 * a Eecluse in the wild Mountains ' thou shalt once 
 more be permitted by God's never-ending mercy, 
 to die ! 
 
 "And as a token and sign that this, my judgment, 
 is approved and accepted on High, I again, as once 
 when standing on Mount Carmel in presence of the 
 Baal prophets, invoke the Lord to send fire from 
 Heaven, that these people may know that Thou, 
 Lord, art God." 
 
 Barely had the words left the upturned face when 
 the whole firmament was lit up amazingly with 
 sheets of fire, and bolts of lightning flew hither and 
 thither. Amidst the terrible commotion of nature, 
 suddenly the prophet stretched forth his hands, 
 grasping with unexpected force the struggling, 
 cringing culprit, lifted him high in the air, and 
 hurled him whirling into space, where he disap- 
 peared with the most terrible screams, that grew 
 fainter and fainter as he was lost gradually to sight. 
 
 Every one of us fell on our knees, with one 
 accord exclaiming : " The Lord alone is the true 
 God ! The Lord alone is the true God ! " 
 
 IN.TAGLIO THE SEVENTH. 
 
 HARROWING SIGHTS ON EARTH. 
 
 Agreeably to the instructions of my superiors, I, 
 the Second Scribe, have caused the placing at the 
 disposal of our divine Messenger the large and 
 powerful eye-tube. As soon as it was set in 
 proper position by the operators he immediately 
 proceeded to make use thereof, and I was 
 
-_: - 
 
 
 A :; -.- 
 :.* 
 
62 BEN BEOR. 
 
 fied, we all stood around him in utter conster- 
 nation. But his swoon lasted only for a few mo- 
 ments. Presently he springs to his feet and, as if 
 to efface and make us forget his mortal weakness, 
 with thundering voice he cries out: " I hear the 
 maddened foe coming ! The frenzied shadow-hosts 
 are upon us ! Instantly they will be here ! Prepare 
 prepare ! The supreme catastrophe is at hand ! 
 The Lord Himself is nigh in judgment ! " 
 
 INTAGLIO THE EIGHTH. 
 
 REVOLUTION. 
 
 While the momentous events related by my prede- 
 cessor, the Second Scribe, were transpiring in the 
 vestibule before the observatory, others of even 
 more ponderous importance took place in the sub- 
 planetary domain, which I, the Third Secretary, 
 was to write down. 
 
 At all hours of the long night the shadow-inhabi- 
 tants had, with even more than usual alertness, 
 exercised their watchful espionage on the terres- 
 trial doings below them. Affairs of extraordinary 
 interest seem to go on there. With the smaller 
 eye-tubes which they had constructed for them- 
 selves, by aid of Balaam, they with uninterrupted 
 steadiness make observations in one direction 
 and seemingly upon one point. Suddenly this is 
 changed. A cry of horror issues from the camp. 
 A human figure is seen hurled with giant's force over 
 the moon. With immeasurable velocity the liv- 
 ing object, twirling over and over and ejaculating 
 the most fearful and piercing cries, revolves 
 downward through space. Now the amazed spec- 
 tators, bewildered at the startling nature of this 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 63 
 
 unexpected revelation, were secretly joined by a 
 body of treacherous guards, who long since were 
 disaffected. This revolutionary crowd speeds along 
 the densely packed avenues and makes known the 
 summary judgment which has been visited by the 
 stranger who so unexpectedly assumed power and 
 authority. The wildest commotion breaks forth 
 among the frenzied hosts, who had thus far looked 
 upon the so terribly chastised monster as their 
 most effectual ally and prospective leader. Soon it 
 becomes known also that their new military adjuncts 
 are in possession of the secret storage place of the 
 lately invented combustibles, and by one accord 
 they are placed as leading chiefs to guide the now 
 passion-intoxicated masses to the ominous stores. 
 Firebrands and torches of all kinds are quickly pro- 
 cured, and the wild hordes, unbridled and unre- 
 strained, like fiends let. loose, storm away towards 
 the thus far hidden receptacles, bent upon demoli- 
 tion and destruction. It is at this terrific moment 
 the sun had just arisen and brought us daylight 
 ere they had time to carry out their diabolical in- 
 tentions when the prophet Elijah cried out : "Pre- 
 pare ! prepare ! the supreme catastrophe is at hand ! 
 The Lord Himself is nigh in judgment !" 
 
 Then I am required by him to chronicle upon the 
 last plate, the following final occurrences as they 
 transpire before our eyes : 
 
 An immense hand becomes visible, moved by a 
 correspondingly sized arm. It is stretched forth 
 and lights the fuse which leads to the fire-laden 
 magazines. Turning toward the approaching furi- 
 ous mob, with one sweep it hurls them towards the 
 now suddenly opening tremendous craters, from 
 whence the lurid flames reveal the indescribable 
 terrors of the other side of the moon. As if driven 
 by an irresistible impulse, in fearful stampede the 
 
64 BEN BEOR. 
 
 entire host of rebels fly headlong thither and dis- 
 appear, howling, screeching and screaming. 
 
 I see the ignited fuse eating its way slowly 
 towards the underground quartz-hewn chambers 
 of the regal palace. The holy prophet, like a 
 spirit, determined and inspired, places himself at 
 the outermost point of the craters. The fiery 
 chariot in which he came approaches towards us. 
 Melech, Malkah, and all ministers and scribes, are 
 impelled to mount the mysterious vehicle. I 
 remain to the last, still recording. 
 
 Already the catastrophe of explosion has com- 
 menced. Mountains are hurled upon mountains; 
 crevices beyond sight in huge extent open every- 
 where ; basins of immeasurable magnitude become 
 visible ; all the elements seem to have broken loose ; 
 shattered and chaotic lies everything ; oceans of 
 fire and seas of flame rush forth belching and thun- 
 dering from every direction. Amidst all this I see 
 the man of God, grown like unto a giant form, 
 stand unmoved and firm. Now I am impelled to 
 move towards my companions. Night is coming 
 on thick, impenetrable night. We move upwards 
 towards heaven. The prophet commands me to 
 write this last sentence: 
 
 "Behold I will send to you the prophet Elijah be- 
 fore the great and awful day of the Lord cometh. 
 And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the 
 children, and the hearts of the children to their 
 fathers. 
 
 "Pen abo w'hikysi es ho-wez cherem" 
 
 n warn 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 65 
 
 ADDENDUM I. 
 
 A foot-note from the Kecluse explains here that he 
 remembers these to be the very last words of the 
 Old Testament (Malaehi iii. 24), and that he is 
 unable to decipher intelligently the final sentences 
 appending them to his manuscripts, they having, 
 as he expresses it, no doubt reference to the desti- 
 nies of that mystic being who shows his face and 
 figure nightly when the Levanah is full, and then 
 reveals on her surface the outlines of 
 
 THE MAN IN THE MOON. 
 
 The most curious part of this quaint recital ap- 
 pears in the fact that the Recluse, during the 
 absorbing task of deciphering the inscriptions on 
 the Intaglios, has entirely forgotten his identity 
 and intimate connection with the record of the 
 aerolite. This, however, will not appear anoma- 
 lous, when considering the severe strain on the 
 already over-excited mental faculties of so aged a 
 person. 
 
 The cataclysm of the destruction of the moon's 
 visible surface and " the story of the man " showing 
 himself nightly on the luminary, as she walks full 
 through the horizon, closes the translation of the 
 Semitic inscriptions. 
 
 But a large mass of manuscript is appended, 
 forming the subject of the second roll, the contents 
 of which are of equal interest with the translations. 
 It contains the memoirs of that singular cave- 
 dweller who withdrew from human society to end 
 his life here in the untrodden solitude. 
 
 The incidents related must have required sound, 
 sober thought. The story told is of lucid, logical 
 progression. The characters delineated are penned 
 with deep penetration into human nature. The 
 language used, although in its idiomatic and pecu- 
 
66 BEN BEOR. 
 
 liar construction, reveals the foreigner, who has 
 acquired it by study, never tantamount to the ease 
 and fluency of those to the manner born ; yet it is 
 terse, nervous, and at times even eloquent, showing 
 the skilled hand of fair experience. Were it not 
 for these cumulated facts the whole might be looked 
 upon as the wild hallucination of a mind disor- 
 dered by the isolated life and peculiar surroundings 
 of the eccentric author. 
 
 Without further comment they are hereby sub- 
 mitted to the candid and unprejudiced perusal of 
 the reader. If they achieve no more than to while 
 away pleasantly a lonesome hour of leisure, they 
 have then attained some object ; but they perhaps 
 casually will do more. It is said in some ancient 
 writing, that he who makes two blades of grass 
 grow where before was but one, is a benefactor of 
 our kind. Maybe some thought is awakened, some 
 kindlier feeling aroused, some prejudice dispelled, 
 and the great brotherhood recognized, which en- 
 twines all humanity this great principle so often 
 clouded and obscured by the machinations of those 
 who rule and batten on the ignorance and super- 
 stitions of the misguided masses. Therefore this 
 quaint autobiography, entitled in juxtaposition to 
 some other well-known story, The Wandering Gen- 
 tile, must not be withheld from the intelligent 
 world. 
 
 The whole plot has reference to an incessant feud, 
 carried on through all the eras of the past, between 
 two fierce opponents, their respective causes and 
 hosts of followers, with ever alternating results. 
 It is the deathly struggle between Moses and kindred 
 Liberators, and Ben Beor, the Anti-Messiah ; and 
 incidentally of "Moabite" against "Hebrew." 
 In many instances the poor harassed Jew is 
 brought near to the verge of gasping out, seem- 
 ingly, his last breath. But at the very lowest stage 
 
LUNAR INTAGLIOS. 67 
 
 of his despair and when near annihilation, again 
 and again, as if by some miraculous power, he 
 rouses himself and renews the combat with re-ani- 
 inated courage, enabling him to patiently suffer, 
 endure and struggle on for existence and fulfilment 
 of a mission. 
 
 There is a tradition, not embodied in the pages 
 of the shadow-author, which may have reference 
 to these historical affairs, and throw light upon 
 the origin of a quaint orthodox ceremony yet faith- 
 fully practised by conservative Israelites. It re- 
 sembles in its nature the rallying cry of a soldier 
 who in defeat prepares once again to meet the 
 enemy. Lifting up his eyes to the starry sky 
 whenever the nocturnal sickle of light reappears 
 as new moon on the horizon, the patient martyr of 
 Palestinian origin bends his head in devout prayer 
 to sanctify himself by that glorious phenomenon, 
 filled with fresh hope, trust and returning vigor 
 to carry on the task given, as he solemnly vows, 
 by Him who of yore had made this strange pre- 
 diction : " Behold, I will send to you the prophet 
 Elijah before the great and awful day of the Lord 
 cometh." Then the one who thus prayeth springs 
 bodily upward as high as his physical strength will 
 permit, and exclaims the words from his old ritual : 
 "As little as I can reach thee, O Levanah, so little 
 may, by aid of Heaven, my enemies be permitted to 
 prevail over me ! " 
 
 This supplementary story is then presented as a 
 singular reminder of the old legend, the " Wander- 
 ing Jew" ~No less startling and romantic, but by 
 far more consonant with and responsive to the 
 natural sequence and order in the harmony of 
 events, it forms a fair commentary to the annals 
 of bygone ages. 
 
 .Respectfully submitted, 
 
 THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. 
 
PAKT II. 
 
 HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA, 
 
 BEN-BEOR, THE WANDERING GENTILE. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF THE RECLUSE 
 OF THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 A Seguel to the Story of ;t TJie Man in the Moon. 
 
 (09) 
 
PHANTASMAGORIA I. 
 
 PECULIAR HALLUCINATIONS. 
 
 The following pages, written by me, " the Recluse 
 of the Mountains," relate to my late experiences 
 while a solitary dweller in this cave, and to the 
 auspicious events constituting the history of my 
 previous career. They were commenced on the night 
 of the 10th of September, 1780 A. D., ushering in 
 the first day of the seventh month Tishri, the 
 Jewish New Year, 5540 A. M. With the last 
 stroke of twelve from my old Schwarzwald clock, 
 which hangs on the eastern wall of my secluded 
 habitation, I threw down the quill which I 
 had plied incessantly since early morning. My 
 self-imposed task was done at last. The final sen- 
 tence on the Aerolite containing the wonderful 
 story of " The Man in the Moon," which fell from 
 heaven at my door, is transcribed from the Hebrew 
 characters into the English language. The whole 
 narrative told therein is before me. There I sat, 
 with my poor throbbing head, white from age, like 
 the glistening stalactites which surrounded rne, rest- 
 ing in my thin, emaciated hands. Nothing dis- 
 turbed the nocturnal quiet, except now and then the 
 monotonous chirping of crickets or the far-away dis- 
 mal hooting of owls. Irresistibly, a strange, unac- 
 countable feeling crept over me. Now that this 
 phenomenal work is completed, I am impelled to 
 record what I feel, and what I remember of my 
 past life. 
 
 I am under a spell of sadness and mental 
 
 (71) 
 
72 BEN BEOR. 
 
 depression which is almost overpowering. In 
 this melancholy mood, the whole story on the 
 Intaglios involuntarily passes before my excited 
 vision. Scene after scene, as if imbued with life 
 and assuming realistic existence, rolls in quick 
 succession before my eyes. Staring, almost frenzied, 
 at the passing shadow-pictures, I first am as- 
 tonished, then startled, by a gradually growing 
 revelation started like an infinitesimal speck on a 
 far-away horizon. The strange vision expands by 
 degrees into shape and form, as it draws nearer and 
 nearer, until at last its giant proportions rage over 
 the world like a destructive storm. An invisible 
 hand draws slowly but steadily the veil from my 
 recollections, which seem to have been dormant. 
 The clouds part, and the sky in the far-away dis- 
 tance becomes light. Little by little it dawns 
 upon my dumbfounded mind that I, hapless being, 
 have been interwoven with the web and woof of 
 these conglomerated annals ; that I have been an 
 actor nay, a chief actor an incessant participant 
 and eye-witness to the astounding events, the record 
 of which fell at my door from heaven. Am I de- 
 mented? Are these my hands ? Is this my breast 
 in which the staggered heart beats and palpitates 
 as if it would break through its prison-house ? Is 
 this my fever-burning head, in which the brain on 
 fire seeks to burst the adamantine seams of my 
 water-dripping brow? Horrible! horrible! No 
 other mortal was ever compelled to undergo the 
 terrors and consternation which are now upon me. 
 I see it all, I see it all ! Great God ! have I, Thy 
 miserable creature, been spared for this ? Was 
 stagnant life preserved to be suddenly again ani- 
 mated into the vortex of existence, to realize this 
 dire, this overwhelming knowledge ? My whole 
 body quivers in anguish; while my white hair 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 73 
 
 rises on end, clutched by my bony, convulsive 
 hands. Springing to my feet, I stand erect, gloat- 
 ing upon the apparition before me. Century 
 after century rolls with blood-begrimed records, 
 in huge cylinder-forms, before my face. Every- 
 where my name! Everywhere my likeness! In 
 a thousand different shapes, but my name, my 
 person! Out with the terrible fact! out with the 
 staggering truth : " 1 am Balaam, the ever-living 
 Moabite ! " Now I know it ; now I realize it ! I 
 am indeed that execrated being, hurled back from 
 the moon to the earth by the hands of the prophet 
 Elijah! 
 
 As I came down headlong, vaulting through the 
 measureless space, I recorded in my brain and 
 heart a fearful oath, at which the universe must 
 have shuddered. I vowed in my Hind wrath 
 that from the moment when my feet should touch 
 the ground of mother earth, for my doom as " the 
 Wandering Gentile" I would forever prove the 
 hunting, cursing, sworn, maledicted, fell destroyer 
 of Peace, Liberty and Might. My sole purpose in 
 the mundane world should be henceforth to arraign 
 the thrones and churches against the people, crush- 
 ing Truth, Freedom and Law. In this I mean to 
 employ all the evil agencies and passions to which 
 the gross, low nature of man is heir, combating 
 with all the powers of hell the progress of civiliza- 
 tion. Such shall be the unremitting task and 
 revenge through coming ages, of him who forever 
 must be known as " BEN BEOR, THE ANTI-MESSIAH ! " 
 
 When I realized the truth of what seemed at first 
 a fearful hallucination I fell prostrate to the 
 ground. How long I lay unconscious there 1 can- 
 not tell. But at last reason returned. I then rose 
 staggering to my feet, approaching the table. The 
 first thing which I noticed, to my utter dismay, 
 
74 BEN BEOR. 
 
 was fliat the clock which I during all these periods 
 had so assiduously kept going, stood still ; the hands 
 showed midnight. Now I had lost the means of 
 knowing time. It was, however, night outside, yet. 
 I had grown calm and collected ; but the recollec- 
 tions of a few hours previous were upon me still. 
 Feeble and debilitated as I felt, my efforts to rise 
 at last succeeded. As I leaned for support upon 
 the table, my eyes were mechanically directed to 
 the inkstand, pens and paper. I tried to arrange 
 in some order the blank leaves which were scattered 
 about, but I was so weary and sleepy it seemed 
 almost impossible for me to collect them. I am 
 perfectly sure that all I did then was to draw the 
 rustic chair to where I stood, and dropping into 
 it, fall away into deep slumber. I would be willing 
 now to swear that I never touched a pen. Suddenly 
 I was aroused by a faint knocking at the entrance 
 of my cavern. In the first glow of a chill Sep- 
 tember morn, as darkness seemed to wrestle with 
 light for supremacy, there stood a tall, erect form, 
 draped in white, shroud-like garments. In his right 
 arm lie held a scroll, such a one as I had some- 
 times seen when 1 visited a Jewish synagogue ; it is 
 called " Sefer Hatorah." In his left hand, that hung 
 carelessly by his side, he grasped a peculiarly shaped 
 ram's horn. These things struck me first; then 
 I looked at the face. Semi-dark as it was every- 
 where as yet, I riveted my eyes upon the features ; 
 they became lit up gradually unto brilliancy. The 
 whole head was soon radiant with a halo of light. 
 It was a beautiful face dignified, almost austere, 
 yet complacent and beaming with mildness and 
 benevolence. The most conspicuous characteristic of 
 it was the long silver-white hair and beard, speak- 
 ing of old age ; with wonderfully preserved youthful 
 and healthy features, and without a wrinkle or 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 75 
 
 a line, revealing strong and buoyant virility en- 
 tirely unlocked for at such time of life. Where had 
 I seen this countenance before ? He certainly was 
 no stranger. Then it occurred to me, as if by a 
 stroke of lightning clearing for an instant the dark 
 enveloping my memory, it was the same person 
 whom I had beheld at the horrible instant when I 
 was hurled from the moon earthward the iden- 
 tical individual who then and there had pronounced 
 my doom and judgment the prophet Elijah ! So 
 here lie comes again to taunt me, the irrepressible 
 foe who has followed me throughout my whole long, 
 cursed life's career, ever thwarting my plans, ever 
 warding off the final blow from my hands, ever 
 defying my strongest efforts, part and parcel of my 
 task of vengeance : "To drive from the face of the 
 earth the Israelites, his people, whom he vaunted 
 to have been selected as l God- chosen' for the pro- 
 mulgation of the law, embodied in that book of 
 inspired revelation called the Torah." There he 
 stands again, as if to show me by contrast that I 
 have grown aged, feeble, debilitated and impotent, 
 and he, though venerable in appearance, yet strong, 
 full of vigor, powerful and almost rejuvenated. But 
 I will show the impertinent intruder that I yet have 
 strength in these arms, that my rage nerves my 
 muscles with former giant strength, that I yet can 
 be agile and quick! I made one strong effort 
 and sprang toward him, intent to throttle him if 
 my fingers should get at his throat. Alas ! my con- 
 tentions with him, my counter-wanderer, are all 
 futile. As I leaped to approach him he set the 
 horn in his left hand to his mouth, blows one long, 
 quivering blast, which with a thousand echoes re- 
 verberated from the mountains, and then is gone, 
 the vision disappearing as if in the air. Slowly, 
 and dismayed, I creep back to my seat. My eyes 
 
76 BEN BEOR. 
 
 fall now upon the top sheet of my pile of writ- 
 ing paper. I can barely trust my senses. It is 
 covered with this story and some of those infernal 
 Hebrew characters which had so worried me to 
 translate during the last years. What does it all 
 mean ? I never had traced them. Curiosity and 
 excitement hastened my will and I set to work to 
 transcribe the Bible verse. I see it at a gl an ce they 
 are the self-same Chaldaic words which a finger 
 of tire traced on the walls of the Babylonian king 
 Belshazzar ! Do they forebode, too, my miserable 
 doom ? 
 
 " M'ne ": The Lord hath numbered thy power 
 and hath made an end of it. 
 
 " T'kel ": Thou hast been weighed in the bal- 
 ance and been found wanting. (Daniel v. 25.) 
 
 Why just now this strange coincidence? Is this 
 another 'taunt from my arch-enemy ? or is it yes, 
 it must be so it is a supernatural warning the 
 conviction grows upon me my blasted career draws 
 to an end, my work is nearly done ! The ages of 
 my anti-messianic mission have passed by. I feel 
 now an irresistible instinct to write to record in 
 full the annals of my abortive efforts. I have been 
 during the past the right hand and mainstay of the 
 thrones and churches, to combat the inalienable 
 rights and liberty of the people. I knew that this 
 was a fight for life or death against the race who 
 carried as their strongest and, as is now proved, in- 
 vincible weapon, the Mosaic law. Had it been 
 possible for me to annihilate 'those people, or that 
 Book, or both, the living, ever-spreading repre- 
 sentative embodiment of One God, One Law, One 
 Liberated Humanity the tyrant master would 
 have kept his slave, nobility and caste would have 
 ruled the serfs, priestcraft would have swayed over 
 reason and truth. The struggle has been in vain. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 77 
 
 These people live; that Book lives! Here upon 
 this soil of America I had determined abroad, from 
 whence I came, to make one more last onslaught. 
 The Jews, who came here to find refuge from me, 
 their old tormentor, soon would, as I hoped, forsake 
 the laws and traditions of their ancestry. Specu- 
 lating upon this when far away, I fancied that by 
 insidious strides they at last would voluntarily sur- 
 render the stronghold of power, their Bible. With 
 this great advantage I reasonably calculated to 
 work their ultimate ruin on this continent. I had 
 planned also to bring the land back under the heels 
 of some conquering tyrant who, with aid of the 
 fanatical church, would re-establish the old despotic 
 order of things. Yain rebel that I am against the 
 over-ruling, all-guiding decrees of Providence, God 
 the One ! Never before in the history of man was 
 the holy-titled Book in the hands of such multi- 
 tudes; never has it been read, studied, understood, 
 loved and revered to the immeasurable extent by 
 any other nation like this American. Where it 
 formerly was but in the possession of the Israelites, 
 a few monks, prelates and students of the Christians, 
 here it has spread into every house, hut and tent. 
 The millions stand around it like bulwarks and 
 guard its tenets, laws and principles as if their very 
 existence depended upon its safety. Directly ema- 
 nating from the core of its teachings, Freedom, 
 under panoply of the whole power of a new gov- 
 ernment, is arrayed to end on this continent the last 
 vestige of despotism. Having spilled the blood of 
 her sons like water; poured out with unstinted 
 hands her treasures ; victory everywhere perches 
 upon her banners. I foresee it all now Monarchy 
 is doomed ! Right, Truth and Tolerance will pre- 
 vail ! When these facts shall be officially promul- 
 gated, I, Balaam Ben Beor, must and let me say 
 it, thank God will gladly die! 
 
78 BEN BEOR. 
 
 The measureless extent of my various crimes 
 may be perhaps to some degree assuaged now, by 
 correcting with all the force I still possess a terrible 
 misunderstanding assiduously fostered and cun- 
 ningly disseminated by myself and my countless 
 guilty emissaries. These were and are, often even 
 more than their principal, zealous to work all over 
 this globe. Our foul stratagem consisted and is as 
 yet strenuously maintained in the most embittering 
 policy, that during all these long and weary ages 
 it has been the " Christian Religion " which acted 
 and acts as the persistent, never-to-be-reconciled 
 persecutor among its own sects and of the Hebrew 
 people. This calumny has been industriously used, 
 especially when the great masses by our schemes 
 wallowed in ignorance and were fired by fanaticism. 
 But let it be here promulgated as an incontrovert- 
 ible fact, which the wider it may be known the 
 more it will help the efficacy of my penance : 
 
 " That never since the advent of Him of ** Naza- 
 reth] who, if the story of his life as reported in the 
 New Testament is correct, was himself a scion of 
 the house of Judah, and the lowliest member of the 
 race ; never played treason or acted cruel and un- 
 charitable to his brethren. lie, on the contrary^ in 
 his words and professions, was the most loving, 
 humble, humane, sympathetic and most worldly 
 poor. Never since his coming, unto this day, has a 
 true follower, an honest, conscientious member of 
 his church and her ideal mission, raised arm or 
 tongue for deed or word in persecution, hatred or 
 malignity against any other creed or race. On the 
 contrary, these loved humanity as all children of 
 the same Father, rejoiced in their well-being* com- 
 miserated their suffering, and charitably lent a 
 helping hand wherever it was needed. In this sense 
 and throughout their virtuous and faithful life, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 79 
 
 they aimed to prone to all doubters that indeed in 
 Jesus the Redeemer had appeared" 
 
 Alas ! it will now take a long time before the 
 world shall realize that it has been exclusively "the 
 Ben Beor," the Anti-Messiah and his cohorts, who, 
 under all kinds of successful disguises, have taken 
 on mostly the garb of cant in close imitation of 
 religion. We raged on earth with fire, sword, death, 
 destruction, and tears, under different names, titles 
 and pretentious. Combining together the interest 
 and policies of the State and Church, and in the 
 name of one or the other, we sowed the seeds of 
 hatred and contentions, causing wars, emeutes 
 and Woody revolts / doing the work of Satan, so as 
 to make him ultimately the primate of this globe, 
 neutralizing, effectually combatting and thwarting 
 the work of Moses the Teacher and Jesus the 
 Reformer. 
 
 What masks, agencies, passions, vices and crimes 
 were employed, and the part I played in these 
 monstrous revels of shame, sin and death, form the 
 material of the- work which I now feel impelled, as 
 if by an uncontrollable frenzy, to collect from the 
 tablets of my vivified memory. 
 
 Even while engaged in these thoughts, prelimi- 
 nary to the task, a wonderful phenomenon makes 
 itself vividly perceptible to my strangely agitated 
 soul. Take whatever period I will in the long 
 record which I propose to perpetuate, and instantly 
 I behold the long bygone scenes in every detail, 
 like living pictures in brilliant colors, somewhat in 
 the shape of panoramic views. These rise on 
 yonder towering wall of this cave, which in ala- 
 baster whiteness faces me from where I am seated. 
 Occurrences, acts, faces, drapery and every inci- 
 dent connected with any of these affairs, are 
 brought out distinctly and realistically, to such an 
 
80 BEN BEOR., 
 
 extent that I almost fancy that I were living over 
 again that special part of my history upon which 
 momentarily I have fixed the focus of my brain, 
 in order to pen its records under the auspicious and 
 impressive title of " Phantasmagoria." This will 
 cause my writing to become true facsimiles of 
 the tableaux-vivants, which rise instantaneously at 
 the command of my spiritual vision. 
 
 When soon hereafter the annals of my poisonous 
 instrumentalities for the havoc which I have made 
 during the many centuries since I returned from 
 the moon to this earth, shall be completed, may 
 then the almighty and all-merciful Lord pardon to 
 some redeemable degree the quivering, despairing 
 soul of the shadow-author. 
 
 BALAAM BEN BEOR, 
 The Wandering Gentile and Anti-Messiah. 
 
 PHAJSTTASMAGOKIA II. 
 
 TITUS AND BERENICE. 
 
 Hurled through eternal space, ever conscious of 
 my doom the malediction of the Anti-Messiah 
 after the lapse of six centuries I landed at last 
 on earth. Was it accident or a well-planned design ? 
 My feet touched the ground near Mount Moriah, at 
 the period when, for the second time, the temple of 
 the Lord was threatened with destruction, and the 
 land of His chosen people invaded by a most pow- 
 erful foreign foe, the Koman Emperor Vespasian, 
 represented by his son, the august Titus. The 
 siege of Jerusalem had lasted for months. In spite 
 of every attack, the intrepid, beleaguered Hebrews 
 held out undauntedly against their assailants. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 81 
 
 These were about to abandon an effort so costly in 
 life and treasure. A council of war had just been 
 concluded, and several of the wearied commanders 
 spoke in favor of withdrawing from a place which 
 was visibly under the protection of God. But 
 Titus would not listen to such a proposition. A 
 last desperate and concentrated attack upon the 
 walls of the temple was resolved upon for the next 
 day, the fatal ninth of "Av." At this juncture I 
 joined the Romans, and was intrusted with command 
 of some troops, in consequence of my profession of 
 bitterest hatred against the Jews and the avowed 
 raging thirst for vengeance to be visited upon the 
 whole nation. Near evening of the next day my 
 chance came. A sally from the temple had been 
 risked by the reckless Hebrews; but after desperately 
 fighting for a short time they were overthrown and 
 forced precipitately to retreat. Great confusion 
 ensued. Amidst this I, at the head of my small 
 command, succeeded in scaling the ramparts of the 
 citadel on the' western side of the temple. With 
 crazy eagerness I leaped down into the inner 
 court. Recovering instantly from the stunning 
 fall, to the consternation of a few priests just 
 offering their vesper oblations I hastened to the 
 altar where the sacred fire was briskly burning, 
 snatched a brand from the heap, and running with 
 it hither and thither, ignited the gold-brocaded 
 draperies which hung everywhere in the immense 
 edifice. In this I was now assiduously aided by 
 my followers. Quicker than one may tell it, the 
 whole imposing interior was a sea of conflagra- 
 tion. All now became consternation among the 
 surprised defenders, who with fearful, piercing cries 
 ran about in utmost confusion. 
 
 Amidst this havoc I directed my eyes to where 
 the silver ball in the now blood-tinted sky walked 
 
82 BEN BEOR. 
 
 majestically through the fantastic clouds. There I 
 plainly beheld the man who had so effectually 
 hurled me back to earth from my former lunar 
 abode. Every thought of mine was elated by the 
 consummate vengeance which I had wrought upon 
 him, my persecutor. Forward I sprang to the 
 " Bihma" at the extreme eastern wall ever forward 
 until I reached the Holiest of Holy, where never 
 before Gentile had entered. Near the consecrated 
 shrine, a grandiose semicircle of preciously clothed 
 scrolls of the law shone in the brilliancy of the lights 
 from the golden, seven-armed candlestick. Rushing 
 to the parchments with the fury of a madman, I tore 
 from these witnesses of the Lord's bounty to Israel 
 the mantles in which they were draped, and casting 
 one after another from their resting-places, unrolled 
 and trampled upon them until the whole collection 
 lay in one confused mass at my feet. The uproar 
 of destruction from within the edifice accompanied 
 my frenzied acts of vengeance. Then I started 
 forth again to where the monstrous fire-fiend 
 wrought in horrible splendor his unparalleled scenes 
 of sublime terror. Now, with the laughter of a 
 demon I sprang ahead to a point where the raging 
 element seemed to have concentrated its awful 
 force. At this instant I saw Emperor Titus, with 
 his mistress Berenice, the royal daughter of the 
 Maccabeans, rush in through the now open " Golden 
 Gate." He looked haggard and disappointed. 
 Coming near where I stood, he cried out in almost 
 unearthly tones: "Save the Temple! Stay the 
 fire ! " He might as well have commanded that the 
 light of the Levanah shining over us be extin- 
 guished. The Roman cohorts, assisted by their 
 foreign barbarian allies, were perfectly un control- 
 able. Actuated, however, by a momentary impulse, 
 eager to show my zeal to serve my new master, 1 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 83 
 
 threw myself headlong into the vortex of the fire. 
 The last I heard now was the voice of a woman 
 imploring that I should be saved. Three of my 
 men, in defiance of deathly danger, sprang after me 
 and dragged me back. Singed, scorched and blist- 
 ered, I was barely the semblance of a man. While 
 my rescuers, though greatly injured themselves, at 
 once prepared a litter upon which to carry me away, 
 I raised my tortured eyelids. Oh, rapturous oh, 
 overwhelming sight ! I beheld, not Berenice but 
 Merris, my loved, my fatal idol as near alike to 
 the daughter of Pharaoh as is one drop of spring- 
 water to another. I squirmed and trembled under 
 the agonizing vision, making faint efforts to raise 
 myself. Then her eyes fell upon my distorted, 
 terror-inspiring form. She nigh fainted, and would 
 have fallen had she not been caught in the arms of 
 her consort, who bore her to the only place of safety 
 the shrine where I so lately had been busy with 
 my vandal, sacrilegious work. I now became un- 
 conscious. When I recovered I found myself 
 sheltered in the Roman camp, attended by their 
 best physicians. 
 
 My attendants and visitors related to me there- 
 after the harrowing incidents as they occurred hour 
 after hour and day after day, surpassing the wildest 
 imagination in ferocity, cruelty and unprecedented 
 persecutions. The whole land was as one char- 
 nel-house. They told me that nearly one million 
 men, the entire defensive force of these people, lay 
 as festering corpses on the highways; that those 
 not killed were sold in the public markets as slaves. 
 Loaded with chains, they were taken captives to 
 every quarter of the empire. How full was the 
 punishment of this cursed race! Had I not with 
 my own hands destroyed beyond restoration every 
 copy of their holy books ? Not one, as far as I 
 
84 BEN BEOR. 
 
 knew, escaped the greedy flames. How I gloated 
 over the fullness of my well-accomplished work of 
 the most complete destruction ! Was my self- 
 imposed mission on earth already realized ? Lying 
 there in my comfortable quarters, all suffering and 
 pangs were assuaged and recovery hastened by the 
 
 f ratifying consciousness of the fearful havoc which 
 had so successfully wrought upon him who had 
 judged me so sternly above, and upon my mundane 
 adversaries here below. Now I was satisfied that 
 the future historian would write upon this eventful 
 epoch of Home's victory, " Perditas Judaica ! " 
 Alas ! how often ever after have I flattered my vain 
 hopes with this self-same delusion ! 
 
 On no other ground can I explain or account for 
 the distinguished and continued care and attention 
 which were bestowed upon me by direction and 
 command of the general-in-chief, than by a mistake 
 under which he and his mistress labored. They 
 believed that the injuries which I had received 
 were in direct consequence of my efforts in obedi- 
 ence to the command of Titus to save the temple 
 by extinguishing the flames. It seems that the 
 lady in her great pity had taken me under her 
 special protection and care. 
 
 Repeated inquiries were made from headquarters 
 concerning the progress of my health, accom- 
 panied by orders to my attendants that nothing 
 which would hasten my recovery was to be left 
 undone, so that as soon as possible I might be 
 taken to the imperial city of Rome. After a week's 
 careful nursing I was deemed well enough to 
 depart. A princely conveyance appeared at the 
 door of my lodgings. Careful porters started with 
 me for the first day's journey Westward. The 
 officer in charge had been instructed to proceed 
 slowly and make but short daily distances. Towards 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 85 
 
 noon on the first day of our travel, we arrived at 
 the little city of Modin. Here we halted for 
 the night. In advance there had been prepared the 
 best quarters to be found, and I was carried into a 
 house which belonged, as I was told, to a favorite 
 of the emperor, the distinguished Hebrew liabbi 
 Jochanan ben Sakkai. For some eminent service, 
 he, after having been carried in a coffin, shamming 
 death, from beleaguered Jerusalem, was permitted 
 to settle here with a colony of his students. Thence 
 started the fatal nucleus of my future fate, a school 
 for the maintenance and propagation of the " Law 
 of Moses." Imagine my chagrin and disappoint- 
 ment when I must see, on passing through the hall 
 of my hostelry, any number of those hated scrolls 
 lying before the youths seated at the feet of their 
 master, listening with glowing zeal to his enthusi- 
 astic words. Stung to the soul by finding so soon 
 and so unexpectedly foiled and shattered my fond 
 belief of having destroyed those cursed parchments 
 beyond recovery, gladly would I have set the 
 torch to this house during the short interval that I 
 was destined to dwell here. But I was not left 
 unattended during all this time for a single moment ; 
 nor dared I propose any such plan to one of 
 my company ; for there is in the mind of these 
 people, in the whole catalogue of crimes none more 
 hated and despised than an offense against hospi- 
 tality. Lying awake long into the night, ponder- 
 ing upon the probable consequences which this 
 untoward discovery might have upon the future of 
 the Jews and my own mission, 1 at last consoled 
 myself with the reflection the most delusive per- 
 haps in all my career that such an insignificant 
 remnant of former glory and power would shrivel 
 from its trivial proportion into nothingness and 
 be swallowed up and lost amidst the huge calami- 
 
86 BEN BEOE. 
 
 ties now striding rampant over all Palestine. Who 
 could have surmised that in such an insignificant 
 dwelling, under this frail roof, the seed was being 
 planted that would grow and ripen, through 
 which the fall of the temple and the cruel disper- 
 sion of the Hebrews should become but links in the 
 great chain whereby ultimately would be spanned 
 the whole religious world ? And yet, history has so 
 proved ill At last, after long hours, I fell into 
 a short, troubled sleep, to be awakened at day- 
 break, when we started on our further travel 
 towards the imperial city. After many eventless 
 days had passed we saw at last, far away, the 
 domes and spires of our destination. Here we met 
 Titus, the victorious conqueror of the East, returning 
 home with his all-successful army and the spoils 
 and captives of a hundred battles. It was a spec- 
 tacle baffling description. A triumphal entry of 
 troops into the Eternal City soon took place. 
 
 First came, in wild and fantastic procession, 
 mounted on the swift horses of Arabia, the finely 
 formed Bedouins, in charge of an apparently end- 
 less train of cages, containing the most splendid and 
 select specimens of all the brute creation to be 
 found in the Saharan and Nubian deserts and 
 the jungles of Asia and Africa. Amidst the roar, 
 the howl and piercing noise of these sounded forth 
 the shrill tones of the reed-pipes of trainers, an- 
 swered, as it were, by the numerous and various 
 voices of feathered tribes, the birds forming a 
 rainbow of colors as they hopped and frisked to and 
 fro in their finely braided metallic houses on top of 
 the cages of the quadrupeds. Neither gold, labor 
 nor cunning had been spared to collect this match- 
 less menagerie, destined for the museums and the 
 gladiatorial arena of the capital. Then came a 
 troop of hunters, seated on small but wiry ponies. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 87 
 
 All the riders head silver bugles, and the wild blasts 
 from a thousand instruments sounding forth were 
 heard for miles. Next paraded the Teutonic cohorts, 
 men broad-chested and tall like giants, their blonde 
 hair forming a strange contrast with their sunburnt 
 skins. For miles and miles away stretched the 
 line, borne upon, the clumsy, heavy-maned horses 
 of the North. Then followed, in brilliant array of 
 well-polished steel breast-shields and helmets, the 
 Egyptian and Macedonian charioteers, their ani- 
 mals drawing the terror-inspiring engines of war ; 
 they were divided in separate columns, each of 
 which was headed by a band of trumpeters, leading 
 with the blare of their instruments the dance-like 
 march of this part of the army. Now followed a 
 section of the imperial body-guards, caparisoned 
 most gorgeously, their crimson-velvet cloaks falling 
 in graceful folds over their feet as they appeared 
 like statues upon fiery chargers. Their large brows, 
 aquiline noses, brilliant eyes and haughty mien de- 
 clared in every feature the proud .Romans. Each 
 one had a battle-ax fastened to the pommel of his 
 gold-embroidered saddle, and bore a halberd in his 
 right hand. These were succeeded by the most 
 wonderful train of artistic representations of the 
 carver, chiseler and painter ; rich combinations of 
 costly woods, ivory, silver and gold in every im- 
 aginable form and size, representing the historical 
 occurrences of the East, delineating the wars, vic- 
 tories and triumphs of Rome. Between each sec- 
 tion of these trophied reminiscences, singers and 
 musicians vied with each other, telling in verse 
 and rhythm the story of their glory. 
 
 These passed, and then came in seemingly end- 
 less array the treasure-laden vehicles, carrying the 
 spoils of war ; elephants and camels in charge of 
 dusky Moors brilliantly arrayed, bearing priceless 
 
88 BEN BEOR. 
 
 gems of despoiled nations. The last of the wagons 
 contained the golden vessels, solid shew-table, seven- 
 armed candlestick, and the glistening " Tablets 
 of the Law" immense geological specimens of 
 diamond-like lustrous double plates, in which were 
 cut, as it is said " by the finger of the Lord," 
 from one side to the other, the letters forming the 
 world-renowned Decalogue ; through the quaint 
 openings of which the morning sun played with a 
 wreath of rays, crowning them with a shield of 
 colors and light of inexpressible beauty and mag- 
 nificence. If I could but have laid my hands for 
 eternal destruction upon this one all-peerless pos- 
 session ! At the sight of it I felt sick at heart, 
 and inwardly vowed that if it came within the 
 reach of possibilities I would, at some near time and 
 at any risk, get hold of this concentrated essence of 
 Mosaic wisdom, the foundation of Jewish legis- 
 lation, and utterly destroy it. While such burning 
 thoughts were yet astir in my covetous bosom this 
 pageant had passed. Another appeared, coming as 
 if to create the most marked contrast with all the 
 splendor and wealth of the previous procession. 
 Upon a rude platform, drawn by four sturdy mules, 
 guarded on each side by a detachment of swarthy 
 spearsmen, loaded down in chains, with a rope 
 around his massive neck, cowered the gigantic form 
 of the most illustrious among the Hebrew captives, 
 the renowned hero of the siege of Jerusalem one 
 who had been a terrible host in himself against 
 the invaders the dreaded Simon bar Giora. Ac- 
 cording to the irrevocable rite of Roman Triumphals 
 he is the chosen sacrifice. The sad strains of a dead- 
 march from a powerful band of brass instruments 
 rend the air as he passes out of sight. Silver 
 trumpets, however, take up the mournful chords 
 and change them with wonderful transposition into 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 89 
 
 jubilant fanfares. Next, two brilliantly arrayed 
 open coaches, each drawn by four horses, make 
 their appearance. One contains the young emperor's 
 favorite, his Hebrew ally, the historian Flavius 
 Josephus, with three of his intimate friends and rela- 
 tives by his side ; the other is occupied by the pusil- 
 lanimous Jewish courtier-prince, Agrippa, brother 
 of the royal Berenice. Then cantered into sight, 
 preceded and followed by a line of chosen body- 
 guards, the young emperor Titus, riding a coal- 
 black charger, and on a milk-white steed at his 
 side the queenly daughter of Judea, the matchless 
 princess Berenice. Far behind them loomed up 
 the endless native and foreign legions, guarding 
 between them the unfortunate Jewish captives, 
 men, women and children, loaded with chains, most 
 pitiful to behold in their despair and misery, com- 
 puted to have exceeded one hundred thousand per- 
 sons. 
 
 Finally came the rabble and the usual hangers- 
 on of an army returning victorious from a foreign 
 land. All this vast multitude now arrived on the 
 plain, stretching picturesquely away to where 
 stood the temple of isis. "With the words of com- 
 mand by superior officers, as if by magic, pres- 
 ently an orderly, well-planned encampment dis- 
 closed itself. The imperial pair, as they passed us, 
 sent one of their servants, bidding my officer to fall 
 in line behind them. As they dismounted and 
 ascended the stairs to the holy dais, they were greeted 
 by the father-emperor Vespasian and his younger 
 son Domitian, the senate and the venerable priests 
 of the goddess. Then sire and son met in most affec- 
 tionate embrace. Such a shout of joy and exultation 
 arose from the soldiers and the assembled people as 
 was never before heard by mortal ears. I had 
 remained at the foot of the extensive platform and 
 
90 BEN BEOR. 
 
 from there could see, hear and watch the en- 
 suing solemn ceremonies and usages preceding 
 always the triumphal entry of an emperor into the 
 Eternal City. But amidst all these pompous ob- 
 servances, the magnificent music, the galaxy of 
 vestals, the priests in their silver-brocaded robes 
 with the sacred paraphernalia, the orations and 
 prayers attending the auspicious festivities of the 
 day, my eyes were fixed solely upon one object, the 
 queenly and exceedingly beautiful woman who 
 stood between the two sons of the old emperor 
 Yespasian, the Jewess matchless in grace and dig- 
 nity. Wavy hair, raven black, held together on the 
 finely poised head by a tiara of gold studded with 
 glittering sapphires and diamonds ; lustrous, large 
 eyes fringed with long lashes and laughing with 
 fire and brilliancy ; finely-traced lines of an aquiline 
 nose, coraline lips, round chin, fully-developed bust, 
 showing like alabaster from the neck down to where 
 priceless lace covered the swelling bosom ; a figure 
 grand and majestic, draped in a wealth of silk and 
 velvets; silver sandals disclosing abnormally small 
 feet, hands exquisitely white and moulded as if by 
 a master-sculptor, sparkling with an untold wealth 
 of priceless gems such was the princess Berenice. 
 No wonder the ardent Titus, fascinated by all this 
 loveliness and beauty, had pledged his troth to her, 
 by which, on his ascension to the throne, she was 
 to share the sovereignty of the civilized world. 
 
 Amidst all the jubilation I, keenly watching, 
 noticed the old emperor and his youngest son re- 
 peatedly cast malignant glances at the beautiful 
 object of my feverish attention. 
 
 The imperial party at last entered their circular 
 golden carriage, and the procession took up its 
 march along the Via Sacra. 
 
 Lost in strange speculations concerning Merris, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 91 
 
 my Egyptian ideal, re-embodied in the radiant, 
 
 florious Hebrew woman, I was suddenly awakened 
 y a mounted guard approaching my conveyance. 
 Unrolling a large scroll bearing the imperial seal, 
 he conveyed to me the message that it had pleased 
 the young emperor to honor me with the high com- 
 mission of proceeding forthwith, in advance of the 
 procession, to the Capitoline hill with the doomed 
 captive Simon bar Giora, and proclaiming to him 
 the sentence of death, see him scourged according 
 to the prescribed rites, and thrown down the 
 declivity unto destruction. This done, to bring the 
 news to the waiting emperors and populace. For 
 this purpose I was now comfortably placed on 
 the platform beside the prisoner, and saluting him 
 with the well-known greeting of "Salam alichum," 
 by which he took me to be a compatriot, and having 
 smilingly responded with the usual " Aliehnm 
 Salam," we rode together the long distance to the 
 hill. Conversing with him cordially in the Hebrew 
 language, I soon succeeded in gaining his confidence 
 and in extracting from him the story of his event- 
 ful life. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA III. 
 
 SIMON BAR GIOKA. 
 
 During the last days of my stay near Jerusalem, 
 while the appalling struggle raged over Palestine, I 
 had heard much of the noble character of the 
 doomed prisoner. I now sought to obtain the true 
 facts concerning the life and deeds of this hapless 
 Simon bar Giora, and here they are as told me 
 by himself. He said : 
 
 " Born and bred at Gerasa in Palestine, among 
 
92 BEN BEOB 
 
 the shepherds who roamed with their cattle and 
 flocks over the wide hills and vales which surround 
 this ancient city of East Arabia, at an early age I 
 imbibed from this class the rude spirit of inde- 
 pendence and rugged freedom. I soon exercised a 
 kind of leadership among my companions. When 
 the war with the Romans broke out and news 
 reached us how sorely our people were pressed by 
 the invader, a large number of us resolved to go to 
 their aid. Leaving our herds in charge of the old 
 men, about ten thousand of us gathered, and having 
 elected me their chieftain, an army was organized. 
 
 " Treasures flowed in upon us from all sides. A 
 large number of slaves were held by the people in 
 this district. These by proclamation were now 
 freed on condition that they would join our troops. 
 They gladly complied, thereby swelling our num- 
 bers to over twenty thousand. With the assistance 
 of officers and lieutenants appointed by me, I set 
 to work day and night to train our men in the use 
 of arms and the strictest discipline of soldiers. 
 
 "By good fortune, there were among the slaves, 
 foreigners who had been sold here as prisoners. 
 These old veterans were familiar with tactics and 
 military science. Placing my troops, ignorant of 
 such requirements, entirely in their charge, by inces- 
 sant work they were soon in good condition, ready 
 to take the field. I had thus an efficient and obedi- 
 ent corps of soldiers, as brave as ever assembled for 
 the defense of homes, altars and firesides. Finding 
 myself then at the head of such an immense body 
 of faithful and well-drilled men, all my dormant 
 powers of pride, ambition and patriotism were 
 aroused in fiercest strength, and I vowed to myself 
 that I would liberate my people of Israel ^ from 
 their enemies, or perish in the attempt. I did not 
 know the fearful task I had undertaken. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 93 
 
 Alas ! too soon did I learn that our worst ad- 
 versaries were not the foreign invaders. Among 
 certain ranks of other troops our leaders were 
 arrayed against one another in deathly strifes and 
 contentions, several sects and clans contending 
 among themselves for supreme power. Treason 
 stalked over the land, and selfish, faint-hearted, 
 pusillanimous cowards were headed by Flavius 
 Josephus. He might have stayed the downfall of the 
 nation, but deserted to the enemy, and for prospec- 
 tive favors betrayed the secrets of our strength and 
 the points of our weaknesses to his newly acquired 
 friends. Nay, all these left behind in their accursed 
 course, secret allies, who by mutual understanding 
 sent into the camp of the enemy, instead of deadly 
 arrows, papyrus-slips which contained information 
 of every move planned in our lines. It is un- 
 necessary to enumerate all the dangerous exploits 
 which fell to my share. They are now part of the 
 history of our unfortunate nation. One phase in 
 my trying career will illustrate the cruel difficulties 
 and unpardonable repulses which I suffered at the 
 hands of some would-be leaders. From reports 
 which I had received by trusty spies I knew that 
 concentrated attacks with all the available power 
 of the Romans would shortly be made upon sorely 
 harassed Jerusalem. I thought it therefore im- 
 peratively necessary to leave my secure stronghold 
 in the citadel of Mesada and by hurried marches 
 proceed to the capital. Arrived there, the several 
 parties in command, although raging against one 
 another like bloodthirsty tigers, fearing that they 
 might lose some of their power, united in refusing 
 me and my legions admittance to the city. Nay, 
 they concocted and carried out the plot of cap- 
 turing my wife, whom I had left with friends at 
 Mesada. Speculating upon the love which I bore 
 
94 BEN BEOR. 
 
 her, this my weak spot being known among my 
 adherents and foes, a deputation was sent from 
 the city with the message that we must immediately 
 surrender and deliver up our arms, or, refusing, her 
 life and that of her attendants should pay the for- 
 feit of my obstinacy. This made me furious ! In 
 my rage I raised my battle-ax and smote their 
 leader to death, then hacking off the hands of the 
 rest I sent them back, vowing that if but a hair of 
 the head of my spouse or that of any of her friends 
 were touched I would break down the walls of the 
 city, and spare neither age nor sex until I should 
 be fully avenged. 
 
 u The sight of the dead leader and his mutilated 
 companions quickly changed the boisterous rejoic- 
 ings of the wily commanders over their victory 
 upon a few weak, resistless women, into bitter la- 
 mentations and despair, and despite the remon- 
 strances of traitors, hirelings in the service of the 
 foreign besiegers, the captive females were per- 
 mitted to depart in peace, and a safety-guard given 
 to securely conduct the glad prisoners into our 
 encampment. Never again did these scheming 
 leaders trifle with my anger. On the contrary, it 
 chanced very soon thereafter that the populace, be- 
 coming disgusted with and mortally afraid of their 
 overbearing and tyrannical military rulers, their 
 high-priest Matthias, with a princely escort, issued 
 forth in procession from the Golden Gate, came to 
 my tent and besought me to follow him with my 
 soldiers into the terribly afflicted city. We entered 
 amidst great rejoicings and were received with 
 open arms by large numbers. 
 
 " I set myself to work without delay for the de- 
 fense of the strongholds and the reunion of the 
 fierce factions who tore asunder the best strength of 
 the people. In this, however, I was continually 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 95 
 
 thwarted and foiled by the unceasing machinations 
 of the traitors, who would gladly have welcomed 
 Titus and his troops into the holy tabernacle. 
 When the Hebrews, despite their dissensions, showed 
 themselves so bravely determined to defend their 
 possessions or die in the combat, the miserable 
 renegades who fawned and flattered around our 
 Roman tormentors betrayed to the enemy the last 
 secret which they thus far had inviolably kept, the 
 subterranean passageways by which the country 
 folks supplied overpeopled Jerusalem with food 
 for men and beasts. These tunnels were, after the 
 most bloody struggle of the whole war, taken pos- 
 session of by our assailants, and in consequence 
 thereof fearful and abject famine fell upon us all. 
 We could have fought hosts and withstood the bat- 
 tering rams, but hunger and the terrible sight of the 
 starving and famishing women and children soon 
 unmanned the strongest and the bravest. Such was 
 the work of the miscreant Joseph us and his tribe of 
 renegades who stigmatized rne with the title of a 
 tyrant. Then came the fire which consumed the 
 temple and the city. The strongest minds lost 
 heart. God seemed to have everywhere forsaken 
 our people. His hand lay crushingly upon us. 
 Yet I did not even then despair. Quickly I sum- 
 moned together my followers. We made our way 
 first to the lower chambers of the temple. Here 
 we supplied ourselves with stonecutters' tools, 
 and appropriated from the magazines such stores 
 of food-sustenance as had been laid up for times of 
 greatest need. I led the way to a subterranean 
 passageway yet undiscovered by the enemy, calcu- 
 lating that we might cut an outlet to the oppo- 
 site side of the temple and city, and from new 
 strongholds renew the battles for our national 
 existence. All was not lost if this plan succeeded. 
 
96 BEN BEOR. 
 
 We soon reached the end of the underground exca- 
 vations, and then the men set to work to quarry 
 out the rest of the way. Our provisions, however, 
 had to be carefully husbanded, and supplies dis- 
 tributed in scant measure. The nature of the 
 rock revealed itself at an early date to be beyond our 
 strength, and, to .my horror, the laborers, utterly 
 fatigued, threw down their tools and declared that 
 it was beyond the power of human strength and 
 endurance to proceed further with a work that 
 showed such infinitesimal results. Hope, faith and 
 the last vestige of enthusiasm had ebbed away I 
 had reached the end of my resources. I determined 
 upon one last effort, which offered but the faintest 
 ground for success. In one of the recesses of the 
 lower caverns I had found secreted the white linen 
 garments and the velvet purple cloak of the high- 
 priest. Attired in these, I proposed to appear sud- 
 denly among the superstitious foreign guards who 
 watched over the ruins of the holy edifice. My 
 followers were to keep close to me, and when they 
 saw the scared victors take to flight, fall upon them 
 and fight their way out of the city to places of 
 safety. I played my part well. As I emerged so 
 ^suddenly and unexpectedly from out of the earth, 
 the surprised Romans hastily took to their heels. 
 Alas! my men, discouraged and despairing, had 
 stayed behind, only to be slaughtered like sheep, 
 when the fugitives, recovering from their scare, 
 seeing that no one followed, returned and took me 
 prisoner. 
 
 " Yet I would not reveal to this common 
 rabble who their captive was, but demanded the 
 presence of their commander. He was sent for 
 immediately and came in great haste. I recognized 
 him as the most implacable and bloodthirsty of 
 any tyrant who ever bore semblance to a human 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 97 
 
 being the thrice-accursed murderer and villain, 
 Kufus, surnamed by the Hebrews 4 the Terrible.' 1 
 disclosed to him my name and defied him to do his 
 worst. I was stripped of my priestly vestments, 
 leaving me barely enough of dress to hide my 
 nakedness; loaded down with chains and thrown 
 into a deep and dark dungeon. I knew well what 
 was to be my fate, and utterly callous of what was 
 to come, resigned myself uncomplainingly to the 
 future. Thou kuowest the rest." 
 
 Here he stopped. During the recital, the swarthy 
 face of this giant-like person was suffused with 
 tears, no doubt the first he had wept since his 
 childhood. By this time we had arrived at our 
 destination; the weary team came to a halt, 
 and two Hctors in readiness, before a great multi- 
 tude, shoutingly took possession of the unfortunate 
 captive. They subjected him in my presence, 
 bound as he was hand and foot, to the most cruel 
 flagellation, scourging and torments. The blood 
 trickled over his naked back and chest, but not a 
 muscle stirred ; not a sign of pain showed itself in 
 mien or gesture of this brave soldier. He smiled 
 contemptuously through it all. At'last, when they 
 fancied that his strength had succumbed to their 
 torture, the two officers loosened the shackles on 
 his arms, previous to the fearful plunge over the 
 precipice which was soon to send him to his de- 
 struction. Instantly, when he felt himself thus 
 partly freed, and before I even could execute my 
 official commission to read to him the death-war- 
 rant, with one mighty effort he grasped his tor- 
 mentors, and, crying out like Samson of old," With 
 mine enemies will I die this day ! " he made of his 
 own accord the fearful plunge with them into 
 eternity. Not a sound was heard but the thump- 
 ing of the bodies against the crags and rocks as the 
 
98 BEN BEOR. 
 
 dead bodies fell to the never-explored bottom. 
 Long before I reached the "Arch Triumphal," in- 
 scribed with the ominous words, " Judea capta," 
 where the emperors and people were awaiting my 
 arrival, the shouts of the masses had proclaimed the 
 final consummation of the death-sentence on their 
 illustrious victim. The imperial procession set itself 
 again into motion towards the capitol, for the 
 final rites of the glorious Triumphal. The broad 
 thoroughfare over which our march now proceeded 
 was a blaze of most costly and tasteful decorations ; 
 all balustrades and windows were ornamented with 
 flags, pennons and patriotic designs of the richest 
 material, and the street, inclusive of every avail- 
 able place where the procession could be seen, was 
 lined with men, women and children in holiday 
 attire. They shouted themselves hoarse with the 
 ever-repeated acclamations: "Viva Emperores^ 
 viva Titus; deliciae humani generis" 
 
 I was, however, much astonished at the many 
 signs of public disfavor and indignation which 
 were manifested towards Berenice. Frequently 
 some group, more bold and aggressive than their 
 companions, would point their lingers at her, and, 
 just loud enough to be heard, cynically and sarcas- 
 tically drawl out the words of a double meaning, 
 "Judea capta," which meant here unmistakably 
 " the Jewess captured." All this must have been 
 very distressing to her, and, being in close prox- 
 imity, I saw, even while she smiled defiance at her 
 tormentors, tears standing in her beautiful eyes. At 
 last we reached the capitol. Here the sacerdotal 
 ceremonies were completed. The emperors seated 
 themselves in the celebrated throne-chairs of ivory 
 and gold. While the priests passed before them 
 into the temple of Jupiter, where they brought the 
 sacrifices of a thousand oxen ; the orators, poets and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 99 
 
 singers recited their heroes' deeds of valor and 
 glory. The sun set in unspeakable beauty and 
 grandeur beyond the flaming Apenninian hills, 
 when the two emperors rose, prayerfully invoked 
 the blessing of the gods upon all their subjects, and 
 finally withdrew to the night's banquets and 
 revelry in their palaces. 
 
 Immediately thereafter the immense crowd dis- 
 persed; those exhausted from the fatigues of the 
 long day wending their way homeward ; others who 
 had saved their strength, or were naturally able to 
 undergo more physical strain, to the festivities 
 which had been provided at public expense in every 
 quarter of the city, or repairing to the theatres and 
 numerous shows. These costly celebrations con- 
 tinued for three days, officials vieing with private 
 parties to make this one of the most memorable 
 events in the annals of Eome. 
 
 PHAISTTASMAGOBIA IY. 
 
 BETWEEN SCYLLA AND CHAKYBDIS. 
 
 There had been assigned to me and my servitors 
 most comfortable and princely quarters near 
 the Quirinal palace. Here I remained in retire- 
 ment for several days, partly to recuperate from 
 the fatigues of the previous long journey and 
 the excitement attending the " Triumphal," and 
 partly for the purpose of undergoing medical treat- 
 ment, which soon restored my health and removed 
 every vestige which the casualties of the fire at 
 the Temple had left upon my body. Not a 
 trace, not a mark remained by which I could be 
 reminded of the severe injuries I had sustained, 
 
100 BEN BEOK. 
 
 but, on the contrary, the repeated soothing oint- 
 ments and the powerful restorative baths caused 
 my whole frame to glow with health and my 
 appearance to become youthful. 
 
 Congratulating myself upon these gratifying 
 experiences, I soon discovered that still greater sur- 
 prises were in store for me. 
 
 One morning I found a mysterious note upon 
 my table, inviting me urgently to an early and 
 confidential interview with the princess Berenice. 
 \Vhat could this woman possibly want with me? 
 There was no earthly likelihood that she had 
 the faintest idea of my blind affection for her. 
 While pondering over this unexpected enigma, 
 an imperial page summoned me to the presence of 
 Vespasian. 
 
 Here was a dilemma ! "Whom should I see first ? 
 Following my individual inclination, I appointed 
 the time for an audience with the great monarch at 
 a later hour and dismissed the messenger, 
 
 After careful preparations as to my personal 
 appearance,! repaired immediately to the residence 
 of the lady. Here I must have been expected, for 
 I was shown at once to her presence. As I entered 
 I saw the magnificent splendor of the royal cham- 
 bers, in all more like a dream than a reality. He- 
 posing upon one of those peculiar Eastern couches 
 which seemed to form a rich frame to a celestial 
 portrait, pensive and sad as if just awakening from 
 deeply troublesome reflections, was the lovely Bere- 
 nice. I knelt before her, and raising the hand 
 which hung languidly by her side, I kissed the rose- 
 ate tips of her fingers. Never will I forget the 
 rapture which thrilled me as my lips came for one 
 glorious moment into this slight carnal contact 
 with the to me angelic being. 
 
 She smilingly bade me welcome and motioned 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. ^; ^,0i 
 
 me to a seat. Then she spoke : " Be not aston- 
 ished that i have called thee to me. From the 
 zeal and devotion which thou hast shown to thy 
 superiors in the hour of great peril and at risk of 
 thy life, I have been filled with the utmost confi- 
 dence in thy fidelity and strength of character. 
 And now that I need a trusty agent on a very im- 
 portant and difficult enterprise, my choice naturally 
 has fallen upon one whom I have found to be most 
 reliable. It now depends upon thee to decide 
 whether thou wilt accept the post for which I have 
 singled thee out." 
 
 " Speak, adored being ! " I replied, " and all my 
 life, every thought of my soul and every pulsation 
 of my heart shall be devoted to thy behests ! " 
 
 She appeared somewhat astonished at the warmth 
 of rny language, but with one of those bewitch- 
 ing glances which Hebrew women know how to 
 employ when they wish to fasten their influence 
 upon a man, she continued: "It is well known 
 throughout all Rome that our young emperor in 
 his great affection has pledged me his troth, and 
 as soon as he ascends his father's throne will make 
 me his wedded wife. Yet reasons which I well 
 understand and which, as I believe, consist partly 
 in the hatred against my valiant but unfortunate 
 race their conquest having cost so many precious 
 lives and countless treasure have caused father, 
 brother and friends to look upon the foreign favor- 
 ite with antipathy and displeasure. On that ac- 
 count I am greatly afraid of obstacles which might 
 be thrown in the way of the final consummation of 
 our connubial union. I believe that with judicious 
 management and carefully arranged measures all 
 these great difficulties can be overcome. My be- 
 trothed will and can best manage the obstinacy of 
 his family. Occasion may offer, too, by which a 
 
J.02 BEN BEOR. 
 
 confidential friend, one like thee, whom I have 
 selected for this purpose, might aid his efforts. But 
 thy service is needed mainly to pacify the people 
 and, if possible, change their dislike of me into 
 genuine love and confidence. They owe me a great 
 debt of gratitude, for it has been my sole aim and 
 object, since I have been betrothed to the prince, to 
 so influence and modify the harsh and brutal ten- 
 dencies of his character as to change them into 
 noble, good and lovable traits. I have no doubt 
 when the time comes that he shall wield the sceptre 
 of the world, he will more than deserve the flatter- 
 ing name already bestowed upon him, < The Delight 
 of Humanity.' Thou mayest help me in my great 
 emergency. Eternal friendship, with any other 
 favor in my power which thou mayest ask, shall be 
 thy reward." 
 
 She held out her hand to me in the depth of her 
 feeling, and as a token of my assent to her wishes, 
 as is the usage of Oriental people, I was to gently 
 bring it to my lips -and bow myself to the earth. 
 Instead of this I, however, grasped it vehemently 
 and impressed upon it most passionate, ardent 
 kisses. Then on my knees I vowed the most 
 faithful and devoted service and attachment, plac- 
 ing my whole life and being at her command. 
 
 " Spare neither efforts nor treasures in this task," 
 she cried out. " My wealth is inexhaustible ; in my 
 name bestow it in charity and relief wherever it 
 may be needed. Assure all the people that it is 
 my anxiety and highest aim to make them prosper- 
 ous, happy and content. Men must be of stone 
 if they will withstand such kindness and good-will. 
 Go, my friend, and report to me from time to time 
 the progress made in this undertaking, and may 
 Divine Providence prosper and speed thee ! " 
 
 With these words I was dismissed. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA 103 
 
 Laboring under the most conflicting emotions, 
 I reached my home. I threw myself wearily 
 upon my couch. Was I then to become the 
 veritable instrument by which this union, so repug- 
 nant to me, should be consummated? Was I to be 
 the means by which this man, whom I so jealously 
 hated, should rob me of her whom I madly adored 3 
 Never ! no, never ! And yet I had most solemnly 
 promised had made myself an abject slave in. her 
 service, and for this very object. Haps at my 
 door brought me to a repression of my feelings. A 
 servant announced that the hour for the audience 
 with the old emperor was at hand ; so I proceeded 
 to the palace. Ushered into the presence of the 
 mighty Vespasian, I found him alone, pacing up 
 and down the stately hall. He seemed to be greatly 
 agitated, and did not notice me on entering. At 
 last he saw me, and smilingly approaching, spoke : 
 " So thou hast come 2 Sit here by me and listen 
 to what I have to communicate to thee." He himself 
 wheeled some chairs to the centre of the apart- 
 ment, and occupying one, pointed me to the other. 
 Hesitating to accept a condescension which at this 
 all-powerful court is of the very highest favor, he 
 impatiently motioned me to the seat. 
 
 Then he said : " The relations which I desire to 
 establish now between us will be of the most con- 
 fidential and friendly nature, and whenever we 
 meet alone, as often no doubt we shall, let all 
 needless formalities cease. My august son has 
 informed me of thy fidelity, unselfishness, and 
 dauntless courage in the face of death. I need now 
 the services of an upright confederate in a very diffi- 
 cult and greatly important affair. For this I have 
 selected thee, and if thou consent, matters of state 
 will be entrusted to thy care, the successful solu- 
 tion of which will entitle thee to my lasting grati- 
 
104 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tude. All the world knows of the tender relations 
 existing between my son Titus and that wily 
 Hebrew woman Berenice. I have reliable infor- 
 mation that, infatuated as he is with her, it was 
 mutually understood between them that on his 
 coming to my throne he will formally make her 
 empress. This must never be! No offspring of 
 the hated Semitic race shall, with my consent, 
 hold such an elevated station among the proudest 
 lineage of the very gods. True, I might interpose 
 my imperative command as parent and emperor 
 and forbid the obnoxious misalliance. But for 
 reasons delicate yet powerful I prefer not to avail 
 myself of this prerogative, especially as there are 
 other equally potent means by which my object 
 may be achieved. The Koman people are already 
 indignant that this foreign female dare raise her 
 haughty eyes to the crown of the Caesars. Let this 
 aversion be stimulated and extended. While my 
 son might, with the characteristic traits of our 
 family, defy paternal authority, yet he will bend 
 before the force of public indignation. Be thou 
 the instrument to carry out this my cherished 
 plan. Achieve it, and there shall be no honor or 
 favor in my gift which thou mayest not ask and 
 receive." 
 
 Even while he was speaking, thoughts, like 
 flashes of lightning, crossed my brain, as to the 
 policy which I was to pursue between the two high 
 patrons. I therefore was readily prepared to make 
 answer. " O, Emperor," I proceeded to say, " the 
 task assigned to me, complimentary and flattering 
 as it must be to my modest abilities and integrity, 
 is at once arduous and expensive, requiring for its 
 successful execution thy fullest confidence and 
 unstinted treasures. But, most of all, it seems 
 requisite to me that even the slightest appearance 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 105 
 
 of an intrigue between us should be avoided. 
 This scarcely could be done were it noticed that 
 the emperor had frequent intercourse with his 
 humble subject. Communications, for this reason, 
 ought to be strictly secret; should be made in 
 writing, and transmitted by an unsuspected party. 
 Will my gracious sovereign approve of these my 
 views in accepting my services ? I think I shall 
 be able to carry out in reasonable length of time 
 the desired mission. Make it, therefore, thy 
 pleasure, sire, to find ways and means by which 
 we may unobtrusively communicate together, 
 whereby we silently, but effectually, shall attain 
 our object." " Be it so, my valued friend," re- 
 sponded the emperor, " and whatever wealth or 
 influence thou mayest require shall be at thy com- 
 mand. The details concerning our intercommun- 
 ion will be imparted to thee as soon as I shall have 
 time to perfect the same. And be once again 
 assured, on the day when the hated woman leaves 
 Rome forever, thy fortune, as far as I can build it, 
 shall be made." Then we parted. 
 
 At my abode, new perplexities awaited my 
 coming. A man, covered in cloak and hood 
 so as not to be recognizable, was walking impa- 
 tiently up and down the rooms. As soon as I 
 entered he threw off his disguise and approached 
 me. " So at last thou hast come ! it seemed an 
 eternity while I waited for thy return. Never 
 before has Titus been compelled to so exercise 
 patience. But deeming it of first importance to 
 meet thee, my friend, all my feelings of displeasure 
 are vanished since thou art here, and an interview, 
 upon which I lay great importance, may be had 
 between us. Waive all ceremonial, approach, let 
 us be seated, and then come without delay to an 
 understanding." 
 
106 BEN BEOR. 
 
 With these words he threw himself upon a couch 
 and motioned me to take a seat beside him. After 
 making humble obeisance I did as bidden. He 
 spoke, repressing, as could be easily noticed, for 
 the time being, the real object of his presence. 
 
 " The government has been greatly troubled," 
 he said, "in disposing of the immense number of 
 captives which we have brought home from the 
 wars. Common humanity forbids their starvation, 
 yet their support will prove an unbearable expense 
 to the state. So the senate has this day resolved 
 on a great public building, the Coliseum, the erec- 
 tion of which has long been planned, and in the 
 execution of this our Jewish prisoners will be used, 
 thereby earning their support. Believing that 
 from former experiences among this turbulent ele- 
 ment thou knowest well and understandest their 
 nature and character, I had thee appointed chief 
 superintendent of this enterprise, with full power to 
 act, and with the emoluments due to such respon- 
 sible station. Very little actual work is expected, 
 as this will be done by subordinates ; but there is a 
 head needed for the undertaking. This office is 
 one more of honor than of labor. I deem it good 
 fortune to be the first bearer of this pleasant mes- 
 sage, and while congratulating thee, my friend, 
 sincerely on this distinguished appointment, would 
 in return ask some kind personal service which 
 thou canst render me." 
 
 I knew from the expression of his features that 
 the real object of his presence would now be dis- 
 closed. He then continued : 
 
 " Berenice, my betrothed, has informed me of 
 the interview which she had with thee this day. I 
 approve highly of its tenor and join w^armly in its 
 object. I know also of thy audience with my im- 
 perial father, and can readily imagine its purport, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 107 
 
 and the perplexing situation in which a loyal 
 subject is placed by being connected with such 
 clashing interests. Now that thou hast been made 
 the confidant of those two high contracting parties, 
 a solution of all the difficulties may be reached by 
 taking into counsel the third and perhaps most 
 important personage. Believing to have some 
 strong claim to thy kind consideration, as the 
 whole matter concerns but me, and as the political 
 cause in which thou art so peculiarly enlisted 
 might, by one precipitate action, crumble under 
 thy feet, irretrievably ruining thee and compro- 
 mising and embarrassing all parties, promise me 
 solemnly and on thy honor that thou actually 
 wilt do nothing for either party, while apparently 
 humoring the schemes and conceits of both. In 
 defense of this questionable attitude in which my 
 commands place thee, let me express my well- 
 matured conviction that private interests of so 
 delicate and tender a nature are always best left to 
 their own development. The natural course of 
 events shapes results to greatest advantage by 
 the non-interference of outside agencies. Trusting 
 that thou wilt understand and coincide with me, 
 give me thy hand as token of approval and accept- 
 ance of this my imperial will and behest." 
 
 This was indeed relief from the confounded 
 position in which I had been so unnaturally forced. 
 It cut the " Gordian knot " of my perplexities 
 with one stroke. I therefore readily grasped the 
 proffered hand, vowing, for the third time this day, 
 compliance and obedience in a cause so near to my 
 heart, that threatened to engulf my future presence 
 in Rome in untold difficulties. 
 
 The young Caesar departed as he had come, in 
 his disguise, unnoticed and undetected, leaving me 
 relieved from my awkward engagements, but with 
 
108 BEN BEOR. 
 
 long and deep reflections upon the transitions of 
 mundane affairs. 
 
 I must add here that I found no difficulty in 
 readily disposing of the immense sums of money 
 trusted to ruy keeping at the hands of the confiding 
 woman, and that it took no additional stimulus to 
 increase the hatred and aversion of the populace 
 against her and her ambitious motives. My confi- 
 dential relations with Yespasian, Titus and Berenice 
 remained undisturbed. 
 
 PHANTASMAGOKIA Y. 
 
 A WOMAN SPUKNED. 
 
 The official work which the appointment as 
 superintendent of public works demanded of me 
 was of the slightest character, making my position 
 nearly a sinecure. The chief labor was performed 
 by subordinates, requiring of me nothing more 
 than occasionally the signing of my name to the 
 rolls. I had therefore all the leisure which my 
 schemes and experiments required. Loaded with 
 favors from the high persons who thought me 
 actively engaged in their service, I virtually did 
 but enough to keep up an appearance of zeal and 
 industry in the advancement of their several plots. 
 But I remained not idle concerning my own 
 machinations. 
 
 It is well known that the ancient city of Eorne 
 was tunneled by subterranean cloacae, broad road- 
 ways arched and columned, forming an under- 
 ground town. Here and there, where the corners 
 of streets met, the extensive spaces were used for 
 large squares, which no doubt had been designed 
 by the architect who planned these catacomb-like 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 109 
 
 vaults for some public object, either as keeps for 
 prisoners, or magazines where to preserve large 
 stores of provisions in times of war. I was aware 
 of the existence of these structures, and soon found 
 out that the " domus " such is the name of the 
 residences of the patricians in which I dwelt stood 
 directly over one of these squares. There I very soon 
 assembled some of the roughest elements of the 
 lowest strata of humanity to be found in the city. 
 These, by the glaring red light of pine-torches, 
 worked day and night in the production of large 
 quantities of the as yet unknown intoxicant. As 
 soon as ready, I used it first for some physiological 
 experiments to ascertain its effects upon the differ- 
 ent nationalities congregated in our cosmopolitan 
 metropolis. 
 
 I tried it first on the miserable creatures who 
 produced it. They were mostly natives of the 
 immediate Campagna. Yile and brutal as their 
 rearing in ignorance and vice had made them, when 
 the stimulating fire of drink coursed through their 
 brains and blood they became actually ferocious. 
 Such reckless, base and foolish scenes as I beheld 
 among them ; such cruel selfishness as was soon 
 developed ; such swinish passions as came into broad 
 existence; such sanguinary thirst which without 
 restraint agitated the whole crew, changed human 
 beings into demons. To all appearances amidst 
 the sharp lights and shadows, it seemed a veritable 
 pandemonium. 
 
 Next 1 slyly caused its use among the Teutonic 
 cohorts who were gathered in and around the city. 
 They did not take kindly to it. Having brought 
 with them from the German lands a drink of their 
 own, they ingeniously brewed this here from bar- 
 ley and hops. No doubt in fermentation it devel- 
 oped a small percentage of my own distillation. 
 
110 BEN BEOK. 
 
 They frequently used this exhilarating beverage, 
 which they boasted that their god " Grambrinus " 
 had invented for. them, and proved wary against 
 the introduction of a new and unknown liquor. 
 When, however, my concoction found its way to 
 the stomachs of the sturdy sons of Teutonia, it 
 changed their whole character. From cool, lym- 
 phatic, earnest, deliberate and quiet people, brave 
 in the extreme, they became quarrelsome, drowsy, 
 sullen and indifferent louts, whom neither pleas- 
 ure nor danger could stir from their lethargy. The 
 officers who were acquainted with these my de- 
 based victims quickly caused a medical investiga- 
 tion, thinking that a new and dreadful disease had 
 broken out among their soldiery. 
 
 I next practised among the Anglo-Saxons and 
 Celts, who had been brought from Britannia, after 
 its conquest, as allies of the Roman army. They 
 readily and greedily partook of the potion, and 
 such was the effect upon the seduced victims as to 
 almost reverse all the noble and fine qualities in- 
 herent in their nature. From genial, jovial, good- 
 natured and fearless companions, they became 
 brawling, boisterous and reckless drunkards, never 
 satiated, ever craving for more, losing all self-con- 
 trol, all self-respect, at times blindly combative, 
 boisterously furious when there was no enemy, then 
 again cowardly whining and abjectly demure, 
 even in the face of the foe. 
 
 My attention was next directed to the native 
 soldiers of this sunny land. They had never par- 
 taken of anything stronger than the compressed 
 juice of their grapes. Generally jovial, proud, self- 
 contained and confiding to a fault, alter the first 
 taste of the intoxicating fire-water they soon be- 
 came utterly unmanned and disorganized, maud- 
 lin and whimsical, momentarily changing from 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. Ill 
 
 one extreme of passion to the other, exhibiting 
 themselves through the whole scale of meanness, 
 depravity and abandon, no traces of which could 
 previously be found in their mental composition. 
 The use of the debasing liquid spread rapidly 
 through all classes and grades of society. Dram- 
 shops sprang up in every nook and corner of the 
 seven hills, with such fearful effect as to become so 
 notorious and widespread that the authorities felt 
 called upon to use stringent and powerful meas- 
 ures for their suppression. Vain efforts forever! to 
 try chaining the devil when he has once broken his 
 bonds. 
 
 The last of these hellish experiments I had re- 
 served for the captive Jews, now working and 
 groaning under my direct and uncompromising 
 tyranny, on the walls of the Coliseum. What 
 kept up their hope and courage under the most ex- 
 hausting and trying travail was impossible to un- 
 derstand. Still they toiled and labored, mumbling 
 in faint but ever sad melody the words of a song 
 commencing : 
 
 " By the waters of Babylon, 
 We hung our harps and wept." 
 
 Here I had promised myself the richest and most 
 prolific harvest. Why should not these desperately 
 goaded slaves readily avail themselves of the freely 
 proffered means of sinking all their trials, hard- 
 ships and degradations into oblivion by imbibing 
 the luring, sparkling draught that came to them 
 freely and without expense? But to my utter 
 amazement they would have none of it, would 
 not tquch the tempting cup. A law of theirs 
 forbade strictly the use of any made drink not 
 produced by their own hands. Wine of their vin- 
 tage was generally used only for sacred purposes 
 
112 BEN BEOR. 
 
 or on festive occasions, for marriage feasts, natal 
 celebrations and public rejoicings. In such in- 
 stances, the language of their wise king, Solomon, 
 proved true, " it gladdens the heart." With the 
 Jews, unlike any other race, if they partook of 
 wine to excess, the effect was manifested in good- 
 natured wit, singing of songs, declaiming of rhap- 
 sodical speeches, and finally of a peaceful departure 
 for home. I succeeded in making a few recreants 
 and apostates partake of my nostrum. Their 
 vitals being unaccustomed to the strength of this 
 drink, they became deathly sick, and were borne 
 to the hospitals amidst the jeers and derision of 
 their co-religionists. Then I had recourse to 
 stratagem, mixing small quantities of the liquor 
 with their food ; but they detected its taste, and 
 preferring to go hungry, would not partake of the 
 obnoxious meals. Worst of all I fared with the 
 members of a new sect, the Nazarenes. With a 
 velocity unparalleled in history, they had increased 
 from a comparatively small number to an immense 
 host. Their plain, simple and modest life of absti- 
 nence and morality had even attracted converts 
 from the Latins, and it had become necessary for 
 the emperor to issue an edict forbidding the 
 joining of their church. True to their name of 
 Nazarenes, which means " Abstainers," it was one 
 of the chief articles of their creed never to drink 
 aught but water. These wretches, even in their 
 humiliation and downfallen abject dependency, 
 proved equal to the Jews in hampering my work 
 and resisting its progress. 
 
 Meanwhile, affairs of state transpired which 
 materially affected my career. Vespasian had 
 suddenly died. Seeking rest from labor in his old 
 age, he retired to the Campagna. Common report 
 declared that he was sudden! v seized with a fatal 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 113 
 
 malady. Whispered reports, which I am not pre- 
 pared to confirm or contradict, were abroad that 
 he was in the way of his two sons and had lived 
 long enough. Titus was immediately crowned suc- 
 cessor and ascended the throne of his father. The 
 coronation ceremonial over, all Rome was in sul- 
 len agitation, fearing his marriage to the detested 
 Jewess. My surprise was intense when, three days 
 after being made emperor, I was summoned to the 
 young Caesar and received at his hands the com- 
 mission to repair to the abode of the impatiently- 
 waiting Berenice, with the irrevocable imperial 
 command that she at once leave Rome, in confirm- 
 ation of which I was furnished with the written 
 edict of banishment for herself and brother, Agrippa. 
 Special oral instruction directed me on no consid- 
 eration to permit her to see Titus. 
 
 Never before had I witnessed such a display of 
 woe, despair, wrath and anger as transpired before 
 my eyes upon the execution of my cruel, heartless 
 errand. At first she refused to believe until I 
 showed her the mandate with the great seal of 
 state. Then she appeared stunned her breath 
 came hard and heavy, but she did not faint, her 
 feelings were too violent for this. Making ready 
 in haste, she cried out : " I will see the traitor the 
 monster face to face ! " When I explained to 
 her now that the emperor on no condition 
 would have any further communication with her, 
 she broke out in passionate weeping and sobbing. 
 Then she turned violently upon me and exclaimed : 
 " Dastard whom I had nursed as a devoted friend, 
 this is all thy consummate, infernal work !" I fell 
 on my knees before her, vowing by all in heaven 
 and on earth that I had been but the instrument, 
 selected only an hour before, to convey the hateful 
 message. I implored her not to misjudge my 
 
114 BEN BEOR. 
 
 devotion and fidelity to her cause, protesting my 
 utter incapacity to even in thought do or permit 
 a wrong towards one so good and beautiful. .Rising 
 to my feet, I continued : " Listen, lady the most 
 wronged, the most injured who ever lived listen 
 to my words. Thou art now free from any duty 
 or affection for one who has spurned thee. All 
 feelings of love or devotion ought to be changed in 
 thy bosom to hatred and thirst for revenge. Let 
 me avow it here let me now plead in my own 
 behalf. Since I saw thee in the burning ruins of 
 the Lord's temple, I have loved, worshipped, adored 
 thee! Before this treachery of that base man 
 transpired, I rather would have died than own 
 these words to thee. Give me thy sympathy, turn 
 thy royal heart and hands to me, and thou shalt 
 have the most terrible and exquisite revenge that 
 ever has satiated a revolted human soul ! " 
 
 She stood at first dazed, as if unable to connect 
 or understand these words. Then their meaning 
 seemed slowly to dawn upon her comprehension. 
 Presently she raised herself to full height, and, 
 like a roused tigress, threw the weight of her whole 
 power upon me. With the nails of her cramped 
 fingers she tried to get at my eyes, screeching so 
 fiercely that it must have sounded near and far. 
 In her spasmodic strength she would have certakily 
 thrown me to the floor but for my superhuman 
 force, by which I hurled her from me. At the 
 entrance of aroused servants, amidst a great noise 
 and commotion, I essayed to escape and reach 
 safety in flight. 
 
 The unfortunate woman took her departure that 
 same day for her Palestinian home; but she never 
 reached it. Her disappointments, sufferings and 
 trials were too heavy to bear. She died on the 
 road no doubt of a broken heart, and her exiled 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 115 
 
 brother brought an unsightly coffin only to Jeru- 
 salem, where he, too, shortly died, unknown and 
 unwept, both finding a resting-place in the tombs 
 of their Maccabean ancestors. 
 
 Naturally, the report which I made to the mon- 
 arch was colored in my favor, raising me in his 
 opinion and esteem. I exhibited myself as a 
 martyr to the ferocity of the victim who was sacri- 
 ficed to the pride and prejudice of his subjects. As 
 soon as the sad ending of the love affair became 
 publicly known, Titus was lauded to the very 
 skies. Henceforth lie appeared entirely changed 
 in character and disposition. From a profligate, 
 careless spendthrift, and an easy-going, wilful and 
 obstinate despot, he now became, to the admiration 
 of the world, a thoughtful, earnest and patriotic 
 ruler and statesman ; concerned exclusively with 
 the welfare of his realm, constantly engaged in 
 deeds of benevolence and acts of munificent gener- 
 osity. And she, the Jewess who had thus influenced 
 and moulded his coarse nature, who had trans- 
 formed the very grossness and brutality of his 
 being abandoned, banished and dead, a very epi- 
 tome of her race as it was in the past, and as it 
 shall become, by my agency, in the future. True, 
 often when I came into the young emperor's pres- 
 ence, having been appointed a confidential adviser, 
 I found him groaning and in tears. The excruci- 
 ating pangs which he in his remorse must have 
 suffered in the solitude of his apparently never- 
 ceasing anguish, made his private life an eating 
 cancer on his heart and soul. There is a Jewish 
 legend concerning him that perhaps fully illus- 
 trates his terrible mental condition. It says that 
 shortly after the beginning of his reign a gnat 
 found its way into his brain, on which it fed until 
 it grew in proportions to the size of a dove, and, 
 
116 BEN BEOR. 
 
 consuming that organ, killed him. Alas! this 
 destructive insect is but a symbol of the bitter 
 reproaches of his conscience, as I ween, which tor- 
 mented him awake by day and asleep by night, 
 Never was wronged woman more completely and 
 tragically avenged than was this Berenice, in the 
 silent but ever-living repentance of her betrayer, 
 the emperor Titus. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VI. 
 
 THE KAPE OF THE TABLETS. 
 
 In vain had I tried all this time to find out what 
 had become of and where were stored the holy ves- 
 sels from the temple of Jerusalem. Most .of the 
 other booty brought back from the Eastern war 
 had been deposited in the public museums. Search- 
 ing among these, not a single one of the Jewish 
 treasures could I discover. Especially concerned 
 was I about the Sinaitic Decalogue. At last I 
 learned that Josephus, who now greatly rose in 
 favor with the emperor, had declared these tablets 
 endowed with certain mystic powers by the great 
 God of the Hebrews, Jahveh. They had therefore 
 been made objects of utmost care by the supersti- 
 tious monarch. Kept in some sacred hiding-place 
 at the palace, they were guarded by soldiers day and 
 night. During my wanderings through the exten- 
 sive and magnificent halls, I discovered an apart- 
 ment, entirely constructed of iron and flint-rock. 
 At the entrance to this two soldiers paced up and 
 down continually. I suspected that here was the 
 receptacle of the objects of my anxious search. 
 How to find means to gain admittance to the well- 
 secured and constantly-watched premises was now 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 117 
 
 my next concern. I saw no other way than to 
 make friends with the men who were placed in 
 charge of the apartment. I soon learned that the 
 household troops exclusively had been commis- 
 sioned for this duty. Alternately every six hours 
 the guards were changed. I commenced leisurely 
 to associate with the officers. They easily fell into 
 my snares. Soon I knew every man of the corps, 
 and by patient and persevering observation was 
 enabled to find the rotation in which they were 
 placed on duty. I singled out one couple, appar- 
 ently more good-natured than the rest, and became 
 very friendly with them. One afternoon, while 
 they were guarding the place, their attention 
 being diverted by a grotesque procession passing 
 the palace, an affair which I had at my expense 
 previously provided for this very purpose, I suc- 
 ceeded in making a hasty but efficient impression 
 in wax of the huge lock, a clumsy but ingenious 
 contrivance working bolts with a set of pins, by 
 which they held the portals to the crypt. From 
 this impression one of the best experts in the city 
 made a key, which I determined to try on the lock 
 at the first opportunity. I found out that my two 
 boon companions, in whom I had created an insa- 
 tiate appetite for my drink, were the guards from 
 midnight to morning between the 21st and 22d of 
 August. How impatiently I waited for that night ! 
 It came at last. In the darkness I visited my 
 friends, and found them but too ready to be sociable. 
 I had brought with me a large jug, one of those 
 glazed, light terra-cotta specimens for which the 
 Roman potters were so famous. Their greedy eyes 
 spoke of the impatience to have it opened for a taste 
 of its contents. With ever-renewed gulps from the 
 tempting vessel, there was nothing under heaven 
 which they were not eager to pledge. Amidst 
 
118 BEN BEOE. 
 
 the most ridiculous antics and gestures they be- 
 came maudlin drunk. Yet I continued to ply them 
 with the stuff until they fell away unconscious. All 
 was now safe. Cautiously I approached the crypt. 
 Trembling and with some misgivings I inserted the 
 key in the ]ock. Would it fit 3 I turned it and 
 heard the bolts move in the sockets, gave one pull 
 and the door stood open. I entered and glanced 
 around. By the dim light 1 espied the temple 
 treasures, and among them my long-wished-for 
 prize, and lifted this from its resting-place. It was 
 much heavier than I had calculated ; but nothing 
 daunted, 1 took it in my arms, and locking the 
 doors behind me, soon reached the dark street. 
 Wrapping my mantle around the tablets, I got 
 away in safety. 
 
 I stored the prize thus stolen into a war chariot 
 held ready for this purpose, and started in haste for 
 the place which I had previously selected for its 
 burial. Through the Campagna, past towns and 
 hamlets, never resting, until at last I reached the 
 foot of Mount Vesuvius. Then I lifted my burden 
 and climbed up to the raging crater. Here I 
 arrived at the next midnight. I braced myself for 
 the last effort, and hurled the hated thing into a 
 seething, boiling grave. With an awful curse I ex- 
 claimed : " May ye lie there forgotten until the 
 yawn of the last day of this globe shall open your 
 caldron doors ! " A thrill of joy passed through me 
 as I danced in glee where 1 stood. The moon, 
 struggling with the thick, dark clouds, showed her 
 face. As I looked scornfully and laughingly up- 
 ward, suddenly the ground under my feet com- 
 menced to sway and heave. The hills surrounding 
 the neighborhood began to rise and fall as if moved 
 by some supernatural giant-power. The whole uni- 
 verse seemed in frenzied commotion. A lurid col- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 119 
 
 umn of fire and pillars of ashes burst from the crater 
 and swept the horizon. The most awful lightning, 
 and the deafening, screeching, howling, incessant 
 roll of thunder followed. An avalanche of red-hot 
 glohular monsters exploded like fulminated flames 
 with the roar and crash of a thousand cataracts, 
 while repeated shocks twisted and turned the earth 
 beneath my feet. Then all became still for an 
 instant, and to my horror I beheld rise from the 
 depths of the volcano, higher and higher, the buried 
 tablets, enveloped in the most gloriously brilliant 
 light. As if borne by the scorching hot air, they 
 gradually lifted themselves until they actually stood 
 perpendicularly upright. Remaining in this position 
 for a moment, which seemed to me eternity, with 
 a force which threw me prostrate near the verge of 
 the boiling orifice, they exploded in mid-air like a 
 brilliant meteor, and were shattered into millions 
 of atoms, flying far out into incalculable distances 
 to all quarters of the globe, borne by the hurricane 
 which now ensued, to all lands and countries. I 
 fled like a madman, never halting till I reached 
 Home. I found that I had been preceded by a 
 mounted messenger, who bore the awful tidings 
 of the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of 
 Pompeii and Herculaneum. The country people 
 from all directions were rushing through the streets, 
 looking more like ghosts than human beings. They 
 had been terrified by the harrowing convulsions 
 of the earth, which were felt even in Rome and 
 still continued at irregular intervals. The uncer- 
 tainty of the extent of the terrible destruction, and 
 the continual incoming reports from the scenes of 
 the unparalleled disaster, increased greatly the 
 ever-spreading consternation. It was then and 
 there that the elder Pliny, one of the most cele- 
 brated authors of this era, in his attempt to bring 
 
120 BEN BEOK. 
 
 relief from his ship to the stricken people, perished 
 in his efforts. Weeks passed before the awed and 
 superstitious inhabitants, native and foreign, from 
 the country and city, were pacified and fell back 
 into their ordinary course of life. During this 
 catastrophe the emperor distinguished himself 
 majestically. He was everywhere. .Reassuring 
 the people with kind and encouraging words, his 
 replete treasury was opened to better the condition 
 of the poor and suffering as never had been done 
 before, so that many declared the terrible disas- 
 ter had come as a blessing in disguise. The 
 first stunning excitement in the capital having 
 somewhat subsided, Titus, with his train, departed 
 for the stricken district, sheltering those who had 
 fled in dismay to the mountains, caring for the sick 
 and destitute and having the uncounted dead de- 
 cently buried. Often, in danger of his own life, pass- 
 ing through the yet smoking debris and scoria, he 
 seemed inexhaustible in resource and strength. 
 Ameliorating the pitiful condition of the helpless 
 and despairing, encouraging here, rousing there, 
 until at last some semblance of order out of the 
 terrible chaos was established. The urgent appeals 
 of the senate made now his return to Rome im- 
 perative. I had followed him in his journeys, and 
 was often astonished at the genuine valor and 
 boundless benevolence of this man, who thus proved 
 his indisputable claim to the glorious title given 
 him by his subjects. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VII. 
 
 PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 One of the chief causes actuating the immediate 
 return of Titus to Rome was a message sent by 
 the authorities, the contents of which conveyed 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 121 
 
 tidings of great importance to the state. A new 
 secret society had been discovered among the Pal- 
 estinian captives, calling themselves the " Ebi- 
 onites" "the Paupers," from the fact that they 
 permitted none of their members to possess worldly 
 goods. On entering the order, whatever was owned 
 by a member was surrendered to the common fund, 
 from which sustenance, habiliments and shelter 
 were provided for all. Seven commissioners, called 
 " Presbyters," elected by the community for this pur- 
 pose, were charged with this duty. The simplest 
 and plainest of everything was provided, and all 
 differences between poor and rich disappeared in 
 this strange fraternity. In their religion they ad- 
 hered strictly to the Mosaic law, with the addition 
 of accepting "Jesus of Nazareth" as their ideal 
 Messiah, who had come into this world like Moses 
 of old to redeem mankind from the bondage of 
 material and spiritual slavery. Their creed was 
 " One God, One law, and One humanity." They 
 lived a simple, unostentatious life, praying often 
 and fervently, singing psalms, and avowing them- 
 selves loyal subjects to any government under 
 which they lived. At meal-times they assembled 
 together, pronounced the blessing over the wine, 
 all drank from the same cup, broke the bread in 
 memorial of their Saviour's last hour, and men and 
 women indiscriminately kissed one another as a 
 sign of their fraternal union. 
 
 They believed that some of their members were 
 specially chosen by superior spirituality, intrusted 
 with the office of dispensing baptism to newly 
 accepted members, and to the older ones at stated 
 seasons. Often these select ones in their enthu- 
 siasm prophesied of the early coming of the 
 kingdom of God. They did wonders in the healing 
 of the sick, and proclaimed themselves endowed 
 
122 BEN BEOR. 
 
 with the Holy Spirit. These few chosen acted as 
 spiritual guides, and were called " Deacons." The 
 early restoration of the Hebrew government and 
 the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem in all its 
 former glory and lustre formed the acme of their 
 religious expectations, to be fulfilled by the eccle- 
 siastical influence of their adored Messiah, who had 
 come and died to accomplish this Divine purpose. 
 As they observed the Seventh-day Sabbath, the 
 Abrahamitic rite, the biblical feasts, and the laws 
 concerning the clean and unclean meats, inclusive 
 of all other Mosaic institutions, they were looked 
 upon by their Jewish compatriots as co-religionists, 
 and were regarded as such by the Gentiles. Dur- 
 ing the late fearful casualty many Gentiles died 
 of abject terror and prostrating apprehensions, 
 others went stark mad ; but fortitude, resignation 
 and quiet distinguished these early Christians, 
 openly declaring trust in their God, who, though 
 angry with the wickedness and sins of the world, 
 would protect and shield His own. The chief 
 management of the association was entrusted to a 
 venerable patriarch, an adherent to and a follower 
 of the apostle James surnamed " the Lesser." The 
 motto of James was the password of his already 
 widely disseminated gospel, by which he, in contra- 
 distinction to all other of the disciples, stands out 
 most prominently the more so for being own 
 brother of Him who died on the cross as a martyr 
 at the hands of Pontius Pilatus, for openly de- 
 claring himself " King of the Jews." This pass- 
 word, now so strenuously enacted by the Roman 
 patriarch, consisted in the principle of " Deeds, not 
 Creeds," or, as expressed in the gospel text, " Prove 
 yourselves Doers of the word, and not Hearers 
 only." 
 
 Now, the equanimity and serenity of this band 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 123 
 
 of captives during the harrowing hours of wild 
 commotion presented itself so conspicuously to the 
 disorganized and scared crowd of Gentiles, that they 
 flocked by the thousands to the doors of the for- 
 eigners and pitifully pleaded to be accepted as 
 proselytes to the new religion of Judeo-Christians. 
 This move threatened to decimate the worship of 
 Jupiter and the hosts of deities, whose priests and 
 multifarious servants lived entirely from the sacri- 
 fices and pious gifts brought by the multitudes of 
 the Pagans. Bitter and clamorous complaints had 
 been made by the united hierarchy of the heathens, 
 representing that in the revolution against and dis- 
 respect for the gods the greatest danger threatened 
 the state partly from the celestial anger which 
 would surely and fatally avenge the unprecedented 
 heresy, partly by the political and social disaffec- 
 tion of the plebeians, who, by dint of their enormous 
 numbers, might in their intoxicated enthusiasm 
 overthrow the entire order of civil affairs. After 
 lengthy consultations, two of the most influential 
 and best-informed senators were therefore deputized 
 as ambassadors to the absent emperor, to inform him 
 of the impending crisis, and prevail upon the all- 
 trusted monarch to return without delay to the 
 capital, and forthwith suppress the as yet incipient 
 revolution. 
 
 On our way homeward he imparted to me the 
 causes of the newly arisen emergency, asking my 
 judgment as to the proper means of mastering the 
 certainly difficult situation. I knew the secret 
 temper of his feelings concerning his Hebrew cap- 
 tives, emanating from the never-dying love he held 
 for the absent Berenice, which had grown and 
 increased in strength until it became a kind of ex- 
 alted Platonic idealism, permeating every trait of 
 his lately developed character. I felt that advice of 
 
124 BEN BEOR. 
 
 destructive despotism was out of the question. 
 This was the more impossible, as interfering with 
 the religious affairs of so many divergent nations 
 lately conquered was not the policy of the Romans. 
 After mature and deep reflection we came to the 
 conclusion that the old Pharaonic plan of cunning 
 was the most advisable. Foremost, it became 
 necessary to obtain correct information as to their 
 secret doings. For this purpose I proposed be- 
 coming a member of their society, which was not a 
 difficult task, being known among all the captives 
 as belonging to the Semites. When once among 
 them, we could bide our time for devising necessary 
 schemes for neutralizing any mischief which they 
 might contemplate. I, however, advocated the 
 immediate putting into effect of two measures: The 
 first one was to levy a small per capita tax on every 
 believer in Mosaism, with a proviso of one much 
 larger for every Gentile proselyte who joined that 
 faith. The sums thus raised were to be distributed 
 among the different temples, in order to quiet the 
 clamor of the caviling priests. The second and more 
 important one consisted in effecting, if possible, a 
 total separation of the old and new Jewish sects, 
 and then playing off one against the other on 
 the old principle, divide et impera. Titus highly 
 approved and lauded the wisdom of my views, and 
 immediately on our arrival home issued the decree 
 of the " Jew tax," and authorized me to proceed at 
 the earliest and most convenient time to the execu- 
 tion of the second part of my proposal. 
 
 I found no difficulty in passing the ordeals by 
 which I became a full-fledged member on the rolls 
 of the sacred conclave, and soon, with the usual 
 zeal of new converts and my well-known high 
 standing at court, succeeded in attaining to the 
 front rank in their midst. Considered then as a 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 125 
 
 very great acquisition, I was further looked upon 
 as a God-send in the hour of their new trials. Im- 
 pecunious as they were, the hateful demand made 
 upon them by the new ordinance became a loathed 
 oppression, and I was besought to use my great 
 influence with the authorities and have the man- 
 date repealed. Loud was the joy, and increased 
 the strong hold I had already on their confidence, 
 when I soon brought the news that our gracious 
 Gaesar, though unable to recall the late law, would, 
 out of his own coffers, defray the sums necessary to 
 liquidate the tax as far as it concerned my new 
 Jewish friends. 
 
 At this time an event transpired which accom- 
 plished my second great purpose, totally and for- 
 ever severing the connection racial, national and 
 religious between Jew and Christian, thereby 
 laying the foundation of all the future develop- 
 ments which have proved so fatal and sore to both 
 sides, but especially the proud, unbending, yet 
 ever-surviving children of Israel. There came to 
 the suburbs of the city no one could tell whence 
 a stranger, making his home with one of the many 
 Pariah families who dwelt there in poverty and 
 abandon. The paterfamilias, who was known by 
 the name of "Manilus the Unterrified," was one 
 of those rough, picturesque lazzaroni who live by 
 begging, stealing or robbery, never having indulged 
 in the luxury of an honest day's work. Priscilla, 
 his wife, a captive from the British Isles, in remark- 
 able contrast, represented one of those peculiar 
 young Northern beauties whose rags and squalor 
 nide a countenance and character to have made 
 her a ravishing model for any master artist from 
 which to paint an inspired conception of an Ari- 
 adne or Helen. Petite in stature and delicate in 
 form ; glowing with health and youth, her com- 
 
126 BEN BEOK. 
 
 plexion was of that peculiar transparent color, 
 suffused with the tints of roses, which lends such a 
 magnetic charm to this type of females. With a 
 wild wealth of curly hair, golden brown ; the Gre- 
 cian profile, so rare in this part of the continent ; 
 forehead and finely chiseled nose, forming almost a 
 straight line; unusually long eyelashes, under 
 which, as if to make the contrast complete, glinted 
 the most sad, liquid, violet-blue orbs that ever 
 rivaled the deep azure of the Italian sky how 
 even this brute, her husband, could find the heart, 
 when coming home at eve in besotted condition, to 
 deal blows and kicks upon so inoffensive a creature, 
 often while nursing and holding that cherub-like 
 girl-baby to her breast, a miniature copy of the 
 patient and cruelly suffering maternal parent, is in- 
 explicable, except on the theory that devil and 
 angel often must consort. One day towards night- 
 fall he came home in a quarrelsome mood. With- 
 out provocation he raised his cowardly arm for a 
 chance blow which might either have killed or 
 disfigured her for life. The beastly stroke was 
 arrested by a hand, holding the assailant's arm as 
 if in a vise. The surprised coward drew himself 
 up to his full height, and seeing that he who 
 held him was a stranger, foaming at his month 
 from sheer wrath, he drew a glistening stiletto 
 from his breast with his free hand and made a 
 vicious lunge at the intruder. To his surprise 
 and dismay, that arm was also caught by a grip 
 which made any further motion impossible. No 
 matter how he struggled, wriggled and tried to 
 get away from his unexpected opponent, he was 
 held by an irresistible power, which brought him 
 panting and trembling upon his knees. Then the 
 stranger cast his piercing eyes upon the quivering 
 villain and spoke : " Too long hast thou tried the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 127 
 
 patience of Heaven in the treatment of this thy 
 wife and child ! Now repent 1 Repeat the words 
 of prayer after me which I shall now command, or 
 this instant shalt thou die!" The woman, too, had 
 fallen on her knees. The semi-darkness, which hid 
 the group in the dismal room, seemed illuminated 
 suddenly by a strange influx of rays which the set- 
 ting sun shed from the carminated horizon. Still 
 holding the subdued bandit in his grasp, the de- 
 fender of the wife continued : " I am one of the 
 disciples of Christ, Him who has come into this 
 world to save the sinner and protect the weak 
 against the strong. Now let us pray ! " 
 
 Then in tones clear as a silver bell, he spoke 
 these grand, eloquent, sublime yet simple words: 
 " Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy 
 name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on 
 earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our 
 daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we 
 forgive those who trespass against us ; and lead us 
 not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
 Amen." 
 
 Having finished, he relinquished the hold on the 
 arms of his conquered antagonist. Large tears 
 rolled over the now metamorphosed features of 
 Manilus, changed from the brutal to an almost 
 saint-like expression. The woman and child were 
 in hie arms. Such was the heroic work of the 
 lately elected Bishop Cecil Rom anus, the third suc- 
 cessor of Peter the Apostle among the Gentiles. 
 By strange persuasive eloquence, piety, love and 
 sympathy which this high priest of the new Church 
 exercised, accompanied by an earnest zeal and 
 enthusiasm, in a very short time, from hitherto 
 small and insignificant numbers, a powerful and 
 numerous congregation of Heathen -Christians 
 sprang into active life. They differed diametrically 
 
128 BEN BEOR. 
 
 from their Jewish-Christian brethren, especially 
 in declaring that the covenant of the old dispen- 
 sation with the coining of the Messiah was abolished ; 
 that all the Mosaic ceremonials were no longer in 
 force no longer obligatory on the children of man, 
 whose safety and salvation rested exclusively in 
 their Belief in the Trinity of the Godhead, and 
 not in their works. 
 
 Two such divergent sects, antagonizing as they 
 soon must one another, and both to the parent-reli- 
 gion, the Jews, from which they sprang, I was satis- 
 fied would so press against themselves that they 
 could not live in peace together. On my making 
 report to the Emperor of the state of affairs concern- 
 ing these things, we agreed that no immediate steps 
 by the government were required to hold all three 
 factions in check ; they would, in the combat which 
 must ensue shortly among their own ranks, neu- 
 tralize any danger to the state or the altars of the 
 gods. But while our prognostication proved true 
 for the present, ultimately, as their history will 
 demonstrate, the Roman temples and the Ebionite 
 synagogues were swallowed up entirely by the 
 rapidly-spreading Catholic-Christians. The stiff- 
 necked, never-subduable Jews, quite contrary to 
 my plans and fondest expectations, however, kept 
 themselves isolated ; they survived, a remnant of 
 patience and endurance, to live on through the 
 coming ages. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA VIII. 
 
 PESTILENCE AND FIRE IN ROME. 
 
 No one except an eye-witness could even ap- 
 proximately measure the depth of degradation and 
 infamy to which the Gentile population of the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 129 
 
 tt mistress of the world " had fallen. From the 
 lowest to the highest circles, depravity, lust and 
 rapine reigned supreme throughout the arteries of 
 this immense colossus of accumulated nationalities 
 and races, who, to the existing stock of native wick- 
 edness, brought each a plentiful supply of the 
 abnormal vices of their own countries. Under the 
 authority and as the rites of their several religions 
 they practised the most abhorrent vices. Every 
 carnal indulgence which an unlicensed imagination 
 could conjure up from the depths of infamy; every 
 gourmandine appetite that the most ingenious in- 
 vention of a depraved taste might gratify; every 
 stimulating luxury that might tickle the lascivious 
 temper of the idle and over- wealthy patricians in 
 shuddering contrast with the hunger, squalor and 
 ferocious disposition of the unkempt plebeians, 
 produced a state of affairs in this strangely mixed 
 body-politic which in a very short period culmi- 
 nated in its terrible crash and final downfall. 
 Rome, who in her wanton power had written with 
 fire and sword the fiat upon the records of a thou- 
 sand perished empires, sank by her own innate 
 human weakness and crimes. 
 
 One of the worst features in the catalogue of this 
 nation's sins was the necessity of providing, at . 
 public expense, those debasing, sanguinary games 
 and pastimes of the arena, those gladiatorial com- 
 bats between men and beasts which formed the 
 all-engrossing diversion of the high and low. Such 
 a feast of unspeakably revolting barbarity, decked 
 with all the pomp and paraphernalia of outside 
 show, took place at the opening of the Coliseum, 
 the vastest structure of its kind ever erected by 
 human hands, every stone of which was cemented 
 by the blood and tears of the Hebrew captives who 
 had completed it in the beginning of the year 
 80 A. D. 
 
130 BEN BEOR. 
 
 The immense and unique edifice covered five 
 acres of ground, and had, besides the spacious im- 
 perial and government boxes, and the " sequestrse " 
 for the gladiators and beasts, a seating capacity of 
 80,000 spectators. To celebrate worthily its in- 
 augural, prior to throwing it open for the public 
 use, three days of unprecedented arena festivities 
 had been provided, irrespective of expense and 
 labor. The most extensive preparations had been 
 made under the direction of Titus himself, for the 
 grandest displays ever witnessed by even so fastidi- 
 ous a people as the pampered .Romans. 
 
 The first day was set aside for fights and the 
 combats between the ferocious brutes of the na- 
 tional museum. Early dawn saw the eager crowds, 
 amidst the unceasing strains of martial music, 
 wending their way towards the many-colored, 
 draped, bannered and festooned auditorium, where 
 walls, posts and pillars glistened and glinted with 
 frescoes, portraits, battle-scenes and landscapes. 
 Promptly at noon, jubilant shouts of the populace 
 within and without announced the arrival of the 
 sovereign, his train and followers. The stupendous 
 audience stood on their feet, shouting themselves 
 hoarse with acclamations of joy and excitement. 
 As soon as he had reached the magnificent throne 
 provided for him on the elevated dais, I stepped 
 forth from the alcove where I had awaited his 
 coming, and kneeling, presented the golden key, 
 studded with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds, 
 in token of having accomplished the greatest 
 architectural work of this or any previous age. 
 He graciously and smilingly accepted the gift. 
 Amid the tumultuous acclamations from the audi- 
 torium, the orator and poet of the day now stepped 
 forth. With a long harangue in prose and verse, 
 which could not be understood six feet from 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 131 
 
 where he see-sawed with wild and grotesque ges- 
 tures, he at last concluded, to the endless relief 
 of all, gathered the folds of his purple toga, and sat 
 down, no doubt the most self-satisfied mortal on 
 earth. The bugles now gave the signals for the 
 real opening of this day's sport. Then the doors 
 of the cells where the ravenous beasts had been 
 hungering for days, were opened in rotation as 
 they were wanted, to tear each other to pieces, or 
 to exercise their murderous strength upon some 
 hapless human victims, who had been doomed to 
 the horrible , fate of encountering the teeth and 
 claws of the bears, lions, tigers and panthers. It 
 is not my purpose to describe in detail these bar- 
 barous pastimes, in which the coarse Roman taste 
 found such delight, amusement and enthusiasm; 
 nor will I dilate upon the second day's proceed- 
 ings, consisting of the races on foot, horseback and 
 chariots. Even the third day, with its gladiatorial 
 and athletic exercises, in their various forms and 
 inhumanities, engages my attention only so far as 
 concerns the very last act in this dramatic folly. 
 It brings before us the moment near sunset, when 
 the last herald, with a long call from his silver 
 trumpet, demands attention, proclaiming in the 
 namoof all the gods the challenge to the Infidels, 
 the Gnostics, the Christians and the Jews, to pro- 
 duce and bring forth a champion for their cause 
 against the Gentile representative, who now was 
 ready to enter the field in defense of the sacred rights 
 of Polytheism. Then he withdrew ; but scarcely had 
 he disappeared when there stepped forward a mon- 
 strous fellow, a very giant in all proportions. His 
 large, round head, shorn of hair, sat square upon 
 the ponderous neck, growing from a chest as broad 
 and powerful as that of a lion. His bare arms dis- 
 played muscles like cords. The whole form rested 
 
132 BEN BEOR. 
 
 upon the most massive legs and feet. Barely had 
 he taken position in the centre of the arena, when 
 there sprang from the audience Manilas, the late 
 convert to Christianity. With a voice that rang 
 through the whole assembly he cried out : 
 
 " Woe to Rome the wicked ! Woe to the hea- 
 thens and the sinners ! Woe to the foes of Jehovah 
 and His anointed Messiah! " 
 
 By this time he had reached near the spot where 
 his imposing adversary had taken position. Then 
 he exclaimed in stentorian tones: 
 
 " Thou, like Goliah of the Philistines, comest to 
 me with thy strength and thy boasts! but I come 
 in *the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the 
 armies which thou hast defied ! This day will the 
 Lord deliver thee into my hand ; and 1 will smite 
 thee, and take thy head from off thee ; and I will 
 give the carcasses of the armies of the Philistines 
 this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild 
 beasts of the earth, that all the world may know that 
 there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly 
 may know that the Lord saveth not with spear or 
 sword, for the battle is the Lord's and He will give 
 you into our hands." 
 
 No one could help but compare the appearance of 
 the antagonistic parties. The new-comer looked 
 like a dwarf alongside of his adversary. Suddenly 
 they threw themselves in fury one upon the other. 
 Everybody thought that surely in the fierce en- 
 counter the big one would at the very first effort 
 have crashed his insignificant-looking adversary. 
 But with a subtlety entirely unexpected the Chris- 
 tian eluded the terrible weight that was to fell 
 him, and turning quickly, with a powerful rush 
 upon the back of his enemy, the giant was brought 
 with a crash to the ground. 
 
 Then, like a streak of lightning, Manilus, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 133 
 
 drawing a large knife from his bosom, jumped 
 upon the prostrate form, and with repeated blows 
 lel't the fallen colossus dead at his feet. 
 
 Then ensued a scene of tumult, uproar and con- 
 sternation, accompanied by cries of frenzy and de- 
 spair. Had it not been for the high barriers and 
 the strong guards, the masses would have leaped 
 to where this singular combat was enacted, and no 
 doubt have torn the victor to pieces. But an oc- 
 currence took place at this instant which made 
 unnecessary any further efforts in this direction. 
 A well-directed lance thrown by one of the guards 
 smote the conqueror in his breast, and with the 
 repeated cry, " Woe to Rome ! Woe to the hea- 
 thens ! Woe to the sinners! Woe to the foes of 
 Jehovah and his anointed Messiah !" Manilas sank 
 expiring upon the dead body of his huge chal- 
 lenger. 
 
 Now the portals that led to the inner circle of 
 the combatants were thrown open, and the disap- 
 pointed, chagrined and humiliated spectators 
 rushed in to where the corpses of the two gladi- 
 ators lay. Those who pushed forward noticed with 
 surprise that both bodies were covered from head 
 to foot with red, angry-looking pustules and spots, 
 emitting a peculiar odor which could not possibly 
 be ascribed to any putrefaction, since death had 
 barely set in. The attention of a medical man 
 being called to this strange phenomenon, he pres- 
 ently cried out: "The Pestilence! the Pestilence! 
 Fly, people, for your lives ! let none come near ! 
 let none approach or touch ! " As the dismayed 
 multitude tied in every direction, many heard the 
 plaintive voice of a beautiful woman with a babe 
 on her arm, who stood near the entrance of the 
 door, sounding like the lament of doom " Woe to 
 Rome ! Woe to the heathens ! Woe to the foes of 
 Jehovah and His anointed Messiah ! " 
 
134 BEN BEOR. 
 
 This was the now widowed Priscilla and her 
 orphaned daughter. 
 
 By the next day the horrible disease made its 
 appearance in several quarters of the city, the 
 sanitary condition of which was in an awful state. 
 True, where the Patricians had their palaces and 
 mansions on the broad and magnificent avenues 
 and streets, all was scrupulously clean and bright. 
 But the byways and alleys, their " angi-portus," 
 inclusive of almost all that lay in the suburbs and 
 around the river Tiber, were like so many sinks 
 and cesspools of filth and dirt. The terribly con- 
 tagious germs of the awful " Black Death " had, no 
 doubt, been brought here and introduced by some 
 of the Asiatic prisoners of war, who still continued 
 to come, and who had been only lately brought in ; 
 its fatal harvest becoming quickly and malignantly 
 ripe. So indifferent had the selfish people become 
 to the affairs of a next-door neighbor, or even an 
 inmate of their own dwellings, that the news of 
 the first victims of the dread disease passed by 
 unheeded and unnoticed. But when the killing 
 invader spread its presence, grinning hither and 
 thither with a convulsive omnipresence ; when the 
 fearful clutch no longer fastened alone on the poor 
 and vulgar, but rushed upon the aristocracy also, 
 deluded by the vain security that wealth was 
 proof against contagion ; when the bloated, fester- 
 ing corpses suddenly multiplied among the opulent 
 and startled nobility, then the authorities, with an 
 unparalleled activity, roused themselves to the most 
 stringent and sweeping measures for the relief of 
 the stricken inhabitants and the arrest of further 
 incursions of the malignant malady. 
 
 Yain were the efforts of frail humanity against 
 the destructive agency of nature, once let loose 
 upon its calamitous career. All precautionary 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 135 
 
 efforts became futile against the mad onslaught of 
 the pestilence. Yellow flags were ordered hoisted 
 from every dwelling where entered the epidemic. 
 In a few days every street looked as if curtained 
 with these sombre emblems of terror; but soon 
 there were neither hands to display such nor 
 material from which to make them. The dead 
 could no longer be decently buried. Lamentations 
 and tears ceased ; callousness and indifference 
 took the place of sympathy and benevolence. 
 Medical science stood appalled and helpless. Pa- 
 gan religion, in prosperity so boastful, now stood 
 mute and wan, her ministers fleeing to safe dis- 
 tances, or were engulfed in the common lot, perish- 
 ing by the scores. 
 
 Whoever could get away from the carnival of 
 destruction went precipitately often to perish at a 
 little distance, after having but started. In the 
 ever-increasing exodus, many carried with them 
 the already distinguishable symptoms of the certain 
 contagion. 
 
 Soon parents forsook their children, husbands 
 their wives ; all the bonds of love, devotion, friend- 
 ship, and interests of any nature, ceased to exist. 
 Houses became empty ; the marts and stores stood 
 forsaken and deserted, for there was no one to sell 
 or to buy. 
 
 Large numbers of those who had escaped the 
 pestilence became mad with fear and apprehen- 
 sion, and ran through the streets wildly gesticulat- 
 ing and shouting. The military, who suffered no 
 less than the civilians, had to be commissioned for 
 burial at night of the ever-swelling thousands of 
 festering victims. Graves could no longer be dug, 
 but bodies were thrown into the river. The very 
 atmosphere became thick and loathsome, and it 
 seemed as if the process of extermination would 
 
136 BEN BEOR. 
 
 never cease until the last subject for its hold had been 
 stricken. These were mournful and yet glorious 
 days for Titus. Day after day, night after night, 
 in unceasing vigils, he exerted all his power and 
 strength to combat the calamity. With super- 
 human efforts he tried to rally the people, help the 
 needy, console the despairing, encourage the weak, 
 grapple with the destroyer, restore order, re-estab- 
 lish law and security. Invulnerable himself to the 
 disease, while coming in contact with its lowest 
 and most malignant types, I verily believe he would 
 have gladly laid down his life to stay its ravages. 
 
 Wonderful to say, the Jews and Ebionites en- 
 joyed to a large extent great immunity from the 
 havoc of the pestilence. No doubt their strict adher- 
 ence to the Mosaic dietary laws, the enforcement 
 of cleanliness, purity and temperance as religious 
 rites, their abstinence from the forbidden meat of 
 swine ; then the scrupulous care of the sick, and the 
 conscientious attention paid by special appointed 
 committees for the immediate burial of any dead; 
 the never-to-be-extinguished sympathetic " helping 
 hand," which, from motives of charitable dispo- 
 sition, is ever and under all circumstances ex- 
 tended to a needy or suffering Hebrew ; their forced 
 absence from the crowds, they not being permitted 
 to attend the public shows; all these reasons may 
 well account for the phenomenal freedom from 
 danger in their camps. Since the completion of 
 the Coliseum they had been permitted rest and 
 recuperation from physical exertion. Their ranks 
 had been swelled by the addition of visitors from 
 the Holy Land, whence, by permission of the gov- 
 ernor, they came in search of their kin-people, bring- 
 ing such relief as money and nursing would provide. 
 Long before the destruction of Jerusalem there had 
 been a prosperous and highly respected colony of these 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 137 
 
 peculiar people in Rome ; and while they apparently 
 kept aloof from their unfortunate brethren, yet under 
 the leadership of Josephus to his credit it must be 
 said their good offices and powerful help in a quiet 
 and unostentatious way were extended to many. 
 The Christians, followers of Peter, suffered to even 
 a less extent. Largely drawn from the rank and file 
 of the Gentiles, they continued, irrespective of the 
 new creed, their associations with former friends; 
 and while openly exposed to the epidemic, yet they 
 strove like angels of mercy in the lowest huts and 
 dens against the raging calamity. Priscilla especi- 
 ally, with her beautiful babe always near, served 
 them as an example. Forgetful of risk and danger, 
 she could be seen attending the stricken ones, de- 
 voted and loving as only an enthusiastically inspired 
 woman may, laboring with relentless efforts at all 
 hours of day and night. Her sweet smiles, her re- 
 assuring words, her kind works, even to the meanest, 
 acted like soothing and powerful medicaments, and 
 often succeeded in snatching some poor friendless 
 being from the very jaws of the destroyer. To the 
 astonishment of her acquaintances and the people 
 with whom she came in contact, she seemed to bear 
 a charmed life, remaining rosy, fresh, and active. 
 Once the Emperor met her engaged in those self- 
 imposed holy duties, and on being told who and 
 what she was, in the presence of all his retinue, 
 kissed the little woman on her forehead, and caused 
 immediately large sums and voluntary helpers to be 
 placed at her disposal. O the blessings and the tears 
 that were showered upon the Nazarenes with their 
 giant hearts ! No wonder that such converts drew 
 fresh disciples to the baptismal font of the ever- 
 spreading new faith. Still the number of the dead 
 increased with fearful rapidity; they already ex- 
 ceeded one hundred thousand. At this time, when 
 
138 BEN BEOR. 
 
 every gate of the fortifications surrounding the 
 seven hills had been thrown open, and no surveil- 
 lance was kept over the departing fugitives, large 
 numbers of the Palestinian captives mingled with 
 the fleeing, and all who could, got away, there 
 being no one to hinder or gainsay their leaving. 
 In fact, most people who had anything to do with 
 them were glad to get rid of the encumbrance. After 
 a short period the Jew-quarter was almost entirely 
 emptied. My birds had flown, and in spite of 
 every exertion which I then could make I failed to 
 find their destination. All I did ascertain was, 
 they did not return to their fatherland, but moved 
 on further Westward. 
 
 When the mortuary misery had reached its 
 greatest bounds, one of the most trusted medical 
 counselors suggested the advisability of purifying 
 the contaminated atmosphere, by building huge fires 
 all over the city and its precincts. This was put into 
 immediate execution. Either that the remedy was 
 really efficacious, or that the energy and attention of 
 the masses were diverted from the source of danger 
 and directed to some absorbing occupation, by which 
 they attained new hope and raised a spark of latent 
 vitality, the measure acted like a charm. The burial 
 rates diminished, convalescent patients appeared on 
 the highways and byways, feasting their eyes on the 
 columns of flame and smoke everywhere rising sky- 
 wards and causing the landscape to appear like a 
 sea of fire. 
 
 As if the cup of appalling woe was to be drained 
 to the dregs by the doomed capital, on the third 
 day of these fire-displays, towards evening, the 
 caloric heat generated in one of the central quarters 
 became so intense that it ignited a wooden struc- 
 ture in the middle of the block of residences. The 
 flames spread with fearful rapidity, defying all 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 139 
 
 efforts to stay the conflagration. At midnight the 
 leaping tongues of the merciless fiend lit up the 
 heavens from a thousand structures; the cries 
 and shrieks from the now houseless people mingled 
 with the roar and the noise of the ever-spreading 
 flames and the crash and thunder of the falling 
 buildings. For three days it seemed as if chaos 
 were come again. It was difficult to reach the 
 water of the river ; it was still more difficult to 
 get people to bring it. Only the merest apologies 
 of organized help existed. It appeared as if all 
 the enraged elements had combined and were let 
 loose upon doomed Rome. 
 
 On the fourth day the whole district was con- 
 sumed, arid the very want of further inflammable 
 material stayed at last the terrible calamity. But 
 oh what a sight! what an experience ! Uncounted 
 people, just oat of the jaws of the pestilence, now 
 hungry, naked, unsheltered and unprovided ! Many 
 envied the fate of those who had been thrown in the 
 charnel-heaps or who were committed to the Tiber, 
 to float down as food for the fishes of the Adriatic. 
 Again the hard-tried Emperor came to the rescue. 
 Every available tent of the military was erected 
 near the walls of the city, for the shelter of his desol- 
 ate subjects. A fleet with provisions from Arabia 
 opportunely arrived that day at the landings, and 
 the Emperor from his own exchequer purchased the 
 food and had rations issued to the famishing. No 
 one was allowed to suffer if it could be helped. He 
 sent word to those who had lost their all to keep 
 good courage; that he would at his own expense 
 re-erect every building demolished, and from per- 
 sonal resources make good every loss sustained. In 
 proof of the truth of his promises a public committee 
 was at once appointed by him, and millions upon 
 millions of gold placed at their disposal for use and 
 distribution. 
 
140 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Wretched Emperor! he should never see the reali- 
 zation and accomplishment of these, his unprece- 
 dented humanitarian designs. 
 
 Exhausted by the heartrending trials which beset 
 his afflicted subjects during the short term of his 
 auspicious reign, lie was assailed by burning fever, 
 and hoping to find rest and restoration at the quiet 
 retreat of his villa in the Campagna the same 
 place where his father Vespasian, before him, had 
 spent the last days of a troubled life he repaired 
 thither. Addicted passionately to the use of the 
 bath, against the advice of his medical men, he 
 greatly increased the danger of his malady, when, 
 by counsel of his wily brother, he at last had resort 
 to an immersion in a tub of snow. He expired 
 in great agony on the 13th day of September, 81 
 A. D., worshipped by a weeping people and exalted 
 in history as one of the grandest sovereigns of his 
 realm. But the picture and fate of poor, forsaken 
 Berenice are said to have haunted him to the last. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA IX. 
 
 A PSEUDO-MOSES. 
 
 My mission in Rome was ended. The successor 
 to the throne, Domitian, younger and only brother 
 of Titus, was in every point of character the oppo- 
 site of his predecessor. Coarse and mean in dispo- 
 sition, crafty and vulgar by nature, licentious and 
 tyrannical, selfish and low, he belonged to those 
 abnormities of human nature who appear from 
 time to time, a curse of their race. 
 
 Distrustful and jealous, when he saw me in favor 
 with his father and brother he had no friendship 
 for me. It was time, too, that I should look after 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 141 
 
 and trace my escaped Jewish adversaries and learn 
 what had become of the fugitives. From information 
 obtained without difficulty, I persuaded myself that 
 the miserable remnant left in Palestine had ceased 
 to be a factor in the future of the Hebrews. 
 
 The backbone of their nationality seemed to be 
 broken forever. If, in their desperation and blind 
 fury, under the heels of their oppressing foreign 
 governors, they undertook to throw off the yoke of 
 slavery, they became utterly impotent, and even more 
 aggravating to their enemies. This was notably the 
 case in a widespread revolt under " Bar Chochba," 
 in the city of Betar, which cost the lives of nearly a 
 half million Jews, without achieving any results. 
 
 The sages and teachers frittered their time away 
 with disputations among themselves, and in the col- 
 lection of the trite and effete traditions of their an- 
 cestors, gathering and arranging material for book- 
 making. They boasted that already the first vol- 
 umes of "Oral law decisions" were ready for publi- 
 cation. This proved afterward true, in the appear- 
 ance of certain volumes called the " Mishnah," and 
 in its further extension, many years later, in the 
 wild vagaries of the " Talmud," or " Gamarah." 
 In my short-sightedness I could see in these literary 
 labors nothing but a useless waste of energy. At- 
 taching to such brain-work not the first value, I 
 considered further attention to the Palestinian por- 
 tion of my Mosaic foes unnecessary. I disdained 
 to smite a lot of caviling rabbins, with their puerile 
 and insignificant disputes and dissertations. 
 
 Had I but intimated to the new sovereign any 
 idea of treason attempted by the schools of Jabne 
 and Pompedita, where the Sanhedrins wasted time 
 in " Halacha " law decisions and "Agadu" le- 
 gends and fables one crushing blow from Rome 
 would have extinguished their existence. But no ; 
 
142 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tliey might argue and write to their hearts' content, 
 if I could reach the new and powerful colonies 
 which must have started somewhere, and which I 
 was determined to discover in their unknown re- 
 treats. So I departed on my errand to search the 
 continent for the fugitives from Rome. 
 
 In all my long and extensive peregrinations I 
 never lost sight of the main task which I had set 
 for myself. With such avowed purpose I found 
 easy access to the potentates, the aristocracy and 
 churchmen, all of whom were eager to introduce me 
 to one another. This facilitated the dissemination 
 of the intoxicating drink, with the aid of which I 
 hoped to achieve great results. And indeed it sel- 
 dom failed. The peasants and tradesmen, groaning 
 under the weight of abject dependence and poverty; 
 the soldiers, with their natural dissoluteness all 
 became easy victims of my beverage. Liquor-dis- 
 pensing shops were soon found in every Cisalpine 
 land. Here assembled all classes of the population. 
 Quarreling, disputing and gambling, they sank to 
 the vilest, meanest and most impoverished revelers, 
 seeking to forget their suffering and hard-tried fami- 
 lies at home. Here they stayed till late into the 
 night, and often committed excesses which brought 
 them to the prisons, or they became guilty of crimes 
 which led them to the block of the hangman. 
 Under such influences, in a few generations, these 
 mobs were prepared for the outrageous work in store 
 for them, to be continually used as blind tools by 
 the thrones and altars. The greatest suffering was 
 reserved for women. At all times they intuitively 
 shrank from me, spurned my affections, had sub- 
 jected my feelings to the keenest and most torturing 
 disappointments. Now I determined, if possible, 
 no more to be won by soft smiles and blandish- 
 ments, but to be avenged upon the whole sex for 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 143 
 
 the faults of a few of its number. I could, how- 
 ever, as a rule, tempt no female to partake of the 
 intoxicant. When now and then I succeeded in be- 
 guiling one into its use, she made such a disgusting, 
 abhorrent spectacle of herself by far more repul- 
 sive than any man that she became a warning 
 example to all her sisters. 
 
 For over three centuries, while the whole civil- 
 ized world was re-shaped and re-moulded, I wan- 
 dered from land to land, without being able to find 
 a trace of my long-lost Hebrew captives. True, in 
 the city of Prague and, farther northward, the town 
 of Worms, and several places under Teutonic rule, 
 small colonies of Israelites existed. These had, 
 however, come here directly from Palestine, long 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem. Though thrifty 
 and wealthy, importing overland highly-prized Ori- 
 ental products, and exporting to the East in ex- 
 change tin, jewels and gold, yet they consisted of 
 but comparatively few families, living peaceably 
 and sociably with their rude neighbors.; 
 
 Wandering thus north, south, east and west, over 
 the whole continent, making myself acquainted with 
 the principalities for use hereafter, I reached at last 
 the British Isles. These I included in the dark 
 future which I was preparing for all countries dur- 
 ing the now approaching Mediaeval ages. Spite 
 the most scrutinizing search, nothing whatever could 
 I learn of those mysteriously-disappeared Hebrews. 
 Resting one evening near London, on the banks 
 of the river Thames, the drunken antics of some 
 sailors on a foreign ship, making ready for her voy- 
 age, attracted my attention. 
 
 I saw a dusky-looking traveller, with a lady lean- 
 ing on his arm, step upon the plank which led to 
 the boat. Slowly and carefully he led the way, 
 supporting the woman in his charge. W'heii he 
 
14:4 BEN BEOR. 
 
 was half-way up the narrow gangway, being then 
 immediately over the tossing water, a brawny, un- 
 couth fellow, in blind haste, running from the ship, 
 jostled against the newcomers. The lady lost her 
 balance and, with a piercing scream, fell into the 
 river. It took me but a moment to rush to the 
 brink, spring after and rescue her from an untimely 
 death. With the aid of her companion and others 
 who hastened to our assistance, we were soon safely 
 on board the ship. 
 
 When the excitement caused by this sudden ac- 
 cident was over, I learned that in a few hours the 
 craft would sail for the island of Crete; that the 
 person who had lately come, and whose wife had 
 met with the serious mishap, was the owner of the 
 boat, now bound for her return trip home to " Me- 
 galocastron," the capital of the little state. He told 
 me, what I had already surmised from his features 
 and peculiar gait, that he was a Jew chief of the 
 different congregations living in the several Levan- 
 tine towns, who had escaped from Roman rule 
 years ago, there had colonized, and who were now 
 prosperous and of great commercial power. He 
 had been to England to perfect mercantile connec- 
 tions for himself and brethren and had been emi- 
 nently successful, but for the late accident, which 
 nearly proved so fatal to his lately wedded spouse, in 
 whom was centred all his love and happiness. 
 Their expressions of gratitude were oppressively 
 profuse, and nothing would do but that I accept 
 their hospitality and accompany them to the far- 
 off home. Here, then, by the merest chance, I 
 found a clue to the whereabouts of my long-searched- 
 for truants, and it took but little persuasion for me 
 to accept the cordial invitation. An hour later I 
 had my effects aboard, when towards evening the 
 anchors were lifted, and with full sails we passed 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 145 
 
 down the river into the canal towards the open sea. 
 The narrow sphere of one of these old Phoenician 
 boats is most conducive to confidential relations. 
 The slow progress, the monotony of confinement on 
 the small deck or in the coffin-like cabins ; the ab- 
 sence of all interesting employment save the watch- 
 ing of the sky and water ; even the meals, with their 
 very few varying courses, and the limited com- 
 pany all tend to draw the few passengers closely 
 together, and soon each became acquainted with the 
 past history of the others. Thus I early was in pos- 
 session of the life-stories of my host and hostess. The 
 latter especially was highly interesting to me. She 
 proved to be of the most piquant and contradictory 
 character and disposition. Tall and' commanding 
 in stature, a perfect type of Eastern women ; 
 face dusky, with lustrous eyes ; long, black hair, 
 broad forehead and swan-like neck ; an exquisitely 
 moulded nose, and lips upon which continually 
 rested a sarcastic smile, she was a beauty so brilliant 
 as to make me think of the Queen of Sheba, of whom 
 even so wise a king as Solomon became enamoured. 
 But what struck me most after a nearer acquaint- 
 ance was her peculiar disposition : one moment 
 sad and pensive, the next exultant and gay; this 
 instant frowning, weeping and fretting ; the very 
 next, without cause or reason for such a change, 
 laughing, hilarious and jovial. And all this with a 
 mind so unbending and domineering as must make 
 living with her for any length of time a source of 
 aggravation and ceaseless worry. She had been 
 married to her husband by her highly respected but 
 po^r parents, according to the fashion of the Orient, 
 without ever before having known him. The old 
 folks, now dead, were not Hebrews, but belonged to 
 a numerous class of intelligent natives who had 
 become proselytes to the covenant of Abraham. The 
 
146 BEN BEOR. 
 
 husband of this strange woman was one of those 
 grand specimens of manhood, in form as well as dis- 
 position, reminding one of the patriarchs of old. 
 With unlimited wealth, generous, highly bred and 
 cultured, infatuated by her beauty and vivacious- 
 ness, he doted upon his queenly wife, despite her 
 peculiarities and waywardness. But she soon hated 
 him for his riches; hated him for his generosity; 
 hated him for his indulgence and patience towards 
 her ; she hated him most, however, for his religion 
 and all that belonged to it, especially for its cere- 
 monial life, to which she must conform. She there- 
 fore made his whole existence one continued source 
 of trouble and misery. The present journey having 
 become necessary, not withstanding remonstrances and 
 urgent appeals, she insisted upon accompanying him 
 on his travels, full of inconveniences and dangers. 
 Arrived at his destination, she left him no rest day 
 or night, insisting upon immediate return home; 
 so he must hasten and overwork himself to com- 
 plete the pending negotiations. At last these were 
 finished and their departure undertaken. We have 
 seen how, at the very start, she nearly lost her life. 
 Now he fell sick from over-exertion and lay in the 
 cabin, nursed almost exclusively by a servant, while 
 she on deck in any company gave her prankish 
 mood full sway. Far from being jealous, yet he 
 grievously felt the conjugal neglect, and when once 
 chiding her reproachfully for such indifference, she 
 pounced upon him with a volley of harsh words, 
 accusing him of shamming illness. Soon after- 
 wards, when I had occasion to go to his couch, I 
 found him in tears. From henceforth the symptoms 
 of his disease became more serious and alarming, 
 and now with equal contrariness she became franti- 
 cally solicitous, and would not leave him for a 
 moment. With her crying and lamentations she 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 147 
 
 worried everybody around her, and with bitter accu- 
 sations blamed herself as the cause of his suffering. 
 Thus passed a few dreary days. One morning it 
 became evident that his end was nigh, and that but 
 a few hours would elapse before his final dissolution. 
 He called us all around him, placed a large sealed 
 package his last will and testament in the hands 
 of his wife, telling her with faint words that this 
 document made her his sole heir, with the excep- 
 tion of the good ship, bequeathed to the faithful 
 captain, who was also a pious old Hebrew. Then 
 placing his wife in my charge, and breathing the last 
 words of an expiring Israelite, his struggles were 
 over he was dead ! 
 
 The weather being excessively warm, it was im- 
 possible to keep the body, so it was wrapped in a 
 winding-sheet of bissus. We buried the corpse that 
 same evening in the bosom of the Mediterranean, 
 where we now were on our way homeward. Nothing 
 conceivable to my mind is more sad and mournful 
 than such a burial at sea; and this seemed especially 
 so. The gray-haired captain, as he assisted in letting 
 the body down, mumbled over it a few Hebrew 
 words of prayer. He shook like one in a fever, and 
 big tears rolled down his swarthy face. Miranda, 
 the wife, like one crazed, swayed to and fro, tore her 
 hair, smote her bosom and made attempts to throw 
 herself after the corpse into the high-tossing waves. 
 I caught her and she fell fainting into my arms. 
 We carried her limp and seemingly lifeless to the 
 cabin. Here, however, she recovered very soon. 
 Lying motionless on a couch, staring into vacancy, 
 we thought it best to leave her with her sorrow in 
 the care of an old nurse, a faithful attendant during 
 this journey. 
 
 When a few hours later I came back to console 
 her, what was my surprise to find the widow sitting 
 
148 BEN BEOE. 
 
 up, so deeply engrossed in reading the contents 
 of the now open and unsealed package, that at 
 first she had not even noticed my entrance. " Mine 
 all mine!" she exclaimed in a jubilant tone. 
 "Money almost uncounted, treasures without end! 
 all mine without let or hindrance, with no one 
 to domineer, none to grudge or direct." Hand- 
 ing me a packet, she said : " Take this and see if it 
 is of any use to you, for it is of none to me. You 
 will find therein the result of this voyage, a full 
 account of our people at home and their new con- 
 nections with the merchants and traders of Britain/' 
 Among this bundle of documents I indeed after- 
 wards found all those things for which I was so 
 fervently searching, fully set forth. I found the 
 numbers and wealth of the people who had been 
 divided into several congregations, or "Kehilahs," 
 as they called them ; a short but comprehensive his- 
 tory of the settlements since their departure from 
 Rome; their hopes and aspirations at home and 
 abroad; and finally, the conception, execution and 
 results of this mission by their chief, " the Parnass," 
 as he was titled in these writings. Nothing more 
 precious could have been bestowed upon me! From 
 these documents I also learned of a strange delusion 
 with which these Hebrews were filled, concerning the 
 early coming of a personal Messiah who would lead 
 them back to Palestine and restore the temple in 
 Jerusalem, as promised them by the ancient prophets. 
 So wild were their imaginings in this respect that 
 their authorities felt themselves constrained to 
 send to one of the leading members of the Sanhe- 
 drin of Persia, the renowned and princely Rabbi 
 Ashi, the celebrated father of the Babylonian 
 Talmud, who, with all the influence of his eloquence 
 and authority, warned the people from entertaining 
 and fostering such evil-boding vagaries. This 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 149 
 
 knowledge determined the line of my future policy. 
 Upon my arrival among them I resolved to try the 
 role of a " Pseudo-Moses," in order to entice these 
 benighted Jews into my calamitous plots, which 
 should lead to their utter destruction. 
 
 To return, however, to the bereft young widow. 
 During our interview she showed her most curious 
 nature. First it was a bitter lamentation, gar- 
 nished with an abundance of tears, bewailing her 
 apparently irretrievable loss ; then she would sud- 
 denly stop and appeal to me as the savior of her 
 life, and beg that I remain her true friend; that I 
 must stand by her as a protector and guardian against 
 her co-religionists, who always had disliked the 
 not over-scrupulous convert since she became the 
 wife of their leader. They had planned that he 
 should marry some daughter of theirs, a girl 
 whom she cordially hated and despised. They would 
 make every possible effort now to get possession of the 
 wife's inheritance, and she implicitly trusted to me, so 
 good, so kind and generous, to espouse her cause in 
 the hour of need. She declared that it was an ac(. 
 of God's providence to find a faithful and dear 
 companion, and that there was nothing in her power 
 and gift which she would not gladly sacrifice to 
 reward me for the great troubles and cares which 
 the confidential and important trust would certainly 
 cause me. As she was speaking thus she became 
 more and more excited, her face flushed, and the 
 pressure of her hands, which held mine, increased 
 with the warmth of her passionate recital. One 
 needed but little knowledge of human nature to 
 divine the drift of the whole performance, and it 
 filled me with such feelings of disgust and aversion 
 that I loathed these advances even while she spoke. 
 And yet I would not estrange her from me, it being 
 patent that I must hold this woman completely ia 
 
150 BEN BEOR. 
 
 my power, to be used as a great instrument in my 
 future schemes. 
 
 So, promising faithful performance of everything 
 asked of me, and speaking words of consolation and 
 comfort to her, now that her maid entered, we 
 parted the best of friends. Before morning I had 
 read the documents and, guided by their contents, 
 laid out the plan which I intended to pursue on my 
 landing at the island of Crete. The foremost diffi- 
 culty which presented itself to my mind was how to 
 keep this woman devotedly attached to me, without 
 revealing the intense antipathy I felt for her person. 
 Like an inspiration it struck rne that it would be 
 best for this purpose to assume without delay my 
 role of " Messiah," and by filling her with feelings of 
 reverence and holy awe for my individuality, keep 
 her at a proper distance. 
 
 When next I saw the widow she was seated under 
 a canopy near the cabin of the boat, erected with 
 great skill, beautifully ornamented. "Such a won- 
 derful dream I had last night ! " she excitedly broke 
 forth upon seeing me. These people place great value 
 on dreams. I had to take a seat close by her side. 
 Then she began : te I saw, while asleep, my late de- 
 parted husband standing as an angel before the 
 throne of the Lord, surrounded by all the heavenly 
 hosts, while a mighty chorus chanted, ' The sceptre 
 shall not depart from Judah, nor the councilor from 
 between his feet, until he cometh of Shiloh, and to 
 him shall the nations gather.' Then I saw you, 
 dear friend, rise from out their midst in a giant's 
 form, robed in celestial garments of a seer and 
 prophet, and the whole assembly cried out as with 
 one voice, ( It is he who has come from Shiloh ! To 
 him shall the nations gather! " 
 
 As she concluded I rose, and throwing aside the 
 mantle with which I had covered my inner garb, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 151 
 
 stood before her in the identical robes she had 
 described, and in which I had clothed myself pre- 
 paratory to the announcement which I had designed 
 to make to her in this very hour. I saw her tremble 
 from head to foot and her face grow pale. " Who 
 art thou," I heard her exclaim, in a quivering, 
 startled voice, " that cometh to me like the realization 
 of a supernatural vision ?" Straightening myself 
 up to my full height, I replied, "Be it then revealed 
 to thee, woman I am Moses, he who released our 
 people once from the bondage of Egypt, now com- 
 missioned to return to earth and once again gather 
 them and lead them back to their fathers' lost 
 inheritance, that they may re-erect the fallen temple 
 for the glory and worship of the Lord." At this 
 she knelt before me and gave forth such cries of joy 
 and amazement that every one on board of the ship 
 came running towards us. To them she told the 
 miraculous story of her dream and my revelation. 
 They too, every one of them, fell on their faces, 
 exclaiming until it echoed throughout the ship far 
 over the waters, "Lo we have seen the Messiah! 
 God be praised! glorified be the Lord of hosts 
 Zabaoth ! " During the remainder of the journey, 
 which lasted another week, I was treated with such 
 veneration, deference and distinction as amounted to 
 worship. Three times each day we prayed together, 
 and with implorations of fiery zeal and cant, of 
 which I was an elocutionary master, I raised their 
 state of mind to enthusiastic frenzy. I appointed 
 the woman, by solemnly laying hands upon her 
 head, as my sanctified prophetess. With similar 
 ceremonies the aged captain was made my chief 
 executive. The remainder of the crew and attend- 
 ants were my lieutenants and body servitors. 
 Within twenty-four hours they prepared at my com- 
 mand complete outfits of white garments, in which 
 
152 BEN BEOR. 
 
 they henceforth clothed themselves, looking like a 
 company of spirits. An immense banner was made 
 from white linen, fringed with gold. On the centre 
 of this, embroidered by the skilled hands of Miranda, 
 who had forgotten all else in her slavish devotion 
 to me, were the pompous words : " The Messiah hath 
 come ! " This flag was hoisted on our mast, no doubt 
 to the bewilderment and astonishment of every pass- 
 ing craft, quite a number of which we now met 
 almost hourly. Other smaller ensigns of the same 
 pattern were prepared, to be carried hereafter by each 
 of us. The same words which adorned our banner 
 were employed by every one on board as salutation, 
 so that whenever one passed another they cried out, 
 "The Messiah hath come ! " 
 
 The next thing which engaged my attention was 
 how to proceed on landing at the port of our destina- 
 tion. I planned that as soon as our anchor was 
 dropped we would form a procession, and then move 
 through the main street, which led to the syna- 
 gogue, greeting every one whom we should meet 
 with the ominous words of our holy salute. 
 
 I drilled my converts daily in this exercise, until 
 all was arranged and understood to perfection. 
 
 At last we entered the harbor, the only one of the 
 island. Here was a very busy day ; a large crowd 
 of people were engaged in bringing and taking away 
 merchandise. As soon as we had dropped anchor 
 we assembled on deck, each waving a streamer with 
 our watchword emblazoned thereon, and shouting 
 " The Messiah hath come ! " 
 
 The strange proceedings and peculiar exclama- 
 tions soon attracted a great number of people, who 
 wondered what this all was about. We swerved 
 neither to the right nor to the left, but with every 
 pomp our small numbers were capable of, forthwith 
 started in the order and manner which I had pre- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 153 
 
 arranged. Miranda led the train ; the captain, with 
 me, marched next, and then the balance closed up 
 the procession. Long before we had reached the 
 temple, report had spread throughout the city that 
 the " Parnass ship " had returned, and of the strange 
 proceedings by his wife and her followers, while the 
 husband nowhere was seen. When we arrived at 
 the steps of the edifice, after a long and slow march, 
 all Israel was assembled to receive us. Then we 
 mounted the platform before the portal, and here I 
 addressed the assembly. From time to time my 
 sentences were interrupted by my adherents with 
 their watchword, which was soon taken up by the 
 masses as they became first interested and then heated 
 to boundless enthusiasm. " Chosen children of Is- 
 rael, your merciful God at last has compassion on 
 your dispersion and suffering. Like in days of old 
 when Henoch walked before the Lord and he was 
 no more, for ' God took him/ so He has called home 
 in death at sea your beloved ' Parnass ' and leader. 
 But He has deputed me, the prophet Moses, from 
 the right hand of His throne, to descend among His 
 people and deliver them again, as of yore, from the 
 bondage of their oppressors. So shall the words of 
 the prophet be fulfilled which say, 'From the 
 North shall come your Redeemer !' And as it is 
 further written, 'Behold, I will send to you the 
 prophet Elijah, before the great and awful day of 
 the Lord cometh.' Recognize, then, in this young 
 woman the anointed messenger from on High, to be 
 with me as Aaron was when your fathers walked 
 out, free from the land of slavery. Now go ye as 
 your ancestors did at Mount Sinai, and obey my 
 words : * Sanctify the people to-day and to-morrow, 
 and let them wash their garments, which be white 
 as mine and these, and be ye ready against the third 
 day. For on the third day the Lord will come 
 
154 BEN BEOR. 
 
 down in the sight of all the people from the moun- 
 tain.' (Ex. xix. 10, 11.) Now do ye this : go and 
 pray and fast for these two days, as I and mine, shall 
 do ; divest yourselves of all your sins and earthly 
 cares have neither worldly goods nor possessions 
 any longer, but leave all dross to your enemies ; 
 assemble at a place near the sea, which I shall 
 appoint, when, at my command, the waters will part 
 and you shall walk over as on dry land. And bring 
 there, by your special messengers, all Israel dwelling 
 on the island, so that the people be assembled on the 
 third day at early morning. Then shall ye see the 
 glory of your God, ' for the Lord will fight for you, 
 but ye shall be still ! ' " (Ex. xiv. 14.) Hereupon the 
 multitude raised one simultaneous wild cry " The 
 Messiah hath come ! the Messiah hath come ! And 
 all the Lord hath spoken we will do and obey ! " 
 
 Then I bestowed upon them the blessing of the 
 high-priest, and called upon all to disperse and go 
 to their homes to prepare for the awful event that 
 was to come. But they formed themselves now into 
 various groups. These I watched with the keenest 
 interest. Everybody argued or was argued with, 
 and with such animated excitement and gesticulation 
 as only these Semitic people are capable of. Here 
 a rabbi, with long double-pointed white beard, a 
 skull-cap upon his flowing hair, forming ringlets on 
 each side of his forehead, addressed a crowd of elders, 
 emphasizing every sentence by pounding the long 
 staff in his right hand heavily on the ground. Yon- 
 der was another circle, presided over by a hunchback 
 giant who while speaking waved his arms up and 
 down like poles, vociferating in the most fantastical 
 manner. In one corner a lot of younger people 
 stood huddled together and listened to the enthusi- 
 astic harangue of a fine-looking girl, whose wealth 
 of raven black locks flowed in the wind. She 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 155 
 
 seemed to receive assent to all her assertions, by the 
 continual nods and shaking of heads from the hear- 
 ers. The most vivid and picturesque scene, how- 
 ever, ensued as there issued forth from out of one 
 of the crowds an aged man, who I afterwards 
 learned was a universally known retired merchant, 
 respected, revered, and almost implicitly trusted in 
 worldly and spiritual affairs, having lived here three- 
 score and ten years, distinguished for his kindness, 
 charity, good-humor and clear judgment. He was 
 known everywhere, even by the little children, as 
 " Old Father Selig." Getting down on his knees, he 
 cried out at the top of his trembling voice : " Blessed 
 be the Holy One, the Sovereign of the universe, who 
 has preserved me and let me see this great and glo- 
 rious day, now that I am sure that my Redeemer 
 liveth!" Amidst the wildest rejoicings and accla- 
 mations of the multitude he ascended to where 
 we stood, took the large flag which Miranda held, 
 kissed her and me on the forehead, then led the way, 
 and beckoning us to follow, made the air ring with 
 the incessant exclamation, which was repeated by 
 every one, " The Messiah hath come ! " We fol- 
 lowed him, as did the whole crowd, forming a tri- 
 umphal procession leading us to the palace-like 
 mansion of the Parnass, where all from the ship 
 took up their residence, becoming the welcome guests 
 of our hostess. Only one man, middle-aged, bald- 
 headed, small, but wiry in appearance, with failing 
 health written in every feature, going by the name 
 of "Horeb," known as a mathematical factotum, 
 an everlasting cynical doubter and grumbler, had 
 warned the people of the assemblage against delu- 
 sions and impositions ; had tried to make his voice 
 heard, in vain, cautioning against surprises and 
 over-confidence. But he was unable to reach the 
 ears of the sanguine, madly roused Hebrews, and 
 
156 BEN BEOR. 
 
 was seen to move away in the opposite direction 
 from that which we took, shaking his head and 
 wringing his hands. Unperceived I watched him 
 closely, being to me the exemplification of the voice 
 in the wilderness, the picture of truth so often 
 crushed and smothered among the blind mortals of 
 this earth by folly, falsehood and pretentious error. 
 Next day I sent out the prophetess, the captain 
 and the rest of our company, presumably to see that 
 my orders for fasting and praying were strictly fol- 
 lowed. They had to work with all their influence 
 and persuasion to undo the mischief wrought by 
 Horeb, the singular individual, who gained many 
 followers among the more sober and calculating 
 of his mercantile co-religionists. He found pow- 
 erful allies, too, among friendly and well-meaning 
 Christians and Gentiles, who lived here in large 
 numbers, and who were perfectly overwhelmed by 
 the strange infatuation of their Mosaic neighbors. 
 But this availed nothing in the end. I searched 
 next day over the suburbs of the city, and at last 
 found a spot most excellently suited for my purpose. 
 It was a fine promontory, sloping gradually into the 
 sea, with an immense plateau on top. I gave it at 
 once the name of " Jew-hill/' which it has retained 
 unto all times. Thither I led, on the third day, at 
 sunrise, the whole concourse of the Hebrew people, 
 who had come from near and far, summoned by the 
 messengers. Every one appeared in white, shroud- 
 like garments. I could not count them, there were 
 so many. They certainly numbered closely on 
 one hundred thousand. How my eyes feasted on 
 the doomed multitude! Their old friend Selig 
 led the van, bearing our waving banner. When all 
 had come to a halt, standing on the topmost height, 
 the prophetess by my side, I addressed them in these 
 words : " Children of God Zabaoth ! Behold before 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 157 
 
 you the waters, as your ancestors saw the waves of 
 the Red Sea. This day shall once again be mani- 
 fested the Lord and His omnipotent power. Israel 
 shall inherit anew the -land of promise where milk 
 and honey flows. Therefore follow ye now as your 
 fathers of old did when I led them dry-shod through 
 the briny deep. ' Messiah hath come ! ' and as you 
 see me reach yonder boulders midway down this hill, 
 follow your prophetess and hurry into the waves, 
 which will part to your right and to your left, that 
 you may with me reach on dry ground the blessed 
 land of Palestine. Whosoever feareth the Lord, 
 obey me!" Then I hastened to reach the ap- 
 pointed spot. With a cry of jubilee, Miranda at 
 the head of all the people followed, shouting the 
 everlasting refrain, "The Messiah hath come!" 
 Reaching the waters they plunged in, those in front 
 crowded on by those in the rear, only to be swallowed 
 up in the foaming flood by the thousands. Miranda 
 was the first to drown, followed by the old captain 
 and his crew. I had screened myself beneath a 
 cavity among the rocks against the irresistible im- 
 petus of the headlong rush, reappearing as all the 
 crazed followers had passed, and feasting my eyes on 
 the unbounded havoc of the masses, gurgling with 
 death in the ocean. Now I rose on top of the 
 highest boulder, screeching out in satanic triumph : 
 " The Messiah hath come ! the Messiah hath come ! " 
 It never has been ascertained how many of my 
 enemies perished that day. Great numbers^ how- 
 ever, to my infinite regret, were saved by the humane 
 and merciful sailors, who bravely rushed in among 
 the drowning, and at risk of their own lives, rescued 
 them by heroic efforts. I had just time, amidst the 
 terror and unbounded consternation, to divest myself 
 of my assumed priestly garments and disappear 
 from sight and action. How I laughed at my friend, 
 
158 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the Grecian philosopher and statesman, Socrates, 
 who declared in his ecclesiastic writings that it was 
 a demon from hell who so fearfully beguiled those 
 benighted Jews into perdition, under the crazy notion 
 that " The Messiah had come!" 
 
 Notwithstanding the cruel havoc wrought by the 
 events told here, my object to destroy these prosper- 
 ous colonies of Jews was only partially attained, 
 Out of this very affair grew the germ for greater and 
 much more difficult events in a near future. 
 
 The Christian boatmen, saving large numbers, 
 were congregated here partly by their business, 
 partly by a curiosity to be present and witness the 
 miracle which was to occur, the news of which had 
 traveled all over the island. So humanely were 
 these victims of blind enthusiasm treated by the 
 Nazarenes, and so kindly cared for were the now 
 impoverished and despairing survivors, that a great 
 number of Jews abjured their faith and were baptized 
 in the new church. 
 
 Very few of those who remained faithful abided 
 in their old homes. The bitter recollections of the 
 awful deception which they had experienced drove 
 them, with the wandering staff in hand, into further 
 exile. Most of these crossed the sea to a far-away 
 land, beyond the wilderness of Petrea, where in a 
 beautiful section of Arabia they founded new col- 
 onies. Soon they established for themselves an 
 independent and prosperous government, and were 
 joined by aJiost of their fugitive, persecuted breth- 
 ren from other lands. There I shall meet them 
 again at some future time, hoping to be done with 
 them, forever. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 159 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA X. 
 
 MAHOMET VS. JUDAISM. 
 
 If ever there was a paradisical region on the 
 habitable globe, it exists in that part of the Orient 
 which is most aptly called "Arabia felix," the 
 happy land of Arabia. Nature, foremost of all, 
 has showered upon the country her most bountiful 
 blessings. The earth is fertile, and produces with- 
 out much eifort from man her precious gifts, both of 
 need and luxury. The climate is comparatively 
 mild. The annual rains provide sufficient humidity 
 to keep the ground moist and arable. The labor in 
 the fields is as light and pleasant as that of a garden. 
 
 The lush g^ass of the meadows never fails the 
 herdsman, as can readily be seen by the sleek cattle, 
 the excellently conditioned camels, and the fine 
 horses the pride, boast and love of the natives. 
 Here grow those wonderful, mighty palm-trees, the 
 date-fruit of which is the principal food of the 
 people. A hand lifted against any of these giant 
 trees equals an affront to man, and to wantonly cut 
 one down is regarded as murder. The social and 
 political condition of the inhabitants used to be 
 patriarchal, the head of the house being its absolute 
 ruler. At the entrance of his tent he planted a pen- 
 non, and on it hung the protective scimiter. Who- 
 soever entered here and broke the bread of hospitality 
 was sacred as a guest, though he were to be found 
 afterward the death-enemy of the family. Complete 
 tolerance formed the absolute rule in religious mat- 
 ters. There lived here a host of fire-worshipping 
 Gentiles, nearly equaled in numbers by the strictly 
 ceremonious Jews, and a smaller colony of Christians. 
 With the exception that everybody attended his own 
 peculiar worship under liberal-minded ecclesiastics, 
 
160 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and followed the rules and rites of creed and faith, in 
 public and private intercourse, no other distinction 
 was known; 
 
 Equally patriotic, these people were always united 
 in the defense of their common country, harassed 
 and often assailed by warlike, barbarous neighbors. 
 Friendship, love, sympathy and mutual helpfulness 
 distinguished the communities, and not unfrequent 
 "intermarriages between all the sects aided in main- 
 taining the good feeling and fraternal relations be- 
 tween otherwise incongruous neighbors. Such model 
 conditions existed and were concentrated in the 
 strongly fortified city of Kha'ibar and its dependent 
 territory. 
 
 A citadel had been erected here at immense ex- 
 pense by the united efforts of the citizens, who con- 
 sidered the place impregnable against any assault 
 from without. This was strengthened by a number 
 of smaller fortifications extending all over the 
 suburbs. 
 
 Here was settled now a large colony of Hebrews, 
 who claimed that Moses, after the passage through 
 the Red Sea, sent an army against the Amalekites 
 inhabiting Midian, some of whom remained after 
 the war in this invincible stronghold. There was, 
 however, a tradition amongst a large number of 
 other Israelites, that their ancestors took refuge 
 here, posterior to the ignominious betrayal at the 
 Island of Crete by a pretended Messiah, the " Pseudo- 
 Moses." 
 
 Generations had passed since that event, but the 
 memory of the disaster and the vile treachery of the 
 mysterious impostor was kept alive, bejng told from 
 father to son and descanted upon as one of the mys- 
 terious visitations of angry heaven against a sinful 
 race. 
 
 For several centuries I, Ben Beor, had not con- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 161 
 
 cerned myself about these people. I knew from, 
 the habits of the natives that their tastes were 
 entirely abstemious, and my great and powerful ally, 
 "Intoxicating drink," would avail me nothing in 
 these regions. Other instrumentalities must be 
 employed in order to break up the threatening, if 
 yet incipient, power which flourished in a most con- 
 genial soil. I had during the past centuries care- 
 fully watched, guarded and guided the development 
 and growth of maturing Christianity on the conti- 
 nent, and was advised lately of an entirely new and 
 unexpected factor which had arisen in the East, well 
 calculated to further and strengthen my cynical de- 
 signs. This was one of the most phenomenal heroes 
 of the Orient the prophet Mahomet and his still 
 more unprecedented religion, Islamism. 
 
 Of low and humble origin, most favorable circum- 
 stances conspired to carry this man on the swell- 
 waves of fortune to the highest pinnacle of fame, 
 influence and wealth ; and by even more rapid 
 rushes prospered the new faith which he originated 
 and propagated. 
 
 The career of both the man and his cause seems 
 like a tornado, arising just in time to sweep 
 everything before it. Reaching the zenith of afflu- 
 ence by the bestowal of princely gifts from relatives 
 and friends, the exalted ecstasy and enthusiasm of 
 his spiritual aspirations fitted most opportunely the 
 exigencies of his peculiar surroundings. 
 
 The religion of the natives was a mixture of 
 materialism and fanatic superstition, resting on no 
 other foundation than tribal usage and legendary 
 transmissions, ready to be overthrown and to crum- 
 ble to pieces by the first fierce shock which should 
 come from a sagacious and trusted hand. Judaism 
 was at no time aggressively missionary. It could 
 not accomplish this revolution. Its abstract priii- 
 
162 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ciple of " One invisible God, with no personal rep- 
 resentatives on earth," and its high code of morality, 
 law and equitable justice, were beyond the grasp and 
 understanding of the heathen. Its unelastic cere- 
 monial, entirely antagonistic to the free and un- 
 hampered mode of life among the children of the 
 sun, made it impossible that the Mosaic belief should 
 ever become a sweeping substitute for their religious 
 cravings. 
 
 Much less, however, was Christianity, at its state in 
 those times, suited to the Arabians, whose dual deity, 
 "Vishnu" and "Shiva" Light and Darkness 
 proved already too much for them ; so it was not 
 likely that a Trinity of the Godhead should find favor 
 in their eyes. The incarnated divinity of the Messiah 
 an immaculate conception ; a theory of salvation by 
 faith, such complex and supernatural dogmas were 
 entirely beyond the comprehension of those simple 
 people. The followers of Christ in their midst, as 
 they learned without difficulty, were divided also to 
 extremes among themselves, even in the cardinal 
 principles of faith. To comprehend this baneful 
 state of sectarianism among the Christians at this 
 early period, an enumeration of a few of the leading 
 sects will give an idea of their segregations. There 
 were: 
 
 The " Sabellians," so called from Sabellius, a 
 Libyan priest of the third century, who believed in 
 the unity of God, and that the Trinity expressed 
 but three different states or relations, all forming 
 but one substance, as man consists of body and soul. 
 
 The "Arians," from Arius, an ecclesiastic of Alex- 
 andria in the fourth century. These affirmed Christ 
 to be the Son of God, but distinct from Him and 
 inferior to Him. They denied the Holy Ghost to 
 be God. 
 
 The " Nestorians," from Nestorius, bishop of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 163 
 
 Constantinople in the fifth century, maintained that 
 Christ had two distinct natures divine and human; 
 that Mary was only his mother, and Jesus a man, 
 and that it was an abomination to style her, as was 
 the custom of the Church, the mother of God. 
 
 The " Monophysites " maintained the single nature 
 of Christ. They affirmed that he was combined of 
 God and man, so mingled and united as to be but of 
 one nature. 
 
 The " Eutychians," from Eutyches, abbot of a 
 convent in Constantinople in the fifth century. 
 These were a branch of the former, expressly opposed 
 to the Nestorians. They denied the double nature 
 of Christ, declaring that he was entirely God previous 
 to the incarnation, and entirely man during incar- 
 nation. 
 
 The "Jacobites," from Jacobus, bishop of Edessa 
 in Syria, in the sixth century, were a very numerous 
 branch of the Monophysites, varying but little from 
 the Eutychians. 
 
 The " Mariamites," worshipping the Trinity and 
 regarding the Virgin Mary also as a god. 
 
 The " Collyridians," composed chiefly of females. 
 They worshipped the Virgin Mary as a divinity, 
 and made offerings to her of a twisted cake called 
 "collyris." 
 
 The " Nazaraeans " were a sect of Jewish Chris- 
 tians who considered Christ the Messiah, as born of a 
 virgin by the Holy Ghost, and possessing something 
 of a divine nature, but they conformed in all other 
 respects to the Mosaic law. 
 
 The " Ebionites," from Ebion, a converted Jew 
 who lived in the first century, were also a sect of 
 Judaizing Christians. They believed Christ to have 
 been a pure man, one of the greatest prophets, but 
 denied that he had any existence previous to his 
 birth. 
 
164 BEN BEOR. 
 
 There were many other divisions, such as the 
 " Corinthians," " Maronites," and " Marcionites," 
 who took their names from pious and zealous lead- 
 ers. There were also the "Docetes" and "Gnos- 
 tics," subdivided into various, branches, with subtle 
 enthusiasts for their heads. Some of .these asserted 
 the immaculate purity of the Virgin Mary; the 
 "Docetes" asserted that Jesus was of a nature 
 entirely divine, that a phantom, a mere form without 
 substance, was crucified, and that the crucifixion, as 
 well as resurrection, were deceptive mystical exhi- 
 bitions for the benefit of the human race. 
 
 The " Carpocratians," " Basilidians," and " Valen- 
 tinians," named after the Egyptian controversialists, 
 contended that Christ was merely a wise and virtuous 
 mortal, the son of Joseph and Mary, selected to 
 reform and instruct mankind, but that a divine 
 nature was imparted to him at the maturity of his 
 age. 
 
 True, all these schisms were later on declared 
 heretical, but at this time were in full sway and 
 agitated fiercely in the Church. 
 
 Mahomet, with a zeal and aptitude unparalleled, 
 had himself instructed by learned Hebrews and 
 Christians amply as to their tenets before he declared 
 his mission, and collated from all these divers prin- 
 ciples what he considered with great shrewdness and 
 wisdom best and most fitted for the people whom he 
 intended to convert. 
 
 At the head of his holy book called the Koran, 
 composed, collated and delivered at various epochs of 
 his stirring career, stood the plain and by his 
 countrymen easily understood and readily accepted 
 dogma : 
 
 " There is but one God ! and Mahomet is his prophet ! " 
 " La illaha il Allah ! Mahomet resoul Allah ! " , 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 165 
 
 The best and choicest of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments and the Talmud were selected by him for a 
 moral and ethical code, adapting these to the lan- 
 guage and mode of thought of Arabians, and adding 
 thereto such customs and ceremonies as he might 
 cull from observances already existing, and which 
 were deeply ingrafted in the life of his people. He 
 also changed the seat of highest Divine residence 
 from Jerusalem to Mecca, and enjoined annual pil- 
 grimages to this new sanctuary. Almost the entire 
 dietary ordinances, especially abstinence from the 
 meat of swine, were adopted from the Mosaic law. 
 The drinking of wine was forbidden. The Abra- 
 hamitic rite, performed at the age of thirteen years, 
 was already in general observance. 
 
 Under these anomalous conditions, the founder of 
 this new faith, with his impetuosity and exceptional 
 good fortune, would have swept the entire Gentile 
 world before him, had he not been checked to some 
 extent by a great obstacle. This consisted in the 
 fierce opposition of the Jews, who exerted an exten- 
 sive influence over the country. Added to this was 
 a dark flaw in the moral character of the prophet, 
 consisting of an insatiable concupiscence, amounting 
 to mania. No young and comely woman could with 
 any safety to her chastity approach the lecherous 
 libertine without falling a sacrifice to his lust. 
 
 He and his army of followers in the course of an 
 exciting career brought up at last before the nearly 
 impregnable fortress of Khaibar. He had pub- 
 licly vowed that her walls should be razed to the 
 level of the ground, that her large Hebrew popula- 
 tion should either accept the religion of Islam or be 
 exterminated; but most of all, that the renowned 
 Jewish beauty, Zainab, whose fame for comeliness 
 and grace filled all the East, should be added to his 
 victories over the female world. She had been 
 
166 BEN BEOK. 
 
 chosen for her beauty, grace and comely modesty as 
 first maid of honor to the queen of the small empire, 
 Safiaya, the wife of the king, Ibu al Kabi. This 
 queen, young and fair herself, had a most envious 
 and ambitious disposition, which manifested itself 
 by cruel treatment of her fair attendant, in whom 
 she saw a powerful rival in the eyes of the men, with 
 whom she managed to have at all times some love 
 intrigue, despite of her nativity, in which such follies 
 were strangers, degrading her high position as first 
 lady of the land. The indulgent husband, as usual, 
 occupied as he was with the great cares of the realm, 
 learned last of her shortcomings, although they were 
 the subject of public gossip. Especially was the 
 queen jealous of her maid's betrothed. Early in life 
 Zainab had been engaged according to Israelitish 
 custom, and was shortly to be wedded to her distant 
 relative Marhab. This distinguished and remarkable 
 man had become the wealthiest as well as the most 
 powerful of all his tribe. Of a giant stature, sym- 
 metrically formed; a round, finely-shaped head 
 covered with long dark hair ; a broad forehead ; 
 somewhat small, coal-black piercing eyes; an 
 aquiline nose, a full and smiling mouth, immense 
 chest and shoulders, long powerful arms on which the 
 veins and muscles stood out like cords such was the 
 imposing appearance of this modern Hebrew Samson, 
 the renowned leader and chief of the defenders in 
 and about the citadel, now besieged by the Mahom- 
 etans. Their great prophet, roused to frenzy by 
 a defeat which he had sustained at the hands of the 
 citizens in holy Mecca, who refused admittance to 
 him and his followers on their annual pilgrimage to 
 the sacred shrine, the Ca-aba, determined to vent his 
 anger upon the Jews. These had ever opposed 
 him in his progress. He charged that they were 
 instrumental in causing his defeat and humiliation, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 167 
 
 which greatly dampened and checked the ardor of 
 his disciples. Besides this, Khai'bar had become a 
 place of refuge for many enemies, who made them- 
 selves obnoxious to his ambition. Therefore had 
 he vowed that the city must fall. In the beginning 
 of the seventh year of his first flight from Mecca, 
 July 16, 622 A. D., from which period the Mussul- 
 men count the advent of the new religion, and 
 which is called " The Hegira," the resentful expe- 
 dition started against the far-off country, which 
 lay one week's journey north-eastward from the 
 camp. The invading army was small but select, 
 twelve hundred foot-soldiers and two hundred horse. 
 With these were the brave division-leaders, Abu 
 Becker, Omar, and quite a number of select officers 
 known to be steadfast and reliable. 
 
 Before they departed I had joined their religion 
 and army. Presenting powerful credentials from 
 many of the most celebrated crowned heads of Europe, 
 I was received by the Prophet with open arms, con- 
 verted publicly amidst great pomp and ceremonies 
 to the faith ; received the name of Ali among the 
 Orientals, and as a special honor was invested with 
 the command of one of the principal divisions of the 
 army. Using every means at my command with 
 the utmost liberality, especially during the long, hot 
 and dry journey toward our destination, I cunningly 
 provided comforts for the much-suffering troops, 
 and became soon a great favorite and a powerful 
 leader, securing no less by tact than by guile the 
 friendship and personal confidence of Mahomet, who 
 repeatedly called me to his council of war and 
 intrusted me with his plans and future prospects. 
 
 At length we entered the fertile territory of our 
 foes. Then we began the campaign by assailing 
 the inferior castles with which the country was 
 studded. Many of these surrendered without a 
 
168 BEN BEOR. 
 
 struggle. The spoils being considered " gifts from. 
 Allah," were appropriated by the Prophet. Places 
 of more strength and defended with stouter hearts 
 were taken by storm. Soon we reached Khai'bar, 
 facing the apparently impregnable citadel called 
 Al Kamus. It was built according to the best 
 known methods of fortifications, stood upon the 
 pinnacle of a steep rock, and had been garrisoned 
 by trusted defenders. Such confidence was placed 
 in the reputed strength of the place that the king, 
 Ibu al Rabi, had deposited here in secreted recesses 
 an immense treasure. 
 
 One fine autumn morning, when all nature 
 breathed peace, ripe plenty and spiritual content- 
 ment, we came in sight of the strong and frowning 
 walls. On beholding the towering obstacles in our 
 way, all the fierce passions and the fiery hatred of 
 Mahomet's soul broke forth. In front of us there 
 lay scattered a number of boulders. Springing upon 
 one of the largest of these, the prophet threw himself 
 upon his face ; his two standard-bearers, one with the 
 image of the Sun, the other with the Black Eagle, 
 stood by his side. Then on his knees he uttered 
 in most vehement tones and gestures this prayer : 
 
 " O Allah ! Lord of the seven heavens and of all 
 things which they cover ; Lord of the seven earths 
 and all \vhich they sustain ; Lord of the evil spirits 
 and of all whom they lead astray ; Lord of the winds 
 and of all whom they scatter and disperse: we sup- 
 plicate Thee to deliver into our hands this city and 
 all that it contains and the riches of all its lands. To 
 Thee we look for aid against this people and against 
 all the perils by which we are environed." 
 
 Now raisins; himself erect he exclaimed: "This 
 stone upon which I stand shall be holy for all times 
 to come, equal to the Ka-aba of Mecca. Its name 
 be known as the Mansela. Let the faithful, while 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 169 
 
 we dwell here, make daily seven circuits around it. 
 If we conquer as we shall a mosque is to be 
 erected on this spot, a splendid memorial for having 
 supported the feet of the Prophet, and be it forever 
 a sacred object of veneration to all pious believers 
 in Al Koran." 
 
 Amidst deafening huzzahs and shouts of "Allah-il 
 Alla-ha ! " the siege immediately commenced. Ma- 
 homet was everywhere; but at first neither his 
 undaunted courage nor that of the army availed 
 much. They had as yet no great experience in the 
 attack of fortified places, especially when defended, 
 as was this, by brave and skilled warriors, stubbornly 
 resisting all efforts for advantage. Worst of all, 
 the assailing troops suffered much from want of pro- 
 visions, since they had brought with them no great 
 quantity of supplies. The Jews on the approach of 
 their foes had laid waste the level country and 
 destroyed everything that could afford food or shelter 
 around their capital. 
 
 Trenches were immediately dug, the work going 
 on day and night. Battering rams were constructed 
 with infinite labor and trouble, which as soon as in 
 position played incessantly upon the walls. A breach 
 at last was effected, but every attempt to scale the 
 fortifications and enter was repelled with bloody 
 sacrifices. Abu Becker led one assault ; he had been 
 intrusted with the standard of tfie Prophet. In 
 spite of every brave effort, which continued for 
 hours, his storming party was defeated and he was 
 compelled to retreat. Omar fought all next day, 
 with the same result and still greater losses. Dis- 
 may and faintheartedness spread in the ranks, and 
 many counseled the abandonment of the fatal efforts. 
 
 Now I, who had thus far kept myself in the back- 
 ground, saw that my chance had come, and stepped 
 boldly before the chief. "Intrust me with one 
 
170 BEN BEOR. 
 
 fair trial," I cried, " and my head may pay the for- 
 feit if we do not overcome these accursed Hebrew 
 sons of Belial." I was clad that day in a scarlet 
 vest, over which was buckled a cuirass of steel. 
 With robust and square form, speaking of prodigious 
 strength, a healthy florid countenance, surrounded 
 by a bushy beard, and eyes all glittering with zeal 
 and fire, I must have made an imposing impression 
 upon my chief. He, looking proudly and confidingly 
 upon my stalwart person, took from the belt his own 
 renowned scimeter, named the " Dhu'l-Fakar," and 
 handed it to me with the sacred banner of the golden 
 Sun. ( ' Take these and meet our enemies. I here 
 pronounce thy title, ' Lion of the Lord/ a man who 
 loves Allah and his Prophet and whom Allah and his 
 Prophet love. Know no fear, nor turn thy back 
 upon our foes ! " 
 
 Thus blessed and adjured, I forthwith called my 
 troops together, and without delay led the perilous 
 attack. We scrambled up the great heaps of stones 
 and rubbish in front of the breach, and I planted 
 the holy standard on top. The Jews sallied forth to 
 drive back the bold assailants. In the conflict 
 which now ensued I met hand to hand with their 
 commander, Al Rabi. With the irresistible strength 
 of my right arm, and the holy sword I cut him in 
 two with one stroke. As he fell dead at my feet the 
 giant Marhab sprang forth to avenge his death. He 
 was armored in a double cuirass, upon his head a 
 double turban, wound around a helmet of proof, in 
 front of which sparkled an immense diamond. A 
 sword was girded on each side, and he brandished a 
 three-pronged spear like a trident. Now we ap- 
 proached each other ; the battle on both sides, as if 
 by a mutual consent, came to a sudden halt. All 
 eyes were directed towards the ensuing combat. 
 
 "I," cried the Jew, "am Marhab, armed at all 
 points and terrible in battle ! " 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 171 
 
 Then I responded, " I am All, whom his mother 
 at birth surnanied <A1 Hai'dara/ the rugged lion." 
 
 Now the Jewish champion made a fearful lunge at 
 me .with his trident r but with great dexterity I par- 
 ried the stroke, and before he could recover himself 
 a ponderous stroke from the scimeter "Duh'l- 
 Fukar" clove through his buckler, passed through 
 the helmet, reaching his stubborn skull, riving in 
 twain his head even to the teeth. His gigantic form 
 fell lifeless to the earth. 
 
 The Jews, on beholding the unexpected and fatal 
 defeat of their vaunted heroes, with shrieks and cries 
 of despair retreated quickly and in great disorder to 
 the citadel. Our entire force now joined my troops 
 and a general assault followed. In the heat of action 
 the brazen shield which I carried on my arm was 
 severed from its hinges, conspicuously exposing my 
 body to attack. Instantly and with superhuman 
 strength I wrenched part of a gate from its fastenings 
 and used it as a buckler through the remainder of 
 the fight. It was a prodigious feat, at which those 
 of my men nearest to me looked in utter consternation 
 and surprise. 
 
 During this fierce struggle two women might have 
 been seen as eager and anxious spectators, watching 
 the progress of the combat from a window of the 
 royal palace. From what I learned afterward I can 
 readily imagine their emotions and excited appear- 
 ances, caused by diametrically opposite motives. 
 Each one represented a type of feminine character, as 
 unlike to the other as possibly can be described. 
 One was the Queen Safiya, tall, dark and proud. 
 Smarting under a great insult and indignity received 
 but a few hours ago at the hands of her royal 
 husband, she stood there in a tremor of anticipation, 
 her coal-black eyes, like those of an angered serpent, 
 watching the course of events, a personification of 
 
172 BEN BEOR. 
 
 deathly hatred and thirst for revenge. She had long 
 since been suspected of treasonable sympathies with 
 the approaching foes. Report had pictured to her 
 vivid imagination the new Prophet as a great hero 
 and woman-worshipper. She was impatient to have 
 him come, conquer the country, and be in return con- 
 quered by her wiles and fascinations. Unguarded 
 expressions of this nature had reached the king. 
 On this self-same morning she related to him, 
 already burdened with care and trouble, her dream 
 of the previous night, and told him of her vision 
 in which the sun descended from the firmament 
 and with all his glory and refulgence nestled in her 
 own yearning bosom. So exasperated and angry 
 was the king at these words that he struck her a 
 fierce blow, exclaiming, "Woman, thou speakest in 
 a despicable parable. This Arab chief now seeks 
 our destruction." Crazed by such affront, there she 
 stood, glorying and rejoicing in the turn affairs had 
 taken, the unnatural creature beholding with delight 
 the fall of Israel's foremost leaders and the defeat 
 of her nation's defenders. 
 
 The woman standing next to her was Zainab, the 
 espoused of Marhab. Lithe, small in stature, her 
 opaline eyes flashing with the emotions of love and 
 virgin affection, were riveted upon the scene of our 
 combat. What harrowed feelings must have agi- 
 tated her grief-stricken mind as she witnessed the 
 terrible defeat of her adored lover ! It is in evidence, 
 as given by her companion later on, that as she saw 
 him fall, with convulsively clenched hands she tore 
 her hair, her eyes unnaturally dilated, her whole 
 form trembled, and without uttering a word flew 
 like one demented from the scene. 
 
 Meanwhile we captured the citadel. In the ranks 
 of the Jews confusion and consternation had joined 
 bloody hands. We quickly overtook the dismayed 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 173 
 
 garrison, and death stalked riot among the doomed 
 citizens. The carnage which now ensued was awful. 
 My men had captured six hundred archers and 
 rock-throwers ; they were given over to the sword. 
 Similar slaughter was everywhere enacted. Yet it 
 was strange and utterly inexplicable at the time what 
 became of the immense number of inhabitants whom 
 we knew had taken refuge here. They had disap- 
 peared as if by magic. Years afterwards were found 
 numerous subterranean passageways, cut through 
 the solid rocks, by which the fugitives escaped, 
 taking with them their wives, children, treasures, 
 valuable horses and camels. They escaped safely to 
 the Pyrenseic peninsula, on the extreme southwestern 
 boundary of Europe, to the countries called Portugal 
 and Spain. There they formed the accursed settle- 
 ments which in centuries to come were to give me 
 again such endless troubles and labors. 
 
 Towards evening Mahomet himself entered with 
 great pomp and martial music the captured city, and 
 without loss of time occupied the deserted palace. 
 He, and in fact all of us, were nearly famished, not 
 having partaken of any food for the last twelve 
 hours. It was well for us that the siege was ended. 
 A few dusky Ethiopians were found in the kitchen, 
 and they were commanded at once to prepare a 
 plentiful meal. It took not much persuasion to 
 make the trembling wretches act as bidden, and 
 in a very short time the table was spread. Among 
 the not over-plenty viands, a well-browned and 
 steaming shoulder of a lamb was the most inviting 
 dish. All this had been accomplished and super- 
 vised by the direction and under management of a 
 deeply veiled Arabian woman. 
 
 As the company sat down to eat she stood screened 
 in an alcove of the dining hall. Baschar, the first 
 body-officer of our chief, had, as was required of 
 
174 BEN BEOR. 
 
 him by ceremony, cut a small morsel of the meat, 
 chewed and swallowed it, and handed another to 
 Mahomet, who brought it eagerly between his teeth. 
 Suddenly through the main portal rushed Queen 
 Safiya, with all the gestures of terror and dismay, 
 and grasping the arm of the Prophet shrieked out : 
 " For the love of the Lord do not swallow it, for it 
 is death ; yon stands the poisoner ! " and her hand 
 pointed to the woman in the hidden recess. 
 
 Quickly spitting out the meat, he declared to have 
 heard the same warning miraculously issue from the 
 very morsel which he lately held between his lips. 
 We all were startled and terrified to behold Baschar 
 drop to the ground in great convulsions, foaming at 
 the mouth, while blood issued like a fountain from 
 his nostrils, ears and eyes. He died in great agony. 
 The woman in hiding was now dragged forth. As 
 she stood in front of us all, she violently drew aside 
 her veil and cried out, " I am Zainab, the avenger of 
 my people and family! I thought if thou wert 
 indeed a Messiah thou wouldst discover thy danger; 
 if but a chieftain, thou wouldst fall and we should 
 be delivered from a tyrant ! " 
 
 Every one stood awed and silent. Mahomet had 
 risen, clasping with both hands his chest, where the 
 most excruciating pains racked him. By this time 
 the effects of the poison had entered his system, 
 and it troubled him at certain periods throughout 
 the rest of his life. But the most dumbfounded of 
 all present was I, beholding the face of the girl. It 
 seemed like a vision. Are these features and is this 
 form, in one or the other transformation, to haunt 
 me throughout my whole blasted career ? That was 
 Merris Merris, my first, my only love, risen from 
 the dark past, and as it seemed from her never- 
 closing tomb. From these racking imaginations I 
 was startled by the rushing forth of one of our 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 175 
 
 officers, the brother of the dead Baschar. Like a 
 tiger he sprang upon the woman, and before any one 
 could speak or prevent his deed he stabbed her 
 through the heart. She sank lifeless at his feet. 
 Mahomet was very angry and indignant, for he 
 admired courage and heroism, especially in so fair a 
 creature, though his mortal enemy. Yet the fatal 
 blow was given, and nothing remained for us to do 
 but to make cautious and careful preparations for 
 the night and our future safety. 
 
 Safiya had accomplished her wicked purpose. Of 
 very great and fascinating beauty, having saved 
 the life of the Prophet, it is no wonder that she 
 found favor in his eyes. She was converted with 
 indecent haste to the faith of Islam and married to 
 Mahomet before we even left Khai'bar. She became 
 one of the most favored of his wives, being no doubt 
 congenial in her wiles and graces to his similar dis- 
 position. She survived him in widowhood forty 
 years after his long and eventful life. 
 
 Soon afterwards, under some plausible pretense, 
 I left the army and the East, to the great regret 
 of my Prophet- Chief and his followers. Loaded with 
 honors and marks of distinction and rewarded by 
 great treasures, I crossed the Hellespont and returned 
 to my wanderings in the Transalpine lands, where 
 my agents long since, as they informed me by mes- 
 sengers, clamored for my return. 
 
 PHANTASMAGOKIA XI. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE KHAZARS. 
 
 It was now the middle of the tenth century. 
 Brutal ignorance and beastly drunkenness should by 
 this time have done their debasing work of riveting 
 
176 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the chains of serfdom so tightly around the necks of 
 the masses, that tyranny and priestcraft might deem 
 themselves absolutely secure. Vain calculation, 
 that sees in humanity only the baser passions, and 
 ignores in this terrible imaginations the better and 
 higher impulses implanted by an Omnipotent power 
 in the hearts of even the meanest of the race. Such 
 was the lesson of disappointment which I once more 
 experienced in my attempted work of destruction 
 against Freedom, Truth and Tolerance. 
 
 While the elements and agencies of cruel persecu- 
 tion were making greatest headway among the 
 governments of the Western continent, and while 
 the natives had universally attached themselves to 
 Christianity, amidst the signs of approaching storms 
 there came a report from one of the Eastern realms 
 which overthrew all preconceived schemes which I, 
 Ben Beor, had formulated. 
 
 With the utmost cunning I had, immediately on 
 my return from Arabia, incited against the irrepres- 
 sible and ever-increasing Jewish population, whose 
 flourishing congregations now sprang up everywhere, 
 the jealousy and envy of their neighbors, especially 
 the tradesmen and farmers. It w as easy to make these, 
 who owed to the Semitic merchants money and chat- 
 tels, look upon the Hebrews as usurers and defraud- 
 ers. Still more facile was the task of proving to the 
 bigoted, priest-ridden rabble that the Jews were the 
 foes of their church, the veritable descendants of 
 the "Christ-killers." Reveling in anticipation of 
 the early success of my plots against the abhorred 
 followers of Mosaism, some of their tribe returning 
 from a trading expedition near the far-off Ural 
 mountains, brought from there the stunning news 
 that they had discovered a colony of Finland Kos- 
 sacs, the wild inhabitants of the steppes near the 
 river Volga. This whole clan, some hundred years 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 177 
 
 ago, turned from heathenism to the covenant of 
 Abraham. They had in course of time converted 
 large numbers of adjacent tribes, forming a great and 
 powerful government, a kingdom of Jews, under the 
 benignant and liberal rule of a sovereign beloved 
 and adored by all his subjects and feared and 
 respected by the neighboring princes. Their king, 
 Joseph, as was his name, had adopted a policy of 
 sheltering and protecting refugees from persecution, 
 irrespective of creed or country, and in so doing 
 exercised the most tolerant liberality towards all, 
 no matter of what religion or belief, who came to 
 dwell in his flourishing dominions, the realm of the 
 Khazars. 
 
 The returned travellers stated further that while 
 passing through a province called Bulgaria, they 
 were assailed by the inhabitants and a number of 
 the company captured and imprisoned, the rest of 
 the caravan escaping with great danger and peril to 
 life and goods. On reaching the Hebrew capital, 
 called the " White City," which was magnificently 
 situated on the borders of the river Volga, they, 
 under the leadership of their revered Rabbi, Jacob 
 ben Eleasar, of Nemez, were conducted to the golden 
 tent and into the presence of the "Chagan," the 
 royal "Joseph the Ruler/' Rabbi Jacob was the 
 bearer of a highly important parchment scroll, 
 intrusted to him by his friend and colleague, the 
 celebrated Spanish ambassador, statesman and stud- 
 ent, Rabbi Chasdai Ibn Shaprut,for delivery to King 
 Joseph. This document, after many vicissitudes 
 and trials, reached at last its destination. It is 
 of great historical value, showing the ever-alive 
 and interwoven interests which all these stiff-necked 
 Israelites feel for one another. The contents of this 
 parchment, from a copy in the possession of the 
 travellers, and which now is before me, are therefore 
 
178 BEN BEOR. 
 
 reproduced here. It is written in beautiful Hebrew 
 prose, translated by me as follows : 
 
 "Having learned from reliable reports of the exist- 
 ence of your royal dynasty and government, I have at 
 endless pains endeavored to obtain a thorough knowledge 
 of its truth and extent. It is not from idle curiosity 
 and ambition that I have made these efforts, but from the 
 burning desire to know whether there is a spot on earth 
 where our people are free from tyrants. Were I sure 
 that such is a reality I would disregard my high posi- 
 tion at the throne of my exalted sovereign, and leave wife 
 and children, wandering over valleys and mountains, by 
 land or water, till I could throw myself prostrate before 
 the throne of a ruler in Israel, rejoicing at his might 
 and admiring his greatness. 
 
 "Deign to tell me in response, when these lines reach 
 thy sovereign hands, from which of the lost ten tribes 
 your renowned 'Khazars ' have their origin. Describe to 
 me their present political and warlike attitude, especially 
 also whether your armies fight on the holy Sabbath, and 
 whether you -use in your intercourse the sacred language 
 of our ancestors. JVo less let me know if there is pre- 
 served among you a tradition concerning the coming of 
 our Messiah. For the cup of suffering of our people is 
 overflowing, and we must doMy bear the taunts of the 
 Gentiles. Every nation has its own autonomy ; only 
 we are like fugitives and vagabonds all over this globe. 
 But should it now prove true, as may be the will of the 
 Lord, that there exists an independent ruler in thy high 
 person, and a sovereign government among thy people, 
 the Hebrew nation, then may all Israel once more raise 
 its bowed head and need no longer stand humiliated and 
 dumb before its adversaries." 
 
 King Joseph was rejoiced on receiving the mes- 
 sage, and caused his chief scribe to answer the same 
 in full and in the Hebrew language. It being also 
 a document of intrinsic historical value, an excerpt 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 179 
 
 thereof, which is made from a copy clandestinely 
 obtained by me, is appended hereto. It says : 
 
 " I, the Chagan, ruler of the kingdom of the Khazars, 
 have received with great joy the autograph message of my 
 Spanish brother, the renowned Rabbi Chasdai. Thou 
 art mistaken to believe that my people were primevally of 
 Jewish origin. Our great ancestor may his memory 
 be blessed ! the immortal Bulan, a great Khan of the 
 Finland Kossacs, conceived an unconquerable disgust 
 against the barbarous heathenism of his race, and with 
 the help and inspiration of the great Jehovah, after 
 many trials and temptations, preferred to accept for 
 himself and nation the religion of Moses and the 
 Prophets. In this a learned Rabbi by name of 
 Isaac Sangan had greatly assisted, and with his piety 
 and honorable conduct prevailed. I am the eleventh of 
 a glorious line of kings. My dominion reaches from 
 the Ural to the Kaspi Sea, and many other provinces 
 are subject to my sceptre. The entire country is suc- 
 cessfully worked by the husbandmen and herders, blessed 
 with commerce and trade. Concerning the Messianic 
 hope, which I share with thee and our whole people, we 
 hei*e in my realm know nothing definite. Our eyes are 
 directed towards the holy temple to be rebuilt in Jei*u- 
 salem, and the renowned schools of Babylonia. May 
 it please the God of our fathers soon to send us his 
 Redeemer. 
 
 "Thou speakest of thy great desire to see me face to 
 face. I reciprocate this as an ardent wish of my soul. 
 Then shouldst thou be to me like unto a father, and I 
 would be thy son, who willingly might share with thee the 
 care and management of this government." 
 
 This answer, chirographed on finest vellum, and 
 enclosed in a silver capsule of masterly workman- 
 ship, was handed for return to Rabbi Jacob. That 
 pious man failed not to relate to King Joseph the 
 outrages which the caravan had received and the 
 
180 BEN BEOR. 
 
 imprisonment of companions still held in Bulgaria. 
 The king raged when he learned of this cruel 
 perfidy. He forthwith sent swift messengers to the 
 Bulgarians, demanding the immediate release of the 
 Jewish prisoners, and an official treaty-stipulation 
 for the safety and fair treatment of all his co- 
 religionists dwelling there or passing through as 
 travellers; threatening in case of refusal to kill 
 every non-Israelite under his rule, and that he would 
 send his army into a land which maltreated inof- 
 fensive persons. The aggressive barbarians, nomi- 
 nally Christians, knowing the power and bravery of 
 the mighty neighbor, well aware that his threats 
 were not empty words, quickly complied with the 
 peremptory demand ; sent back the prisoners loaded 
 with presents, and a written treaty stipulating peace 
 and friendship forever with the descendants of Abra- 
 ham, Isaac and Jacob. 
 
 I was dumbfounded on learning this news and its 
 consequential extent. Here I had deemed myself 
 secure in the final result of a scheme, fostered for 
 centuries, to extirpate the last trace of that tenacious 
 monotheism and its laws for the disenthralment of 
 the nations, when this report woke me rudely from 
 my sanguine expectations. 1 resolved that such a 
 spectre must be destroyed, no matter at what sacri- 
 fice. My numerous agents all over the lands, the 
 dealers in the ardent beverage, the fanatical priest- 
 hood, and the lynx-eyed spies of the governments, 
 were soon informed of the impending danger; of 
 the absolute necessity of my immediate departure 
 for the scene of destructive action, and of the un- 
 conditional policy to be pursued by all of them 
 during my unavoidable absence, for holding in check 
 our wary opponents. 
 
 Does it not seem strange that a handful of beings, 
 not more than one per cent, in the aggregate, should 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 181 
 
 give us, the rest, such anxiety, care and trouble? Yet 
 so it has been since their departure from Egypt, and 
 I fear me so it will be to the end of time. 
 
 And now after careful and deliberate prepara- 
 tions I departed without further delay to the East. 
 The highest prelate of the church had, on my 
 representations and request, readily appointed me as 
 a nuncio. The Emperor of Germany commissioned 
 me as a special envoy to the several principalities 
 lying at the centre of my mission. 
 
 Thus equipped, I reached after many difficulties 
 and hardships the barbarian court of Sviatoslaf. 
 This prince had lately become of age and received 
 from his mother Olga the throne and realm as " Tsar " 
 over the southern part of Eussia, adjacent to Bul- 
 garia, and near the land of the Khazars. They 
 resided at the keep of Novgorod, a rude castle in the 
 midst of a number of villages of clay-built huts. 
 Here a strange state of affairs prevailed. The 
 "Tsarina," widow of the late powerful ruler, Igov, had 
 been regent for several years, until her son reached 
 his majority. This Scandinavian woman had held 
 sway over her people with a powerful hand. By 
 the strength and adroitness of her character, as 
 well as the vindictiveness of her disposition, she 
 soon became the terror of her many enemies and the 
 feared ruler of her dominions. But she was glad 
 when the time arrived that she could lay down the 
 lance and buckler, which she had donned during 
 the regency, and confide the care of her ever-turbulent 
 state to the firmer hands of her son, the legitimate 
 successor to the throne. She had personally watched 
 over his physical and mental training, and he proved 
 to be the very image of his dead father. Proud as 
 only a mother can be of a son, her idol and ideal, 
 she had him crowned and laid the sceptre confidingly 
 into his hands. She longed and sighed for peaceful 
 
182 BEN BEOR. 
 
 days. I found her yet in the prime of womanhood, 
 handsome and commanding, the admiration of her 
 male subjects and worshipped by the females. Under- 
 lying a harsh and stern aspect there was a fine 
 sympathetic strain of loveliness and goodness, that 
 made it easy for me to find favor in her eyes and 
 influence especially her religious feeling. Tired as 
 she was long ago with the coarse, vulgar Slav- 
 heathenism, she soon became the first Northern 
 woman who joined as a convert the Christian religion. 
 For this purpose I accompanied her on a special 
 tour to the imperial capital, the city of Tsar gar d, 
 residence of the Tsar of the Greeks, where she was 
 baptized by the Primate of the East, the Emperor 
 Porphyrogenitus, himself acting as godfather, be- 
 stowing upon her the illustrious name of Helen. 
 On our return home this change of faith was much 
 ridiculed and laughed at by the boorish clans and 
 her unimpressible son. Several violent scenes took 
 place at the palace when she endeavored to persuade 
 Sviatoslaf to follow her example and become a 
 Christian. The young and self-willed monarch was 
 entirely under the influence of a magician and 
 jester, Odin, whose coarse and vulgar wit and 
 arrogant pretensions were combined with the most 
 subtle finesse, native sense of human nature, and 
 an instinctive foresight and penetration into causes 
 and effects concerning the state-affairs of his mighty 
 master. 
 
 One day Odin, pretending to catch flies from the 
 wall and executing funny capers during this foolish 
 pastime, which set us all laughing, suddenly wheeled 
 round, and with a most ludicrous squint started 
 towards the company seated at the table. When 
 behind the Tsar he snatched the golden crown from 
 the imperial head and placed his bell-cap in its place. 
 " There ! " he cried, " thou, master, wilt make a better 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 183 
 
 fool than thy servant, and I will do better as a ruler. 
 I will at least not let the first, best strolling foreigner 
 tweedle me into his pockets and make sport behind 
 my back." I felt my cheeks flush at these pointed 
 shafts hurled at me, but the Tsar good-naturedly 
 turned the sally adroitly off, and throwing the tin- 
 seled cap at the fool's feet, declared that he had 
 heard of a story before wherein a " donkey had 
 worn a crown." "Take it back, then," stuttered 
 the bright jester, placing quickly the jeweled head- 
 gear respectfully on his master's head, but the 
 back-side in front, giving an appearance w r hich 
 made even the most discreet persons shout with 
 laughter, he moving his hands and fingers dexter- 
 ously in such a manner as to actually throw the 
 shadow of an ass conspicuously upon the wall. 
 "Now let the stranger bring his Madonna and his 
 Saviour," he continued, "and when they sprinkle 
 thee with their holy-water, as they cajoled our 
 empress-mother, it will turn thy ancestral faith, 
 and we all will be changed into bald-headed 
 monks." 
 
 With a lightning-like motion Odin caught the 
 baretta from my skull, exposing to view my well- 
 tonsured crown, which caused the most hilarious 
 uproar, in which even the Tsar joined. Quiet, 
 however, was restored very soon upon the announce- 
 ment of the arrival of three eminent ambassadors 
 from neighboring Bulgaria, who requested an imme- 
 diate audience. Queen Olga was sent for to be 
 present at the interview, to hear what messages these 
 unexpected guests should bring. 
 
 " We come," said their leader, a stalwart, fine and 
 noble-looking man, "from the far-off city of Kief, 
 to bring from our sovereign greeting and friendship 
 to thee, all-powerful ruler of the dominions of the 
 Russ. We are commissioned, if it so shall find 
 
184 BEN BEOR. 
 
 pleasure in thine eyes, to negotiate a treaty against 
 our mutual enemy, the Khazars, whose insolent 
 powers are a standing menace to our borders, and 
 who have on several occasions offered insult and 
 outrage, in spirit of haughty overbearing, to all their 
 neighbors, but especially against us, the people of 
 Bulgaria. They are Jews, foes to God and men, 
 and should therefore be exterminated from the face 
 of the earth. Hence, if it so be thy will, let us unite 
 our armies, make war on these malefactors, and 
 divide their cities, lands and spoils between us. In 
 this we will gladly acknowledge thee our superior 
 and become faithful vassals to thy power. We await 
 thy gracious and favorable answer." 
 
 They now were permitted to retire. In the con- 
 sultation which ensued, by command of the Tsar, 
 my views on the subject were asked first and fore- 
 most. By sophistical, yet no less lucid and powerful 
 terms, I, as may be expected, urged the advisability, 
 nay, the necessity, of complying with the request. I 
 explained that it was contrary to the best interests 
 of his majesty's realm, especially needing and seek- 
 ing an outlet into the Caspi, to permit so powerful a 
 rival to exist and most likely to extend its already 
 growing dominions; morever, that a singular and 
 fantastic religion which they professed, and which 
 they continually and successfully propagated among 
 the ignorant and unwary hordes of the mountains, 
 seducing them from ancient faiths and creeds, should 
 no longer be permitted to rule supreme. 
 
 Here the Queen broke fiercely and passionately 
 in : " They have crucified the Saviour of the world ! 
 Gentile and Christian should combine to fulfil *the 
 curse which is forever on their heads until the last 
 of the race is killed." 
 
 His majesty seemed powerfully aifected by the in- 
 tensity of feeling and dramatic pathos with which 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 185 
 
 these words issued from the lips of a woman and 
 mother. He however turned abruptly to the jester, 
 inquiring, " What has my fool to say concerning all 
 this?" 
 
 " We are bears," he growled, "and the monkeys 
 have come to help them catch the wily fox, these 
 Jews. Why should we disturb our peace, quiet and 
 comfort, to fight a distant people because they sing a 
 different tune from ours when they are praying? I 
 have learned that they raise many and fine swine, 
 but never eat any hog's meat. Does not this make 
 it plenty and cheap in the market ? They punish 
 their own flesh to enter into the covenant of their 
 religion. W T ell, is not this better than if they pun- 
 ished mine? They are said to be a smart lot; we 
 cannot make peace with them in the manner in 
 which thou, my worshipped lady, fooled the stupid 
 louts of Korosthenes, thy enemies. We all remem- 
 ber that thou didst offer them terms on payment 
 of three pigeons and three sparrows for each house. 
 Having received them, there was tied lighted tow to 
 the tails of the birds, and then they were set free to 
 fly straight back to their homes. Houses and barns 
 with thatched roofs instantly took fire. Had I 
 aught to say I would send these messengers back to 
 their master, and let my troops directly follow on 
 their heels, to teach those boors a lesson which they 
 would not soon forget, for attempting to ensnare us 
 into their cunning wiles. Look ye," and here he 
 danced round and round with strange gesticulations 
 and mystic movements, a sign that the pretended 
 spirit of prophecy was coming upon him. Then he 
 leaped upon the dais before the Tsar, and was soon 
 fearful to behold. He screamed out his words, 
 foaming at the mouth. "Have you heard of the 
 Patzmacks, the savages, the most ferocious of all 
 barbarians, who are worse than wild beasts ? They 
 
186 BEN BEOR. 
 
 dwell in the land beyond the realm of the Khazars, 
 where they are held in check by Jewish swords. 
 Destroy this barrier and the cannibals will come 
 and eat our wives and children. Lo, I see them 
 with blood-dripping mouths and frenzied eyes! 
 there they come, come, come !" His voice failed him, 
 his strength was exhausted, and he fell senseless to 
 the ground. 
 
 The Tsar and his mother left the place. This 
 was the signal for the end of the council. A few 
 mornings after, however, the ambassadors departed 
 with rich presents for themselves and their king, 
 escorted by a guard of honor and the written stipula- 
 tions for a treaty securely stored in their kaftans. 
 The Tsarina had prevailed. Everything now be- 
 came bustle and noise with military preparations. 
 Insidiously my work went on. Very soon, in every 
 tent, a drink made its appearance, which the people 
 called " Votki." Sparingly at first, just enough to 
 rouse the fighting spirit of these hordes to the highest 
 pitch, but plenty was provided for the time when 
 battle and carnage were to rage, to make these already 
 wild people nearly on a par with the man-eating Patz- 
 macks. Henceforth "Votki" was to become the 
 bane and curse of the whole Russian Empire, as it 
 had already proved among the Western nations. 
 Shortly after \ve were on the march. Queen Olga 
 at home resumed her office as regent during the 
 absence of her son. Odin was found to be hope- 
 lessly insane. I joined the commander as one of his 
 leading camp-companions. Each clan was arrayed in 
 its own fantastic dress and armor, under leadership 
 of a "Hetman" chosen by his own tribe. All, 
 however, were splendid and daring troopers, seated 
 upon small but sturdy chargers, often executing in 
 the spirit of playful bravado, astonishing feats of 
 arms and horsemanship. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 187 
 
 In due course of time, after continued travel 
 attended by numerous difficulties, we joined our wait- 
 ing allies. These consisted mostly of foot-soldiers, 
 provided with all kinds of arms swords, battle- 
 axes, bows with poisoned arrows, and curiously con- 
 structed sling-shots which they used with great dex- 
 terity and effect. One notable feature of their army 
 consisted of a large body of exceptionally tall and 
 robust-looking Amazons, who proved themselves 
 even fiercer and braver fighters in battle than the men. 
 
 After a short rest and fraternization with the new 
 comrades, on went the invading host under chief 
 command of Sviatoslaf, tirelessly pushing forward 
 towards the land of the unsuspecting and unwarned 
 Jews. Passing a few weeks in tramping through the 
 rough and unbroken country, we reached at last the 
 outskirts of the kingdom of the Khazars. Here a 
 short halt was made; then the whole mass threw 
 itself with irresistible impetuosity upon the land. 
 In our wake was blood and death. Slain men, 
 women and children strewed our path. Nothing 
 living was spared. "Sheol" let loose on earth 
 could not present a more appalling sight than the 
 horrible scenes which we left behind our troops. On 
 the first news reaching King Joseph, he made ready 
 for a brave resistance and defense of homes and 
 country. Unfortunately for him, his military 
 strength consisted mostly of hireling Moslems, 
 strong and dauntless generally, but with no heart 
 in the impending struggle. No sooner became they 
 aware of the terrible battles awaiting them, than 
 they were panic-stricken and fled in dismay, a dis- 
 banded rabble of cowed Arabians. So the poor king 
 saw himself helpless and abandoned and at the utter 
 mercy of the approaching destroyers. Yet, with the 
 courage of a hero, he effected the safety of large 
 numbers of his hapless subjects, by directing and 
 
188 BEN BEOR. 
 
 speeding their precipitous flight, great numbers 
 reaching the Balkan mountains, and from there 
 passing over to different countries in all directions. 
 Others made for the seashore, luckily finding several 
 ships, and reaching friendly ports of the Mediterra- 
 nean. Within a week we came to the suburbs of the 
 " White City." Exultingly we stormed the doomed 
 capital, feasting in jubilant expectation on the havoc 
 to be made upon our dismayed prey. As we ap- 
 proached, to our surprise, suddenly little flickers of 
 flame issued here and there from the several quarters 
 of the town. Then a mass of fire enveloped the 
 centre, where the royal golden tent was situated, 
 and presently the most awful conflagration ensued, 
 wherein the irrepressible columns of towering blazes 
 shot heavenwards, lighting up the sky for miles, and 
 throwing the scorching, blinding heat, cinders and 
 ashes, directly into our faces. I, myself, with a few 
 other braves, had pressed forward to the king's 
 abode, and reached there just in time to see the fire 
 make its first headway upwards. From inside, 
 through all the uproar and turmoil, we heard dis- 
 tinctly the voices of the inmates in prayerful song. 
 One of these, a tremulous strong basso, was heard 
 above all the rest. The words, repeated over and 
 over, came fainter and fainter as if from the dying, 
 yet to the last pronounced with easily understood 
 intonations : 
 
 " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is but One 
 Jehovah alone is God !" 
 
 Disappointed and chagrined, we left for a place 
 of shelter and safety. 
 
 Such was the fall of the much-vaunted Hebrew 
 dominion and sovereignty, and thus miserably ended 
 "the Last of the Khazars." 
 
 The prophecy and curse of the magician Odin, 
 however, soon became a fearful truth. While the cruel 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 189 
 
 destruction of a cultured and civilized nation went 
 on unsparingly, and carnage and fire raged rampant 
 over a lately flourishing and beautiful land, the 
 countless happy homes of the husbandmen and shep- 
 herds ; while the brawling and besotted conquerors 
 completed their conquest amidst ravage and ruin ; 
 the check that hitherto held the wild men of the 
 woods, the Patzmacks, cowering in their earth-holes, 
 was broken. The half-naked wretches issued forth 
 in bands of ten and twenty, dispersing themselves 
 over the country, festering with the corpses of the 
 slain ; satiating their wolfish greed by devouring 
 the carrion. It was the most sickening and revolt- 
 ing sight imaginable, as they were tearing with their 
 bird-like claw -nails pieces of the, already decomposed 
 human bodies, munching over them with the ferocity 
 of hyenas. Soon, however, they grew bolder, attack- 
 ing and killing stragglers of our people. They were 
 just cunning and wily enough to place themselves 
 successfully outside of the reach of chastisement, 
 being familiar with every nook and corner of the 
 districts, whither they hurriedly fled on the approach 
 of the least danger. 
 
 Then they combined in larger numbers for the 
 horrible work under a most audacious leader, and 
 not a day passed now that in one or the other camp, 
 signal evidences of their fatal presence were not 
 visible. They showed themselves utterly callous 
 and indifferent to death, and at no time could any 
 be taken prisoners; for when escape and flight 
 became impossible, with lightning-like rapidity they 
 thrust sharp flint assigais into their breasts, after 
 which they almost immediately expired. Incessantly 
 the abhorrent outrages went on, until at last the 
 aborigines appeared at the very doors of the city of 
 Kief. No such terror and dread ever before shook 
 soldiers and people. The country which heretofore had 
 
190 BEN BEOR. 
 
 resounded with pious prayers and melodious psalms, 
 was now given over to every conceivable misery, 
 devastation and ruin which the human mind is 
 capable of imagining. Jew, Gentile and Christian 
 were alike and equally punished by this overwhelm- 
 ing disaster, the beastly visitation from the cannibal 
 Patzmacks. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XII, 
 
 PETEK THE HEKMIT. 
 
 It was now the year 1078. I had attained my 
 purpose in destroying the flourishing realm of the 
 Khazars; was tired out with the sickening details, 
 and disgusted with the coarse brutal people who had 
 acted as my confederates and allies. 
 
 At the earliest opportunity I made some conven- 
 ient and plausible excuse and took my departure 
 with my too willing servants, who had also grown 
 tired of their surroundings. We made our way to 
 the nearest port of the Black Sea, designing to return 
 to the Western lands by water. Thus we reached 
 Odessa, as yet a primitive settlement of fishermen 
 and sailors. This place was already known to be a 
 fine harbor, where a great many ships from every 
 clime landed to discharge their cargoes and exchange 
 them for such products as the many nationalities 
 dwelling along this section would offer for barter. 
 A magnificent bay is formed here by the meeting 
 of the large rivers Dniester and Dnieper. A fine 
 merchantman lay ready to sail for Genoa, the great 
 Italian port. I and mine boarded the ship in a few 
 hours after our arrival at this point. There were 
 no other passengers, and the officers and sailors 
 being continually engaged with the difficult naviga- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 191 
 
 tion among the shoals and reefs of the hazardous 
 route, we were left to ourselves while the journey 
 lasted. Hardly ever out of sight of land, the coun- 
 tries which were passed formed the most beau- 
 tiful panoramas of semi-tropical scenery. In the 
 enjoyment of observing these, and the balmy 
 atmosphere, which seldom varied, the time quickly 
 passed, and before we expected it, the grand and 
 picturesque harbor ^of our destination came into 
 view. It so happened that on our arrival at 
 Genoa another ship was about to depart for Mar- 
 seilles, in France. My urgent solicitations per- 
 suaded the captain to delay long enough for us 
 to go up to the city in order to purchase such 
 supplies and comforts as we deemed necessary for 
 the continuation of the journey. By evening we 
 had already left the Adriatic and entered upon the 
 boisterous Mediterranean sea. The lurching and 
 heaving vessel was crowded with all kinds and classes 
 of passengers. Among these were a large number of 
 priests. Judging by their garbs they belonged to 
 the Roman hierarchy. There were a number of com- 
 mon "padres," several bishops and one cardinal. It 
 was amusing to watch some of these ogle the young 
 women among the passengers, staring boldly at 
 the shy creatures, most of whom were exceedingly 
 pretty and attractive in their picturesque native 
 costumes. They, pretending not to notice the rude 
 conduct of the reverend fathers, continually cast 
 stealthy side-glances at the audacious admirers. 
 
 Among this mixed crew there was a cowled monk, 
 in coarse woolen garb and sandals to his feet, who 
 attracted my special attention. He walked inces- 
 santly, fore and aft, backward and forward, continu- 
 ally muttering to himself. Of diminutive size and 
 mean appearance, his large, piercing eyes were of 
 wonderful fire and brilliancy, and his peculiarly 
 
192 BEN BEOR. 
 
 strange features spoke of strength of will and indom- 
 itable character. One would have recognized him 
 among thousands a "leader of men." On the second 
 morning out he passed me in his never-ceasing 
 promenade, and stopping for ari instant, he looked 
 me over with his dark and penetrating glances, as if 
 to peer into the very depths of my heart. I made 
 free to offer him from a small flagon which I always 
 carried, a sip of sherbet, the use v of which had become 
 general, especially among the clergy. I had bought 
 a supply of the exhilarating beverage, recommended 
 by a Genoa merchant as a certain antidote against 
 sea-sickness, and had added to its ingredients a 
 good dose of my own intoxicant. The Hermit, for 
 such he proved, soon became affable and talkative. 
 The following is the story of his strange life, which 
 he told me during the days of our now placid voyage 
 to Marseilles: 
 
 " My name is Peter. I was born at Amiens, about 
 the middle of this century. My parents were of 
 high nobility, and, like many of their class, rich in 
 impoverished estates, but poor in the required wealth 
 necessary to uphold their station. It cost them the 
 utmost efforts and sacrifices to place me comfortably 
 at Paris for obtaining an education worthy the son 
 of a gentleman. Through my own efforts obtaining 
 a livelihood and making existence possible with 
 teaching, I augmented my training by a trip to Italy, 
 from whence I returned a short while after to my 
 native country fully prepared to join the army. 
 The French were then engaged in Flanders carrying 
 on war against the Dutch. All my inclinations and 
 tastes were those of a student, in utter dissonance 
 with the rough and boisterous life of the carousing 
 soldiery. Proving of small service in the ranks, my 
 desire to return home was not much opposed by the 
 commander. I soon found myself discharged, and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 193 
 
 back in the castle of my sires, which was falling to 
 ruins. Near by us, in our immediate neighborhood, 
 lived a wealthy country squire. He had an only 
 daughter. She was a gaunt and sinister-looking crea- 
 ture. I was prevailed upon by my parents, and espe- 
 cially my mother, whom I passionately loved, to enter 
 the ranks of the wooers of that no longer youthful 
 maiden. A large number of such sordid aspirants 
 for her gold-filled hands constantly carne and went. 
 At last I was the successful candidate, and we were 
 married amidst the grand pomp and parade which 
 my father-in-law so dearly cherished. The marriage, 
 as such speculative compacts generally turn out, 
 proved anything but happy. In due time we were 
 blessed with two children, both of whom, after giving 
 us great anxieties and troubles, died in infancy. 
 This sad loss increased the morose and uncompanion- 
 able character of my wife ; she made my life henceforth 
 unendurable by humiliations and chagrin, changing 
 my natural disposition of hopefulness and good- 
 humor till it became sinister and callous. One day 
 when her scolding and fretting became unbearable 
 I fled into the wilderness, and thenceforth lived in 
 a solitary cave far away from the habitations of men. 
 I provided as best I could the necessaries of life, 
 and a few books which I had brought with me, 
 combined with daily excursions and rambles, helped 
 to pass away the weary time. Soon my gray hair 
 and beard grew to abnormal length, and this with 
 my wild aspect and faded and tattered garments 
 must have given me such a frightful appearance, 
 that even my own mother would have failed to 
 recognize her son. The few people who casually 
 met me when I strayed from my abode fled at the 
 strange sight, and I was soon known throughout the 
 surrounding country as l Peter the Hermit/ So 
 time passed. One day, late towards evening, a party 
 
194 BEN BEOR. 
 
 of travellers stopped at the entrance of my cave. 
 They were pilgrims returning from a visit to the 
 Holy Land, who had lost their way, roaming help- 
 lessly about since morning, and were now entirely 
 exhausted. They could not, if they would, proceed 
 any further. In spite of my reluctance I had to 
 become 'my host' to them, furnish what food 
 there was on hand, and make them as comfortable 
 as my scant means would allow. Soon they felt re- 
 freshed, were sitting upon the rude logs of fallen trees 
 plentifully lying near us on the leaf-strewn ground. 
 The evening was beautiful. A big, bright, silvery 
 moon shed her light through the open spaces, making 
 the scene as clear as day. Myriads of stars twinkled 
 merrily through the boughs. The strangers told 
 me of their journey, and depicted the sufferings, trials 
 and inhuman hardships which they and every visitor 
 to Jerusalem had to undergo at the hands of the merci- 
 less Mussulman. Their story seemed almost beyond 
 credence. The whole fiery enthusiasm of my sensi- 
 tive nature awoke, and I determined then and there 
 to satisfy myself upon the far-away spots if such atro- 
 cities were offered to the Christians in search of the 
 places where our Messiah had lived and suffered, and 
 these inhumanities perpetrated, too, by the hands of 
 the infidel Arabians. Next morning I departed with 
 my guests, conveying them to my former home. No 
 persuasion, however, could induce them to tarry, and 
 they left me without entering the castle. Here I found 
 everything changed. My parents and wife hud died 
 some time ago. The estates were in the hands of a 
 keeper, one of my old servants. He barely would 
 believe me when I told him who I was, since the 
 report had gotten abroad that the heir had gone to 
 some foreign land. It did not take long to satisfy 
 him of my identity, after which he shed copious 
 tears for joy of having found his old master. With 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 195 
 
 his own hands he trimmed my long beard and hair, 
 prepared a bath for thorough ablutions, and 
 brought from my former wardrobe such of my gowns 
 as I favored to wear. Dressing myself in these for 
 the time being, I now declared to him my resolution 
 to join, as soon as my worldly affairs were settled, 
 the holy monks in the abbey near by. My financial 
 matters were in splendid condition. The large funds 
 accrued from the inheritance of my late wife had 
 been well cared for by the courts, and I found no 
 difficulty with the magistrates in having the money 
 turned over to me, its rightful claimant. As soon 
 as these matters were brought to a successful com- 
 pletion, I applied to the superior of the cloister and 
 found ready admittance as a novice in the order. 
 After undergoing the prescribed ordeals and acquir- 
 ing the necessary knowledge, I was formally admitted 
 as a member of the Benedictines, taking the vows of 
 poverty, abstinence and sacerdotal devotion. Per- 
 mission was asked and granted me for a pilgrimage 
 to the Holy Land, and I started out soon on my 
 self-imposed mission, to learn by personal observation 
 the truth of the reports related to me by the travellers 
 who visited me when a hermit. From the time I 
 landed in Asia my experiences were terrible indeed. 
 Inhumanity, atrocity, and cruelty some barbarous 
 hands of the brutal and greedy Saracens visited upon 
 my poor, inoffensive person. The requests for food 
 of our small band of pious travellers were generally 
 answered with blows rained upon our heads and 
 backs. When approaching the springs or wells to 
 satisfy our burning thirst, we were driven away with 
 kicks, and the very children taunted us as ' cursed 
 dogs of Franks. 7 On many occasions we barely 
 escaped being murdered in broad daylight. The 
 vaunted hospitality of the East seemed entirely to 
 have died out, as fur as regarded the sojourners from 
 
196 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Christendom. The most extraordinary cunning and 
 double-faced ness was used by the heathens to lure 
 us from the right direction on our journey, not only 
 at our inquiries concerning the nearest and best 
 roads, but blandly offering their advice unasked and 
 unsolicited. How many unwary and unsuspecting 
 sojourners they may have drawn into ambush and 
 either killed or sold into slavery will never be known. 
 Open violence against our lives and liberty they 
 dared not attempt, as we were provided with a 
 special protective firman from the highest authorities 
 at Constantinople. This shielded us, however, in no 
 instance against the indignities and brutalities to 
 which we were continually exposed. Our backs and 
 bodies were bloody and raw from being scourged. 
 We looked emaciated and like skeletons from hunger 
 and thirst long before we reached Jerusalem. With 
 gnashing teeth and boiling blood I recorded and re- 
 peatedly reiterated a solemn vow to Heaven, that if life 
 and strength were spared me, never to rest until the 
 high-road to Calvary should be safe to pious wan- 
 derers ; never to rest until the Holy Land, now defiled 
 by the accursed Ishmaelites, should be in possession 
 of the great rulers of Christendom. Soon after my 
 arrival in the holy city I presented myself before the 
 venerable patriarch of Jerusalem, and laid before him 
 well-matured plans for the delivery of Palestine. 
 With fervent paternal blessing, he assured me of 
 his entire approval of my prospective mission, and 
 furnished me with autograph letters of highest 
 recommendation and endorsement to his Holiness 
 Pope Urban II., the most aifable, powerful and 
 enthusiastic Vicar of God who ever occupied the 
 august chair of St. Peter. I hurried back as fast 
 as circumstances would permit to Europe, and in 
 less than three months presented myself in Rome at 
 the Vatican. Here a very cordial and gracious 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 197 
 
 reception was accorded me, and I was permitted 
 before a conclave of the highest church dignitaries to 
 recite with the fervor and eloquence burning in my 
 heart and soul the shame and indignity which dis- 
 graced the Catholic world, and the foul persecutions 
 and dire cruelties practiced unmolested and una- 
 venged against devout members of the faith by 
 the haughty and merciless Turk. With the unani- 
 mous approval of the cardinals and bishops I was 
 commissioned by the holy father to proceed on my 
 sacred errand, to preach deliverance of the land of 
 the Lord throughout all the countries faithful to 
 the Cross. Some of the ecclesiastics on board the 
 ship had been witnesses of these proceedings and 
 were ordered to assist in my work. But they are an 
 indolent, worthless set, an unpromising material 
 with which to co-operate. Yet it is the best at 
 present available. As soon as we shall reach our 
 destination I will make France and all Europe ring 
 with the story of the sufferings of Christian pilgrims, 
 and bring every knight, lord and prince into the 
 warfare for the crucifix. From hut to palace, in 
 the highways and byways, will go forth the cry 
 to arms, and the emblem of the Saviour's army, the 
 cross on the shoulders, will be pinned on by millions 
 of the people, the high and the low, the rich and the 
 poor. Then the countless legions of the brave Cru- 
 saders will soon be on the road to conquer 'the 
 land of promise. 7 Now you know my story and 
 errand. May I beseech you to join my cause, with 
 your splendid head and strong arm? I need valiant 
 and true associates. Permit me to decorate your 
 garb, as the very first convert I have made, with 
 this cross, the insignia by which hereafter the con- 
 federates of the holy war will be known, and by 
 which they will recognize each other. Hereby I ap- 
 point you commander of the first legion which I may 
 
198 BEN BEOR. 
 
 gather to take the field for conquering Palestine. I 
 see the hand of Providence for the success of my 
 gigantic enterprise in having found, even before 
 landing, one in whose bravery, fidelity and zeal I 
 have almost at first sight an instinctive and absolute 
 trust." Here ended the story of Peter the Hermit. 
 
 He took from the capacious inside pocket of his 
 garb a bright red cross of woolen stuff and dexter- 
 ously fastened it on my coat. I did not resist, for 
 during his long recital I had conceived vast plans fit- 
 ting my own purposes. Their realization and im- 
 mense possibilities seemed to loom up as certainties 
 in coalition with such unexpected and unforeseen 
 agencies as the fanatic efforts of this inspired monk. 
 I made myself known to him as " Count William, 
 a travelling builder/' promised him every aid and 
 co-operation in my power, placing my means and 
 services at his entire disposal, and, with the usual 
 way of new converts, proved equally zealous for the 
 success of the newly espoused cause. We became 
 almost inseparable during the rest of our journey, 
 and conld daily be seen walking the deck together, 
 gesticulating and arguing in most lively and, no 
 doubt, often grotesque manner, to the great amuse- 
 ment of the other passengers. 
 
 Among the motley crowd of the ship's company I 
 had noticed nearly from the start a small group 
 of people, who kept themselves isolated from the 
 others, generally retiring to some remote corner. It 
 consisted of a young man not over forty-five years 
 of age, an older one, not quite three-score, and a 
 young and most beautiful maiden, seated, generally, 
 between the two. There was no mistake about it, 
 features and manners revealed them to be Jews. 
 Both men wore skull-caps ; the younger was other- 
 wise dressed in the s-pruce French fashion, had an 
 unusually bright and intelligent face, surrounded by 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 199 
 
 a wealth of dark, long carls. His eyes were exceed- 
 ingly brilliant, especially when (he mobile features 
 were at play while discoursing with the others. He 
 generally held a, medium-sized leather-covered vol- 
 ume between his fingers, at which, from time to 
 time, he glanced, as if for reference. The elder wore 
 a long kaftan of fine material, fastened by an em- 
 broidered sash. He was very tall and well formed. 
 His hair and long, flowing beard were plentifully 
 sprinkled with the silver of age. giving him a distin- 
 guished and venerable air. But the appearance of 
 both males was completely eclipsed by the radiant 
 beauty of the girl, who sat gracefully between them. 
 The complexion of her face was of that light, creamy 
 color, upon which the pink of carnation lay delicately 
 spread as if by the hand of a master-artist; the long, 
 black hair resembled in gloss and color that of the 
 older man ; brilliant eyes, overshadowed by finely- 
 pencilled brows; a nose daintily and exquisitely 
 moulded ; deep red, magnificently rounded lips cov- 
 ered a row of pearly teeth. Faultlessly attired in 
 rich ievantine silk garments, which fitted closely to 
 her upper body, she had, usually, an open scroll upon 
 her lap ; her tiny hands wielding a quill, which she 
 ever and anon dipped in the silver ink- vessel held 
 by the elder companion, while she wrote the dicta- 
 tions of the younger man. Nor was this mechanical 
 work only; for, as her shell-like, little ears caught 
 the sentences from the dictator, she often threw a 
 quick, intelligent and surprised look at him, and 
 then glanced, with eyes speaking admiration and 
 wonderment, at the elder, nodding her shapely head 
 in such a bewitching manner that no one could mis- 
 take the meaning, saying more distinctly than words: 
 " What do you think of this ? " Unlike all my for- 
 mer feminine subjects of admiration, there was some- 
 thing in tho spiritual make-up of this girl which 
 
200 BEN BEOR. 
 
 reminded me at first sight of the shadow-vision, 
 lurking ever in my memory the never-forgotten 
 Merris, princess of Egypt. With mystic, magnetic 
 power I felt drawn towards this lovely maiden, 
 raising in me a whirl of passion, longing and heart- 
 ache. And while pacing up and down, listening to 
 the tale of the Hermit, I caught myself frequently 
 wandering to where she sat. Peter must have 
 noticed this too, for on several occasions, when 
 gazing intently upon that group, he asked me, " What 
 is the matter ? do you feel sick? " or, " Do you hear 
 what I say? " Nor was I the only one of the pas- 
 sengers to whom these people became the absorbing 
 centre of attraction. Reading and writing were, in 
 those days, such strange, uncommon arts, and the 
 possession of a book so unusual a prize, that the 
 illiterate priests who were with us aboard, and who, 
 besides their litany and missals, knew little of any 
 other learning, viewed those Hebrew travellers with 
 looks of stupefied amazement, their lustful eyes 
 gloating from a distance upon the fresh, exquisitely 
 beautiful maiden who, unheard of in all their experi- 
 ence, wieLled the pen like an expert. I instinctively 
 recognized the cursed book as the younger man raised 
 it, from time to time, to his vision the maledicted 
 Pentateuch, with its laws for human Right, Freedom 
 and Fraternity. Nor could I help reflecting upon 
 the beastly ignorance permeating most classes of all 
 society everywhere everywhere, while these off- 
 springs of Mosaism had learning aye, even their 
 young daughters could read and write their damned 
 " holy language." They made it one of the highest 
 religious ambitions to multiply the copies of the 
 Bible, and the brightest and profoundest minds 
 were constantly engaged in elucidating its truth 
 and power by commentaries and exegesis. I had 
 not a doubt that these three wanderers were now 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 201 
 
 engaged in some such work, while their benighted 
 fellow-passengers passed the time in ribald song and 
 jest, throwing dice and playing with pasteboard 
 cards, or clandestinely ogling with the women. 
 
 From the time that my attention and interest had 
 been attracted by these three strangers, I tried to 
 find out who and what they were. Considering their 
 exclusiveness and reticence, keeping aloof from the 
 ship's company altogether, this was not an easy task. 
 Among my servants there was, however, a renegade 
 Jew, one of those devil-may-care, light-headed fel- 
 lows to whose impudence and forwardness nothing 
 in this line was too difficult to accomplish. So I 
 set this man to work, with promise of a goodly re- 
 ward for early and complete information. How, I 
 never learned, but he soon insinuated himself into 
 the good graces of his former co-religionists. The 
 strange and ever-alive affinity and sympathy among 
 the race no doubt facilitated and readily served his 
 purpose, and within a few days he was able to impart 
 the following information : 
 
 The young man was a widely celebrated rabbi 
 by the name of Solomon ben Isaac, known every- 
 where among his people under the abbreviation of 
 " Rashi." He was now returning from a pilgrim- 
 age of penance, made through Southern Europe. 
 His father Isaac, long since dead, had been the 
 owner and possessor of a priceless jewel. The Chris- 
 tian prelates of his native town, Troy, in France, de- 
 manded surrender of the valuable stone to be used as 
 an eye for a Madonna-image of their cathedral, offer- 
 ing a fabulous sum therefor. Rather than have the 
 jewel used for such a sacrilegious purpose, the old man 
 fled on board of an outgoing ship. But the priests 
 were too quick and sly for him, found his refuge, 
 followed him out to sea, took him prisoner, and 
 threatened him with death if he did not instantly 
 
202 BEN BEOR. 
 
 surrender the coveted prize. Then the pious Jew, 
 to whom this was a matter of conscience, before his 
 captors could prevent it, flung the treasure into the 
 waters of the sea. By actual calculation it was 
 found that at the very instant of that fanatically 
 heroic act " Rashi " was born, and a common report 
 among the Hebrews of Troy relates that a voice was 
 heard by the Sanhedrin seated in that town, saying: 
 "The new-born child shall be the lost, but thus 
 recovered jewel to his people." However, the father 
 grieved to such an extent over his lost property 
 that soon thereafter he was gathered to his ancestors. 
 Now the son, who is already a miracle of learning 
 and profound erudition, to atone for the impious 
 regrets of his sire, has vowed the redemption of his 
 paternal sin by a long and tedious journey, from 
 which by this ship he returns to his native place and 
 family. He is engaged in and has now nearly com- 
 pleted a commentary on the Pentateuch. It is an 
 immense work, with which he designs to establish a 
 literary reputation among his Hebrew co-peers, and, 
 if the judgment of the elder Israelite may be trusted, 
 it will be the astonishment, delight and admiration 
 of all who know the sacred text, and will become 
 immortal unto unborn generations. His eyesight 
 being impaired, the young Jewess acts as his amanu- 
 ensis, but, in spite of her intelligence and great 
 knowledge, as she writes down the sentences which 
 fall from his lips, one can notice the unmistakable 
 surprise and astonishment in consequence of the 
 master-genius elucidating facts and truths never be- 
 fore so known and taught. 
 
 The older man is Parnass, i. e., the president of 
 the Jewish congregation in the German city of Trier. 
 His name is Rabbi Chisikiah, one of the merchant 
 princes of the realm, esteemed by Jew and Gentile 
 for liberality, benevolent disposition, honesty and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 203 
 
 straightforwardness of character. His greatest 
 treasure, however, is the only daughter now by his 
 side, the apple of his eye, renowned far and wide, not 
 so much for her comeliness, but for the phenomenal 
 mind which had mastered the realm of sacred and 
 profane learning, guided and developed by the most 
 celebrated teachers her ambitious father's bounty 
 could command. Interwoven with these traits, mak- 
 ing her almost an ideal character, is a depth of 
 loveliness, a goodness of heart, and withal a strength 
 of will that surmounts difficulties before which many 
 a man would shrink. Hers is the blessing of the 
 poor, the praise of the learned and the love of the 
 whole community, and so they call her " Beautiful 
 Hadassa." Withal she is so young yet, not more 
 than eighteen years, and had never known a mother's 
 affection since she became an orphan at birth. But 
 Rabbi Chiskiah had been both father and mother to 
 her, and the tenderness and affection which exists 
 between the two is like the celestial love of the 
 angels, devoted to their Maker. Father and 
 daughter had accompanied, as a sort of complimen- 
 tary escort, a large number of rabbins who emigrated 
 to the holy city of Jerusalem, there to end their 
 pious lives, wailing and weeping weekly when the 
 Sabbath is ushered in at the broken-down walls of 
 the temple. The two had travelled as far as Genoa 
 with these friends, and, after supplying them munifi- 
 cently with funds and providing them with all 
 necessary comforts for such a long journey, receiving 
 in return tearful blessings, they now returned home- 
 wards, bringing, under their special care and pro- 
 tection, Rabbi Solomon, whom they met at the 
 seaport. 
 
 My servant now introduced me to these persons, 
 and several evenings I passed in their company 
 sharing their hospitality. I found the report which 
 
204 BEN BEOR. 
 
 my spy had so dexterously obtained completely 
 verified. During these interviews, when in such 
 close proximity to the matchless maiden, my pas- 
 sion was aroused by her personal loveliness and 
 the magnetism of her mind into uncontrollable de- 
 sires. Oh, these wild emotions of love these ever 
 unrequited affections for one whom my soul thirsts 
 to possess ! Will my hopes, my fond imaginings for 
 once be realized ? As in darkest night there appears 
 in the far-away East a faint glimmer of struggling 
 light, speaking of the coining dawn ; so in my gloomy 
 soul, burdened with the self-consciousness of eternal 
 evil, appears this far-away glinting halo, emanating 
 from the most heavenly element in human nature, by 
 whose effect I, the hated wanderer of centuries, at last 
 may be redeemed, and my demoniac cause of destruc- 
 tion and despoiling brought to a peaceable and blessed 
 end, reversing and undoing all the woe spread among 
 suffering mortals. Will it be so ? I tremble in ap- 
 prehension of continued disappointment. All these 
 daughters of Judah through the past ages have in- 
 variably spurned with loathing any advances made 
 by me when wooing them. Among no other race of 
 men have I found the feminine sex so clannishly true 
 and exclusive in bestowing their hearts. The men, 
 occasionally, may be wiled away and ensnared into 
 the meshes of some fair Gentile maiden, frequently 
 practicing intermarriage; the women, with isolated 
 exceptions, never ! This, to a large extent, accounts 
 for the perpetuity and purity of the sturdy stock, 
 living, thriving and ever prospering amidst the most 
 adverse circumstances. Let me now, therefore, 
 summon all my ingenuity and best tactics in the 
 attempt to win this girl ! It will require the most 
 delicate, careful and wary movements to make any 
 progress in this my amative scheme. But I shall leave 
 no power on earth untried to achieve it ; then, if I 
 fail may their God pity her and her race ! 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 205 
 
 I learn just now that immediately on our landing 
 at the port of our destination, the old man and his 
 daughter will accompany Rabbi Solomon to Troy 
 for a short visit before returning to their home. 
 They have invited me to call on them if my way 
 should lead through the ancient French provincial 
 town. My road will certainly be in that direction! 
 Until I meet them there, adieu ! adieu ! For now 
 Marseilles, with grand domes and spires, comes at 
 last in sight. Soon our boat is fastened to its moor- 
 ing and we land at the dock of one of the finest har- 
 bors of all Europe. My friend, Peter the Hermit, 
 will not hear of any separation, but insists that I 
 must accept his hospitalities in the city. So we de- 
 part, arm in arm together, to his cloister lodgings, 
 followed by my servants, who attend to our luggage. 
 We bring up at one of the most magnificent abbeys 
 of the Benedictines, covered with ivy and moss. 
 The Superior receives his confrere and guest with 
 the well-renowned cordiality practised among the 
 members of that fraternity. We feel comfortable 
 and at home at once. The days which I have spent 
 among these ecclesiastics, humble, wealthy and ever 
 content, belong to the happiest and most enjoyable of 
 my long and troubled career. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIII. 
 
 THE FIRST CRUSADE. 
 
 All Europe, especially the Western portion, was 
 soon aflame with the rugged eloquence of the new 
 prophet, Peter the Hermit. Clad in the coarse 
 woolen garb of his order, barefooted and bareheaded, 
 seated upon the back of a scraggy donkey, he could 
 
206 BEN BEOR. 
 
 be found among the gaping multitudes, calling upon 
 the people who streamed to hear him, to prepare 
 forthwith for the delivery of the Holy Land from the 
 hands of the hated Saracens. Alternately praying, 
 preaching, lamenting and weeping, beating his breast 
 or raising his hands in imploration to heaven, he so 
 affected his hearers that the watchword, " On to Jeru- 
 salem!" was on the lips and tongues of everybody, 
 and spread over the continent like wildfire. 
 
 The church aided the fanaticism. The immense 
 upheaval of the masses for a religious movement 
 attached the millions closer to her bosom. Thereby, 
 as calculated, she gained power at home as well as 
 placed a strong barrier against the Ottomans in the 
 East. From each altar and pulpit resounded the 
 praiseworthiness of the wild enterprise; absolution 
 was promised for every past sin, and salvation pro- 
 claimed to all who should join the army of conquest. 
 
 A bright red cross worn on the shoulders was made 
 the emblem of the followers of Peter, and they called 
 themselves henceforth " the Crusaders." The women 
 became equally enthusiastic with the men. Matrons 
 and maidens were busily employed in furnishing the 
 insignia for husbands, fathers, brothers and lovers, 
 and in getting them ready to march at the earliest 
 possible time. 
 
 The governments also helped on the movement. 
 Kings were not yet willing themselves to lead the 
 undisciplined legions, but considered it the better 
 policy to encourage by all possible means the first 
 riotous ebullition of their subjects. If the prospec- 
 tive effort to conquer the Holy Land succeeded, the 
 princes could easily assume command ; if it failed, 
 they could disavow any official connection with the 
 invasion. 
 
 At the urgent solicitations of my influential eccle- 
 siastical friends, I, Ben Beor, received permission 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 207 
 
 from his majesty the King of France to enlist men 
 and means in the country, with headquarters at Troy. 
 Thither I proceeded without delay, rousing the 
 farmers, tradesmen and merchants to the highest 
 pitch of excitement. The plow was left idle, the 
 workmen abandoned their tasks; the master 
 mechanics, craftsmen and apprentices, all threw 
 away their tools and left their shops to join the 
 great army. 
 
 Such a commotion, such a popular uprising had 
 never been known before. It was a moral epidemic, 
 growing and increasing as it spread, seemingly des- 
 tined to overwhelm the continents. The exciting 
 cause of becoming champions for Christ and His 
 church was increased to fever heat by the rumors 
 which I had industriously spread, of the immense 
 wealth and treasures possessed by the unbelieving 
 Mussulman, awaiting the conquerors. 
 
 Among all this uproar and excitement I did not 
 neglect my private affairs, however. I made it my 
 first business to find out the abode of my Jewish 
 friends whose acquaintance I had made on shipboard. 
 I found Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac with his family 
 and two visitors, located in the centre of the Ghetto, 
 the Jewish quarter, his dingy house adjoining the 
 ancient synagogue. I presented myself at the door, 
 which opened to my knocking, and was ushered into 
 the presence of my former acquaintances; received 
 cordially as an old friend, contrary to the usual wary 
 precaution of the Hebrews, exercised generally in 
 admitting strangers to the inner circle of their 
 homes. 
 
 Who would have thought, on entrance to the dust- 
 covered and cobwebbed reception-room, that after 
 traversing a narrow, almost subterranean passage- 
 way, there should be found the splendor and princely 
 oriental wealth which adorns the inner recesses of the 
 
208 BEN BEOR. 
 
 gloomy abodes of these cringing and apparently 
 poverty-stricken Hebrews? The apartments were 
 not high, but the walls had been magnificently frescoed 
 in the finest intaglio style, with scenes from the Old 
 Testament, the figures being life-size. The light fall- 
 ing from above showed the rich colors, resembling 
 most artistic enamel. The apartment where the 
 family generally assembled after the daily work was 
 done and on Sabbaths and festivals, was especially 
 rich in all its appointments. Magnificent candelabra 
 hung suspended from the glinting and glittering ceil- 
 ing. The well-placed furniture was of most costly 
 material and workmanship. Everything bespoke 
 style, refinement and unstinted wealth. 
 
 It was Friday evening when I was ushered into 
 the company of my old friends and acquaintances. 
 Besides these, who seemed exceedingly glad to welcome 
 me, there was the mistress of the house, the wife of 
 Rabbi Solomon, a stately matron and ideal picture of 
 a m'other in Israel. Seated beside her was the youngest 
 daughter, the only one at home. Two older ones, 
 being married, were away with their husbands in 
 distant cities. The girl, whose name was Mirzah, 
 had a very ordinary appearance and was small in 
 stature. At first sight there seemed something re- 
 pulsive in her make-up. Lovely Hadassa held her 
 by the hand, and the contrast beween the two became 
 almost shocldng to me. How often are we poor 
 mortals deceived by appearances! lleluctantly, but 
 for politeness sake, I spoke to the girl. Imagine 
 my surprise and astonishment when she, whom I 
 fancied scarcely worthy of the companionship of such 
 cultured and educated associates, proved to be the 
 consummate master of them all. Learning and wit 
 flowed in unbroken succession from her lips, and as 
 the fire of enthusiasm kindled her eyes, the whole 
 features underwent a change, making her sublimely 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 209 
 
 fair. It was the finest mental display when these 
 two young women discoursed on some of the most 
 abstruse and casuistic questions, spurred on and 
 directed by their elders, who seemed delighted in 
 this brilliant display of Biblical and Talmudic learn- 
 ing. Thus were we entertained until called to 
 partake of a sumptuous supper. The arguments 
 continued upon our return from the dining-hall 
 to the reception-room. During their highly in- 
 teresting and exciting conversation I noticed an 
 unmistakable restlessness on the part of the two girls 
 and their parents. It clearly betrayed that they 
 were anxiously awaiting the arrival of some other 
 guests. Too soon I should learn, to my sorrow, that 
 I was not mistaken in this my observation. At last 
 we heard a knocking at the outside door, and all of 
 them, with exclamations of joy, were instantly on 
 their feet, as if ready to proceed to the entrance. Eabbi 
 Solomon, however, waved the others back, motioning 
 them to keep their seats, and, followed by the father 
 of Hadassa, proceeded to the outer door to receive 
 the newcomers. 
 
 Soon they re-entered and brought with them two 
 persons of most remarkable appearance. One was 
 a very ajed man, certainly beyond three-score and 
 ten, a hunchback of repulsive countenance; long, 
 white hair flowing down over his shoulders. He 
 walked with an immense gold-headed staff in one 
 hand and leaned on the arm of his companion, a 
 young Hebrew of nearly colossal proportions. The 
 younger person was certainly not less than six feet 
 tall, broad-shouldered, and with stature and counten- 
 ance imposing and majestic. The most remark- 
 able feature of bis appearance was the broad fore- 
 head, made prominent by a circle of short light- 
 brown curls, and a long beard falling over his chest. 
 The new guests were then introduced to me the 
 
210 BEN BEOR. 
 
 older as Pasha Trim, an Ottoman grandee, the king's 
 banker at Paris, and Monsigneur Alfonso Simon, 
 his associate. A few words spoken to me shortly 
 after their arri/al stunned and overwhelmed me, 
 and I underwent tortures of anger and jealousy 
 when, in the course of the evening, the young 
 Frenchman was presented to me as the accepted 
 lover and betrothed of Hadassa. I had to witness 
 the cordial intercourse of these parties and the 
 genuine affection which undeniably existed between 
 the pair. To be in his place I would have sacrificed 
 ambition, hatred, revenge and future. 
 
 But this was not to be. The fatal course of events 
 is, as it seems, forever to goad me on irresistibly to 
 the ever-continued work of my malicious mission. 
 The company must have noticed, too, the sudden 
 change in my behavior. I concluded this from 
 several questions addressed to me by one or the 
 other person queries which evinced anxious curi- 
 osity. Pretending some sudden indisposition, I 
 soon departed, receiving their sincere regrets. De- 
 clining politely their urgent proffers to see me home 
 or have some of their servants accompany me, each 
 bade me good-night with a warm shake of the hand. 
 After pressing invitations to call again at my 
 earliest leisure, and accompanied by Rabbi Solomon, 
 who led the way to the door, I departed, vowing to 
 myself that all my disappointments should be visited 
 with fiercest venom on their heads, and that the con- 
 summation of the union of the young couple should 
 never take place, if I had to murder them all. In 
 this mood I arrived at my quarters. The night 
 which I spent was, no doubt, the most terrible and 
 agonizing in all my life's experience. Heated by 
 maddening jealousy, my blood leaped like fire 
 through veins and brain. I walked the floor all 
 night, talking incoherently to myself and gesticulat- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 211 
 
 ing wildly. It must have made me look like a 
 maniac. When at last the first dawn of morning 
 peeped through the window, I threw myself ex- 
 hausted on the bed and fell into a deep but troubled 
 slumber, from which I only awoke near noon next 
 day. My servant had entered several times, but, as he 
 explained afterwards, finding his master so sound 
 asleep, dared not to arouse me. 
 
 When I had opened my eyes I felt composed and 
 determined to act systematically. First, I found out 
 during the day the position the Jews held among 
 their Gentile neighbors. This proved to be excep- 
 tionally friendly. The Frenchmen are by nature 
 kindly disposed towards all people. That gross 
 prejudice and ignorant barbaric fanaticism so preva- 
 lent among other nations, is a stranger to them. 
 This cordiality was greatly enhanced by the blended 
 social and commercial interests of the inhabitants. 
 A large exportation trade in home manufactures was 
 carried on by the Hebrews. They gave employment 
 to the laborers, mechanics and people in general, 
 treating them always liberally. Destitution was un- 
 known ; comfort and well-doing was a leading feat- 
 ure among the entire population of this munici- 
 pality. For all that the Christians here would have 
 cared, the Jews might have torn down the walls of 
 the Ghetto long ago. This had actually been pro- 
 posed by the liberal Catholic clergymen who resided 
 in this parish, and would have been carried out but 
 for the episode which occurred concerning the jewel 
 in possession of the rabbi, and which was coveted, 
 as related heretofore, by the church, for adorning a 
 Madonna. I was satisfied that an emeute between 
 the members of the two religious denominations was 
 here entirely out of question. Nor would that have 
 helped me in my present dilemma, since I learned on 
 the very next day from my apostate servant that 
 
212 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Rabbi Chiskiah and Hadassa had already departed 
 for their home in Germany. This wily renegade had 
 found favor with one of the young maidservants in 
 the house of Rabbi Samuel, and through her, with 
 his usual tact of spying into other people's affairs, 
 had been informed that the marriage ceremony of 
 the newly-betrothed couple was appointed to take 
 place at the home of the Parnass about one year 
 hence. So I had at least plenty of time in which to 
 act. Solution of my difficulty came, however, partly 
 from another direction. While traversing one of the 
 main streets of the city the next morning, my atten- 
 tion was attracted by a sign suspended above the door 
 of a business house, which read : 
 
 PASHA IRIM & CO., 
 BANKERS TO His ROYAL MAJESTY. 
 
 I entered on pretense of having to transact financial 
 business, and found old Irim deeply engrossed, count- 
 ing stacks of gold which lay piled up before him. His 
 partner was absent. A glance at the man would 
 satisfy any observant beholder to what extent he was 
 wrapt up in the absorbing occupation before him. 
 His soul and his gold seemed to be blended into one. 
 Would it not be possible, I reasoned with myself, 
 seeing this embodiment of avarice before me, to work 
 upon his cupidity so as to lure him, by large sums, 
 to help me, that his associate should forego the alli- 
 ance with Hadassa and co-operate with me in taking 
 the place of the lover ? I resolved to make the trial 
 with this inveterate miser. After a cordial saluta- 
 tion, which became absolutely cringing on his part, 
 I stated the nature of my business, producing a war- 
 rant for an immense sum of money on the king's ex- 
 chequer, which I proposed to deposit with him and 
 make the firm agents for my large financial transac- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 213 
 
 tions. He smiled broadly, rubbed his thin, bony 
 hands together in great satisfaction as he stated the 
 usurous terms on which this must be done. In a 
 tone of pleasantry I remarked during the conversa- 
 tion that I would willingly give the whole amount 
 were I in the place of his young partner relative to 
 the beautiful daughter of Habbi Chiskiah. He 
 looked again at the paper with that horrible grin 
 which showed the inward workings of a greedy 
 mind, shaking his head with great efforts. At last 
 he spoke: "Would you indeed give it? give 
 all this for a woman? Fools that we men are! 
 picking out one girl from the thousands stake 
 everything for that one everything money and 
 life, as if all were not the same bundles of cap- 
 rices and whims, spenders of our hard-earned treas- 
 ures, triflers with the hearts and affections of us 
 stupid males. You shall have her, my friend you 
 shall have her at this bargain ! or my name is not 
 Pasha Irim. I'll manage it with my Alfonso you 
 shall have her. You will sign this paper, and he 
 shall sign the contract. As far as I am concerned 
 you shall have her. Take her with my good wishes 
 of good luck and blessing. The match would have 
 cost me too much anyhow two hundred thousand 
 francs ! as if it were a trifle. My boy will make 
 some words some hard words, I expect, but he has 
 always obeyed me, and he shall mind me now 
 shall ! I say, shall ! Come back to-morrow by this 
 time and all will be arranged I will find him 
 another and cheaper kallah ( bride). " I took a re- 
 ceipt for my draft and departed, not without appre- 
 hension of the ultimate success of my cunning 
 stratagem. 
 
 It seemed to me almost impossible that a young 
 man, with the ardent affections which he held for 
 his affianced, should, at the command of his venal 
 
214 BEN BEOR. 
 
 senior, sell out his heart's love for a sum of money. 
 It certainly appeared against all human nature. 
 My prognostications in this matter proved too true. 
 Returning towards evening from the camp where 
 my legions of Crusaders were growing to immense 
 proportions, impatient to be led on towards our 
 goal, there was a great commotion over the eity. 
 An excited crowd was gathered in front of the bank- 
 er's door. I was forthwith informed of the cause. 
 The old man had suddenly died with a stroke of 
 apoplexy. Loud and angry words had been heard 
 inside by some passers-by; then piercing screams 
 and cries for help followed, and the doors were 
 suddenly thrown open. Out of these young Alfonso 
 rushed forth, imploring some of the bystanders to 
 run for medical aid, as his partner had fallen into a 
 deathly swoon. Doctors came immediately, but 
 found the banker lifeless and cold in death. On 
 my arrival home I found a letter which had been 
 brought at noon by a messenger from the banking 
 office. It contained my warrant, with the most 
 insulting and offensive epithets from the lover, 
 throwing my vile proposal in my teeth, and threat- 
 ening, if I ever darkened their door again, that I 
 should be spit upon and kicked out. The insult 
 and disappointment raised my anger to a high pitch, 
 the like of which I never had experienced before. 
 "Vengeance!' 7 I cried; "vengeance, cruel and 
 unprecedented, on the whole miserable tribe, but 
 most overwhelming revenge on this haughty Jew, 
 his affianced, and their hapless friends ! " 
 
 Nothing could hold me any longer in Troy. Next 
 day every preparation for moving onward with my 
 cohorts was made. These louts had agreed upon 
 a token and signal which should precede us on our 
 march. They selected a goose and a goat to pre- 
 cede as vanguards of our forces. While travelling 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 215 
 
 the stupid fowl was carried by a fantastically arrayed 
 old beldame. The frisky quadruped was led by a 
 shepherd-boy, clad in the peculiar mountaineer 
 fashion. 
 
 As we moved on, the bird quacked and the goat 
 bleated. Thus the rabble marched away towards 
 the German borders. Soon we reached the Rhine 
 and crossed it. Our ranks swelled from day to day 
 by newcomers of the lowest and the vilest kind. 
 They threw themselves upon the hamlets and vil- 
 lages, pilfering and ransacking every hut and house 
 on our road. A stupefying terror seized the defense- 
 less inhabitants, losing their little all, made houseless 
 and homeless ; they readily listened to the preachers, 
 of whom we had a superabundance, one more fanatic 
 than the other. The robbed German peasants fell 
 into line with the French marauders, who had also 
 been joined by a similar mass coming from Flan- 
 ders. Ribald songs, swearing and cursing, fight- 
 ing over food and spoils, mad carousing, and wild 
 orgies of lust and debauchery were the order of the 
 day. The horrible crowd turned into uncontroll- 
 able savages, ever ready for deeds of wanton violence 
 and bloodshed. Whoever resisted was assaulted and 
 often slain. The murdered corpses lay plentifully 
 in our wake, rotting and unburied, a prey of the 
 birds and beasts in the fields. 
 
 Soon I added new fuel to the ever-increasing 
 flames. As we approached the city of Trier (Treves), 
 the first of any magnitude on German ground, 
 where, it will be remembered, was the home of 
 Rabbi Chirikiah and his envied daughter Hadassa, 
 I kindled a new thought among our monks and 
 clericals ; giving out by them to the drunken mul- 
 titudes the password, which flew through the lines 
 like lightning : "The Jews," who are as much the 
 enemies of the Saviour as the unbelieving Mussul- 
 
216 BEN BEOR. 
 
 man, ought to be converted to Christianity, willing 
 or by force. If resisting, let them suffer utter 
 annihilation from the face of the earth. Why not 
 commence, then, the veritable crusade right at home, 
 beginning with the hated, rich Hebrew heretics? 
 The frenzy of the already over-excited, sanguinary 
 rabble knew no bounds at the immediate prospects 
 of havoc among an entirely unprotected and friend- 
 less class, who by the nature of their forced occu- 
 pation as traders, merchants and financiers, had 
 the misfortune to be the rich creditors of high and 
 low, and while forbiddqn to own a foot of land on 
 European soil, and barred from every profession 
 and trade, they became, notwithstanding, the pos- 
 sessors of great wealth. This they generally con- 
 verted into precious jewels and valuable gems. In 
 case of emergency and dangers, always hanging over 
 them, these could easily be carried away. Necessity 
 being the mother of invention, these shrewd people 
 had lately devised a most ingenious method of 
 exchange, by which the temporarily oppressed and 
 persecuted in one land or province were enabled 
 secretly to ship their possessions to more secure 
 places, ever relying implicitly upon scrupulous in- 
 tegrity among themselves. Defalcation or breach 
 of trust is not on record throughout all these 
 troubled times, it being the special charge of the 
 ever watchful and faithful Rabbins, who were clothed 
 with high judicial authority, to guard the interest of 
 their brethren in faith. Such was the beginning of the 
 banking system, by which soon the whole monetary 
 transactions of the civilized world were to be operated. 
 These were the new ramifications against which I now 
 had to combat, foreseeing clearly that the accursed 
 race, by wealth, if not timely checked, must become 
 in not far distant time as peerless a power as was 
 the state and church. Many a time I have pondered 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 217 
 
 upon the difference in my position, had I been one 
 of them and used my strength and labors in the 
 amelioration of their condition. But this was not 
 to be ! My maledicted fate forbade such hallucin- 
 ation. 
 
 So onward I marched with my wild followers. 
 A strange, inexplicable superstition was prevailing 
 throughout their ranks in reference to the two gro- 
 tesque animals who ever led our van. It was given 
 out and firmly believed that the Holy Ghost* had 
 descended upon them, and they were divinely inspired 
 to lead the way successfully to the goal of our mis- 
 sion. Passing the goose or the goat, everybody 
 made the sign of the cross and recited thoughtless 
 prayers, while counting the consecrated rosaries. 
 
 The monstrous mob resembled now the fabled 
 Dragon of the heathens, who, as was said, devoured 
 every man and beast coming into reach. Our ap- 
 proach had been long since heralded to the city. I 
 had caused some mounted couriers several days pre- 
 vious to proceed thither, and especially instructed 
 them to inform the already demoralized inhabitants 
 what we intended to do with the Israelites. These 
 people were struck with awe and terror; and as 
 usual, when such calamities were upon them, had 
 recourse to their houses of prayer, humiliating and 
 prostrating themselves before God, weeping and fast- 
 ing; not neglecting, however, to take care of their 
 treasures and valuables. Calculating that in this 
 hour of great tribulation, any sacrifice would be 
 made by them, no matter how vile and exacting, 
 by which the impending fate might be averted, 
 when a few hours distant from tho walls of the town, 
 I proceeded alone in advance of my legions and 
 sought the house of the Parnass, Rabbi Chiskiah. It 
 was at an early hour of a beautiful spring morning. I 
 found him and Hadassa just ready to go to the syna- 
 
218 BEN BEOR. 
 
 gogue. They were much dejected, .and the girl was in 
 tears, looking to me more handsome and entrancing 
 than I had ever seen her before. They recognized me, 
 and I heard the old man, in tremulous, half-loud ac- 
 cents, murmur the well-known quotation from the book 
 of Job: "And Satan too was among them!" Then 
 he continued to speak loud and ask firmly : "What 
 is the object for which thou comest here now? We 
 know thy treachery against my daughter's betrothed, 
 and tfiat thou hast been the indirect murderer of his 
 aged patron. For what other evil dost thou come to 
 us in the time of our affliction?" I was barely pre- 
 pared for such a brusque reception ; but seeing that all 
 was known here, I stated the proposal which I in- 
 tended to make. " Since you are informed of all 
 this, you must ncny also be aware what is in store for 
 you and your people. Yet it is in my power to 
 avert the coming massacre. And I will do it on one 
 condition. I pledge you my word with my life, if 
 you accept it now, not a Jew shall be hurt iu this 
 city. Give me the hand of Hadassa, I love her madly, 
 devotedly ! I will make her so happy and so rich 
 that she shall become the envy of crowned princesses. 
 Refuse me and I will have her by force ; and exter- 
 minate every man, woman and child of your people. 
 Choose ye now quickly!" "Son of Belial!" he 
 cried at the top of his voice, "we care neither 
 for the blessings of Balaam nor do we dread his 
 curses. If our God wills to save us from the hands of 
 the wicked, He will send us His messenger of help ; 
 if He in His providence has decreed that we must 
 fall, we will know, like our martyred ancestors, how 
 submissively and proudly to die ! So get thee hence at 
 once, and do thy worst !" After hearing this, I felt 
 sure that remonstrance was futile ; and fully deter- 
 mined upon my future course, I left without another 
 word, rejoining my impatient companions, now at the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 219 
 
 gates of the city. " Forward/' was my command, 
 and like panting tigers they threw themselves upon 
 the town. I led the way to the Ghetto. Ten thousand 
 maniacs followed in my wake. Before we could 
 enter its gloomy -precincts, we had to pass the cele- 
 brated bridge which spans the turbulent waters of the 
 river Moselle, and which had been built many centu- 
 ries ago by the invading Romans. As we approached 
 the towering structure, we saw gathered upon its 
 centre a large number of young females. I recog- 
 nized the foremost in their midst as being Hadassa. 
 On our approach, she was the first to hurl herself 
 headlong over the ramparts into the raging flood. 
 All the others followed without a minute's pause. At 
 the top of my voice I cried out : " Save them, rescue 
 them !'" A thousand men flung themselves into the 
 seething waters. They were too late ! Long before 
 they could reach them, the sinking bodies had disap- 
 peared in the rushing caldron which the river forms 
 at this spot. How many of my own men perished in 
 this attempt I never learned. We hastened on to the 
 synagogue. From far away we heard low chants, 
 sounding like the chorus of the dying. The entrance 
 was strongly barricaded, and gave way for our 
 entrance only after continued work with axes and 
 sledge-hammers. Horror held us spellbound at the 
 opening! The whole antique-looking space, lit up 
 with wax candles, showed the entire congregation in 
 the last gasps of death. 
 
 Upon a raised " Bihma " stood the hoary-headed, 
 silver-bearded Rabbi. He and Parnass Chiskiah 
 held long, blood-dripping knives in their hands. 
 They were loudly chanting. I distinctly heard the 
 words always pronounced by dying Israelites. The 
 Parnass had his white shining breast bared. As we 
 hurried towards them the aged Rabbi plunged his knife 
 with fearful certainty into the heart of his companion, 
 
220 BEN BEOR. 
 
 who fell dead at his feet, and then with one more 
 effort dealt himself a fatal blow, after which he tot- 
 tered forward, exclaiming in his fall down the steps 
 before the sanctuary the last gasping words, "Adouoy 
 *who elohim ! The Lord alone is the true God ! " 
 
 In the centre of the sacred edifice, on top of a 
 table-like structure, there lay a vellum record, the 
 title-page of which w r as inscribed, " Memor-Book of 
 the Jewish Congregation of Trier. " On the last 
 page was written the unanimous resolution of the 
 assembled body. They had concluded to die by their 
 own hands rather than to fall into the cruel power 
 of their enemies. As I yet was perusing the names 
 and numbers of these people, who heroically indeed 
 sacrificed themselves to death rather than submit to 
 forcible baptism, some of the wretches in our train 
 had set fire to the premises, and in a few moments 
 more the raging element drove everybody to hasty 
 retreat. A heap of ashes, cinders and blackened 
 ruins of a once magnificent ancient structure was all 
 that remained of the heretofore opulent congregation 
 of Trier. 
 
 The hurricane thus let loose over the city swept 
 over all Southern Germany. Its destructive force 
 was soon experienced in similar manner among the 
 Hebrew communities in the prosperous and peaceful 
 cities of Speier, Worms, Cologne, and the whole 
 district bordered by the rivers Rhine and Main. 
 The details of its devastation during the ensuing 
 prolonged Crusades, the ever-spreading force of 
 destruction, belong to the historian, who must 
 write the tear-stained, bloody annals of those times. 
 Its full extent and pitiful sufferings of the countless 
 victims will never be known until the last trumpet 
 shall call the wantonly murdered to testify for final 
 judgment on their brutal butchery. If this persecu- 
 tion set in motion could only be accelerated by 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 221 
 
 some more fanatic and lasting motive-power, one 
 that would commend itself to the rude understand- 
 ing and superstitious herd of common humanity; 
 one that was not of the effervescent nature, spurting 
 away by the present momentary excitement; one 
 which could be used effectually forever, provided it 
 hud in it the elements of use with the ignorant, then 
 might indeed my sanguinary hopes be realized at no 
 distant day, to see the total extermination of that 
 cursed race which had been, and as I was sure 
 would in future be, the main obstacle in the way 
 of my mission. 
 
 Meditating upon such a plan, I consigned my 
 present leadership of the migratory upheaval to 
 other hands and wended my way southward, escap- 
 ing unobserved from the noise and tumult of the 
 crazed and blood-drunken crusaders. After a pleas- 
 ant journey through the vine-clad hills along the 
 river Loire, I reached at last the small but beautiful 
 city of Blois, where I intended to stay a short time 
 for rest, recuperation and cogitation. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIV. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE BLOOD-ACCUSATION. 
 
 The streets of the historic little burg of Blois are 
 narrow, and the houses lining them mean-looking 
 and neglected. Lying on an acclivity /from any 
 point of the city could be seen a most beautiful pic- 
 ture. On the highest point of the ascending grade 
 stands the imposing castle of Count Theobold. The 
 massive pile lends a picturesque finish to the mag- 
 
222 BEN BEOR. 
 
 nificent landscape. Passing along through the main 
 avenue, it being towards evening, I noticed many 
 people in holiday attire, all crossing the thoroughfare 
 at one point. On inquiry I found that they were 
 Jews on their way to the synagogue, this being the 
 eve of the holy Passover feast. I joined the crowd 
 and entered the antique edifice. My Semitic physiog- 
 nomy ensured me a "Salem Alichum" from the 
 beadle (Shamas) at the door, and I was shown to a 
 seat of honor provided for strangers among the 
 congregation. Then the obsequious old man went 
 up to the official who sat near the ministering Rabbi 
 and whispered a few words to him. After this 
 he told me to wait until the close of divine ser- 
 vice; that the Parnass (president) had done him- 
 self the honor of inviting me to become his guest 
 during the Pesach feast. As he then left me and 
 proceeded on his further duties, there entered among 
 the many newcomers a young lady of most distin- 
 guished appearance and radiant beauty. Everybody 
 made way for her and she was seated opposite me, 
 in the gallery overhead, assigned exclusively for 
 the women. The long chanting, singing and praying, 
 in which the congregation joined, being finished, my 
 host came to me, and with the wish of a pleasant 
 feast (good Yom tov) took me by the arm and 
 escorted me outside. Here we were joined by the 
 maiden whose entrance I had noticed. The venerable 
 president, after laying his hand in blessing upon 
 her head and fondly kissing her, introduced the 
 young lady to me as his only daughter Pulcelina. 
 We then made our way through the lively crowd 
 and soon'entered the cosy home to which I had been 
 invited and now was made welcome. The mother 
 of the house had prepared for the customary family 
 services which the Hebrews observe on that evening 
 and which they call the " Sedar." It is celebrated 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 223 
 
 in memory of the exodus of their slave-ancestors 
 from the Egyptian bondage. It consists of a peculiar 
 arrangement, a home service preceding the evening 
 meal. The unleavened cakes, called " Matzoh," are 
 placed alternately under snow-white napkins at the 
 head of the table. They represent three distinct 
 classes of the race, the Priest, the Levites, and the 
 People. Alongside of these there lies a boiled egg, 
 typifying life immortal ; a charred bone of the Paschal 
 lamb, emblematical of the sacrifice of yore; a piece of 
 horse-radish, representing the bitter life of serfdom ; 
 some green herbs, to remind that this is the first 
 month of spring ; a dish of sweetmeats mixed so 
 as to show by its color the loam in which the 
 oppressed had to labor; a small vessel of salt water, 
 signifying the wants of human existence. A cup 
 of wine is placed at every plate, and one stands in 
 the centre, ready for the prophet Elijah should he 
 deign to come this evening, being expected at any 
 time to announce the approach of the Messiah. 
 These must be emptied four times during the service. 
 How hateful all these reminiscences tugged at my 
 heart, bringing back to memory the events which at 
 the start of my career, buried in the folds of primi- 
 tive history, had so fatally sent me forth to my 
 doom ! When all the arrangements were ready, we 
 sat down, and then from a book which they called a 
 "Hagadah" prayed, chanted and sang the quaint 
 melodies transmitted from ages ago to every member 
 of the tradition-loving tribe. While the peculiar 
 performance was in progress my galled disposition 
 perceived that in connection with the mystic cere- 
 monial an accusation against these people might 
 be invented, which, horrible in its tenor, would find 
 ready credence by the easily swayed, already ill- 
 disposed, ignorant Christians. It was nothing less 
 than the infamous charge that the Jews, for the 
 
224 BEN BEOR. 
 
 complete preparation of these Easter rites, needed 
 blood from the Nazarene believers, and that for this 
 purpose, whenever the occasion offered, they would 
 slay a Christian, abstracting the life-fluid from his 
 veins, and then bury their victim secretl^at night. 
 Absurd as the black libel may seem to any one 
 acquainted with the sacred aversion the Israelites 
 have against the shedding of blood, their laws being 
 inexorable in that direction, yet once set afloat, 
 neither this truth, remonstrances nor protestations 
 would ever be able to quell again the hideous, tor- 
 menting calumny. If extirpated in one locality, it 
 would rise again, when a pretext was needed, else- 
 where with new and terrible vigor. Could these 
 people in their hospitality have known or guessed 
 with what black misfortune they and theirs were to be 
 soon visited through my instrumentality, how they 
 would have cursed the hour that brought the stranger 
 to this fireside. 
 
 Soon after supper there came a visit from Count 
 Theobold, who honored the house frequently with 
 his august presence. I noticed then the motive that 
 attracted him hither. It was beautiful Pulcelina, 
 with whom he was in love. He had contracted early 
 in life a " mariage de convenance " with a noble 
 lady, as is the usage with the aristocracy. The wife 
 proved to be a perfect gorgon, and made his life in 
 the castle a hotbed of contention and quarrels. Pie 
 had met the young Jewess, was attracted by her fino 
 appearance and sweet, lady-like ways, and offered her 
 such ostentatious attentions that dame Rumor soon 
 got hold of all, whence it reached the Countess, who 
 became fiercely jealous, as well she might, against 
 such a powerful rival. 
 
 During the course of the evening's conversation, 
 the Count remarked that one of his best grooms had 
 left him that day, and he was anxious to replace him 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 225 
 
 as soon as possible with a good man. I stayed in the 
 house for two days ti 11 the feast was over. Then, with 
 the liveliest gratitude for the munificent entertain- 
 ment which had been so kindly extended, I departed 
 on a pretended journey. They bade me a cordial fare- 
 well, with the invitation, whenever I should come this 
 way again to make their house my home. Totally 
 disguised, I presented myself, however, shortly after 
 at the castle, and giving the Count a fair story of 
 myself and good account of my ability as a hostler, 
 I was forthwith engaged. From the servants, with 
 whom I soon fraternized, I learned that there existed 
 a great rivalry between the Count, our master, and 
 the general-in-chief of the city government, for the 
 favors of the beautiful Jewess. She had, however, 
 spurned the advances of the general, who on several 
 occasions had been impertinent to her, and of which 
 she complained to the more favored Count. Harsh 
 words followed between the two would-be lovers. 
 The mean nature of the general turned into hatred 
 towards the girl, and he had publicly vow r ed that 
 at some future time he would be revenged on the 
 whole race of the Jews. I could not have wished 
 affairs more favorable for my plans. A few days 
 after entrance upon my menial service, I rode one 
 of the Count's spirited horses to water at the river. 
 Another rider had preceded me. It was a Hebrew, 
 who wore a white waist-jacket under his great-coat. 
 My charger shied at the unwonted appearance and 
 refused to go near the water. This incident gave me 
 fair material for fabricating my story, which I recited 
 to the general, who just then passed that way and 
 inquired of me what was the matter with the horse. I 
 stated to him that I had seen the Jew who preceded 
 me throw a corpse into the river. The Israelites, 
 celebrating now their Passover, needed Christian 
 blood for their Easter cakes, and had without doubt 
 
226 BEN BEOR. 
 
 murdered somebody for this purpose. The instinct 
 of the horse made him refuse to touch the water, and 
 then, trembling with fear, he had reared so wildly 
 that he nearly threw me out of the saddle. Nothing 
 could have been more welcome to the already angered 
 official than this plausibly concocted report. He 
 made me at once accompany him to the castle and 
 there report before my master what I had related to 
 him. Count Theobold gave orders for the arrest of 
 every Israelite in the city, about forty persons. 
 Pulcelina and her parents were alone excepted. 
 Criminal process was immediately instituted, charg- 
 ing them with the imputed crime of murder. The 
 accused victims, knowing the fearful dilemma to which 
 this consigned them, placed all their hopes upon the 
 great influence of the fair Pulcelina. She would 
 certainly plead with her friend the Count, and see to 
 it that justice be done; that their innocence of the 
 cruel charge might be established, and that they soon 
 would be set free again from their imprisonment. 
 But I was determined that they should not have this 
 satisfaction. The Countess was secretly informed of 
 the exception made in the arrest. She raged with 
 anger and jealousy, and then succeeded in the quar- 
 rel which ensued, in making her husband swear 
 that under no pretense he would see or listen 
 to the hated girl. The nobleman's love of money 
 came very near exculpating the accused. They 
 were requested by a confidential messenger to state 
 what sum in gold they would give for their free- 
 dom. Consulting with some Christian friends, 
 they oifered two thousand and eighty pounds, all 
 these poor people possessed. At the point of accept- 
 ing this, a fanatical priest mixed himself up with 
 the impending trial, and submitted to the Count that 
 such a crime must not be handled lightly ; on the 
 contrary, if found substantiated it ought to be visited 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 227 
 
 with heaviest punishment. But on what evidence 
 were they to be convicted? The only witness in the 
 case was a stranger, an unknown person, but a few 
 days in the service of the Count, a menial, who 
 might tell the truth, or have invented mischievously 
 the whole story. So a test was proposed, considered 
 infallible in those days. The judgment of heaven 
 was called in to ascertain the veracity of my testi- 
 mony. A boat on the river was to be filled with 
 water. In this I was placed, and the people of the 
 town assembled on the river bank. Then the little 
 craft was let go, to be carried down by the waves. 
 If it sank with its load, the witness had lied, and 
 must perish ; if it swam and remained floating on 
 the surface, the truth was established by decree of 
 Providence. Nothing was easier for me than to 
 stand the ordeal. As the vessel was shoved into the 
 middle of the stream, I balanced its weight and posi- 
 tion, so that it could not but move on with the 
 velocity of the element. Waving my hat to the 
 jubilant masses, I sailed gallantly down, and the 
 evidence was fully established the Jews had com- 
 mitted the murder. My friend, the priest, had seen 
 to it that no more water was put into the hold of the 
 trial-boat than would cause it to sink but a few 
 inches below its usual draft. This hocus-pocus per- 
 formance cost the lives of the entire Jewish popula- 
 tion. In vain did Pulcelina try to gain admission 
 to her friend and patron. Watched by the Countess, 
 he refused to see her. In her indignant anger she 
 tried to pass the guards and force her way into 
 the .castle. Now she was arrested and by main 
 force dragged to prison, to be incarcerated wifrh her 
 co-religionists. The exultant, victorious Countess 
 sneered at the unfortunate girl as she was forced 
 away. By order of Theobold, the entire number of 
 the Israelites were consigned to be burned. Before the 
 
228 BEN BEOR. 
 
 faggots were kindled, the pious priest called upon 
 the doomed people to abjure their religion and be 
 baptized ; that in accepting this their lives would be 
 spared. But not a single craven was found among 
 the number who would, in turning apostate, escape 
 from certain death. Three celebrated scholars, 
 Zechiel ben David, Zeohiel ben Juda, and Juda ben 
 Aaron, were selected as the first to be executed. 
 These were bound to the stakes and fire applied. The 
 flames, however, singed only the cords with which 
 they were bound ; they tried to escape. Three times 
 the executioners forced them back; they were con- 
 sumed to ashes. Thirty-nine men and seventeen 
 women followed their awful fate, while chanting the 
 confession of their faith, by a prayer which they 
 called the " Olinu." This happened on the llth of 
 May, 1171. The news of this horrible catastrophe 
 spread quickly over the land. When it reached the 
 city of Troy, a synod of the French Rabbins was 
 here in session, ruled by the renowned Rashi. The 
 Martyr-massacre was instituted forthwith as a day 
 of lamentation, fasting and mourning, to be observed 
 in Israel forever. And well they may so celebrate 
 it! For of all the terrible cruel ties heaped upon the 
 Jews during the past ages, none were so freightful of 
 calamitous consequences as this first Blood-Accu- 
 sation, born in the city of Blois. In conclusion, it 
 need but be reported that the great light of this 
 time, the learned, wise and philanthropic Rabbi 
 Solomon ben Isaac, died a few days after the bloody 
 event. The horrible cruelty against his innocent, 
 defenseless brethren is said to have broken his heart. 
 When the first excitement in Blois was over I 
 thought it best to absent myself from the loathsome 
 scene where the blood-accusation against the Jews 
 had its birth, and move over to Germany for the 
 further prosecution of my task to trammel the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 229 
 
 people and uphold the thrones and churches by 
 inventing there some still more powerful agency for 
 my evil purposes. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XV. 
 
 BLACK BARTHEL. 
 
 Far away in the n>ost northwestern part of Ger- 
 many are the Hartz mountains, dividing the waters 
 of two fine rivers, the Weser and the Elbe. The 
 highest point is the Brocken, a spur nearly 4,000 
 feet above the level of the sea, overlooking all the 
 surrounding country. The formation is of feldspatic 
 granite, which by its easy decomposition has caused 
 the majestic cone to assume a rounded, graceful 
 form. Its gloomy and weird appearance had secured 
 already in earliest times the notorious reputation of its 
 being the seat of evil spirits, giving rise to the folk- 
 lore that here was the devil's kitchen, whence came 
 at midnight of the first of May all the witches and 
 wizards, mounted on he-goats or broomsticks, to 
 hold their infernal annual revelry. It is more than 
 likely that some base heathenish orgies, carried on 
 here in the darkness of night, gave rise to the 
 myths which pass current and are perpetuated by 
 the mouths of the superstitious and credulous 
 peasants and miners. 
 
 At the beginning of the fourteenth century there 
 stood at the foot of the imposing crag an old abbey, 
 covered with ivy, one of those grim and ghostly- 
 looking cloisters wherein the Franciscan monks 
 held themselves aloof and secluded from the outer 
 world. It was known that here was collected one 
 of the finest libraries in existence, especially rich in 
 
230 BEN BEOR. 
 
 valuable vellum manuscripts. It also contained an 
 extensive and well-stocked laboratory, where mem- 
 bers of the fraternity continually and industriously 
 experimented with drugs and chemicals. A.t that 
 time ecclesiastics were exclusively the medical prac- 
 titioners. It was currently reported and believed 
 that they also indulged in alchemistic processes and 
 the black arts, searching for the " stone of wisdom " 
 and the "elixir of perpetual life." Many-colored 
 vapors had been seen at night to rise from the quaint, 
 wide-mouthed chimneys. Belated laborers asserted 
 having heard strange and unearthly voices after 
 dark. If persons were compelled to pass here on 
 nocturnal errands they would hasten tremblingly 
 until far out of sight of the dreaded place, but most 
 people preferred to take circuitous routes leading to 
 their valley homes in order to avoid the haunted 
 neighborhood. One of the monks stood in very 
 bad and awed repute with the easily impressed and 
 prejudiced populace. The lank and slim stature of 
 the brother, enhanced by the particular garb of the 
 order ; his wan and austere visage as he peeped with 
 small, piercing dark eyes from under his cowl, 
 frightened the common people when he sallied forth 
 now and then among them, forever muttering to 
 himself. His name was Berthold Schwartz, but he 
 was called throughout the district "Black Bar- 
 thel." Nothing was known of his early life. He 
 came here from Franconia, bringing to the abbot 
 letters and credentials from the superior of the 
 order, who recommended him as a profound and 
 studious friar, desirous of availing himself of the 
 renowned facilities stored in the home he sought 
 here. The cell apportioned to him, adjoining to the 
 right the library and to the left the laboratory, with 
 doors leading to either, was the scene of his regular 
 vigils. Poring over the profound tomes or yellow 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 231 
 
 vellum rolls, he would now and then rise, either 
 pacing the narrow floor, or hurrying to the book- 
 shelves, returning with an armful of volumes and 
 manuscripts, or he would hasten to the dimly-lit 
 vault where piles of crucibles and experimental 
 paraphernalia were stored. Then he would be 
 seen engaged often till daylight in mixing and 
 stirring the chemical stuffs, while the perspiration 
 stood in drops upon his broad forehead. Thus he 
 was occupied once near midnight when a great 
 catastrophe nearly ended his life and the existence 
 of the abbey. For years the idiosyncratic idea had 
 possessed him of inventing a combustible compound 
 of such high explosive power as on ignition to throw 
 missiles with irresistible velocity. War, as it had 
 been carried 011 until now, was simply a series of 
 single-handed combats, with victory most always on 
 the side of superior brutal force. Bows and arrows 
 were indeed in use, yet their cumbersome weight, the 
 skill required in handling them effectually, and the 
 quick expenditure of the barbs made them most 
 undesirable weapons in fighting a battle. Incited 
 by a casual discovery in some old archives, this 
 monk by incessant efforts tried to re-discover what 
 he thought to have been once a well-known but now 
 totally forgotten art of scientifically preparing the 
 ingredients. He knew well by long meditations 
 and calculations what ponderous revolutions such a 
 destructive agency surely would work in behalf of 
 the governing powers, the strengthening of whose 
 hands meant at all times also the propping of the 
 Catholic altars. Waking or dreaming, the object of 
 his ambition was before his eyes. Every disappoint- 
 ment or failure in his never-ceasing experiments 
 only fired his blood and mind to new efforts. Year 
 after year he had spent thus far with research, study 
 and practical tests. In this memorable night, how- 
 
232 BEN BEOK. 
 
 ever, his prodigious labors should at last and unex- 
 pectedly be crowned with final success. As the 
 chapel belfry sounded the hour of twelve he sat 
 before his long table with numberless books and 
 parchments open before him. They all treated of 
 that same subject with which his mind was filled. 
 Absorbed in deep thought, the whole material once 
 again passed in review before his memory. On a 
 table lay this memorandum, extracted from the 
 various sources of historical collections: 
 
 1. The Chinese, about 80 A. D., had obtained 
 knowledge from India concerning a certain powerful 
 explosive. 
 
 2. Julius Africanus describes vaguely its prepar- 
 ation, in the year 215. 
 
 3. Callinicus of Heliopolis introduces Greek 
 fire to the Byzantines about 668 A. D. 
 
 4. The Arabs used fire-arms against Mecca on or 
 about 690 A. D. 
 
 5. The Emperor Leo employs such in the year 811. 
 
 6. Marcus Gracchus, a Greek author, describes an 
 explosive mixture, 846 A. D. 
 
 7. Leo, the Philosopher, makes rockets for the 
 army of the Eastern Empire, 880 A. D. 
 
 8. King Solomon of Hungaria bombards Belgrade 
 with cannons, 1073 A. D. 
 
 9. In a battle near Toledo, the ships of Tunis 
 shoot "fiery thunder," 1083 A. D. 
 
 10. The Greek ships used artillery against the 
 Pisans in the year 1098 A. D." 
 
 11. The Tartars employ " fire-pipes" against the 
 Chinese, 1232 A. D. 
 
 12. Don Jaime throws into Valencia fiery balls 
 which burst, in the year 1238 A. D. 
 
 13. Seville is bombarded with artillery, 1247 A. D. 
 
 14. Damietta was defended against St. Louis 
 with bombs, 1249 A. D. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 233 
 
 15. Albertus Magnus, a monk, is said to have 
 invented " bombardam barbardulam et scolpum 
 manualum," 1280 A. D. 
 
 1 6. A fire-shooting cannon is placed in the arsenal 
 at Amberg, Bavaria, 1303 A. D. 
 
 17. The Spaniards have artillery and use it before 
 Gibraltar, 1308 A. D. 
 
 18. Henry VII bombards Brescia with "thunder 
 guns/ 7 1311 A. D. 
 
 19. The Arabs have cannons before Baza, 1312 
 A. D. 
 
 20. Martos is attacked with artillery, 1326 A. D. 
 The last instance is only four years ago ; for it is 
 
 now the division hour of the end of April and the 
 beginning of May 1330. A fearful storm prevails 
 outside. Incessant heavy rain clatters with hideous 
 noise on the roof. Sheets of lightning and terrible 
 peals of thunder vary with the howling, whistling 
 winds, raging down from the cloud-capped moun- 
 tain into the valley wrapped in Egyptian darkness. 
 All this passes unnoticed by the unconcerned monk, 
 whose whole attention is engrossed, as if enchanted 
 by his absorbing speculations. All at once he rises 
 and runs with eager steps to the laboratory. He 
 quickly lights the astral lamp which hangs from 
 the ceiling, and which now sheds a ghostly yellow 
 flame over, the dusty, smoke-begrimed and cob- 
 webbed premises. Then he lifts the big iron mortar 
 and carries it to the pedestal in the centre ; the burden 
 of heavy weight taxes all his strength. Now he 
 brings the pestle and puts it in its place. Next he 
 hurries to different jars placed upon the multifarious 
 shelves, takes them down and weighs out. from the 
 contents certain quantities, such as he has marked 
 upon a sheet of vellum which he holds in his hands. 
 First a quantity of nitre carefully measured ; to this 
 he adds a less amount of sulphur. Rubbing these 
 
234 BEN BEOR. 
 
 up carefully in the mortar, he now pours in some 
 charcoal, and manipulates these ingredients into one 
 compact and congruous mass. As he bends panting 
 over this exhaustive process, suddenly the whole 
 area is lit up with a ghastly sheen, by a stray bolt 
 of lightning which strikes stunningly into the mortar, 
 shattering it and its inflammable contents into 
 myriads of atoms, hurling the dazed monk uncon- 
 scious to the far off trembling wall, and shaking the 
 whole massive structure as if it were a spinning-top 
 whipped by the hands of a mischievous urchin. To 
 the hapless friar, sitting recumbent against a heav- 
 ing column, it seemed as if some supernatural power 
 had dealt a fearful blow upon his bursting skull. 
 Visions of most horrible and terrible phantoms 
 pass in quick and staggering succession before his 
 dilated eyes : 
 
 Mountains of bleeding and mutilated corpses; 
 piled-up stacks of quivering, moving limbs ; cracked 
 skulls covered with squirming brains and shooting 
 rays of blood; millions of agonized human features 
 in the last throes of death; widows wringing their 
 hands over their heads in wild despair; little orphans 
 with pinched, starved features, prostrate on their 
 backs, glaring imploringly with their lusterless eyes 
 to heaven; ravaged farms with the harvest of the 
 year trodden in seas of mire, while the buzzards and 
 ravens hover over the carcasses of slain men and 
 beasts ; flaming, burning, smoking cities, whence 
 the pallid, fleeing and despairing inhabitants fill the 
 air with the sobs of the women and children and the 
 cursing maledictions vociferating from the maddened 
 and despairing men ; armies swaying to and fro, now 
 jubilantly victorious, intoxicated with success ; now 
 howling and crazed in dismay by being beaten to 
 flight and annihilation; now nations in drunken 
 exultation kneeling in brutal victory upon the necks 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 235 
 
 of their foes; now the same overthrown, mangled 
 and shackled in chains and expiring in defeated 
 despair. As all these move before his vista in gory 
 procession, amidst deafening noise and clash of bat- 
 tle, at last a gaunt-looking, hollow-eyed woman, 
 with disheveled hair flowing wild in the wind, her 
 arms pinioned at her back by chains, her hands 
 grasping a broken sword, upon the rusty blade of 
 which stands in faded letters " Liberty," is led with a 
 rope tightly bound around her emaciated waist, by a 
 figure resembling Black Barthel's own features and 
 form, wearing instead of the cowl and garb of the 
 friar a blood-red mantle and brandishing an execu- 
 tioner's axe, while around him dance demons and 
 goblins with horrible gesticulations and mad capers, 
 all screeching : "Accursed ! Accursed ! and thrice 
 Accursed ! " 
 
 The alarmed brotherhood came running in and 
 found him amidst the chaos of destruction, lying 
 mangled under the debris of the fearfully effective 
 explosion which had taken place but a short while 
 ago. Carried into the fresh air, and with careful 
 nursing, he was soon brought back to conscious- 
 ness, and after a while restored to health. But 
 the terror that should make such indiscriminate 
 havoc and hurl such deathful misery upon the 
 future human world was born, and its author, with 
 results and influences written with blood and tears 
 in the pages of history, went into the shivering world 
 k> reap his baneful triumphs, which ultimately 
 should achieve and complete the appalling business 
 of "Black Barthel," alias "Ben Beor, the Wander- 
 ing Gentile." 
 
236 BEN BEOR. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVI. 
 
 THE FLAGELLANTS. 
 
 Section I. How Strasburg Became Free. 
 
 Gunpowder had been invented ! It was soon to 
 prove one of the greatest agencies of despotism. 
 Crowned heads, potentates and governments were 
 now everywhere engaged, but especially on the 
 European continent, in introducing this new explo- 
 sive. Each watched the other to ascertain which 
 should make the quickest progress and provide the 
 largest number of weapons for its use. 
 
 All former standards of national strength were 
 useless. Now a child might slay a giant, and the 
 weak might rival the strong. Other matters seemed 
 momentarily and universally suspended, even those 
 of importance were overlooked and for the time 
 being set aside during this engrossing commotion 
 and unprecedented activity. 
 
 Yet this very period became so awful in its aspect 
 by the accumulation of untoward, terrible circum- 
 stances as to defy all human efforts either for its 
 relief or amelioration. 
 
 Contrary to every expectation, this was not to 
 transpire through the newly invented agent, but by 
 two forces, one of natural origin, the breaking out 
 of the "Asiatic Pestilence"; (he other by my undying, 
 ever -increasing hatred, striding on in the blighting, 
 sickening wake of the all-consuming epidemic. 
 Both threatened the extinction of church, state and 
 people, irrespective of position, wealth or religious 
 differences. It happened in this wise: 
 
 Eight armies had at different intervals, under 
 historically renowned leaders, with ever-shifting 
 results, carried on as Crusaders the monomaniac 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 237 
 
 idea of conquering the Holy Land, extinguishing 
 Mosleism and substituting Christianity. These ef- 
 forts, ever futile in the end, had depopulated Europe 
 of some of her most robust and powerful elements. 
 Nay, when the Crusaders were at their height, the 
 very children, a juvenile army with no other 
 weapons than shepherd's crooks, proposed to anni- 
 hilate the cursed Saracen. Led by some blinded 
 elder enthusiasts, they perished by the thousands, 
 as the w of ul annals of the horrible "Children's 
 Crusade" record in the year 1212. It sapped even 
 the future possible recuperation, by the destruction 
 of a large part of the rising generation. The imme- 
 diate results of such a wanton upheaval stagnated 
 all agriculture and industry, blighted commerce, 
 trade and art, changed prosperous nations into a 
 horde of vagabonds and reckless paupers. It con- 
 sumed the substance and inheritances of princes and 
 nobles, who in the splendor of their accoutrements 
 and the number of their followers spent large sums. 
 These, in order to raise the ever -requisite funds, 
 pawned their family plate and mortgaged their 
 estates to the Hebrews. That indomitable race, in 
 possession of money accumulating in their provident 
 and cunning hands, remained at home, though re- 
 peatedly assailed, persecuted and murdered by the 
 crazed mobs, and not unfrequently brought to the 
 very extreme of utter annihilation, yet they man- 
 aged to re-establish themselves better than ever 
 before after the comparatively short interval of not 
 quite three centuries. 
 
 Especially fortunate was ,the condition of the 
 Jews in the city of Strasburg, on the borders of 
 France and Germany. I passed through there on 
 my way to Italy. To my amazement I found here 
 a condition of things which, on account of the wide 
 extent of prej udice between the Arians and Semites, 
 
238 BEN BEOR. 
 
 seemed nearly incredible. The strongly pronounced 
 qualities of the slow but thoughtful Teutonic char- 
 acter were here finely blended with the more vivid 
 and sprightly nature of the Latin races, dwelling 
 together peacefully and amicably on the beautiful 
 left border of the Rhine. To these were added a 
 comparatively large proportion of the Hebrews, who 
 had found here at the earliest time of their disper- 
 sion undisturbed and prosperous homes. They 
 mingled freely with their tolerant fellow-citizens, 
 contributing many peculiar traits of thriftiness, 
 industry and domesticity to the tone of their sur- 
 roundings. The malignant influences of clannishness, 
 prejudice and hatred were strangers to the cosmo- 
 politan spirit permeating all classes of society. 
 General prosperity, contentment and progressive 
 growth were the leading chords harmonizing the hum 
 and bustle of the life of this splendid city. For 
 many years the people had been ruled by a kind of 
 dual government. The "Dome-Capital/' presided 
 over by a "Cardinal-Bishop/ 7 possessed full power 
 over all spiritual and educational affairs, and exer- 
 cised a limited supervision over the municipal 
 departments. As owners of one of the finest and 
 most renowned cathedrals of the world, endowed 
 with rich and plethoric incomes, the church required 
 hardly any tithes from the citizens. Following a 
 religious and political policy which was neither 
 oppressive nor intolerant, the course of events, as 
 far as this part of the rulers was concerned, rolled 
 on smoothly and satisfactorily. No rupture of any 
 consequence occurred for centuries. The civil part, 
 called "La Mairie," was elective, and consisted of a 
 president, titled "Lc Maire," and two members 
 named "La Commune." 
 
 The reigning prelate, Monseignor de Berthold, 
 had, however, lately changed all these former peace- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 239 
 
 able conditions. The second son of a princely house, 
 he had been in earliest youth, by hereditary custom, 
 assigned to the ministry. The tendency of his whole 
 character would have fitted him better for any other 
 than a holy calling. Worldly, sensuous, impassioned 
 and crafty; gross in his appetites, ill-humored and 
 treacherous, he possessed not a single quality credit- 
 able to the high church position which was procured 
 for him by his all-powerful relatives and friends. 
 The wise and temperate policy which had been so 
 favorably pursued by a long line of his predeces- 
 sors, was entirely ignored and set aside by the 
 young man. Intrigues and schemes to increase his 
 power and wealth followed one another. The sacred 
 shepherd's crook, the ecclesiastical bishopric-emblem, 
 changed into a tyrannical rod, dealing cruel blows 
 upon his helpless subjects. Nothing prevented his 
 overriding the ancient rights and privileges of the 
 communality but the sturdy and unbending determin- 
 ation of the " Maire," Conrad de Winterthur and 
 his two worthy associates, Gosse Sturm and Peter 
 Schwarber. The choice of the people could not have 
 fallen upon more faithful and sterling servants than 
 these three representatives, tried and proven in the 
 hours of great peril which would have overwhelmed 
 the good city but for their unselfish devotion, zeal 
 and patriotism. 
 
 In the ensuing struggle between the priest and the 
 community I managed to take a peculiar part. On 
 the day and the hour of my arrival I found the 
 street lined with people, following a grotesquely 
 gotten-up funeral cortege. The hearse was drawn 
 by a couple of diminutive donkeys draped in black, 
 each with a little cap fastened to the ears. Every 
 step caused the tinkling of small bells which orna- 
 mented their headgear, also very profusely distributed 
 over the fringed seams of their mourning attire. A 
 
240 BEN BEOR. 
 
 coffin, striped black and red, bore a cap similar 
 to those on the donkeys 7 heads, only much larger 
 and ornamented with gilt embroidery. The cas- 
 ket contained the dead body of the bishop's harlequin, 
 whose premature demise had taken place but a day 
 ago. A long train of acolytes in their altar garbs 
 followed, and the procession closed up with an 
 official herald, who cried out, "Our fool is dead 
 who will be a living fool?" It was certainly the 
 funniest and yet the saddest exhibition I ever wit- 
 nessed, and numbers of the lookers-on must have 
 been impressed with the same idea, for while many 
 mouths were seen with broad grins, yet tears 
 flowed at the same time from the laugher's eyes. I 
 hastened away, but next day presented myself in the 
 most grotesque attire before his Eminence as a can- 
 didate for the vacant position of his jester. After 
 having given eminent proof of the agility of my 
 limbs and the versatility of my tongue, I was readily 
 accepted and quickly installed as the official fool of 
 his Eight Reverence the Cardinal Bishop of Stras- 
 burg. If ever I was in right position for mischief 
 and evil, it was in the new career which opened now 
 before me. I became a constant and indispensable 
 attendant at the priest's palace, and by my inex- 
 haustible fund of wit, satire and humor kept the 
 light-headed prelate in an almost continual roar of 
 laughter. Pandering assiduously to all his base- 
 ness and vices, cunningly I contrived many kinds of 
 intrigues for his insatiable lechery, led him into low 
 sorts of escapades and adventures, thereby becoming 
 soon the envied, all-powerful, confidential favorite 
 among his clerical subordinates and numerous lay- 
 servants. 
 
 Often we would wander in disguise through high- 
 ways" and byways in search of some new love- 
 intrigue, none of which was too bold or too criminal 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 241 
 
 for my master. On the contrary, the more outrage- 
 ous our proceedings, the more spicy it proved for 
 his coarse and ever-craving appetite. On the last of 
 these expeditions we chanced one evening to pass 
 the house of the Chief Magistrate. The balcony 
 was lit up by a flood of light, streaming out from 
 the profusion of lamps burning within. An old 
 crone, no doubt the mother, was sitting upon a rus- 
 tic settee by a youthful maiden, both engaged in 
 earnest and animated conversation. I punched my 
 companion playfully and jovially in the ribs and 
 exclaimed, " Here is meat for your sport ! " He 
 seemed perfectly beside himself, and gazed and gazed 
 as if he might swallow the unexpected sight with 
 his glaring eyes. "A thousand ducats!" he cried 
 out at last, "if you get me the prize, and a 
 thousand more if you bring her to me without much 
 delay!" 
 
 I vaulted over the palisades and stood bowing and 
 scraping before the much astonished and frightened 
 females, and unhesitatingly addressed myself to the 
 old dame : " I beg your thousand pardons for the rude 
 intrusion, but my master and princely lord has just 
 now dropped right here before your door a ring, 
 an heirloom of priceless value. Despite of all our 
 search we have not been able to find it. He stands 
 yonder in great despair and uneasiness for his loss. 
 Might we beseech you to order some of your servants 
 to come out with lights and assist us in recovering 
 the valuable jewel?" Scared as were the ladies, 
 audacious as were my proceedings and as was the 
 excuse, the women soon became composed, and the 
 daughter spoke out first. " To be sure, dear mother, 
 we cannot deny so reasonable a request; let me call 
 the porter and coachman to help with their lanterns 
 to search for the missing ring." She had risen and 
 was about to call the servants, when there was 
 
242 BEN BEOR. 
 
 heard a great noise and commotion from below, and 
 forthwith a crowd of officers of the law, led by an 
 old Jew, rushed from within to the balcony, dragging 
 my patron a prisoner to our presence. They were 
 closely followed by the master of the house and a 
 host of angry citizens. 'I was bound and shackled. 
 Lights being brought, we were unceremoniously and 
 rudely divested of our disguises. Imagine the sur- 
 prise and consternation of the crowd to behold in 
 the captured suspects their Cardinal Bishop and his 
 clown. Here was a cruel revelation. For some 
 time criminal acts of the lowest and most aggravating 
 type had been secretly committed during nightfall, 
 not unfrequently in the heart of the city. The per- 
 petrators had not been discovered, but public indig- 
 nation rose to fever-heat. In this emergency a 
 band of detectives were secretly established. At 
 their head stood Conrad de AVinterthur, aided by 
 his two colleagues. They called into requisition 
 the assistance and services of a trusted and widely- 
 known friend, the Hebrew banker Lionel. He had 
 distinguished himself greatly on previous occasions 
 for his fine detective traits, being, notwithstanding 
 his many years, shrewd, quick in understanding, 
 tireless in every effort, and watchful with an exhaust- 
 less patience when once his energies were aroused. 
 A number of the leaders and their companions 
 had been assembled on this very evening at a 
 favorite public wine-hall, unostentatiously but 
 conveniently located in some obscure part of the 
 town. Here they were eagerly discussing the all- 
 engrossing subject of their mission, when suddenly 
 the Hebrew, who faced the open window, sprang 
 to his feet and pointed to two figures, who just 
 flitted stealthily at a great pace by the house. 
 "FoMow me!" cried the excited old man, and in an 
 instant the whole crowd, without any noise, issued 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 243 
 
 forth in pursuit of the strangely-moving rovers. 
 To their astonishment, the way led right to the chief 
 magistrate's residence, and from a convenient nook 
 they nx)t only observed the movements of the unsus- 
 pecting intruders, but overheard every word of their 
 conversation, ending in the remarkable sequel of the 
 capture of us the surprised miscreants. 
 
 His Eminence, with the most crestfallen, sheepish- 
 looking countenance, asked to be permitted to return 
 to the cathedral residence, and promised all and 
 everything if given our freedom. But the citizens 
 would not listen to his entreaties nor enter into any 
 compromise. They escorted us to the Mairie. As 
 the strange procession moved through the streets, 
 lit up by the torches of the ever-swelling crowd, 
 the report of our capture spread quickly through 
 the city and a storm of revolution broke forth with 
 such fury as to threaten our lives. But we reached 
 at last our destination in safety, were ushered into 
 some of the upper chambers, and locked up with 
 the authorities. The clangor of the bells, ringing 
 soon from every steeple, brought forth the "garde 
 nationale," and these received orders to take charge 
 of and protect the public building. Part of the mob 
 that had soon congregated surged and raged here, 
 clamoring for the surrender of the captives ; part 
 hurried to the Bishop's palace, sacked it and liber- 
 ated some of the immured female victims, who had 
 been from time to time kidnapped and had mysteri- 
 ously disappeared. Our trial lasted till morning. 
 I pretended to be the principal malefactor. In this I 
 was stoutly seconded by my abjectly cowed confed- 
 erate. But we both being under no other jurisdic- 
 tion than that of the Church of Rome, they agreed 
 to my perpetual banishment from the city and the 
 waiving of any further investigations of the terrible 
 scandal, on condition of the absolute abdication now 
 
244 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and forever of the Dome-Capital's secular power, 
 authority or vested rights in the government of 
 Strasburg, which henceforth and for all time to come 
 was to be declared a free city of the realm. Such 
 had been long since the effort and ambition of this 
 community. It was all agreed to, signed and sealed. 
 At daybreak the great bell of the Mairie was rung, and 
 soon the people were assembled in front of the place. 
 Here the proclamation was read to the multitude, 
 and the charter of their municipal liberty accepted 
 by them amidst wild shouts of joy and' approval. 
 A safeguard was then given to his Eminence to 
 bring him safely to the cathedral ; another was ap- 
 pointed to escort me over the boundaries of the town. 
 We left amidst the groans and hisses of the masses, 
 but monseignor, no doubt, as well as myself, consid- 
 ered that we got off lightly from the ugly predicament. 
 Thus ended the first episode in the fearful drama 
 that was shortly to be enacted here, as well as in all 
 parts of the European continent. 
 
 Section II. The Pestilence. 
 
 From where my tormentors left me, I proceeded 
 slowly and gloomily southwards. My mind was 
 cast down with the exasperating reflection that every 
 effort which I had made thus far for achieving the 
 goal of my ambition, to hold down the people in 
 ignorance and serfdom by the powers of tyrannical 
 governments and the domineering, mind-enslaving 
 bigotry of the Church, was always frustrated in the 
 end by the same agency of the ever-meddling, refrac- 
 tory Jew, with the teachings of his cursed "Torah." 
 
 From these bitter, aggravating reveries I was 
 awakened by the approach of a seemingly endless 
 crowd of noisy revellers, clad in the most varied and 
 fantastic garbs, males and females, adorned with a 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 245 
 
 profusion of leaves and clusters of grapes from the 
 vineyards. They were celebrating their annual 
 feast of the vintners, having finished the work of 
 gathering the wine crop, and now making a jolly 
 harvest-holiday, to compensate themselves for the 
 arduous labors of the past season. Preceded by 
 drummers and fifers, they sang, shouted and gam- 
 boled like a merry band of children. When they 
 reached me, they crowded round and pressed me 
 into their midst, adorning my hat and vestments 
 with the same ornaments, leaves and fruits which 
 gave them such a gladsome appearance, insisting 
 that I, like every stranger whom they should meet 
 this clay, must join their bacchanalia. Readily con- 
 senting, I was introduced to another of their guests 
 whom they but a little while ago had impressed 
 into their lines. He was an old, weather-beaten, 
 battle-scarred, invalid soldier. On coming to a halt 
 for midday refreshments and rest, my companion- 
 traveler told me his story. 
 
 He was a native of Strasburg, had joined the 
 last army of Crusaders some years ago, after end- 
 less adventures and countless troubles, and after the 
 last and final defeat of the Christians in the Holy 
 Land, joined a band of returning marauders, who 
 eagerly sought to make their way back to the old fath- 
 erlands. Driven by the closely pursuing Saracens 
 into India, they had fallen in with a long proces- 
 sion of Mussulman pilgrims, who returned from the 
 holy " Caaba " of Mecca. Exhausted from fatigue, 
 hardships of all kinds, and exposed to the deathly 
 miasma and exhalations of the pestiferous river 
 Ganges, mortality was, and is as usual with them, very 
 great. Hundreds of the afflicted died by the roadside, 
 and remaining unburied, exposed to the sweltering 
 heat of a tropical sun, added greatly by mortification 
 which set in, to an ever-increasing dreadful and 
 
246 BEN BEOE. 
 
 fatal epidemic. As a matter of precaution for their 
 personal safety among these fanatics, they thought- 
 lessly appropriated some habiliments of the Arabian 
 corpses, and thus disguised as natives, followed 
 undetected among the benighted wanderers. At 
 last they reached the boundaries of Europe, where 
 they left the Mahomedans, glad to part with such 
 stolid fellow-travelers. Soon they separated also, 
 taking the different routes to their nativities. 
 "Alas ! dear friend," he continued, " I had not trav- 
 eled far when the stunning report followed me that 
 some of my companions, after reaching short dis- 
 tances on their way, fell, overcome by the dread 
 disease which they unquestionably had contracted a 
 little while ago, and died most horrible deaths among 
 strangers. The worst feature in these pitiful cases 
 consisted of the fact that the people who charitably 
 had aided the sufferers coming among them, caught 
 the infection. It spread with a malignity and un- 
 precedented speed unknow r n in the annals of medical 
 science. All the Southern provinces of Russia, 
 Austria and Italy are now one great lazaretto. The 
 physicians stand helplessly by, unable to stay the 
 contagion or relieve the sufferers. The people die by 
 the hundreds and thousands. I deem myself excep- 
 tionally lucky for having escaped thus far the dread 
 infection, but must own that for several days I have 
 not felt well, and this morning was barely able to 
 proceed on my journey, when I was encountered by 
 these joyous peasants. The excitement and novelty of 
 their proceedings held me up. lam now no longer 
 able to move on. God alone knows what is to be- 
 come of me ; I feel so weak, drowsy and confused." 
 We were sitting on a rustic bench, such as line 
 everywhere the French and German highways for 
 the accommodation of tired travelers. When he 
 ceased speaking his grizzled head sank on his half- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 247 
 
 bared breast. I quickly made room for him, and 
 rising, assisted the sick man to stretch out on the 
 vacant place. As I bent over him his breath came 
 heavy and thick, his bloodshot eyes became glassy 
 and glaring, protruding from the sockets. His wan 
 face turned livid and then red with fever. Great 
 drops of clammy perspiration stood on his forehead, 
 and convulsive twitchings gave his whole counten- 
 ance an unearthly appearance. At my request, he, 
 with a painful effort, opened his lips and showed 
 his tongue. It had an unnatural, chalky-white 
 color. He begged for some water, gasping that he 
 was burning up inside. There was no mistake about 
 it ; I recognized the awful symptoms from my former 
 experience ; it was the dreadful Asiatic plague. Curi- 
 osity and the so often fatal desire to render help in 
 cases of such emergencies caused the people to crowd 
 and press upon us. I cried out to them to keep 
 away, warning all that there was deathly danger 
 among them, overtaking surely such as would insist 
 upon approaching nearer. But none would heed 
 until they had viewed the stricken victim. Then 
 one after the other fled, until none were left but the 
 village priest and the burgomaster. In counseling 
 with me what was best to do under the terrible cir- 
 cumstances, I advised that they should procure a 
 vehicle and send the dying man without delay to the 
 not far-off city of Strasburg. They engaged a 
 wagon from an adjoining farm-house, losing as little 
 time as possible. The poor fellow was made com- 
 fortable on a litter of straw. Before the driver 
 started on his errand of mercy, I drew a piece of 
 vellum from my coat-pocket, and with a pencil of 
 black lead wrote the following message to his Honor 
 "le Maire" of the free city of Strasburg: 
 
 "That you may not think your banished servant 
 ungrateful for the leniency shown in his sentence, I 
 
248 BEN BEOR. 
 
 send to you, by the bearer, the token of my thanks. 
 Cherish it as best you and your fellow-citizens may, 
 a gift from the Cardinal's jester, whose true name is 
 ' Ben Beor, the Wandering Gentile/ ' 
 
 Section III. The False Accusation. 
 
 The two men and my message reached their desti- 
 nation towards evening. The sick person, by this 
 time, was covered all over with hard, dusky spots, 
 each one with a distinct head filled with a dull 
 colored fluid, around which had formed gangrenous 
 sores, forming ugly-looking carbuncles. Every gland 
 of his body had swelled into dark, angry-looking 
 inflammations. He complained of piercing head- 
 ache; that he felt chilled and restless, and that his 
 limbs were no longer movable. His skin was hot 
 and dry, his eyes red and muddy, and his tongue 
 had changed color from the dead-white to a glisten- 
 ing black. The authorities sent him quickly to the 
 hospital, where, shortly after his admittance, he died 
 in the hands of the physicians. These were greatly 
 puzzled concerning the strange malady before them, 
 utterly unknown in their pathological experience. 
 For the purpose of professional inquiry, many of 
 the medical men from the city were called in to 
 pass, by post-mortem examination, upon the disease. 
 They allowed the festering, contagion-breeding corpse 
 to lie exposed for the entire following night and day, 
 and finally agreed unanimously that the subject of 
 their investigations had died from poison. The terri- 
 ble consequences of this criminal carelessness and 
 ignorance were revealed in a very short interval. In 
 a few days the city was under the horrible spell of 
 the relentless contagion. The sick, the dying and 
 dead were everywhere. Doctors, apothecaries and 
 grave-diggers were in demand incessantly, working 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 249 
 
 at their sad occupations with hardly any respite. 
 Not unfrequently they themselves were struck by 
 the pitiless disease and fell dead by the side of others. 
 Strange to say, the driver of the vehicle who brought 
 the first victim to the town escaped from the black 
 demon of destruction. On returning to the village 
 he reported the often -experienced freaks of the 
 epidemic ; that all along the road where he had trav- 
 eled, although no one had come near him, there was 
 barely a house spared by the fatal attack of the un- 
 known sickness, and that in many instances whole 
 families the old and the young fell victims to an 
 untimely death. The villagers, too, soon became 
 prostrated, and one after the other lay down to die. 
 
 I stayed here long enough to procure for myself a 
 change of habiliments. This proved of consider- 
 able difficulty. The local tailor, a slow and uncouth 
 fellow, had to make each by piecemeal, and, after 
 finishing a kind of cassock, occupying several days, he 
 too was taken sick. I left and made my way hur- 
 riedly towards the boundaries on the road leading 
 into Switzerland. 
 
 All along through my journey and everywhere 
 there occurred the same appalling sight of the dying 
 and the dead. The calamity was augmented, if this 
 was possible, by continuous wild reports of the spread 
 of the pestilence, which grew into monstrous pro- 
 portions. Nothing could exceed the spectral sight of 
 men, with their carts and wagons, moving ghostlike 
 from house to house, gathering silently the coarsely 
 made coffins containing corpses of many persons not 
 longer dead than a few hours. It was rumored that 
 in instances there were some shrived while yet alive. 
 Piled on top of one another, these were dumped into 
 one common, hastily made, shallow grave; covered 
 up by the hirelings with indecent speed and coarse 
 jests. Funerals and burial-rites had long since 
 
250 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ceased. During the rage of the insatiable plague, 
 by the instinct of self-preservation, all human feel- 
 ings, all social and charitable relations, all bonds and 
 ties between relatives and friends became extinct 
 and utterly abandoned. On the appearance of the 
 dreaded symptoms, known soon by everybody, child- 
 ren would flee from their parents; fathers and even 
 mothers rush from the houses when they perceived 
 their little ones attacked by the malady. All dis- 
 tinctions between the rich and the poor ceased to 
 exist. Money and its value had no longer purchas- 
 ing powers. The fangs of destruction were fastened 
 indiscriminately upon the prince and the beggar, 
 the high and the low, the priests and the laymen, 
 the young and the old, the strong and the weak. 
 Only one class, by common and exasperating report, 
 escaped to a most remarkable extent the all-blighting 
 ravages of the infectious curse. Everywhere it was 
 noticed, and became visible to the enraged, half- 
 crazed masses, that the Jews enjoyed to a wonderful 
 degree immunity from the fatal pestilence. But 
 they were soon to suffer for this phenomenal fact, 
 otherwise and with cruel fatality. 
 
 By this time I had arrived at the beautifully 
 located French border village Yilleneuve. It looks 
 like a garden, surrounded with evergreen hills, 
 forming vineyards, set off picturesquely by innumer- 
 able arbors of prune and apple trees ; while the 
 quaint-colored cottages, strung out in broad avenues, 
 each standing in the midst of flower and vegetable 
 gardens, gave it the appearance of an idyllic para- 
 dise. Only in the southern outskirts stood a cluster 
 of shabby-looking houses, separated from the rest by 
 high walls. This was the quarter of the Hebrews. 
 
 Near this secluded spot I found, after much trou- 
 ble and many inquiries, a place of shelter with a 
 very old woman who had a spare room and was glad 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 251 
 
 in her loneliness and straitened means to find a 
 guest. She was entirely ignorant of the general 
 calamitous suffering that had befallen her neighbors, 
 living isolated and unconcerned of what was going 
 on in the outer world. Being hard of hearing and 
 of very bad eyesight, people were not accustomed to 
 trouble her with many visits; and, although she was 
 aware that something unusual and exciting was trans- 
 piring among the townsfolk, she did not care to make 
 particular inquiries, and the sufferers had no time 
 nor inclination to communicate to her any of the sor- 
 rowful details. 
 
 The reason why I desired to tarry in this some- 
 what out-of-the-way place w^as this : I learned, 
 while coming hither, that several governments, in 
 conjunction with the ecclesiastical authorities, had 
 appointed a commission to investigate here a fearful, 
 wide-spread rumor concerning the origin of the 
 pestilence. It was charged everywhere that there 
 existed among the Israelites all over the continent a 
 foul conspiracy to exterminate the Christians by 
 poisoning the- waters of the rivers, the wells, drink- 
 ing fountains and cisterns. Foolish and crazy as 
 this wild accusation should have appeared, yet the 
 excited and frenzied state of the people grasped at 
 anything amidst the disorder and lawlessness, upon 
 which to spend their pent-up wrath, caused by misery 
 and despair. No one could have been more eager 
 than I to foster the damnable illusion, visibly preg- 
 nant with the worst consequences to the maligned 
 suspects ; and therefore \vas firmly resolved to take a 
 hand in the coming persecutions, which hung like a 
 dark cloud in the horizon. Affairs soon transpired 
 in my personal concerns which prospered my outra- 
 geous designs. 
 
 I needed some more clothing, and was directed by 
 my landlady for the procurement of the same to the 
 
252 BEN BEOR. 
 
 " Ghetto," where, as she stated, there lived a widow, 
 Madame Bellieta, and her son Aquet, who kept a com- 
 plete store of men's wear which they brought from 
 Paris. Thither, then, I repaired. To my agree- 
 able surprise, I found in the proprietress a com- 
 paratively young, buxom and comoly woman. Her 
 son, a youth, was, however, one of the lower type of 
 his people; dark, long-nosed, shrewd and obsequious. 
 I was soon suited, and to their surprise paid without 
 disputing the price demanded for my purchases. 
 The son carried the goods to my quarters, and while 
 he was away I entered into a lively conversation 
 with the sprightly and affable widow. On inquiry, 
 I found that they have had but few sick and only one 
 death up to this time from the pestilence in the 
 Ghetto. Pressing for an explanation of this curious 
 phenomenal fact, she made the following statement : - 
 " We Israelites observe strictly the Mosaic dietary 
 Iaw 7 s. By these we abstain entirely from the use of 
 swine's meat. Unquestionably, this plentiful source 
 of our Christian neighbor's food contains largely the 
 germs favorable to the spread of any contagious dis- 
 ease. No less do we most scrupulously exclude 
 blood in any shape from our victuals. This is, per- 
 haps, another of the principal reasons of our con- 
 tinued good health. Animals killed by our officials 
 are only permitted as food if physically sound. 
 For this purpose the lungs and vitals, especially of 
 any beef-creature, must be carefully and scientifically 
 examined and pronounced in a healthy state, before 
 the seal of approval for the sale of the meat is 
 placed on the carcass. Every drop of the life fluid 
 must be separated. Our women, as matter of pre- 
 caution, leave meat before cooking an hour in salt, 
 and again in water. Besides these, other precaution- 
 ary measures are taken, especially in times of danger, 
 to keep our habitations and streets as clean and pure 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 253 
 
 as it possibly can be done in our narrow and crowded 
 surroundings. This, and many other sanitary mat- 
 ters, inclusive of the most unselfish care for the sick 
 and the prompt burial of the dead, are entrusted to 
 the charge of a benevolent and powerful society, a 
 leading branch of the congregation. It is called 
 ' the Chevrah.' The men form its main body, but 
 the women are united in an auxiliary band, and even 
 the children are associated with these for charitable 
 labors. Every case of destitution is relieved at once ; 
 watchers and nurses are provided by day and night 
 for the sick, and nobody ever shirks the sacred duty 
 of attending promptly to- the burial of any one dying 
 in the Ghetto. As a last reason for our certainly 
 great immunity from the plague, is the assiduous 
 care, unremitting watchfulness and almost super- 
 human devotion of our skilled and highly successful 
 Jewish doctors. They have enjoyed, from time im- 
 memorial in all lands and climes, a peerless reputa- 
 tion. Kings and princes have summoned them to 
 their thrones ; but the common people, from imbibed 
 hatred and prejudices spread by their priests, would 
 rather die than call any o-ne of them into their fam- 
 ilies for medical relief. Here we have in this village, 
 our own beloved and revered doctor Valavigny, 
 who resides in the adjoining village f Thonon. He 
 comes here daily on regular inspection, and at any 
 time when necessary. We all worship the good old 
 man, whose very smile seems a cure to the afflicted 
 and ailing. At the outbreak of the epidemic in this 
 neighborhood he freely offered his services to- the 
 community at large. But his envious Christian col- 
 leagues, in coalition with the vicars, so decried his 
 religion and his mode of practice, that he never was 
 called, although the masses die unattended by the 
 hundreds." 
 
 On further inquiry whether she had heard of the 
 
254 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ominous, dreadful report against her people, that 
 they all over Europe were in secret coalition to ex- 
 terminate the Christians by poison, and that such was 
 really the cause and origin of the present all-pre- 
 vailing fatal epidemic, she answered that her people 
 everywhere had indeed learned of this slanderous and 
 villainous accusation, and that they lived in great and 
 tremulous apprehension of impending danger. " But 
 we trust/ 7 she continued, " that the good common- 
 sense of the better portion of the people will see the 
 utter fallacy and entire impossibility of any truth in 
 such a monstrous invention, too maliciously gross 
 for the venomous fanaticism of even the most igno- 
 rant. Besides all of this, we are in the hands of our 
 God ; He has protected and saved us in all the perils 
 and dangers which heretofore have befallen His chosen 
 nation, and will not now, we fondly trust, abandon us 
 in this hour of our great trials." 
 
 As the woman ceased speaking she actually looked 
 grandly beautiful. The excitement caused by her 
 deep feelings suifused her creamy cheeks with roseate 
 tints ; her dark eyes overflowed with tears ; and as 
 she stood there erect, with hands as in supplication 
 folded upon her finely rounded bosom, methought 
 an instantaneous resurrection of a figure which 
 always lives in my imagination had taken place 
 before my very eyes. She was the identical counter- 
 part of" Merris," the Egyptian princess, my first love. 
 
 Under such a spell I grasped both her hands, 
 which by this time had fallen with unconscious grace 
 to her sides, and pressed them with a fervor no doubt 
 entirely unexpected by the wondering woman. I 
 stated to her that myself and friends had great in- 
 fluence with the international commission which 
 was to investigate the current charges against the 
 Jews, and protested in glowing terms that we would 
 do all in our power to protect her and her people. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 255 
 
 Her tears commenced welling forth again as she 
 thanked me in artless but most fervent words for 
 these assurances. At this instant her son returned 
 and I made a motion to leave. She invited me 
 urgently to visit her house again and as often as my 
 time would permit ; adding that any kindness and 
 protection offered and extended would find the most 
 grateful appreciation. Thus we bade farewell to 
 each other, having met an hour ago as entire stran- 
 gers, and now parting as warm friends. 
 
 Section IV. Foiled Again. 
 
 At least ten days must elapse before the govern- 
 ment commission for this district could arrive here 
 for the investigation of the heinous charges made 
 against the Jews, accused of wholesale poisoning 
 the waters of the continent. This interval, as may 
 be supposed, I spent mostly at the house of my new 
 acquaintance, the beautiful widow, Madame Bel- 
 lietu. I soon observed that the son had taken a 
 great aversion to me, and absented himself on one 
 excuse or the other whenever I visited them. I 
 heard him repeatedly mumble on my entrance, 
 " There comes that hated Goy again." Goy is a de- 
 risive appellation for all who do not belong to the 
 Jewish faith. He then would disappear by the back 
 door. The woman, however, looked upon me with 
 more favor ; accepted a few trifling presents, selected 
 with great delicacy so as not to appear improper, and, 
 she even soon permitted the slight familiarity of my 
 kissing her hand when I came and departed. The 
 flattered vanity of her sex got the better of her judg- 
 ment. Encouraged thereby, I ventured after a few 
 days to speak of love, and how happy I should deem 
 myself to possess such a woman for a wife. This, 
 however, appeared to bring the widow to her senses. 
 
256 BEN BEOR. 
 
 In language that could not be mistaken, she respect- 
 fully but firmly forbade me ever to broach the subject 
 again. "While I, as a widow/' she continued, 
 "need not be girlishly squeamish in my dealings 
 with men, and while I have, perhaps indiscreetly, 
 accepted your attentions as coming from an avowed 
 kind protector, yet the thought of marriage has 
 never entered my mind. Were I ever to entertain 
 another matrimonial alliance, there are many anxious 
 suitors among my own people. The memory of my 
 devoted and most affectionate husband is too fresh 
 yet in my sorrowing heart to think of anything but 
 my grief and bereavement. It is strange," she said, 
 now with a sarcastic smile, " that you Christian gentle- 
 men have so frequently a penchant for us Semitic 
 females. In your ardent passions you make very 
 interesting wooers ; but when once married, as the 
 few exceptional subjects who ventured on the experi- 
 ment have generally found out to their life-long sor- 
 row, you prove not the best of husbands ; at least not 
 such as we are accustomed to find among our own 
 domestic circles. It is not the difference of religion 
 alone which hinders a felicitous connubial blending, 
 although this too is a great factor and element in the 
 discordant relation between two who are to become 
 one. Love, as a cement that must bring about such 
 a union, rests fundamentally upon the ethical senti- 
 ments, interwoven with our being from early youth. 
 These cannot be lightly thrown off, changed, or put 
 on at will. But equally in importance, if not more 
 so, are the differences and habits, tastes and sur- 
 roundings of everyday life, which must become a bar 
 to the happiness in the amalgamation of two distinct 
 races." " Oh, you are mistaken," I cried, and fell 
 before her on my knees. " Let me prove to you that 
 true love can overcome all these obstacles. Be mine, 
 mine forever, and see if I cannot make you the most 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 257 
 
 contented, supremely blessed spouse who ever rested 
 in the arms of a slavishly devoted companion." With 
 this I sprang to my feet, clasping her violently to 
 my breast, and showering fiery kisses upon her lips 
 and forehead. The woman at first was dumbfounded, 
 and in her surprise did not resist. As soon as she 
 realized, however, the insult to her feminine dignity 
 and modesty, she threw me off with the strength of 
 an enraged tigress. Even my supernatural physical 
 power was no match for her outraged womanhood. 
 With an imperious, contemptuous wave of her hand 
 she pointed to the door, whence, crestfallen, I pre- 
 cipitately made my exit. On reaching the threshold, 
 I, however, turned once more towards her. With 
 clenched fists and fierce malignity of voice and ges- 
 tures, begotten by irate lust and deepest humiliation, 
 I hissed : " Accursed Jew ! revenge on thee and thine ! 
 most exquisite and crushing vengeance on the male- 
 dieted seed of Abraham for this insult and contumely 
 to me, who might have been your friend and pro- 
 tector." After this I hastily left her, she falling 
 senseless and swooning to the floor. 
 
 The loud words and shrieks of our stormy alter- 
 cation had reached the terrified people of the Ghetto, 
 and I saw them rushing from all directions to the 
 house as I disappeared. 
 
 Section V. The Torture. 
 
 At last the delegation for the inquiry into the 
 poisoning conspiracy was fully assembled. By an 
 inexplicable policy, South France was represented 
 by the Cardinal Bishop of Strasburg, my late vic- 
 timized master, Monseignor de Berthold. I found 
 him at his temporal quarters. He was greatly sur- 
 prised to see me. After talking over in the most hila- 
 rious manner our recent experiences, I broached 
 
258 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the subject now on hand, not intimating, however, 
 even with a word, my adventure with the Jewish 
 widow. We agreed that during the session of the 
 commission I should remain in the service of his 
 Reverence, but appear in public as entire strangers. 
 We shared with equal ferocity our hatred against 
 the children of Israel, and were determined that 
 they, in one way or another, should be convicted 
 of the wicked accusation and suffer as they never 
 had suffered before. 
 
 The ravages of the dreadful malady were now at 
 their height. The terror of the people knew no 
 bounds. They died like flocks of infected sheep. 
 The crazed sufferers looked somewhere and for 
 somebody on whom to wreak their wrath and bitter 
 vengeance. It was, notwithstanding, apparent in the 
 first day's session of the commission that the opin- 
 ions and sentiments concerning our investigation 
 were greatly divided. The charge on its face was 
 too preposterous to be readily accepted by any num- 
 ber of sane and reflecting persons. As usual, the 
 Hebrews, in great extremity of danger, had found 
 among the hosts of their revilers some warm and 
 staunch defenders and friends. Foremost among 
 these was the venerable, humane Pope Clement VI, 
 who, even with his dying hand, issued a celebrated 
 "Bull" addressed to all Christianity, proclaiming 
 the innocence of the Jews concerning the awful poi- 
 son accusation, elucidating infallible reasons for the 
 groundlessness and folly of the shameless and mali- 
 cious charge. He solemnly admonished every priest 
 to shield and protect the defamed people, and ex- 
 communicated all who should commit violence 
 against them (Sept. 14, 1348 A. D.). Then, like a 
 beacon-light among the German people who glutted 
 themselves with ravenous instincts on every occa- 
 sion of an outbreak against the hated Semites, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 259 
 
 appeared a few en lightened and humane communities, 
 who, at their own great risk, actively and energeti- 
 cally fought the bloody vandalism of the times. The 
 Burgomaster and the Schoepfen of Cologna, those of 
 the Swiss cities of Basel and Freiburg, but most espec- 
 ially the commune of Strasburg, were the noted 
 leaders in opposition to the common fanatical frenzy. 
 Even the people of Villeneuve were liberally and 
 kindly inclined towards their Jewish neighbors, and 
 made every exertion for their protection. 
 
 If anything decisive was to be accomplished, radi- 
 cal measures must be instituted. The first step to 
 be taken was to adjourn the council instantly to the 
 neighboring town of Benfelden, where the whole 
 population, intensely ignorant, lived under the abso- 
 lute rule of a bigoted priest. I pressed this matter 
 so strongly upon the mind of my patron and friend 
 that he carried it readily with his confreres, and 
 thither we went on the second day. 
 
 The next important problem to be solved was to 
 adduce, if possible, some semblance of proof concern- 
 ing the truth of the imputed crime. For this pur- 
 pose I had planned the most cunning and cruelly 
 vengeful proceedings in this tragedy. My raging 
 spite against the detested widow Bellieta, her son 
 Aquet, and their boasted Doctor Valavigny, fur- 
 ni.shed the means for the early accomplishment of 
 this my iniquitous scheme. We had these three 
 persons arrested and brought before the sacred tri- 
 bunal of the "Fehin," which formed an adjunct of 
 the council. There was not much trouble to have my- 
 self appointed chief executioner. Thus it became my 
 official duty to torture our three prisoners into a 
 confession of being participants in the felony charged 
 against their race. Too well I knew the cowardly 
 wcak-heartedness of these people when subjected to 
 physical pain. So, clad in the crimson robe of my 
 
260 BEN BEOR. 
 
 cruel office, and with face masked, joined by a number 
 of coarse, brutal-looking bailiffs, I had the prisoners 
 brought into the subterranean chamber of Inquiry 
 situated under the church. Monseignor de Berthold 
 presided ; two others of the delegates acted as scribes ; 
 several commissioners, actuated by the same vindic- 
 tive motives, attended as interrogators and witnesses. 
 The village cure officiated as monitor. With his bland 
 and unctuous voice he called upon them, for the 
 honor of God, to ease their consciences and confess 
 what knowledge they had of, and how much they 
 themselves participated in, the foul conspiracy against 
 the members of the Church. " If you refuse, we have 
 means, as you will find to your sorrow, to press the 
 truth out of you. But we rather wish that you, 
 offspring of Belial, should see the monstrous wicked- 
 ness of your ways and make of your own accord a 
 full confession of your crime. Own Christ, our 
 Saviour, by being baptized in the holy faith and 
 save your miserable lives." The prisoners looked 
 haggard and dejected. After a short and painful 
 pause the Doctor advanced, and bowing to the 
 President, spoke out loudly and firmly : " What I 
 say is for us all. We have committed no crime and 
 know nothing of any conspiracy by our people. We 
 are in the hands of God, whom we worship as ' the 
 One/ and whom we will not deny nor forsake. You 
 may do with us as you dare. Beware that you do 
 not arouse still more the anger of the Almighty! " 
 
 At a signal from the Cardinal I now took charge 
 of the prisoners. I handed over the two men to my 
 attendants. They led them to the outer left corner 
 where stood the rack. I took hold of the woman, 
 pushing her onward to the right corner, where, sus- 
 pended from the ceiling, hung the thumb-screws. 
 On the word of command from me, our horrible 
 work commenced. Before I placed the irons upon 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 261 
 
 her hands, and while the terrible cries of her suffer- 
 ing companions re-echoed through the vaulted space, 
 I whispered to her : " Marry that stranger whom you 
 have so despisingly insulted and you shall be 
 saved." But she answered tremblingly, yet without 
 hesitation, " Never, no never ! " and gave me such a 
 withering look of contempt and detestation that I 
 felt in my innermost soul she had recognized and 
 identified her persecutor. My rage knew no bounds. 
 I had been instructed by the members of the tribunal 
 not to exercise too much force in the attempt to 
 extract confession from the woman, but as I turned 
 the excruciating screws upon the tender flesh of her 
 thumbs, I gave them such a tremendous ugly wrench 
 that I heard the joints of her bones crack, and she 
 issued a piercing scream which will ring in my ears 
 all the rest of my life. She fainted away. I had a 
 sponge drenched with vinegar and cold water ready 
 to revive her. As she opened her eyes, one of the 
 secretaries, who had followed in my wake by power 
 of his office, asked her the usual question, " Will 
 you now confess?" She looked at me terrified 
 and pitifully wild, then cried out, "For God's sake, 
 anything everything only take me away from this 
 man ! " She was now led back to the interrogator. 
 The others stood there already, pale, trembling and 
 bleeding. They had succumbed after the first few 
 severe punishments at the hands of my powerful 
 helpers. They owned up to everything. The cun- 
 ning inquiries were so artfully put that they made a 
 cohesive and complete story. In the form of a con- 
 fession it stated exact responses to the leading ques- 
 tions, asked and repeated by the trembling and 
 apprehensive prisoners. Thus they were made to 
 say in substance the following facts : 
 
 ' Yes, there was a European conspiracy among 
 the Jews to poison the Christians by the drinking 
 water." 
 
202 BEN BEOR. 
 
 " Yes, it was conceived and sent abroad by Jacob 
 a 'Paskate/ the rich banker of the great and ancient 
 city of Toledo in Spain." 
 
 " Yes, they had received some of the poison them- 
 selves and used it all." 
 
 "Yes, it came in little leathern bags, and was 
 sometimes of red, black or green color." 
 
 "Yes, it was prepared from the flesh and vitals 
 of deadly reptiles and insects." 
 
 "Yes, this was mixed with Christian blood." 
 
 "Yes, they knew that this day was the Jewish 
 great fast-day of Atonement, and would make oath 
 and subscribe as to the truth of their solemn con- 
 fession." 
 
 Persuaded by such effective means as were used 
 by the Holy Church, the rack and thumb-screws, 
 which were applied ad libitum until the hard-hearted 
 sinners should give over their stubbornness, there 
 was nothing in the catalogue of crimes which men 
 and women would not own to, and the religion of 
 the meek and lowly Jesus practised thus by her 
 stewards was satisfied and convinced by such cun- 
 ningly extracted evidence. 
 
 And so they did make oath, and subscribed with 
 their trembling, wounded hands to the statement on 
 the parchment roll, and then were returned by aid of 
 their tormentors to prison. The convicting docu- 
 ment Was immediately laid before the assembled 
 delegates. As if to substantiate all the more the 
 horrible plot, there arrived a messenger from the 
 city of Zahringen. He brought with him a curiously 
 fashioned wallet, containing, as was certified by the 
 authorities, the identical poison used by the Jews 
 and taken from some of them while in the act of 
 throwing it into the river. A little of it was given 
 to one of the dogs in the hall, and the beast imme- 
 diately died, under painful convulsions and with 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 263 
 
 foaming at the mouth. I examined the stuff closely, 
 and found it to be a clear, metallic arsenic powder 
 colored with a tinge of blood. Stupendous ignorance 
 and arrogance, handmaidens of selfishness, fanati- 
 cism and bigotry hail ! ye powers of darkness and 
 mighty allies of the Anti-Messiah, who now hath 
 stirred up the benighted inhabitants of this continent 
 like a swarm of angry demons to rage on earth with 
 blinded fury, under flimsiest pretense and by the 
 merest sham. A child would detect this falsehood 
 against the chosen of the Lord, which should bring 
 upon them fire and sword, even unto despair and 
 annihilation. Under no other conditions had it 
 been possible to raise the ready multitudes, even in 
 the midst of the ravages of the pestilence, against 
 inoffensive, resistless, doomed Israel. Would it 
 otherwise not be seen at a glance that all the exist- 
 ing poisons now available could not affect a single 
 stream for a day to exercise any pernicious effect, 
 much less all the waters in seas, rivers, wells, foun- 
 tains and cisterns ? But the thirst for blood and 
 persecution had been incited to fever-heat. Before 
 the day was over the edict of guilty had been passed 
 by the wise counselors, and death was let loose upon 
 the devoted heads of the hapless victims. True, a 
 few Christian hearts resisted staunchly to the last, but 
 their pleading voices were cried down and became 
 lost in the demoniac uproar. Sentence of death was 
 passed instantly upon the tortured victims. They 
 were doomed to die by fire. In less time than one 
 can tell it, the faggots were gathered, the despairing 
 prisoners dragged to the scene amidst the appalling 
 shouts and derisive cries of the drunken multitude; 
 they were bound and placed upon the pyres, and the 
 flames, amidst dark, heavy clouds of smoke, rose to 
 heaven, devouring the sacrifices, whose death-songs 
 were heard over all the insane tumult of their 
 
264 BEN BEOR. 
 
 butchers. Meanwhile, the proclamation which out- 
 lawed and proscribed all Hebrews wheresoever 
 living and found, was officially passed and promul- 
 gated, and it was then and there ordered that this 
 decree of extermination should forthwith be pub- 
 lished for execution throughout all the realms of the 
 Christian world. With a swiftness unparalleled in 
 the annals of news of those times, the fearful mes- 
 sage rolled along to every hamlet, town and city. 
 It transformed Europe into a veritable hell, devour- 
 ing the lives of non-combatants, men, women and 
 children. Like hungry wolves, sanguinary rabbles 
 would first kill their uncounted victims, and then 
 with insatiable greed possess themselves of the spoils 
 of the killed. History will forever preserve the 
 story of this cataclysm of murder, committed amidst 
 one continual jubilee-cry of "Kill the Jews for the 
 Love of Jesus ! " 
 
 Section VI. TJie Flagellants in Strasburg. 
 
 First and foremost in the bath of blood were 
 immersed with pitiful relentiesSness a large number 
 of cities, their suburbs and adjoining villages, of 
 southern and middle Germany. Like an avalanche, 
 increasing in impetuosity and swiftness as it rolls 
 along on a path of unbridled destruction, so the 
 mania for extermination against the doomed Hebrews 
 spread the longer it was enacted. It overwhelmed 
 Switzerland, France and England ; in fact the whole 
 continent became a scene of brutal, barbarous, 
 indiscriminate slaughter. Nor must it be supposed 
 that the victims everywhere allowed themselves to 
 be massacred -without resistance. Made heroic by 
 despair, in many places they armed themselves, and 
 although outnumbered, they fought to death in sev- 
 eral instances, inflicting great damage on their foes. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 2G5 
 
 In the old fortress of Mentz they barricaded their 
 quarters, and three hundred of the most resolute 
 men resisted bravely the storming mob. In the 
 fight which ensued they slew over two hundred of 
 their assailants. When they saw themselves van- 
 quished and overpowered, they quickly killed 
 their own women and children and set their houses 
 on fire. Half the city was laid in ashes by the 
 unchecked conflagration. Similarly acted the oldest 
 congregation in Germany, the Jews of Worms. 
 As soon as the dread hour of their extremity had 
 arrived, twelve of their leading officers repaired to the 
 city hall, and on their knees implored the assembled 
 magistrates for protection and pity. This was sneer- 
 ingly and unconditionally refused. They then drew 
 the swords hidden under their cloaks and massacred 
 every one of their tormentors. Next they fought 
 their way back to the Ghetto and fired the antique 
 synagogue. Instantly the flames spread, consumed 
 the entire quarter and ate their way into the city, 
 most of which was destroyed. In the town of Con- 
 stance, on the beautiful lake of the same name, the 
 hapless victims were carried by main force to the 
 churches, and there, whether they would or no, bap- 
 tized by the ever-willing, subservient clergy. One 
 of these new Christians, bolder than the rest of his 
 brethren, on reaching his home cried out of his 
 open window to the gathered multitude, as he threw 
 the quickly-catching fire into his house, " Behold, I 
 die as a Jew in defiance of you all ! " 
 
 Notwithstanding the reports of similar occurrences 
 which came from everywhere, yet the city of Cologna, 
 the noble community of llegensburg, and stout, 
 stalwart Strasburg held out to the last to keep 
 this insatiate butchery from their doors. I had 
 foreseen such stubborn resistance, but was deter- 
 mined, if possible, to overcome it. I therefore now 
 
2GG BEN BEOR. 
 
 counselled Monseignor de Berthold that he should, 
 immediately on his return to the cathedral, spread the 
 report among the inhabitants, especially among the 
 lower classes, that the magistrates had been bribed 
 with immense sums by their proteges. To this v. 
 be added the not altogether unfounded story tbat the 
 son of the millionaire Lionel was secretly en Craned 
 to be married to the beautiful daughter of de Wintf r- 
 thur, and that she was already under instruction by 
 the Rabbi, previous to her joining the religion of 
 her betrothed. The lecherous prelate, in spite of 
 his experience, was still madly in love with the 
 girl, and swore a fearful oath that the accursed Jew 
 should never have her. I assured him that if lie 
 would faithfully and successfully carry out my 
 measures I would be on hand with -sufficient force 
 to prevent the marriage, and teach le Maire a 1 
 which would hurl all his pet schemes to the 
 ground. The lustful priest had set himself assidu- 
 ously to work without any loss of time to have my 
 tales of suspicion spread broadcast over the city, and 
 they worked like a leaven, fermenting the already 
 discontented citizens to the verge of rebellion. Too 
 many of them ached now to get rid of their Jewish 
 creditors, to whom they were largely indebted, and 
 to lay hands on their plethoric coffers. Through 
 the prostrating influence of the pestilence all business 
 had become stagnant, and many families in their 
 bereavement and sorrows suffered actually for the 
 necessaries of life. True, charity tried her utmost 
 to ameliorate these sad conditions, and the Hebrews 
 were foremost to fill her hands with plenty; but 
 when a whole community, previously comfortable 
 and in ease, is thrown by means of circumstances 
 beyond control into pauperfsm, the most munificent 
 aid by the benevolent must fall far too short to 
 assuage the wholesale suffering. So the city fumed 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 267 
 
 and panted like the crater of a volcano preceding an 
 eruption. 
 
 I have stated that I would come with sufficient 
 force in the city when the preliminary intrigues were 
 fully at work. To understand this promise, it must 
 now be known that a new factor for the time's dread- 
 ful calamity had entered the field, which added, if 
 this was possible, anarchy to the already prevailing 
 terror. When the frenzy caused by the Black 
 Death had reached its highest point, a fanatic by the 
 name of Conrad Schmidt made his appearance with 
 a band of violent lunatics, in this craxtd neigh- 
 borhood. He pretended to have received a letter 
 direct from " Jesus, the Redeemer," containing the 
 message of the early second coming of Christ on 
 earth, but that the world must be purified previously 
 by the baptism of blood. He and his followers, 
 naked to the loins, girded with ropes, carrying in 
 their hands heavy leathern scourges, marched in pro- 
 cession through the streets, from city to city, singing 
 lugubrious chants, whipping their bodies till the 
 blood rippled in streams by the lashes ; committing, 
 under pretense of making the people repent, all 
 imaginable excesses, perpetrating murder, arson and 
 rapine wherever they went. From the peculiar 
 weapon of torture which they carried they called 
 themselves "the Flagellants." 
 
 As soon as I learned from my spies that every- 
 thing was in readiness at the doomed cathcdral- 
 metropolis, I placed myself at the head of that rav- 
 enous crew, and on the 14th day of February, l.'UJ), 
 we entered, with hideous noises, in broad daylight, 
 the wide streets of the city. Our coming had been 
 heralded the day previous. Frightful as was our 
 actual appearance, insanely wild as were our demon- 
 strations, yet the rumor spread industriously by our 
 secret allies, the Cardinal and his little army of cas- 
 
268 BEN BEOR. 
 
 socked priests, had largely exaggerated our numbers, 
 strength and doings. Relying upon these, the dis- 
 contented, angry scum of the town had already on 
 yesterday successfully rioted, and, joined even by the 
 better classes of citizens, partly from fear and partly 
 from selfish desire for their own aggrandizement, 
 accomplished the deposal of " le Mairie " and " la 
 Commune," and selected their own friends and tools 
 to fill the vacated offices. 
 
 On our entrance we were joined by vast multi- 
 tudes of the most varied description. They came, 
 some from curiosity, some from sympathy for our 
 work. Brutality ever runs a mile while refinement 
 advances a step. Like a pack of screeching hyenas, 
 we moved on, shouting at the top of our voices some 
 vulgar refrains. 
 
 The tune, a familiar song, was caught up at 
 once by the ever-swelling crowd. . Some became so 
 excited that they divested themselves in our pres- 
 ence of their clothes and begged to be flagellated. In 
 this manner our ravenous host of panting lunatics at 
 last reached " La Mairie/' shouting hoarsely for the 
 new magistrates. They soon appeared on the bal- 
 cony. "Give us the Jews! Give us the Jews!" 
 roared the seething mass of demented humanity. 
 
 " Take the crucifiers of our Lord ! Arrest them ! " 
 shouted back the now too-willing officials, who 
 in previous conclave had readily and eagerly agreed 
 upon the dastardly policy of surrendering the unpro- 
 tected Hebrews. 
 
 By one common impulse, under leadership of the 
 fierce Conrad Schmidt, the entire body of the Flagel- 
 lants moved towards the Ghetto, and within a few 
 hours took its entire population, numbering over 
 two thousand, captive, driving them like a herd of 
 sheep to the open, public square. A kind of a 
 mock court was held over them, at which the city's 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 269 
 
 pusillanimous magistrates presided. The Jews were 
 pronounced guilty without delay or ceremony, and 
 doomed forthwith to die. Ropes were brought, 
 and the hands of the sentenced men, women and 
 children were bound to their backs. Amidst the un- 
 merciful blows from the knotted leathern thongs, the 
 heartrending shrieks of the tormented unfortunates, 
 the howling and bawling of the naked, bloodthirsty 
 mob, the wretched Israelites were marched to their 
 own burial-ground. Here a pile of faggots was soon 
 erected, during which time the brutal whipping 
 of the Hebrews, now half dead, continued. When all 
 was in readiness they were forced to ascend the rude 
 heap. Fire was set to the pyres. The flames, as 
 ravenous as the murderous hordes, ate quickly the 
 quivering victims, enveloping them in black clouds 
 of smoke, from which they were at last mercifully 
 released by most horrible death. So ended the 
 cruel martyrdom. 
 
 While this carnival of carnage transpired I hur- 
 ried to the cathedral with breathless haste in search 
 of the Cardinal-Bishop. I found him soon in the 
 church. Well informed of all that was going on, 
 he had impatiently awaited my coming. "Let us 
 hasten, if we wish to take our persecutors alive, so 
 away to the house of Winterthur !" We started on 
 a run and arrived there without delay. The doors 
 of the mansion stood widely open. On entering, we 
 found no one there but an old crone. She informed 
 us that the family, in company with their friends, 
 Gosse Sturm, Peter Schwarber and the banker 
 Lionel, inclusive of their families, had left in the 
 middle of last night for parts unknown. 
 
 His Reverence was so exasperated at our unex- 
 pected discomfiture that he turned livid with rage. 
 He had revelled in the thoughts of despoiling his 
 enemies of their treasures perhaps their lives pos- 
 
270 BEN BEOR. 
 
 sessing himself of the long-coveted charms and virtue 
 of sweetest maidenhood, which had ever inflamed 
 his carnal passions. Now the birds had flown. 
 Suddenly I saw him stagger; before I could prevent 
 it, he fell to the floor. Big drops of perspiration 
 oozed forth from his clammy forehead ; his eyes be- 
 came glassy, suifused with blood and rolled wildly 
 in their sockets; his arms and limbs moved convul- 
 sively in terrific spasms ; foam stood at his mouth, 
 and his breath came heavy and stertorous ; he tried 
 to speak, but the words would not come ; from the 
 now quivering lips his tongue protruded; it had 
 turned glossy black; as his cramped fingers clawed 
 the ground he essayed by one heaving effort to 
 cry, with a piercing shriek in broken accents, 
 " God have mercy on my soul ! " Then he fell back 
 dead. Monseigneur Berthold had fallen a victim 
 to the pestilence. 
 
 The Flagellants, largely augmented by new 
 recruits, soon left the city. I followed them instantly 
 and directed their way to Regensburg and Cologna. 
 The whole course of their journey thither was a 
 succession of debauchery, murder, arson, and every 
 conceivable crime. Drunken with success, nothing 
 could withstand their demoniacal assaults. In their 
 train followed weeping and lamentation. On reach- 
 ing the cities of their destination they repeated with 
 increased fury the ghastly work of Strasburg. Not 
 a descendant of Abraham was left to tell the story. 
 Their extermination in all these lands was accom- 
 plished. I could safely retire, for the present at least, 
 from the theatre of my never-ceasing vengeance on 
 the boasting bearers of the Torah. 
 
 These appalling episodes would, however, not be 
 complete without placing on record the final fate 
 which overtook the terrible Flagellants. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 271 
 
 Section VII. Retribution. 
 
 As long as the novelty of the exciting sensation 
 lasted, the course of the scourgers was like a mad, 
 triumphal march wherever their fancy led. The 
 stimulant of their frenzy, raised to the highest pitch 
 of nervous tension by the ever-present intoxicating 
 drink, held even the pestilence at bay. For the few 
 stricken ones who fell by the wayside and were 
 hastily buried, thousands of the ignorant, debased 
 and cowed peasants and burghers joined their ranks. 
 They had everything their own way for nearly one 
 whole year. But after the beastly destruction with 
 which they punished resistless Cologna, the Avenging 
 Angel, striding ever surely in the wake of human 
 wickedness, with counterbalancing justice reached 
 them at last and ended their baneful career. They 
 now boldly marched toward the yet peaceful Nurn- 
 berg. Now and henceforth the mortality in their 
 ranks became absolutely stunning. The carcasses of 
 the miserable wretches, as they died by the wayside, 
 soon had to be left unburied and lay strewn in their 
 pathway, festering and horribly swollen in the sun. 
 The authorities everywhere had to follow them with 
 spades and pickaxes to become grave-diggers, and 
 now bitterly complained to the reigning Emperor, 
 Charles IV. Another great calamity, ascribed to 
 their marauding terror, came soon in the shape of a 
 threatened famine. The fields and farms in many 
 places had been abandoned and remained untilled 
 and implanted by their owners, who were far away 
 with the crazed, naked whippers. Food became 
 very expensive and scarce; the old supply was 
 wasteful ly consumed or destroyed. The better classes 
 of citizens and the powerful nobility grew dis- 
 gusted with the bloody havoc. The climax of the 
 catastrophe had been reached and the reaction set in. 
 
272 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Once begun, it manifested itself rapidly and strongly. 
 Latent energy, when once aroused and kindled, 
 strides with giant's feet to its ultimate goal. 
 
 The first sign of opposition came in the form of 
 an edict sent directly from the Emperor at Vienna 
 to the burgomaster, Berthold Engelspecht, of Nurn- 
 berg. It commanded that the gates of the ancient 
 city should be closed to the rebels of the scourge. 
 The powerful garrison, already provided with the 
 powder-guns, were commissioned to help the authori- 
 ties to disperse or annihilate the murderous mob. 
 
 When, therefore, Conrad Schmidt with his hordes 
 arrived and demanded the opening of the locked 
 portals, a herald from the tower bade them depart, 
 as they should not enter the city on any condition. 
 Furious, the foremost of the crowd, with their lead- 
 ers, threw themselves against the doors, using axes 
 and hammers to force an entrance. They were 
 warned once more, but would not desist. Then the 
 soldiers, who stood ready on the ramparts, sent such 
 a fusillade of leaden balls into their midst that the 
 mob fell back. A second and a third followed, every 
 shot being a messenger of death in the dense mass. 
 They staggered, howling and cursing, not even 
 knowing, as yet, the power of certain destruction 
 used against them. Again and again they pressed 
 forward, the living trampling over the dead. It 
 was impossible for those in the front ranks to retreat, 
 as those in the rear, barely knowing what was going 
 on, held them wedged in by a tremendous pressure. 
 This lasted until the panic became general, when the 
 terrified wretches fled for their lives. More than a 
 thousand corpses were buried next day in the 
 trenches. This, their first decisive defeat, acted as 
 a stunning blow to their courage. Other places, 
 soon learning of the deliverance of Niirnberg, closed 
 their doors also when menaced, and succeeded in 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 273 
 
 keeping the wild assailants out. Within a month 
 their ranks became decimated to a surprising extent. 
 Death by pestilence, exposure and deprivation was 
 aided by their sudden dispersion through the desertion 
 of the discouraged, disgusted and famishing follow- 
 ers. Untold numbers died exhausted in the high- 
 ways, trying to return to their far-away homes. 
 Very few of these reached there. Most of the pitiful, 
 deluded wanderers perished in the fields and ditches, 
 victims to the black-death. Conrad Smith, with a 
 handful of his disciples, stole the boats of the fisher- 
 men on the Rhine and sailed with them to the river's 
 mouth. Here they took passage for England. On 
 their arrival, however, the British people would 
 have nothing to do with a band of crazy murderers, 
 whose terrible reputation had long preceded them. 
 The authorities arrested all, threw them into prison, 
 there to be held in close confinement. They 
 were to be tried as foreign vagabonds and fugitives 
 from justice, dangerous to the state; but before 
 the session of the next assizes arrived, not one of 
 them was left alive to worry the courts. Pestilence 
 relieved the magistrates of any trouble and killed 
 them all. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVII. 
 
 TOMASO TORQUEMADA. 
 
 Section I. A Retrospect. 
 
 Nearly a century and a half has passed since I 
 (Ben Beor) have taken a demonstrative part in 
 human affairs. Not that I have been inactive or 
 indifferent to events which have transpired, but no 
 radically violent interference seemed necessary for 
 my cause. 
 
274 BEN BEOK. 
 
 The " Black Death " had killed on the continent 
 twenty-five millions of human beings. In its wake 
 followed all the concomitant evils and horrors 
 which such an unprecedented calamity evoked. 
 It seemed as if chaos were to come again. Finally, 
 the epidemic ceased as quickly and suddenly as it 
 had come, traveling southward with increased vio- 
 lence. At a short interval the recuperative power 
 of the Caucasian and Semitic races manifested itself 
 with most amazing virility in all the lands which 
 had been so lately smitten. Mankind breathed free 
 once more. Labor asserted her strength in its re- 
 vival. Over uncounted hillocks of the graves of the 
 unknown the green sward covered its mantle of 
 beauty and the sad memories which lay entombed 
 beneath. The golden grain as it was garnered 
 brought in the harvest seasons gloriously. Every 
 avenue of industry, every channel of trade, com- 
 merce, science and art all gradually and vigorously 
 revived and grew. Law and order, such as the 
 strong hand of feudal governments was wont to ex- 
 ercise, were established again. But former tyran- 
 nical sway now recognized rights and privileges 
 which were never before granted to the nations. 
 Might, the arm of the wicked strong, was no longer 
 always right. The Church, too, after once again 
 opening her doors to fullest swing, became less 
 fanatic and crushing. It seemed that all the rela- 
 tions which men held to men had been mellowed by 
 the softening and subduing influences of a common, 
 great calamity. As in a raging hurricane when the 
 lurid flashes of lightning have ended and the thunder 
 rolled away, when the dark clouds have passed and the 
 winds at last are lulled, the clear, moist air in the 
 reappearing sunshine makes the landscape glisten and 
 glow like a radiant virgin rising from her morning 
 bath, so the world was transformed soon after its 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 275 
 
 appalling suffering at the hand of the ravaging con- 
 tagion. 
 
 Woe is me woe is me ! after all the havoc, 
 which seemed to realize my highest aims, as soon 
 as the spell of its seemingly fatal depression fades 
 away from the memory of men, I find myself no fur- 
 ther in my fondly fostered schemes, but actually 
 thrown back by my opponents' powers. I perceive 
 that there is an underground swell in the ocean of 
 civilization which directs the coming and going of 
 the waves upon which my bark " Oppression " 
 sails and which chases the ship of "Liberty." This 
 has almost escaped from me, steering to the safe port of 
 " Enlightenment ! " Yet I will not give up the 
 pursuit. I yet must take her and force the audacious 
 crew to lower their flag, flaunting the hated insignia, 
 "Law ! " It is a struggle for life or death ! 
 
 I am not the historian of the Jews ; and only so 
 far as they intrude themselves into the affairs of the 
 world with a tenacity and patient endurance, and 
 only so long as they thwart my aims and objects, do 
 I find myself forced to take notice of them and con- 
 tinue to combat their cursed existence. In our last 
 encounter I believed that they were utterly and 
 hopelessly crushed. Death had fearfully emaciated 
 their number. The few who escaped were outlawed 
 and proscribed, finding, for the time, shelter and ex- 
 istence in caves and the darkness of the forests. 
 Never before had they been doomed to such abject 
 misery and despair ; never were they so near the verge 
 of total destruction. And now, strange to say, not 
 more than some decades pass when, as if jby }>r evi- 
 dential intercession, they emerge from their retreats. 
 Not of their own volition alone, but actually sought 
 and entreated to come back, and are welcomed by those 
 who had persecuted and smitten them. Their ab- 
 sence everywhere was sorely felt and bitterly la- 
 
276 BEN BEOR. 
 
 merited. The farmers clamored for their earliest 
 restitution, declaring that they knew not how to get 
 along without the Hebrews, many of the Jews be- 
 ing travelling merchants and needful to the peas- 
 antry. Tradesmen and merchants were equally 
 anxious for the return of the Israelites, as there was 
 neither life nor progress without their natural ability 
 for selling and buying. The Church itself desired 
 the return of the Jews, deriving from these heretics 
 her best tithes and fat incomes. Still more was the 
 absence of the outcasts felt and their return advo- 
 cated by the nobility and aristocratic landholders. 
 Heretofore, when money was needed, application 
 could be made to the Jews and the funds were 
 raised without difficulty or great sacrifices. In 
 many instances the whole business affairs and man- 
 agement of estates were entrusted to these faith- 
 ful servants. Cities and townships which had sol- 
 emnly stipulated that none of the expatriated should, 
 for one or two hundred years, be allowed to enter 
 their doors, were now the foremost to demand them 
 back. As accountants and financiers they could not 
 be equalled or replaced, and in many cases the wheel 
 of State became clogged and affairs were thrown into 
 sad confusion by the want of the practised and 
 skilled hands formerly employed. It is on record 
 that bishops, cardinals and princes petitioned the 
 Emperor Charles IV. for the return of the Israelites. 
 The French Dauphin Charles, who reigned at that 
 time, actually appointed agents to hunt them up and 
 bring them back. 
 
 And they did come back ! In an incredibly short 
 time they prospered and flourished as never before. 
 By their wonderful virility their emaciated lines 
 filled up with astonishing celerity, and now that only 
 four generations have passed since the terrible chas- 
 tisement, they are more numerous and prosperous 
 than ever. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 277 
 
 But other and much graver events had taken 
 place which did not permit me to remain idle dur- 
 ing this epoch. Inside of the all-powerful Catholic 
 Church, by her own moral and social degeneration, 
 sedition and rebellion commenced to break out, 
 which became the signal for the most fatal and 
 bloody contentions. The shameless corruption and 
 fathomless infamy of some of the clergy at this 
 time became beyond all endurance and proved a 
 stench in the nostrils of the people. Two powerful 
 and renowned writers, the Italian poet, Petrarca, and 
 the French theologian, Nicalaus de Clemencis, were, 
 especially instrumental in opening the eyes of the 
 civilized world to that horrible sink of bestial crimes. 
 
 The disintegration of the power of religion was 
 hastened by the springing up upon the debris of 
 Time a flo\ver which threatened to overshadow by 
 its strength and healing qualities the moral cancer 
 eating into the vitals of humanity. Reason, so long 
 and successfully suppressed, would stay no longer 
 imprisoned, but burst forth with a primary shoot, 
 which revealed what power there was imbedded in 
 the full germ when once brought forth and per- 
 mitted to grow unhindered to its full development. 
 Far away in the wilderness of Bohemia the ringing 
 signal of her coming was given, when there arose the 
 sturdy Tzech, Johannes Huss, throwing the gaunt- 
 let of free thought audaciously into the face of His 
 Holiness the Pope and the whole system of theology. 
 This humble and obscure priest staggered all Chris- 
 tianity, and with his declarations and theorems 
 drew the torch of sedition into the most inflammable 
 heap, which might have caused a universal conflagra- 
 tion, burning to cinders and ashes the throne of St. 
 Peter. He found at once followers by the thou- 
 sands, and these were soon massed in threatening 
 attitude against the Church and State. It took all 
 
278 BEN BBOR. 
 
 my strength and energy to ward off the foreshadowed 
 calamities. The new apostle of freedom, relying 
 upon the indomitable force of his cause and the pass- 
 port of safety granted him by His Majesty the Ger- 
 man Emperor Sigismund, foolishly thrust himself 
 into the hands of his enemies, the great Council of 
 Constance. They scorned his arguments, ignored 
 the imperial mandate, and burned him at the stake. 
 This happened July 6, 1414 A. D., as a prelude to 
 much more stirring events with which my baneful 
 career should shortly be visited in another part of 
 the world. I trusted the interest of my affairs to 
 the greatly increased number of my zealous and 
 anxious agents spread all over the continent. After 
 long and profound pondering it became clear to my 
 mind that the three engines, " Drunkenness, " "War" 
 and the " Blood-Accusation," would no longer suffice 
 for the accomplishment of my mission. A fourth 
 was needed the power to kill thought. To attain 
 this purpose I laid my plans well and bent my 
 steps southward. 
 
 Section II. Mediaeval Profundity. 
 
 There was a strange scene enacted in the old 
 Dominican convent of St. Stephen, situated in the 
 centre of the ancient Spanish city of Salamanca. 
 This cloister was the seat of one of the oldest and 
 most renowned universities of the world. At one end 
 of the great academical hall were seated, on a raised 
 dais, arranged in semi-circle, the eminent professors 
 and celebrated students of astronomy, geography, 
 mathematics and other branches of science. With 
 the exception of a few private persons belonging to 
 the nobility, the larger majority were high clericals, 
 monks and friars, all arrayed in the peculiar garbs 
 of their orders and ranks. Most of them were old and 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 279 
 
 hoary men. In the centre of the group sat the pre- 
 siding officer, the Reverend Bishop of Avila, Ferdin- 
 ando de Talavera. At the long tables, placed on 
 the ground floor, were a number of scribes, busily 
 recording the proceedings. All these persons were 
 assembled here by special command of their majes- 
 ties King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the all- 
 powerful sovereigns of the Spanish Peninsula. They 
 were entrusted with the arduous task of investigating 
 a theory, entirely novel and startling, concerning 
 the shape of the globe, and the assertion that on the 
 other side of the circle there existed undiscovered 
 lands, leading directly to India and the gold 
 countries. 
 
 There stood now before the assembly a Genoa 
 sailor, certainly a remarkable man, both in stature 
 and appearance, who had propounded these strange 
 discoveries. He had just finished his statement 
 and arguments before this learned conclave. 
 Exceeding six feet in height, full and robust in 
 proportion, animated by a wonderful enthusiasm of 
 conviction, with a brilliant flow of oratory, the fire 
 of his eyes and the heightened color mounting his 
 olive-tinted cheeks gave him semblance to the pic- 
 ture of some of the Grecian demi- god heroes. Close 
 by, to the right, at a small table, sat his friend 
 and scientific co-laborer, the Jew Louis de Torres, 
 with heaps of books, maps and charts before him ; 
 these he reached as required to that wonderful 
 speaker, Christopher Columbus. In plain, terse 
 language he had unfolded, link after link, the con- 
 clusive arguments in behalf of the object that filled 
 his head, heart and soul. After years and years of 
 incessant struggle with adversity, unable to make 
 himself heard for a great aim of his life, after 
 knocking in vain at the doors of the wealthy and 
 mighty, battling with ignorance and indifference, at 
 
280 BEN BEOR. 
 
 last a ray of light came into iris despondency. The 
 king, persuaded by favorite friends, had granted him 
 an audience and listened to his fervent pleadings. 
 His majesty, on pretense of ignorance on this sub- 
 ject, had referred the whole matter to a council. 
 Everything depended on convincing these sages that 
 there was more than probable certainty in the scien- 
 tific scheme propounded, and so the sanguine sea- 
 captain had concentrated his very best efforts to pre- 
 sent his views in the most favorable light. Alas! 
 the greater part of the learned " Junto " came pre- 
 possessed against him. Was he not a dependent, poor 
 supplicant, an obscure navigator, unknown among 
 the learned, with nothing to commend him but a 
 single crochety idea which contradicted all former 
 experiences, all teachings of science as known in 
 these days, and, worse than all, in direct opposition 
 to the infallible dogmas of the Holy Bible ? True, 
 he was before them by sovereign command, but 
 potentates might be very good rulers, warriors, states- 
 men and diplomats; questions of erudite learning, 
 however, belonged to the scholastic world. And the 
 heads of the sages in the land were now congregated 
 to pass sentence upon the pretentious, never before 
 heard of claims of this proud Genoan. As if to give 
 emphasis to their disdain for the speaker, hardly 
 any one paid earnest attention to what he said. 
 Some whispered among themselves, others riveted 
 their eyes upon the tomes which were before them, 
 still others stealthily made coarse jokes and hid their 
 shaven heads out of sight while laughing and chuck- 
 ling. One group of friars alone, those belonging to 
 St. Stephen, paid interested attention to him. These 
 were scientific scholars, and showed by their attitudes 
 that the words went home to their understanding, 
 and they might be convinced by arguments. And 
 now the speaker ceased. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 281 
 
 After a short time of consultation among them- 
 selves, an old priest, with a large volume in his 
 hand, drawled out : 
 
 " Objection No. 1. The great Lactantius says: 
 Is any one so foolish as to believe that there are anti- 
 podes, with their feet opposite to ours ; people who 
 walk with their heels upward and their heads hang- 
 ing down ; that there is a part of the world in which 
 all things are turned topsy-turvy, where the trees 
 grow with their branches downward, and where it 
 rains, hails and snows upward? The idea of the 
 rotundity of the earth was the cause of inventing 
 the fables of the antipodes, with their heels in the 
 air. Such philosophers, having once erred, go on 
 in their absurdities, defending one another." 
 
 He sat down amidst the approving smiles and 
 nods of nearly the whole august congregation. Then 
 one of those immensely adipose, round-headed and 
 full-cheeked priests, so often met with in the public 
 streets, arose, and his long double chin perfectly 
 wobbled as he opened his thick lips to read from a 
 volume similar to that of the first replicant : 
 
 " Objection No. 2. St. Augustine may his mem- 
 ory be blessed ! maintains that the doctrine of the 
 antipodes is incompatible with the historical founda- 
 tion of our holy church, since to assert that there 
 are inhabited lands in the opposite side of the globe 
 would be to maintain also that there are nations not 
 descended from our common father Adam, it being 
 impossible for them to have passed the intervening 
 ocean. This would therefore discredit the Bible, 
 which expressly declares that all men are descended 
 from one common parent." 
 
 He, too, sat down now, amidst general approving 
 demonstrations by his colleagues. Then there arose 
 a gaunt, sinister-looking monk, in the habiliments of 
 the order of the Dominicans; from the girdle 
 
282 BEN BEOR. 
 
 around his waist hung suspended a large ivory 
 cross ; his long, clean-shaven face was surrounded 
 by a wreath-like fringe of black curly hair ; -the rest 
 of his head was bald. His dark, small, piercing 
 eyes were overshadowed by dense brows. As he 
 spoke a sudden hush, an absolute silence fell upon 
 the assembly. Everybody knew this was Tomaso 
 Torquemada, the Grand Inquisitor, appointed by 
 Ferdinand and Isabella to this holy office, and 
 lately confirmed therein with unlimited power by the 
 See of Rome. He had come especially from Madrid, 
 by request of his royal sovereigns, to attend this 
 meeting. All were eager and anxious to hear what 
 this great dignitary of the Church had to say on the 
 absorbing subject. 
 
 Now, it so happened soon after my arrival at 
 Salamanca that I had met this man. On presenting 
 my credentials and recommendations, he eagerly 
 offered me the then vacant post of the third grand 
 inquisitor of the realm, with prior ship and residence 
 held heretofore by himself at Segovia, being con- 
 firmed in this office, through his mighty influence, 
 by the Holy Father at Rome, with the title of 
 Arbuez de Epila. From our repeated conversa- 
 tions concerning the status of Catholicism, in which 
 I evinced a zeal and eagerness for the maintenance 
 of absolute priestly rule, he recognized in me a fit 
 confederate for his extended plans and schemes with 
 which his immense brain was pregnant. Submitting 
 to me the topics of Columbus and his new theories 
 for consideration and thorough study, I was able, 
 without much difficulty, to lay before him the results 
 of my reasoning. These were embodied in the fol- 
 lowing conclusions : 
 
 The views propounded by the foreign sailor are 
 certainly tainted with heresy, but from all infor- 
 mation that can be gleaned he is unquestionably a 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 283 
 
 devout, religious man. Now, while many important 
 passages of divine Scripture are clearly -contradicted 
 by his asseverations, and the fathers of the Church, 
 besides those already quoted St. Chrysostom, St. 
 Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory and many others 
 condemning the main principles of his plans, yet 
 might there be found, by actual experiment, reality 
 in his proposed venture. In any case, he must be 
 closely questioned as to the heretical part, and if he 
 cleared his skirts from offence in that direction, mild 
 encouragement should be extended to him. Should 
 his calculations prove erroneous, then he and a lot 
 of dangerous adventurers would perish in the wilder- 
 ness of the ocean and never be heard from again. 
 If, however, success attended the captain and his 
 crew, the fruits thereof would certainly redound to 
 the glory of the Church. 
 
 My new patron was deeply convinced by this 
 irresistible logic, and, being much impressed, he 
 spoke. With his peculiar thin and penetrating 
 voice he said : 
 
 " The third objection which I raise consists in 
 this, that the Book of Genesis, the Psalms of David, 
 the prophets, the epistles and gospels, inclusive of 
 the expositions of various saints and reverend com- 
 mentators, are clearly and heretically contradicted 
 by the innovating problems of you, Christopher Co- 
 lumbus. Make answer to all our objections ! " 
 
 The plain and simple navigator, as he now took 
 his stand to reply to these seemingly overwhelming 
 obstacles, appeared transformed into a higher being. 
 A great degree of devout feeling gave him confi- 
 dence, and his ardent temperament became heated to 
 an enraptured enthusiasm as he undauntedly under- 
 took to impress with conviction his august auditory. 
 He cast aside his maps and charts and discarded for 
 the task before him momentarily his practical and 
 
284 BEN BEOR. 
 
 scientific lore ; his visionary spirit kindled at the 
 doctrinal objections of his opponents, and he met 
 them upon their own ground, pouring forth with the 
 grand persuasive tones of his stentorian voice such 
 magnificent texts of the Bible, with their mysterious 
 predictions of the prophets, considered in his ecstasy 
 as forecasts and annunciations of the sublime dis- 
 covery which he proposed. 
 
 This outburst of wonderful eloquence made friends 
 and coadj utors who afterward proved of great service 
 for the accomplishment of the designed voyages to 
 the unknown Western Lands. But for the present 
 the whole subject was referred to the presiding officer 
 of this conclave, after which they adjourned. 
 
 Section III. A Momentous Wedding. 
 
 In one of the stately palaces in the old Castilian 
 city of Segovia there was boisterous activity, always 
 signalizing coming festivities of a marriage in high 
 life. It consisted of the endless details necessi- 
 tated for the successful consummation of such a gay 
 and brilliant event. Servants, with and without 
 livery, hustled one another in the discharge of their 
 onerous duties, their hurry and zeal impressing a 
 beholder, as if on the effort of each individual de- 
 pended the honor of their noble master and mistress. 
 The scene was certainly a vivid and picturesque one, 
 as man-servants and maid-servants, in their bright 
 national Spanish costumes, brilliant in colors and 
 quaint in shapes, hied hither and thither through the 
 antique halls. Was it not the grand fete-day of beau- 
 tiful and beloved young Bianca, the only daughter of 
 the millionaire Count Diego de Suson ? Not more 
 than seventeen years of age, this rapturous, lovely 
 seiiorita was to wed at nightfall the cavalier, sol- 
 dier and renowned poet Don Gomez Enriquez, one 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 285 
 
 of the bravest captains in the Spanish army, highly 
 distinguished for his valor as an officer and greatly 
 honored for the genius in his many literary writings. 
 
 Night has come, the turmoil throughout the 
 princely apartment subsides, quiet is restored, and 
 everything is in readiness for the solemnization of 
 the auspicious ceremony. The bridegroom, with a 
 superb train of relatives, comrades and friends, had 
 arrived. Among the guests who came with him was 
 Christopher Columbus, who led in his beloved wife 
 Beatrice de Enriquez, a near relative of her name- 
 sake Don Gomez. They were followed by their in- 
 timate friend, the astronomer Louis de Torres. 
 
 As the vesper-bells rang from the many-towered 
 cathedrals adjoining the celebrated "Alcazar," the 
 whole bridal cortege repaired to the magnificent 
 chapel, located on the west wing of the palace. 
 Every good and wealthy Catholic sets aside a promi- 
 nent part of his domicile for religious purposes. 
 Here the reverend vicar, Father Petros Davilla, a near 
 relative of the Bishop of Segovia, in stole and mitre, 
 received them at the brilliantly illuminated altar, 
 and, after going through the gorgeous ritual of the 
 Church, pronounced the words which made the young 
 couple husband and wife, dismissing them with the 
 usual canonical blessing. Amidst showers of kisses 
 and congratulations, the happy pair and the whole 
 assemblage now repaired to the brilliantly illumi- 
 nated state-room, finely decorated and prepared for 
 the reception of the august company. 
 
 The main actors in this domestic drama, on ex- 
 cuse of changing their toilets, momentarily disap- 
 peared. It was noticed that a few others also quietly 
 and unostentatiously were gone, all no doubt be- 
 lieving that their absence would not be noticed in so 
 large a crowd. 
 
 Then in one of the subterranean recesses of the 
 
286 BEN BEOE. 
 
 pile another strange scene took place, as unique and 
 peculiar, as it was enacted in the utmost silence and 
 secrecy. The bishop who had officiated in the chapel 
 was here, the most prominent of the people assem- 
 bled. Instead of wearing the sacred insignia of his 
 Christian ecclesiastical rank, he had now a black 
 baretta upon his head, and was dressed in the char- 
 acteristic gaberdine of a Jewish rabbi. There was 
 thrown over his head a silken shawl hanging down 
 to his waist, ending on both sides with peculiar 
 knotted woollen fringes. A -table on which stood 
 two lighted candles and the same number of goblets 
 filled with wine was right before him. Now there 
 entered from the western portal a short procession 
 of men and women. Under a canopy carried by 
 four friends walked the newly-married pair, fol- 
 lowed by their parents and a number of attendants. 
 As these approached the East, the pseudo-priest 
 chanted in Hebrew with most doleful tones the words 
 of the Psalm cxxvi : 
 
 " When the Lord shall bring back the captives of Zion, 
 We shall be like those who awake from a dream ! " 
 
 As the words passed his trembling lips, his voice 
 repeatedly faltered and tears rolled down his cheeks. 
 The whole company wept bitterly with him. Amidst 
 their sobs and mournful ejaculations the Rabbi now 
 read the Jewish marriage ceremonial, and wedded 
 them according to the laws of Moses and Israel. 
 The ring being placed on the bride's finger, the 
 blessing over the wine said, the usual prayer chanted 
 and the benedictions bestowed, kisses and congratu- 
 lations being exchanged once more, the company 
 departed as noiselessly and stealthily as they had 
 come, and soon reappeared, the priest in his cassock, 
 among the impatiently waiting guests above. The 
 feast now proceeded, hilarity and mirth ruled 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 287 
 
 supreme till daylight broke through the windows, 
 when the visitors, one after another, most in a state 
 of intoxication from the heavy Andalusian wines 
 which had flowed like water, departed for their sev- 
 eral homes. The last one to leave the palace was 
 the venerable Father Petros Da villa. He had been 
 carried in a sedan chair all the way from his home 
 at a distant diocese to attend the holy offices of the 
 church at the marriage of the only daughter of his 
 life-long friend, the Count de Suson. He was now 
 belated, it being long after sunrise. According to 
 special and urgent request of his host and the fair 
 Beatrice de Enriquez, he had attended a confidential 
 meeting with Columbus and DeTorres. These had left 
 with despairing, depressed spirits the learned commis- 
 sion convened by royal mandate at Salamanca. Every 
 effort to convince this body of prejudiced and stulti- 
 fied clerical scientists of the feasibility of discover- 
 ing some unknown Western Hemisphere had failed, 
 and the sanguine hopes of the Genoa sailor were 
 dashed to the ground. There was nothing to be ex- 
 pected from the bigoted, narrow-minded Bishop of 
 Avila, to whom, as president of the conclave, the 
 whole matter had been referred. Humiliated, utterly 
 cast down and crushed in spirit, the captain and 
 his friend returned late that evening to their tem- 
 porary home in the city. Senora Beatrice here had 
 long and feverishly awaited their coming. She, 
 poor woman, had dedicated her whole young life to 
 this noble, ambitious man, and he, although of 
 mature age, loved her with an ardor and constancy 
 that would have done credit to a youthful swain. 
 True, the church had never sanctioned their union. 
 As a foreigner and away from friends and home it 
 \yas impossible for him to procure the necessary 
 proofs of his legal rights to marry the lady. The 
 priests were inexorable about the technicalities. But 
 
288 BEN BEOR. 
 
 he had publicly acknowledged her as his wife, and 
 in their connubial companionship were all in all to 
 one another. Such alliances were not infrequent 
 among the southern people. Although the clergy 
 looked upon them with disfavor, yet the citizens, 
 knowing and readily comprehending the surrounding 
 circumstances, acknowledged as valid and irreproach- 
 able such civil contracts, especially if the children 
 begotten in such unions were registered in the civil 
 courts as legitimate, which was publicly known to 
 have been done afterward at the birth of their son 
 Fernando. - 
 
 During their happy and most felicitous marital 
 life, often and often it had been the trying task of 
 the lady to uphold and cheer the frequent moods of 
 dejection and dispiritedness caused by the many fail- 
 ures and disappointments in hopes and anticipations 
 of her fondly loved husband, with whom she shared 
 all the exuberant dreams of the ultimate success in 
 his schemes and plans. By her magnificently 
 blended qualities of true womanly devotion of heart 
 and a superior eloquence, inspired by her love, she 
 thus far always had succeeded in raising his sinking 
 spirits. But when he returned that evening, she 
 read in his countenance and that of his friend the par- 
 oxysm of despondency which agitated both. Neither 
 her soothing words, passionate caresses, nor her 
 freely-flowing tears had this time the wonted effect 
 to dispel the gloom and darkness with which the 
 two men stared into the starless future. Under 
 these un propitious circumstances the vehicle arrived 
 to take them all to the wedding of their friends at 
 Segovia, which was to transpire on to-morrow even- 
 ing. This involved a journey of ten hours, and it 
 was now past midnight. Gladly would they have 
 stayed at home in their grief-stricken and forlorn 
 condition. Full of sadness they reluctantly got 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 289 
 
 ready and started. It seemed more like a funeral 
 cortege than a trip to a wedding feast. In due time 
 they arrived at the palace. When the ceremonies 
 were over and while the festivities were in progress, 
 the lady had found a chance to meet the Count 
 Diego and make him a confidant of her troubles. 
 After mature consideration, they called on the 
 Vicar Davilla, requesting his presence at a family 
 consultation. This had just been concluded, with 
 the favorable result of quieting and restoring the 
 disturbed temper of the captain and his friend to 
 an equinanimous condition, principally achieved by 
 appealing to their religious feelings, directing their 
 hearts and souls to trust in the wisdom and good- 
 ness of an over-ruling Providence. And now, after 
 a most devoted and affectionate farewell, the pious 
 prelate, ready to depart, descended to his sedan 
 chair, which was waiting. The whole family had 
 accompanied him to the door ; then they retired. 
 As soon as he had entered the spacious and comfort- 
 able vehicle, closed on all sides by silken curtains, 
 he took from the recesses of his wide cassock a little 
 bag. This contained a set of philacteries. Placing 
 one around his head and winding the other around 
 his left arm, he commenced to say in Hebrew his 
 morning prayers. At this moment those watching 
 at the windows in the palace saw mounted men 
 approach the sedan chair, commanding its carriers 
 to halt. They then sprang to the ground, tore 
 away the curtains, dragged the old priest from his 
 place, and, accoutred as he was, shackled him with 
 heavy irons. They were recognized by the specta- 
 tors above as the myrmidons of the Inquisition. 
 Consternation now ruled supreme in the household 
 of the noble family. By imperative command of 
 the Count, the young husband mounted the fleetest 
 charger in the stables and iled for his life, leaving his 
 
290 BEN BEOR. 
 
 young wife, who had swooned in his arms, to the 
 protective care of her parents. Columbus, Beatrice 
 and De Torres were gotten quietly but hastily away. 
 Their attendance here must either have been ignored 
 or never known, for they were of the few of the 
 company who were not afterwards harassed or mo- 
 lested. Most of the others, including De Suson, his 
 wife and daughter, found themselves, that very 
 same day, prisoners in the dungeon of the Third 
 Grand Inquisitor, the Bishop Arbuez de Epiia, of 
 Segovia. 
 
 Section IV. Misericordia d Justitia. 
 
 There is no spot in the world where measures of 
 greater importance for the weal or woe of mankind 
 were devised than in the narrow, cell-like rectory of 
 the Cathedral at Segovia. Adjoining the fine altar in 
 the vestibule, this little room is commonly used 
 during service for the robing of the officiating 
 priests, from whence they issue through a side door 
 leading to the altar of the magnificent edifice. At 
 high noon of this day, however, when the arrests by 
 the sheriffs of the Inquisition were made at the 
 palace of Diego de Suson, the sun shone through the 
 long but narrow windows upon four individuals, 
 dressed in the sombre garbs of the order of the 
 Dominicans, who were seated at a long table which 
 filled out nearly the whole space. A tomb could not 
 have been more secluded than this place. Yet, for 
 greater precaution, monks of the same order flitted 
 in and out from the numerous recesses and nooks of 
 the cloister-like structure, warning off the passers. 
 Aside of this, the great bell in the immense tower 
 tolled at regular intervals a single low and hollow 
 peal from its brazen mouth, advising the people 
 that they must stay away from the neighborhood of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 291 
 
 the cathedral. To complete all, the chief Alguazil of 
 the Holy Office, with a band of armed knaves, guarded 
 the outside portal and all entrances to the church. 
 Thus it was proclaimed that the "Consejo de la 
 Suprema" was in regular session. 
 
 At the head of the table sat the General Grand 
 Inquisitor, Tomaso Torquemada; opposite him the 
 chief scribe, Christoval Galvez, of Valencia ; to the 
 right was his eminence Cardinal Petre Gonzales de 
 Mendoza, archbishop of Saragossa and Second Grand 
 Inquisitor; to his left sat I, the Third Grand Inquisi- 
 tor of Segovia. This was the august tribunal in 
 whose consecrated hands lay the fate of the world 
 for the present and for centuries to come. 
 
 They had but one solitary object, were unanimous 
 in their work, and knew but one ambition. The 
 Catholic religion was ike sole and only faith, as the 
 supreme mistress of the globe ! If persuasion and re- 
 monstrance would convert the heretics, well and good ! 
 This failing, torture and death ! No pretense, no sham, 
 no mere conversion should suffice. Total allegiance was 
 required and exclusively accepted. To the fire with the 
 impostors ! His Holiness the Pope Sextus IV . had 
 sanctioned the fanatic zeal of the Spanish Domini- 
 cans, confirmed the Inquisitor-General in his office 
 of hierarchical absolute power, and sent his nuncio 
 extraordinary, Antonio Palavicini, to the court of 
 Madrid. 
 
 Their Royal Highnesses Ferdinand and Isabella 
 were fully in accord with the priests, though from 
 different motives. Ferdinand, with his vaulting 
 ambition for power, avaricious and greedy, saw in 
 this movement the strengthening of his sceptre; but 
 mostly the filling of his much decimated coffers, which 
 grew empty by incessant warfare and the extrava- 
 gance of the court. Confiscation of wealth from the 
 convicted sinners, of which he was promised one- 
 
292 BEN BEOR. 
 
 third, was for him perhaps the paramount induce- 
 ment to lend his power to the machinations of the 
 church. Isabella, however, with her pious, bigoted 
 disposition, augmented by being continually under 
 the influence of her bland but jealous father -confessor, 
 Ferdinando de Talavera, Bishop of Avila, she was 
 mainly actuated in joining the forces of the church 
 by a sacred vow made before entering upon the 
 conquest of the infidel Moors in the province and 
 city of Grenada, that if the Lord would bestow 
 victory upon the banners of Christianity, she would 
 use all her might and power to exterminate heresy 
 from the empire. And now the infidels had been 
 conquered. The last of the Moslem chiefs, Boabdil 
 el Chico, had surrendered on the twentieth of Septem- 
 ber, 1487, with all his possessions and rights to the 
 Spanish crown. What could she do now less than to 
 fulfil her sacred oath and promise? Both the king 
 and queen, therefore, not only acquiesced but actively 
 entered into the scheme, driving the unbelievers from 
 their realms. For the achievement of this supreme 
 purpose they placed Torquemada at the helm of the 
 already powerful Inquisition. 
 
 For nearly one hundred years had the irrepressi- 
 ble civil and church power caused thousands of the 
 hated Jews to submit to baptism under the name of 
 " New Christians," who, with the crucifix in their 
 hands, succeeded in escaping persecution and death. 
 
 It seemed a step forward to evangelize the world. 
 If only the sprinkling of the head with the holy 
 water could be invested with the power to penetrate 
 to the heart ! But in this the baptismal font and the 
 proffered sacramental chalice offered to and accepted 
 by the mouth, miserably failed, making wretched 
 hypocrites and mercenary dupes of the new acquisi- 
 tions. True, some of the new, worthless converts, 
 with the usual over-zeal of that class, for the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 293 
 
 achievement of coveted worldly ends, turned sav- 
 agely against their former friends and co-religion- 
 ists, embittering and endangering their lives even 
 worse than the original enemy. It became a saying, 
 " Accursed is the apostate to the seventieth genera- 
 tion." Yet the vox populi estimated the whole class 
 of the deserters rightly and named them "The 
 Marannen," a corrupted use of the Latin malediction, 
 " Anathema Maranatha." By far the greatest num- 
 ber of these renegades, while publicly practising all 
 the rights and requirements of their newly adopted 
 obligations, idolatrous and superstitious to their 
 minds, secretly remained true and steadfast to the 
 religion of their fathers. In the hidden recesses of 
 their homes they clung steadily to their inherited 
 faith, and observed most scrupulously the rites and 
 uses of the Mosaic and Rabbinical laws. Nor was 
 the race-affinity extinguished by the forced acquisi- 
 tions of the church. On the contrary, pity, sympathy 
 and tolerant forbearance continued to flow between 
 the steadfast members of the Semites and the 
 apparently severed renegades from the fold. All 
 this could have been easily borne or overlooked by 
 the not over-scrupulous faith which had so easily 
 adopted these newly found children, had not new 
 and unforeseen complications arisen which threatened 
 to absorb the absorber and engulf papacy and 
 monarchy. The ecclesiastical and civil courts must, 
 as a natural consequence of the recognized position 
 of these new Christians, remove all the former bars 
 raised against them when they yet were noncon- 
 formists ; must admit them to all the rights, privi- 
 leges and honors of the old members of the country 
 and church. Freed from the hindering obstacles 
 which hitherto had bound them, the aggressive spirit 
 of the race, which neither the holy water nor the sacred 
 wine and bread could extirpate, became manifested 
 
294 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to a staggering degree. They, by inborn shrewdness, 
 frugality and long-practised talent for financial enter- 
 prises, accumulated with preponderating rapidity 
 and success unparalleled stores of wealth, thereby 
 gaining immense power and influence. Intermar- 
 riage with the nobles and aristocrats, no longer inter- 
 dicted, made them of the flesh and blood of the 
 highest grandees, the lords and the princes of the 
 realm. By long cherished traditional Levitic descent 
 and superior education, these " Sephardim," as the 
 southern Hebrews called themselves, claimed to be 
 the nobility of the race. With fine, stately appear- 
 ances, haughty, proud spirits, and backed by all the 
 refinements and glamours which wealth lends to its 
 possessors, what more natural than their success in 
 matrimonial alliances with the fiery, easily impressed 
 and early matured daughters of Hispanola, whose 
 love of the romantic perceived in these new chevaliers 
 desirable suitors for their hands and hearts ? Many 
 of these young men had already titles of nobility ; 
 others by influence and money could easily procure 
 them, if permitting themselves to be handsomely 
 bled by the always impoverished exchequer of the 
 sovereigns. Thus an entire upheaval in the social 
 relations was threatened ; all the more so, as the line 
 of the young nobility was continually emaciated by 
 the never-ceasing wars, and one of the spruce, 
 comely and rich Marannen was mostly acceptable 
 to the not over-scrupulous noble maidens. Not 
 three generations had thus passed when Jewish 
 blood flowed in the veins of many of the ancient 
 families of the proud Hidalgos. 
 
 Nor did this constitute the only or supreme dan- 
 ger. A considerable number of the proselytes had 
 taken to high studies, many becoming ordained 
 members of the clergy, and several attaining to the 
 priestly dignities of bishops and cardinals. These 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 295 
 
 people had by their early training imbibed the 
 Hebrew spirit of the Torah and the Talmud ; but 
 what was to be far more feared was the wonder- 
 ful and acute analytical philosophy of one of the 
 foremost writers the world has ever seen, the match- 
 less physician and rabbi, Moses Maimonides. Since 
 Plato and Aristotle, no reasoning and profundity 
 had with such illustrious brilliancy risen in the 
 annals of profane or sacred literature as this super- 
 latively great author. Although he had lived nearly 
 three hundred years ago at Cordova, yet the already 
 ripe persecutions of the time drove him from his 
 native land and he settled, after many vicissitudes, 
 in Cairo (old), where he became court physician to 
 the renowned Kaliph Saladin, and where, during 
 the rest of his career, he composed those unparal- 
 leled master-works of human thought which seem 
 inspired like the ancient writings of the prophets 
 and seers. Fortunately for me and my cause they 
 were written in the Arabic language, and therefore 
 accessible to few. Otherwise they would long since 
 have revolutionized the world, surely and ultimately 
 overthrowing superstition, priestcraft and despotism. 
 Especially is this the case with one of his books 
 called "Moreh N'buchim" (guide of the perplexed). 
 So transcendent, clear and comprehensive are devel- 
 oped therein the principles of right, law, justice, 
 conscience and freedom, that all the powers of dark- 
 ness will crumble to pieces if these teachings shall 
 once be universally known and accepted. Men 
 of his own learned profession, benighted by the old 
 orthodox spirit with which they have groped through 
 the centuries, could not stand the flood of blinding 
 light which is shed by this powerful lens, and often 
 quarrelling and fuming over the (to them) incompre- 
 hensible teachings, these Rabbins themselves had 
 excommunicated the author and publicly burned the 
 
296 BEN BEOR. 
 
 volumes. Imagine then, who can, this corrosive 
 element injected into the dark blood of Popery. Who 
 can calculate the consequences, if this insidious 
 power is permitted, unhindered and unstemmed, to 
 insinuate itself into the marrow and bones of the 
 church, which as yet not even permitted her children 
 the right to read the Bible, Talmud or Koran. 
 
 And to crown all in this perplexed situation, 
 there had arisen from out of the loins of the uncon- 
 verted Jews, contemporaneous with all these present 
 complications, one of those phenomenal giant-minds, 
 who appear as if by providential direction, always 
 in the hour of greatest need among those accursed 
 people, giving them renewed strength, vigor and 
 power, and saving them from annihilation at the 
 very brink of destruction. Don Isaac ben Juda 
 Abarbanel came as if in the nick of time such a 
 chosen instrument. Born in Lisbon, 1437, he was 
 a scion of an illustrious ancestry, dating back, 
 according to well-preserved family traditions, to 
 King David. The grandson of the celebrated Sam- 
 uel Abarbanel, sainted and martyred two gener- 
 ations ago, this young Don Isaac had attained to 
 high and distinguished honors at the throne of 
 Portugal. Alphonso V., an enlightened, tolerant, 
 amiable and benignant sovereign, whose attention 
 was casually directed to the youthful statesman and 
 financier, soon raised him to the honor of minister 
 of state, made him his confidential adviser and 
 general favorite. Unfortunately, in the midst of so 
 promising a career his majesty died and was suc- 
 ceeded by loao II. (1481), in every respect the oppo- 
 site of his great father. Jealousy, dissension and 
 false accusation soon prepared the downfall of Abar- 
 banel, and he had to flee for life from his native 
 land, leaving behind a loving wife and three prom- 
 ising sons, also great wealth and possessions. By 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 297 
 
 an almost miraculous escape from pursuing officers, 
 he reached, after great hardships and privations, the 
 Spanish city of Toledo, where he took up his tem- 
 porary residence. His family was permitted to join 
 him, but all his earthly goods were confiscated. 
 Reduced to abjeet poverty, he was, notwithstanding, 
 received by his co-religionists and the educated 
 Christians with great distinction and hospitality. 
 He devoted at first all his time to much-neglected 
 literary works. In this, his favorite occupation, he 
 was not, however, to remain long. His reputation 
 as a political economist and diplomat had long pre- 
 ceded him, and the court at Madrid, being in sore 
 want of such talents, after a short interval, called 
 him into the service of the Spanish sovereigns. 
 Here, too, he succeeded in making himself almost 
 indispensable to the Catholic royalties, enjoying for 
 a time a peerless influence, even among the hostile 
 courtiers and the hateful prelates. Thereby he became 
 a veritable tower of protection to his otherwise help- 
 less brethren, standing between them and the ever- 
 increasing wrath of the Inquisition. 
 
 Fearful as had already been the persecution 
 against the hapless Marannen by the church since 
 the official introduction of the Inquisition, yet the 
 culmination of their misfortune was reached when 
 the primates of the holy tribunal now in session at 
 the rectory at the Dominican cathedral of Segovia, 
 concocted the means by which to entirely extermin- 
 ate the hated race. 
 
 When the eminent secretary had finished reading 
 the former proceedings of this august body, which 
 pictured fully and completely the ineffectual results 
 thus far attained, in spite of the frequently repeated 
 auto da fe and its terrible adjunct, the torture, it 
 became apparent to the Junta that still more strin- 
 gent and searching expedients were necessary to 
 
298 BEN BEOR. 
 
 accomplish the ruin of their victims. Then it was 
 that his eminence the Inquisitor-General drew from 
 the pockets of his robe a written document contain- 
 ing the twenty-eight rules which should become 
 historically notorious for their abnormal severity 
 and radical stringency, and as he 'handed them to 
 the secretary to be read, addressed us in these words : 
 
 " Brethren and co-laborers in the glorious mission 
 of purifying our revered church from the damnable 
 taints of heresy and rational unbelief! Now or 
 never we must succeed ! Away with -maudlin feel- 
 ings and sympathies ! Let the reign of the Savior 
 come on the wings of a chariot of fire. Down with 
 the traitors ! Down with the dissenters ! Let us 
 hear and adopt these articles. They are the inspired 
 work of our great coadjutor, this our dear brother 
 of Segovia. The Holy Father at Kome ought to 
 canonize him for the sublime conception. It will 
 strike our enemies with the sword of Gideon! " 
 
 The utmost quiet reigned. The strained attitude 
 of breathless attention was almost painful. Then 
 the reading commenced. These long-drawn-out 
 rules contained five principal sections, in twenty- 
 eight paragraphs : 
 
 1. From Nos. 1 to 10 deal with the summons for 
 the heretics to come forward and confess, also the 
 duties of the submissive. 
 
 2. From Nos. 11 to 13 concern themselves with 
 the penalties in the prisons of the office. 
 
 3. From Nos. 14 to 19 deal with the procedure 
 of trial, inclusive of the torture. 
 
 4. From Nos. 20 to 21 constitute the jurisdiction 
 over dead heretics and the vassals of living nobles. 
 
 5. From Nos. 21 to 28 inclusive, establish points 
 in the details of management. 
 
 During and after the reading of the sections, these 
 grave and reverend signores behaved like a parcel of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 299 
 
 over-exuberant schoolboys. They shouted accla- 
 mations to each rule ; they jumped violently from 
 their seats, entranced with every measure; they 
 chipped their hands and boisterously laughed with 
 satisfaction over the proposed enactments. Finally, 
 at the end of the reading, such exclamations were 
 heard as these : " We'll do it we have got them 
 surely ! Misericordia et Justitia ! " 
 
 So the enormities of the twenty-eight rules w r ere 
 adopted unanimously. They needed for full forpe 
 yet the approval of the full Consejo, which was 
 called shortly to meet at Seville, when six apostol- 
 ical councillors, the fiscal procurator, tw r o more secre- 
 taries, and the grand treasurer were to be present to 
 approve and sign the document, as was now done by 
 all convened here. But this was only a technicality, 
 every person so required being but the too-willing 
 tool of the Inquisitor-General. Before the present 
 council adjourned one more measure was devised. 
 The prisoners taken this morning in the act of Juda- 
 izing were consigned for absolute disposal to the 
 power of the Third Inquisitor, Arbuez de Epila. 
 
 Section V.The Tartwre of Hope Blasted. 
 
 Four weeks had now passed since the capture of 
 the prisoners and the meeting of the Consejo de la 
 Suprema. Caught in the very act of Judaizing, 
 the imprisoned people were ipso factum guilty of 
 heresy, punishable by death in being burned at the 
 stake at the next ensuing auto da fe. Considera- 
 tions of great importance made it necessary to act 
 with the greatest caution in the treatment of these 
 convicts. I had been enjoined to the utmost by the 
 Inquisitor-General to use every possible means, kind 
 or harsh, for inducing the backsliders to betray such 
 confederates and associates as were guilty of similar 
 
300 BEN BEOR. 
 
 offences. Especially was this aimed at the vener- 
 able and highly influential Bishop of Seville, Don 
 Juan Arias Davilla. Of Portuguese Hebrew an- 
 cestors, this high dignitary of the church had risen 
 to the eminent position which he held by personal 
 worth, profound learning and influential connections 
 at the court of Madrid. He was an eye-sore and 
 obstacle to Torquemada. Every means of his craft 
 were employed to encompass the downfall of this 
 enemy. And here was now a near relative and 
 trusted friend of our foe in the meshes of our power, 
 who perhaps might be persuaded, either by the 
 blandishments of hope for pardon or the excruciating 
 pains of torture, to implicate him of Seville, and 
 maybe other high recreants, of being guilty of prac- 
 tising in secret Israelitish rites and ceremonies; 
 in other words, the mortal offence of Judaizing, 
 the worst kind of heresy known to the law. Thus 
 far, I had, however, ignominiously failed. Neither 
 the men nor the women, spite of the most insinuating 
 conditions offered, spite of the most horrible punish- 
 ments inflicted, would depart from their heroically 
 stolid exclamation, " We know nothing ! " All but 
 the old rabbi-priest lay now in the throes of fearful 
 agony. I had them tortured this day for the third 
 time, to press out of them, by the so-called " pre- 
 alable," the revelation of their accomplices. 
 
 When brought to the operating-room, there was 
 no other light in the pestiferous dungeon-cell but 
 what was shed by a few tallow candles. The walls, 
 as in all these infernal places, were lined with a kind 
 of black-colored quilting, which covers all crevices, 
 so that the cries of the sufferers should not be heard 
 outside. Not the least consideration was shown 
 to the females in the proceedings which now fol- 
 lowed. They were treated with as much severity as 
 their male companions in misery, with the additional 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 301 
 
 mortification of having the most shocking indecen- 
 cies added to their pitiful lot. As soon as brought 
 in, the executioner fastened iron chains around their 
 bodies, which, crossing upon the stomach, terminated 
 at the wrist. Thus manacled, they forced the back 
 of each unfortunate against a thick board ; at the 
 extremity of this was a pulley, through which ran a 
 rope catching the ends of the chains at the wrists. 
 Stretching the ropes by means of a roller placed at 
 a distance, the most excruciating pressure was ex- 
 erted in proportion as the ends of the chains were 
 drawn tighter. By this process the joints of the 
 hands, arms and shoulders were soon dislocated. 
 Blood spurted from the mouth, nostrils, and, in fact, 
 every pore of the body. Amidst all this horror no 
 other words escaped the sufferers but now and then 
 a faint supplication to heaven for patience, for help, 
 for power to persevere in truth" and in integrity. 
 The women had to be carried, the men led back to 
 their dungeons. 
 
 Their forms and appearances were utterly unrec- 
 ognizable. Especially was a shocking change visi- 
 ble in the bride of but a month ago. Her bright, 
 rosy countenance was transformed into a sallow, 
 bloodless pale ; the brilliancy of the eyes was extin- 
 guished to a listless stare ; the plump outlines of her 
 graceful figure had disappeared, and she looked more 
 like a decrepit old dame than a young female. Cor- 
 respondingly conspicuous was the change of the 
 others. On to-morrow they were to be relieved of 
 their earthly troubles. It was appointed as one of 
 the fete-days of an auto da fe. One final effort I 
 purposed, however, to make that very evening with 
 the very obstinate Petros Davilla. (The following 
 incident, with only the change of name, is taken 
 from the French of Villiers d'Jsle.) 
 
 " Toward nightfall J, followed by a friar and pre- 
 
302 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ceded by two familiars carrying torches, descended 
 to one of the lower dungeons. The lock of a mas- 
 sive door was turned, and we entered a foul-smell- 
 ing "inpace," where by the dim light could be dis- 
 cerned, between two iron rings fastened into the wall, 
 a bench stained with blood, a brazier and a pitcher. 
 On a litter of dirty straw crouched a haggard-look- 
 ing man, whose clothes hung in rags. He had a 
 band of iron around his neck, connected by a heavy 
 chain to another ring in the wall just above his head. 
 His age was indistinguishable. I addressed the 
 prisoner, with the following words, dissembling 
 deep sorrow, the false tears actually coming to my 
 eyes: "My son, rejoice; your trials on this earth 
 are soon to come to an end ! Through your hard- 
 ness of heart I have been under the painful necessity 
 of inflicting the most agonizing torture; my duty of 
 fraternal correction has its limits. You are the 
 barren fig-tree which must no longer cumber the 
 ground; but it is for the Almighty alone to dispose 
 of your soul. Possibly His infinite love may shed 
 its rays upon you at the last moment. Let us hope 
 so. I have known instances of it. So be it. Rest 
 in peace this evening. To-morrow you will take 
 part in the auto da fe ; that is, you will be exposed 
 quemadero, a premonitory for the eternal flame. It 
 burns the victim, I need not tell you, from a dis- 
 tance, and death will not come to you in less than 
 two hours perhaps three ; it is slow because of the 
 wet cloths that are placed over the brow and heart. 
 There will be only forty-three of you. Be thankful 
 that, as you will be in the last row, you will have 
 plenty of time to invoke God and offer up your 
 prayers in this baptism of fire. Put your trust in 
 the light, and sleep/' I made a sign to my attendants 
 to unrivet the captive's fetters and embraced him 
 tenderly. Then it was the Father Redemptor's turn. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 303 
 
 He, in a low voice, asked pardon of the doomed man 
 for all that he had made him suffer for the redemp- 
 tion of the soul. Then the two familiars kissed him 
 in silence. This ceremony over, the captive was 
 left alone in the darkness. Don Petros sat helpless, 
 staring at the closed door closed, that word 
 aroused one distinct idea in the midst of his con- 
 fusion of mind. It was that he had seen, for one 
 instant, the glimmer from the lantern between the 
 door and the wall. A hope a hope evidently due 
 to the tension of his brain rolls within him. He 
 dragged himself to the door, and cautiously running 
 his fingers between the fissure, pulled the door to- 
 ward him. Oh ! extraordinary good fortune ! The 
 jailer had turned the key before the door was com- 
 pletely shut. 
 
 The rabbi-priest ventured to look outside. His 
 eyes, used to the darkness, had no difficulty in dis- 
 tinguishing a semi-circular space, inclosed by earthen 
 walls, and several staircases leading to the upper 
 floor. At the end of it, straight in front of him, 
 were some steps leading to a back porch, opening on 
 what seemed a corridor, of which he could see only 
 a few arches. He crawled on hands and knees to 
 this porch. Yes, it was a corridor, but an intermin- 
 ably long one. It was but dimly lighted ; small 
 oil-lamps were hung at long intervals to the beams 
 and only served to make the darkness visible. The 
 end of the corridor was lost in a gloom. There was 
 not a door in the length of the wall. On the left 
 was a small, closely-barred window, which now let 
 in a few rays of reddish light from above so he 
 judged it must be evening. And what an unearthly 
 silence reigned in that place ! However, down at the 
 end and hidden in the darkness might be a door 
 leading to liberty. It was his last hope ; so, keeping 
 under the shadow on his left, he crept slowly, on 
 
304 BEN BEOR. 
 
 hands and feet, at full length, courageously sup- 
 pressing a groan whenever he struck one of the 
 wounds with which his body was covered. 
 
 Suddenly a sandaled footstep echoes through the 
 length of the stone corridor. He is seized with 
 terror, his sight fails him, and he waits half dead 
 with apprehension lest he should be discovered. It 
 is a familiar, hurrying to some dungeon. A cowl 
 conceals his countenance, and he passes rapidly, 
 with a pair of flesh-nippers in his hand. The 
 fugitive is so terrified that, weakened as he is 
 with pain and hunger, nearly an hour passes before 
 he has strength to move. The dread of having to 
 undergo additional torture in case of being discov- 
 ered makes him for a moment think of turning back, 
 but hope whispers to his soul that divine gift 
 which perhaps comforts us in our worst afflictions. 
 A miracle had been performed for his rescue. He 
 must not doubt it; so he went on, though exhausted 
 by hunger and fear, toward possible escape. This 
 sepulchral passage seems to lengthen mysteriously, 
 but he keeps his eyes fixed on the darkness beyond, 
 where surely there must be some exit. Again foot- 
 steps are heard, but heavier and slower. The 
 black and white gowns and shovel-hats of two 
 inquisitors emerge from the darkness. They are 
 talking in low tones and gesticulating, as if they 
 were in argument upon some important subject. On 
 seeing them, Father Petros shuts his eyes, his heart 
 beats as if it would break, and a cold sweat of agony 
 bursts out on him ; he lies as if dead just under the 
 light of a lamp, invoking the God of David to his 
 aid. 
 
 The two inquisitors stop under the lamp in the 
 heat of their discussion. One of them, wh.o is list- 
 ening to his companion's argument, keeps his eyes 
 fixed on the priest, and he, not remarking the absent 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 305 
 
 look in those staring orbs, seems already to feel the 
 red-hot pincers tearing his flesh. But the eyes 
 of the inquisitors are those of men completely 
 absorbed in the conversation and studying answers 
 to a companion's query. In fact, in a few minutes 
 the two sinister individuals continue on their way 
 slowly, and still conversing in low tones, toward 
 the semi-circular court through which the fugitive 
 had passed. He has not been seen! It was so 
 extraordinary an escape that the poor wretch, in the 
 confusion of the mind, says to himself, "Am I 
 already dead, that no one sees me ? " 
 
 He must hurry to the place where he hopes for 
 the deliverance, toward the shadowy place which 
 is now only about thirty paces distant. So he 
 crawls out further and soon comes to the dark part 
 of this gruesome corridor. He feels a draft of cold 
 air on his hands; it comes from under the door. O 
 God, if this door only opens on the outer world ! 
 He is giddy with hope and fear. He feels, but can 
 discover no bolts or lock simply a latch. He rises 
 to his feet, presses the latch, which yields silently, 
 and the door stands open before him. 
 
 "Hallelujah! " sighs he, in a transport of thank- 
 fulness at the sight that greets his eyes. The door 
 has opened on a garden, under a sky bright with 
 stars, on liberty and life. It looks upon the sur- 
 rounding country. Toward the sierra in that direc- 
 tion is safety. Oh! he will fly! he will run all 
 night under the cover of citron woods, the perfume of 
 which regales his nostrils even from this spot. Once 
 in the mountains he will be safe. He is breathing 
 God's pure air ; the winds refreshing him, his lungs 
 grow stronger ; he seems to hear the words addressed 
 to Lazarus, and to bless the God who has been so 
 infinitely merciful to him he stretches forth his arms 
 and raises his eyes to the firmament. Then he 
 
306 BEN BEOR. 
 
 thinks he sees the shadow of arms descend upon 
 himself he seems to feel these shadowy arms 
 clasp around him he is enfolded in a tender em- 
 brace. A tall figure stands near him. He lowers 
 his eyes and they become fixed on the person before 
 him in horror and despair. It is I, Ben Beor ! 
 
 He is in my arms! I look at him with com- 
 passionate mien as a shepherd would at a lost sheep. 
 I press him to my heart with such apparent ferv- 
 ent charity that the sharp points of his hair shirt 
 press into my flesh. He nearly faints with grief. 
 Then I speak to him, concentrating all the unctuous 
 tenderness my voice is capable of, and say, "Dear 
 Brother Petros, did you wish to leave us on the eve 
 of possible salvation? Unburden thy rebellious 
 heart to me and confess, brother, confess ; tell me 
 now of the sins and recantations of friends and rela- 
 tives, and, by the honor of Him crucified, thy own 
 misdeeds shall be considered atoned, and we will 
 bestow such marks of distinction upon thee as to 
 obliterate every suffering, every danger now threat- 
 ening liberty and life." 
 
 In my over-wrought excitement and over-strained 
 enthusiasm I did not notice that the emaciated form 
 held in my arms had grown lax and limp, and that 
 on the first relaxation of my embrace, which sup- 
 ported him upright, he fell heavily to the ground. 
 Father Petros Davilla was dead blasted hope had 
 killed him." 
 
 Section VI. A Grand Auto da Fe. 
 
 The next day was appointed as a grand act of the 
 faith the auto da fe. 
 
 The officers of the Inquisition, precisely at noon, 
 amidst the tolling of the church-bells of Segovia, and 
 preceded by the kettle-drums, trumpets and banners, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 307 
 
 marched in procession to the Quemadero. This was 
 the large quadrangular space especially set apart and 
 arranged for our purpose. The three sides were 
 surrounded by a prodigious number of people, 
 dressed in holiday garb, as splendid as their 
 respective circumstances would allow. Double rows 
 of chairs prevented them from encroaching on the 
 square assigned for the horrid performance. In the 
 centre of these was raised a high scaffold, assigned 
 for the criminals of both sexes, brought from all 
 parts of the kingdom. The whole court of Spain 
 had come purposely to be present at this occasion. 
 The eastern side was especially arranged for them. 
 In the centre of this balcony two throne-chairs were 
 provided for the king and queen. The rest of the 
 long space was assigned for the ministers of state 
 and the courtiers with their ladies, all in gala attire. 
 Above the thrones, in an elevated lodge, as to sig- 
 nify their superiority even to royalty, sat the three 
 Grand Inquisitors and their attendants. They re- 
 mained seated when, amidst great acclamation of joy 
 and shouts of welcome, Ferdinand and Isabella 
 entered their quarters and took their allotted seats. 
 The Queen looked very beautiful. Well formed, of 
 middle size, with great dignity and gracefulness of 
 movement, grave but sweet in demeanor, her com- 
 plexion fair, her hair auburn, inclining to red, her 
 eyes of a clear blue with a benign expression, there 
 was a singular modesty in her countenance, gracing 
 as it does a wonderful firmness of purpose and ear- 
 nestness of spirit. The King is a fitting match to 
 this remarkable woman. . He is of middle stature, 
 well proportioned and active from athletic exercise. 
 His carriage is free, erect and majestic ; he has a 
 clear, serene forehead, which appears more lofty from 
 his head being partly bald ; his eyebrows are thick, 
 and, like his hair, of a bright chestnut color ; his eyes 
 
308 BEN BEOK. 
 
 are clear and animated ; the complexion is somewhat 
 ruddy and scorched from exposure in war; his 
 mouth is moderate in size, well formed and gracious 
 in its expression. Both royal persons are dressed 
 in the grand splendor befitting their majesties. 
 
 Presently, as the signals sound, the doomed pris- 
 oners are slowly led in. They are preceded by a 
 large number of clerical celebrants in their friar 
 gowns, a cross in one hand and a lighted wax candle 
 in the other. Their heads, shaven at the crown, are 
 bare. From their girdles hang huge rosaries. Next 
 two monks carry upon a bier the dead body of 
 Petros Davilla. Then one comes bearing a paste- 
 board figure of Don Gomez Enriquez, who has not 
 been apprehended, which is to be burned in effigy. 
 After him walk the women and the men to be burned 
 at the stake, the former one led by Bianca, the latter 
 by her father, the Count de Suson. They all are 
 dressed in the Benitto, coarse, close-fitting garbs, 
 painted with the figures of the devil, skulls and cross 
 bones; each one bears a large red cross. Their 
 heads are crowned with high pointed paper caps, 
 also marked with terrible-looking figures. These 
 were the dresses of the doomed. There were forty- 
 three of them in all ; but to them were added a train 
 of fifty Jews and Jewesses, for some ecclesiastical 
 transgression, ten Spaniards indicted for bigamy and 
 witchcraft, and two Morescoes, for having practised 
 the Moslem religion. All were led with ropes 
 around their necks and torches on their shackled 
 hands. 
 
 Now mass began, the priests coming to the altar 
 placed near the scaffold. When they had finished 
 they seated themselves in chairs placed for that 
 purpose. 
 
 The chief Inquisitors then descended from the 
 amphitheatre where they had thus far waited. Each 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 309 
 
 was dressed in copes, the mitre on their heads. The 
 General bore a golden cross ; the second Grand 
 Inquisitor carried a large tome of the Gospel in his 
 arms, and I held the sacred censers in my hand. 
 After bowing to the altar, we advanced to the royal 
 balcony. The King and Queen then arose, as did 
 the whole assembly, and every one of the faithful 
 repeated an oath read by Torquemada, " To protect 
 the Catholic faith, to extirpate the heretics, and sup- 
 port with all power the decrees of the Inquisition/' 
 Then turning toward the multitude, I proclaimed 
 the sentences of the several criminals. We now 
 retired, and the executioner with his brutal helpers, 
 all carrying burning torches, made their way to the 
 scaffold, awaiting the signal of setting fire to the 
 heaps of fagots. At this instant a scene ensued 
 which baffled description. 
 
 Bianca, in her youth and what remained of her 
 beauty, being now on the same side of the platform 
 where the Queen was seated, ran forward, freeing 
 herself with the power of despair, and, falling on her 
 knees, with most pathetic words and gestures ad- 
 dressed her majesty, sobbing and weeping, " Most 
 gracious Queen/' she cried, "will not your royal 
 presence give me some hope of pardon in my miser- 
 able condition ? Have regard have pity for my 
 youth, for my innocence of any crime! Can you, 
 will you see one of your sex die this terrible death ? " 
 The Queen seemed greatly moved, but she turned her 
 eyes away, which bystanders saw were full of tears, 
 as she did not dare to speak a favorable word for 
 one who had been declared and sentenced as a 
 heretic. Then she was heard to say these historical 
 and memorable words: "Virgin Mother of the 
 Kedeemer, what misery must I commit in thy 
 name ! " 
 
 A general shout by the people was raised and the 
 
310 BEN BEOR. 
 
 universal cry came, " Let the dog's beard be made ! " 
 which implied to singe the hair of the doomed men. 
 This is now done by means of flaming furzes thrust 
 with long poles against their faces. This is con- 
 tinued until their hair and faces are burned. Fire 
 is now set to the fagots and the place soon becomes 
 a sea of flame. The spectators shouted themselves 
 hoarse ; but amidst all the noise can be heard the 
 prayers and the songs of the victims till nearly to 
 the end, when there is nothing left but a heap of 
 bones and ashes. 
 
 Section VII. A Frustrated Complot. 
 
 The enormous activity displayed in rapid succes- 
 sion by the suddenly acquired strength of the Inqui- 
 sition would have taken possession of the entire 
 Hispanolian peninsula but for the massive oppo- 
 sition which it found in the provinces of Aragonia 
 and Valencia. The influential and wealthy inhabi- 
 tants, a large number of whom were " New Chris- 
 tians," or related with such, had obtained from times 
 beyond the memory of men a royal grant that the prop- 
 erty of no criminal should ever be confiscated by the 
 State. And they watched over this privilege with 
 the utmost jealousy. All their powerful efforts at 
 Rome, as well as with their sovereigns, failed 
 through the iron will of a man the Junta had fitly 
 chosen to represent the Church and her newly ac- 
 quired dominion. There was selected for this trying 
 and dangerous position the second Grand Inqui- 
 sitor, Bishop Pedro Arbuez de Epila, to reside at 
 Saragossa, the capital of the province. In his early 
 youth he had been a soldier, rising to the rank of 
 captain. In the field and among his comrades no 
 one was ever known for higher courage, boldness 
 and gallantry than this young nobleman. During 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 311 
 
 a long spell of sickness, while infected with small- 
 pox, he had visions and dreams which made him 
 a religious devotee. The marks of the disease 
 left him with a terrible appearance. On recovery 
 he joined the Church, becoming a Dominican friar, 
 rising by tireless study and zealous performance 
 of religious duties to the dignity he now held. 
 Knowing himself supported by both the ecclesias- 
 tical and civil authorities, he laughed at the threats 
 and remonstrances of the Cortes and the enemies 
 of the sacred innovations, and snatched from out of 
 their teeth two victims to be tried for Judaizing 
 heresy. These were tortured, condemned to be 
 burned and their estates to be confiscated according 
 to the established rules of the holy tribunal. Among 
 the forty-two who had suffered in the auto dafe at 
 Segovia these two were of the number. The excite- 
 ment at Saragossa at this outrage against vested 
 rights rose to fever heat. 
 
 It was soon ascertained by trusted informers that 
 a determined conspiracy had been formed whose 
 first aim had been against the life of de Epila. Es- 
 pionage had become from the very start one of the 
 main auxiliaries of the new persecution. Granting 
 absolution and immunity to all informers, and mak- 
 ing knowledge of any guilt, without revealing the 
 same to the respective authorities, tantamount to the 
 commission of the same, the spy became the corrod- 
 ing poison infused into the life-blood of the nation. 
 There was no longer security from kindred and rela- 
 tionship love and friendship, in the highest degree, 
 had ceased to exist. Parents and children, brothers 
 and sisters, husbands and wives, friends and associ- 
 ates all became distrustful towards each other. A 
 desire for revenge, a wish for ruining a neighbor 
 malice and envy needed but to rap at night 011 the 
 door of the tormentor's office, ever ready to open, 
 
312 BEN BEOE. 
 
 and the heinous purpose was effected. As soon, there- 
 fore, as information of personal danger reached the 
 bishop, he had brought forth his old military suit of 
 mail, protecting himself from head to foot with the 
 steel links of impenetrable security. Every precau- 
 tion was taken besides against surprise and outbreak, 
 and measures of the greatest magnitude devised to 
 discover the leaders and members of the conspirators. 
 
 All this, however, miserably failed ; for when at 
 an early morning the bishop went forth from his 
 residence to the church to attend holy mass, and while 
 he lay there upon his knees saying the Latin words 
 of the rite, four men, deeply masked and with drawn 
 swords, sprang from one of the niches of the sanctu- 
 ary, hewed savage blows upon him, wounding his 
 arm and neck; the blood spurted high up to the 
 altar. Then the assailants successfully made their 
 escape. The wounded man had to be carried to his 
 bed, and, in spite of the best medical skill employed, 
 he died in great agony two days after. 
 
 On learning this news, the Inquisitor-General, by 
 special messenger, required me to proceed to the 
 scene of the murder, with instructions and full 
 power to act. When I arrived there I found the 
 city a cauldron of raging indignation. All the sym- 
 pathy which the people had heretofore bestowed 
 upon the " New Christians/' and all the dislike they 
 had felt against the promulgation of the holy tri- 
 bunal, now vanished in the unparalleled assassi- 
 nation of one of the anointed of the Lord. In 
 several places masses of people were collected, 
 roaring for vengeance against the Marannen. The 
 slaughter would have been terrible but for the 
 timely and powerful intercession of the humane 
 and generous archbishop of this diocese, Prince Al- 
 phonso de Aragon, a near relative of the sover- 
 eigns. He passed through the streets and by words 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 313 
 
 and assurances restrained the mob from violence. 
 He was very popular with the masses. On his sol- 
 emn promise that the guilty murderers and their 
 confederates should be visited with the fullest pun- 
 ishment for their crime, the people retired. 
 
 The task assigned to me was certainly a difficult 
 one, and required the utmost care, tact and scrutiny 
 for attaining the mission on which I had arrived. 
 Not the slightest trace of the four masked . assail- 
 ants could be found. They had come and fled with- 
 out being recognized by any one. Nor was there yet 
 to be found a clue to the carefully covered insti- 
 gators and confederates in the crime. All I could 
 do for the present was to watch and wait, offering 
 immunities and a large reward to any one who would 
 give information leading to the detection of the bloody 
 plotters. From my knowledge of human nature I 
 was satisfied that a conspiracy which must have had 
 wide ramifications, would before long show some 
 signs of its existence and several tangible tokens of 
 one or the other of its hiding-places. Nor was I 
 mistaken in this. 
 
 On the very first day of my presence here, while 
 at vespers in the cathedral, and while keeping a 
 searching eye on the assembled congregation, I noticed 
 in one of the side pews near the altar, from whence I 
 could look directly into the faces, two females who 
 to all appearances were mother and daughter. The 
 older one was very stout, dark, and with a handsome, 
 aristocratic-looking face. She watched with great 
 solicitude over the young girl seated by her side, 
 whose dark eyes were riveted upon the rosary. 
 Several times I saw, when she lifted the long black 
 lashes, that tears in amp*le profusion rolled down her 
 round cheeks. Her finely cut and bright red lips 
 trembled and twitched under the brave effort of sup- 
 pressing sobs. She was very youthful; certainly 
 
314 BEN BEOK. 
 
 not more than eighteen years old. From under the 
 white veil there stole out a mass of short, blue-black 
 curls which encircled the face like a wreath. The 
 contour of her profile was romanesque. Add to 
 this the well-formed shoulders and fully developed 
 bust, ind there was certainly an ideal model for the 
 picture of a Madonna, worthy the brush of a Titiens 
 or his master, Zuccati. 
 
 From one of the father-confessors I learned that 
 these ladies were wife and daughter of a somewhat 
 impoverished Valencian nobleman, Vidal deUranso, 
 who had settled a short while ago with his family at 
 Saragossa. Of their griefs and troubles he knew 
 nothing. Interested as I was in them, I found it 
 not very difficult, with the privilege of my calling, 
 high office, and the aid of our confidentials, to find 
 out their whereabouts, and then had them summoned 
 to my presence. Nor did they offer any obstacles 
 after the first introduction, seeing what lively 
 interest I took in their affairs, to tell me the follow- 
 ing story of their clouded lives. The sum and sub- 
 stance of it was this, as related by the siguora : 
 
 "Several months ago there appeared at their house. 
 a mysterious stranger, who repeatedly and secretly 
 met with my husband. The soldierlike-looking, 
 young and handsome man had brought letters of 
 introduction and fine credentials from important per- 
 sonages, and soon was at home in our family circle. 
 His fine, gentlemanly deportment, insinuating man- 
 ners, with an often far-away, troubled look, spoke of 
 deep-seated sorrow and disappointment, imbuing us 
 with that peculiar sympathetic interest so appealing 
 to the tender female heart. He was, no doubt, a 
 person of some importance fn disguise; never came 
 till nightfall, was extremely wary in the confidential 
 interviews with de Uranso, who treated him with 
 great deference and respect. Spite of my repeated 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA, 315 
 
 importunities I could learn nothing of their secret 
 objects, but soon noticed that our former impecu- 
 niosity was changed into much better circumstances, 
 we becoming now flush with money. Our newly 
 found friend had introduced himself as Don Gomez. 
 While he never in any social intercourse showed the 
 first approach to any affectionate intimacy, too late I 
 found out that my daughter, Senorita Raphaello, 
 inexperienced, unsophisticated as she was, had fallen 
 violently in love with our visitor. You know such 
 things do not often escape the watchful eyes of a 
 mother. When I pressed her for the truth, she, who 
 had never concealed aught from me, owned up with 
 deep blushes and a flood of tears to the state of her 
 feelings. She could not say that he had caused it, or 
 as yet had given the first sign of reciprocating that 
 unfortunate passion. I soothed, as best I could, her 
 pitiful excitement, bade her to be patient and watch- 
 ful of herself, not to betray to him the emotions 
 which lacerated her heart, and hope for the best. 
 Imagine the havoc the young man made on that 
 very evening when, casually, during the conversa- 
 tion, he spoke of his dearly loved young wife, from 
 whom he was separated by most cruel circumstances, 
 unable to tell how soon both by good fortune might 
 be reunited. I saw Raphaello's face blanch. She 
 exerted all her strength to keep from fainting. At 
 this instant my husband and two other chevaliers 
 entered. We were bidden to retire to our dormitory, 
 as they had business of great importance during the 
 night. Nothing could have been more welcome to 
 our state of feelings than the solitude of our cham- 
 ber. Here, without speaking a word, the girl fell 
 into my arms and we wept together ; she so violently 
 that I was afraid she would go into convulsions. 
 But my caresses and the power of exhausted nature 
 made her finally more composed, and toward morning 
 
316 BEN BEOR. 
 
 she fell into a deep, uneasy sleep. I laid her care- 
 fully upon the couch, watching anxiously till the first 
 dawn of morning broke through the windows. From 
 my deep reveries, caused by looking at the dark future 
 of my poor child, whose filial affection and irreproach- 
 able conduct had often been, in the most trying 
 circumstances, my only solace, I was aroused by the 
 sudden return of my husband. I was aware he had 
 been absent all night with his visitors. When he 
 now entered 1 was shocked anew by his appearance. 
 He was begrimed in face and hands. His whole 
 attire was disordered. His looks were haggard 
 and staring actually frightening me. Were my 
 troubles never to end ? I hastened to have his bath 
 prepared and make him change his toilet. We sat 
 down alone to breakfast, but he remained silent and 
 preoccupied. To all my anxious questions of what 
 had happened to disturb him so, he pleadingly 
 entreated me to ask no more. Finally, he stated 
 that our good friend Don Gomez sent his farewell to 
 the ladies. Circumstances beyond control made the 
 departure of that person last night necessary, so he 
 could not see us again. My husband now asked for 
 Raphaello; she was to him an idolized object of 
 parental affection. I told him the misfortune which 
 had happened. He hastened to her room. I found 
 him holding her tightly embraced in his arms. Both 
 wept bitterly. I fell down on my knees and prayed. 
 All at once the girl was by my side. With her soft, 
 silvery voice she said : ' Dearly loved ones, let me 
 change evil into good. The Lord, I see it clearly, 
 directs my path. In His service I will spend the 
 rest of my life as one of the good nuns of the Carme- 
 lite convent; there I will forget my misery. A 
 devout and charitable life is the only fit future for 
 one suffering like me. Help me in this, dear parents, 
 and all will be well.' 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 317 
 
 " She was interrupted from saying any more by a 
 great noise and tumult in the adjoining streets. 
 From the incoherent cries and wild acclamations we 
 gathered soon the awful news that Father de Epila 
 that very morning and while at mass had been 
 assassinated. 
 
 "During the now ensuing excitement, the death 
 and funeral of the sainted martyr, we could take no 
 steps for fulfilling the irrevocable will of our 
 daughter. But we appeal now to you, reverend 
 father, to assist her in taking the veil and be ad- 
 mitted as one of the holy sisters to the cloister." 
 
 Admitting this to be the proper course to be 
 taken by the young lady, I promised my best aid 
 for attaining, as soon as possible, her pious object; 
 but insisted that they must, as soon as reaching 
 home, send to me Don de Uranso. 
 
 During the recital of the woman's story I became 
 more and more convinced that I saw the tracks to- 
 ward a great discovery. This man was either one 
 of the murderers or one of the confederates. There 
 was no doubt in my mind about that fact. I pre- 
 pared for his coming, which occurred within a short 
 interval. At sight of him I saw pusillanimity and 
 cowardice written in his unprepossessing counte- 
 nance. I went to work without any roundabout 
 words. Charging him with a guilty knowledge of 
 the crime of murderous assault on the late Grand 
 Inquisitor, I proceeded to say : 
 
 " You, as a good Catholic, must be aware that it 
 is in my power, by means of the torture, to press 
 from you the confession of your guilt." I saw him 
 shudder under the influence of my eyes, fixed star- 
 ingly upon him. Then I proceeded : " Would you 
 not prefer my now proifered kindness, to make a full 
 account of the truth ? Look at yonder table. There 
 lie twenty thousand ducats, the offered reward for 
 
318 BEN BEOK. 
 
 this discovery of the criminals ; there is also a paper, 
 as you must see, containing the full pardon and en- 
 tire Church immunity for the informer if implicated 
 in the affair himself. Lastly, there is a commission 
 as warden-general in our cathedral at Segovia, with 
 an annual salary of five thousand piasters, and this 
 for life, as an additional reward, if you place me in 
 possession of all the details I shall require. Now 
 take your choice." 
 
 The fellow walked to the table. He viewed the 
 heap of gold a mite only from the millions confis- 
 cated at the death of Count Suson. He examined 
 the papers carefully, as if this was simply a business 
 transaction. Then, nodding his vile head approv- 
 ingly, he returned to me and asked : " What is it 
 that you wish to know, condition-ally of my accept- 
 ing the proposal ? " I replied : " The unequivocal, 
 positive answer to the following questions : 
 
 "(1). Who and where are the four assassins? 
 
 "(2). Who and where are the members of the 
 conspiracy ? " 
 
 He continued to say : " Will you swear to me 
 and kiss the crucifix hanging from your girdle, that 
 every promise made shall be sacredly and inviol- 
 ably kept if I answer these queries ? " 
 
 I rose and swore, kissing the cross, fully deter- 
 mined to keep my promise, if necessary, as a cheap 
 price for the object to be attained. I now seated 
 myself at the table and made ready to write. He 
 dictated : 
 
 " There were four assassins : Juan de Esperando, 
 our leader ; Juan de Abadia, who committed sui- 
 cide this very morning ; Don Gomez, a stranger, 
 who succeeded in making his escape into France, 
 his whereabouts now unknown, and myself, who, 
 however, took no active part in the attack.' 7 
 
 I knew the fellow lied in the last statement, but 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 319 
 
 did not care, and asked : " And now, what about 
 your confederates ? " 
 
 " I have a full list in writing at my house. Send 
 for servants to carry the gold to my abode; take 
 yourself the two papers and come with me. We 
 will exchange there the documents and complete the 
 bargain." I assented readily to the proposition, 
 and in less than half an hour the conditions of the 
 ominous contract were fulfilled on both sides. 
 
 Before night Juan de Esperando was a prisoner in 
 the deepest dungeon of the cathedral. When taken 
 captive in the presence of his wife and family, the exe- 
 cutioner, with his horrible axe, chopped off the hands 
 and feet of the resistless man. By chains wound 
 around his body, the alguazils dragged him through 
 the streets, amidst the hooting and shouting of the 
 wrathy throng following the sickening sight. Next 
 morning he hung suspended from the high tower of 
 the sacred edifice, strangled to death. Over two 
 hundred implicated accomplices, enumerated on the 
 surrendered list now in my possession, were without 
 delay apprehended, tortured and sentenced to be 
 burned at the next ensuing auto dafe. More than 
 double that number were cast into prison for life. 
 Among these were some of the highest nobility, 
 grandees, princes of the Church and several women. 
 The amount of confiscated estates and treasures is 
 beyond computation. 
 
 .Adnidst all these havocs, one morning the solemn 
 strains of the cathedral organ sounded grandly 
 through the vaulted edifice. An immense concourse 
 of people had assembled to witness one of the great- 
 est displays of the Church. Priests and acolytes 
 ran hither and thither all was commotion and ex- 
 pectancy. The great bell rang out deep tones, when 
 a long train of Carmelite nuns were ushered in. 
 They led among their numbers a young and beautiful 
 
320 BEN BEOR. 
 
 maiden. It was Raphaello de Uranso, who this day 
 took the final vow of chastity, charity and priestly 
 sisterhood. " Gloria in excelsis Deum ! " chanted at 
 last the powerful choir, and all was over. The heart 
 and life of a young being were immured forever in 
 the gloomy cell of a nun. While the pageantry pro- 
 ceeded, in their usual pew sat the parents. The 
 mother, bathed in tears, could barely hold out 
 through the trying ceremonies. The father, leaning 
 his head forward, looked on steadily and absent- 
 mindedly. His wife had to remind him at last that 
 the people had departed and that it was time to go 
 home. Home! it was such, alas ! no longer. The joy 
 and life which had hitherto reigned there supreme 
 by a loved child was now empty. True, accursed 
 wealth and hateful ease had lately entered, but hap- 
 piness had departed. Whatever their gloomy cogi- 
 tatiojis were, they presently became aroused by a 
 knocking at the door. There entered an officer and 
 two minions of the Inquisition. Both husband and 
 wife were now taken into custody. To all the 
 urgent protestations of Uranso that this must be a 
 mistake, that he had documents to show his im- 
 munity from prosecution, there was but one answer : 
 " The Inquisition makes no mistakes ! There is no 
 immunity from crime ! " 
 
 The woman fainted. She and her husband were 
 transported to the galleys. Their possessions were 
 confiscated. They both died before reaching the 
 penal colonies. Had tombstones been erected to 
 their memory, well might the monument be in- 
 scribed with the truth: "The Church never re- 
 linquishes what was once her own ! " 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 321 
 
 Section VIII. The Expulsion of the Jews. 
 
 When the end of the year approached (1489), the 
 murder of Petro Arbuez de Epila, second Grand 
 Inquisitor at Saragossa, was fully punished and 
 avenged. Hecatombs of human beings and rivers of 
 people's blood flowed, to constitute a warning example 
 to the foes and opponents of the holy tribunal. The 
 king and the priests united, by means of the unsuccess- 
 ful conspiracy, to foist the dreaded Inquisition on all 
 parts of the land. The dead prelate was declared a 
 martyr to the holy cause. A marble statue had been 
 already erected on the very spot where the assassi- 
 nation took place, and the faithful came in scores 
 to pray at the feet of their saint. Among the most 
 zealous and frequent of these was the nun Raphaello. 
 Poor creature! The cell of the cloister, with' its 
 loneliness and devout routine, had rfot quelled the 
 deeply wounded heart; and to her already over- 
 burdened mind came the death of father and mother 
 natural reasons, and not the real ones, being assigned 
 to her as the cause of that catastrophe ; her brain 
 becoming disordered and she changed into a religious 
 monomaniac. - In her wild ecstasies she would kneel 
 for hours in prayer before the image of the now 
 sainted Epila. Here she had trances and visions. 
 One day when a crowd of worshippers were assem- 
 bled, she suddenly sprang to her feet ; then, with a 
 trembling voice, echoing through space, she ex- 
 claimed, " Behold the heavenly revelation ! I see 
 the martyr saint standing before the throne, between 
 the Father and the Son ! I hear his voice! This is 
 what he proclaims, 'Know, all faithful children of 
 the Church, judgment day is nigh! The righteous 
 will enter into glory; the wicked shall perish by 
 fire ! My servants of the holy tribunal shall fulfil 
 it ! Hail to all who strengthen their hands ! Woe 
 
322 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to him, in torments of eternal hell, who shall oppose 
 their power ! ' ' 
 
 Then she fainted and had to be carried away. A 
 priest cried out : " A miracle ! " and the wild rabble 
 shouted after him, " A miracle ! a miracle ! Heaven 
 itself has sat in judgment ! " The torture and auto 
 dafe were proclaimed now from Above to be conse- 
 crated. 
 
 Raphaello, the Carmelite nun, died that same day 
 in a fit of crazy exhaustion. She, too, was soon 
 declared one of the beatified. 
 
 Among the many victims who were hunted down 
 in consequence of the priest's murder, a not incon- 
 siderable number were taken from their refuge places, 
 with incontestable signs that they had received succor 
 and protection from the Jews. This was so cun- 
 ningly done that their guilt could not be legally 
 established. But suspicion, with her cruel fangs in 
 these times, was tantamount to proof. Moreover, 
 it had long been known that there existed between 
 the unconverted Israelites and the Marrannen, sym- 
 pathy and even fraternal relations, exercised in 
 greatest secrecy. It is ascribed to this influence that 
 the New Christians were well informed in the religion 
 of their ancestors, and knew its ritual in all instances. 
 This they observed in the silence of the night ; they 
 were unquestionably provided with the requirements 
 by former co-religionists. Hebrew books, meat 
 killed by the authoiized "Shochet," bread for pass- 
 over (Matzo), could be found among the baptized 
 converts regularly and in due season. This did not 
 cease even when the Jews were banished to the Ghetto 
 and placed under strictest surveillance by special 
 order of the throne. Exaggerated complaints con- 
 cerning the treachery laid to the already hated out- 
 casts were made to the Queen, who still remained 
 under the fanatical influence of her confessor, Fer- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 323 
 
 nanclo de Talavera, the reverend bishop of Avila. 
 Neither the protestations of her high clergy nor the 
 promptings of her own inclination had thus far re- 
 sulted in any decisive steps against my arch enemies. 
 The influence which some of the magnates of the 
 tribe wielded with the King, as well as with the Queen, 
 had frustrated the frequently attempted measure of 
 persecution against them. In this it was especially 
 Don Isaac Abarbanel who proved the greatest stum- 
 bling-block in my destructive designs. Implicitly 
 trusted for sagacity in council, reliability and shrewd- 
 ness as a financier, and matchless ability as a diplo- 
 mat, he had served the court well, enjoyed the 
 unbounded confidence of the royal pair, and by his 
 amiable character and profound knowledge he had 
 become a special favorite. Not a step of any im- 
 portance was hitherto taken without being first sub- 
 mitted to him for advice and approval. Marks of 
 greatest esteem and gratitude were showered con- 
 tinually upon the unpretending and modest man, 
 who belonged even to the inner family circle of the 
 imperial household. Here the children, most of all, 
 were affectionately attached to their "Hebrew grand- 
 father/' as they called him, and as they fondly climbed 
 upon his lap they always examined his side-pockets, 
 where they always were sure to find some goodies or 
 some delicacies in store for them. 
 
 Since the final conquest of the Moors, the court 
 had moved to New Granada. The unexpected, com- 
 plete and glorious victory, in which the Queen played 
 so conspicuous and heroic a part, gave their royal 
 majesties at last possession of that magnificent 
 Oriental palace, unequalled in beauty, the Alham- 
 bra. No European had ever set eyes upon such a 
 pile of marvellous grandeur, massive strength and 
 sublime architecture. The walls of the extensive 
 fortification were built of the peculiar red porphyry 
 
324 BEN BEOR. 
 
 found in the neighboring quarries. This color gave 
 the place its name as the red castle. It is situated 
 in the midst of noble woods, surrounded by splendid 
 gardens which are full of blooms and foliage all the 
 year round. It contains everything that may con- 
 tribute sumptuously to the security and the gratifica- 
 tion of human wants and most refined tastes. Several 
 regiments of soldiers guarded from the ramparts and 
 numerous towers the stronghold. The place was 
 thronged now with the most handsome of women and 
 the stateliest of men, who in the wealth of color and 
 material of their characteristic national costumes 
 formed the grandest spectacles as they promenaded 
 through the gorgeous hall of the Lions or that of the 
 Abencerrages. The former is the grand apartment 
 of the palace. It has its name from the splendid 
 fountain supported by a master-group of lions ; it 
 is constructed entirely of marble and alabaster, and 
 ornamented with the most delicate fretwork and 
 arabesques. The hall of the Abencerrages is still more 
 remarkable for its grandeur and elaborate wealth. 
 The ceilings are of cedar-wood inlaid with mother 
 of pearl, ivory and silver, and the walls are stuccoed 
 and frescoed with the most elegant and intricate 
 designs. An endless multitude had followed hither in 
 the train of the King and the Queen. Notable among 
 these were seen going to and fro, Abarbanel, the 
 Bishop of Avila, and Torquemada. I had been sum- 
 moned, also, to come and assist in the great scheme 
 now concocting, and had arrived lately. Quickly 
 observing what was going on, I noticed that the old 
 Hebrew frequently bought some choice fruits at one 
 of the stalls lining the portals of the fort, and was, on 
 inquiry, informed that these were the gifts with which 
 he generally regaled the royal children. After due 
 consultation with my approving confreres, I bribed 
 the vendor, an old Spanish woman, to assist in the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 325 
 
 trick for the plot which I had concocted. There 
 had arrived for her a most tempting basket of oranges 
 which certainly would attract the attention of her 
 old customer. In one of the golden-looking fruit 
 I placed, skilfully hidden inside, a little image of 
 the crucified Christ. My design proved successful. 
 This orange came on the self-same morning in posses- 
 sion of the young Crown Prince, at the hands of 
 Abarbanel. The child on opening the fruit found 
 the figure, and ran with it to his mother. She 
 blanched and trembled at the sight of it, but spoke 
 no word and appeared as if she took no notice of the 
 incident. She placed the crucifix in her bosom and 
 sent the child away. Soon, however, she dismissed, 
 apparently as affable as usual, him who had still held 
 audience thus far with her as confidential minister, 
 the Jew. Had he seen the wicked glances of her 
 eyes as they followed him he would have known 
 the ominous storm which was brewing for him and 
 his hapless people. They and their high protector 
 had already become burdensome to the court. The 
 war was over and the court council no longer 
 needed him. The royal treasury, now gorged to 
 repletion with the spoils from the conquered Moors 
 and the confiscation of the treasures of the Marran- 
 nen, had no use for an able financier. Incessant and 
 loud had been the clamors of the hierarchy against the 
 Jews. All neighboring countries had expelled them, 
 and Spain, the most Catholic, should no longer 
 harbor those infidels and heretics. They were con- 
 tinually in league with the vacillating New Chris- 
 tians, drawing them back to the religion of their 
 fathers, and even corrupting the faithful with their 
 money and example. The sovereigns had long 
 hesitated and resisted the priestly demands. But 
 now the Queen, in her outraged, pious feeling of 
 having such gross sacrilege committed before her 
 
326 BEN BEOR. 
 
 eyes in the very bosom of her family, sent for the 
 King and the three Grand Inquisitors. The tears of 
 the Queen, as she related the outrage, and the specific 
 vehemence of Torquemada, which was overpowering 
 on this occasion, settled the matter. Instantly the 
 decree of the expulsion of the Jews from all their 
 majesties' realms was signed and sealed. It had been 
 prepared long ago by Bishop Talavera. Special 
 heralds were dispatched to officially proclaim the 
 edict. Their trumpets and voices startled first the 
 inhabitants of Grenada. Here a large number of 
 wealthy and influential Israelites resided. These 
 were struck with consternation and dismay. They 
 congregated forthwith in their ancient synagogue, 
 one of the oldest of the Occident. They wept, they 
 prayed to the God of their fathers and threw themselves, 
 in their despair, prostrate to the ground. When now 
 Abarbanel entered, all eyes were upon him. He 
 was their only hope. Counselling resignation and 
 patience, he sent from their midst to all the courtiers 
 and grandees who thus far had been his friends. 
 He asked the immediate attendance of all these at 
 the court, to be present during an audience which 
 would be solicited by him from the sovereigns. And 
 those so invited hastened to the palace. The audi- 
 ence was granted. Kneeling before the throne of 
 their majesties, with broken voice interrupted by his 
 sobs, and with a flood of tears bathing his venerable 
 face, he pleaded for his people and entreated the 
 revocation of that terrible mandate. The King showed 
 signs of a favorable consideration by the fabulous 
 sums of money offered. The Queen was visiblymoved 
 by the pathetic and stirring appeal. Both consulted in 
 whispers together, their countenances showing that 
 strong feelings were agitating their minds to grant the 
 request. 
 
 At this instant Torquemada entered the audience 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 327 
 
 chamber and pushed forward through the crowd until 
 he stood right before the throne. In his right hand 
 he held a large ivory cross. Approaching as near 
 as he could, he violently threw the crucifix at the 
 feet of the sovereigns, and with his sharp, shrill 
 voice raised almost to a screech, he exclaimed: 
 " Judas sold Christ for thirty pieces of silver; do 
 you now sell your Master for three hundred thousand 
 ducats of these Jews ? " 
 
 It was an awful moment. The Inquisitor-General 
 stalked with haughty mien and proud bearing back, 
 passing through the portals whence he had entered. 
 After an oppressive silence, the cowed King took the 
 almost fainting Queen by the hand. They descended 
 from the throne. The audience was broken up. The 
 terrible edict remained in force. 
 
 Torquemada and the Inquisition had prevailed. 
 On the third of August, 1492, three hundred thous- 
 and people, men, women and children, with what 
 little portable property remained for them from their 
 despoilers, left Spain, the land which they so im- 
 measurably loved, where were the graves of their 
 ancestors since a thousand years, where they had 
 been born, suffered and labored. It was again 
 the calamitous day of their national misfortunes, the 
 ninth of the fifth lunar month "Av," when these 
 people had to take the staff of the exile and the out- 
 cast. Twice had been the Temple of Jerusalem laid 
 in ashes, and over and over again had the most 
 awful evils overtaken them on that self-same day of 
 lamentation and tears. It must be recorded here to 
 their everlasting credit that they did not selfishly 
 abandon one another. The rich, now reduced to 
 poverty, shared what little there remained for them 
 with their needy brethren. And although citizen- 
 ship, honor and restored wealth were held out to all 
 who would abjure their religion and submit to bap- 
 
328 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tism, not one of all those so cruelly tried, turned traitor 
 by joining the Church. It was heartrending to see 
 whole congregations, a few days before their depart- 
 ure, pass the time in the cemeteries and mingle their 
 tears with the dust where their fathers slept in death. 
 Many persons tore out the gravestones and actually 
 carried them along into their banishment. Monu- 
 ments too heavy to be thus transported were pre- 
 sented to the Marrannen under promise of careful 
 preservation. When at last the hour struck for the 
 departure, the rabbins headed the trains. Drums 
 and fifes preceded the weeping procession to encour- 
 age those who would have sunk by the roadside in 
 despair. Such a spectacle the world never had seen 
 before and perhaps will witness nevermore. The 
 pestilence stalked ahead of the expatriated and soon 
 destroyed them by the thousands. Spain's degener- 
 ation and national decay they left behind. 
 
 Section IX. The Dawn of the Light Afar. 
 
 Columbus at last prevailed. In the hour when 
 he thought himself abandoned by men and even 
 God, at the very depth of his misery, the crisis in 
 his fate came. Giving up all hopes of receiving 
 countenance from the throne of Spain, after waiting 
 till his heart grew sick, lie started for a new effort, 
 and went for this purpose on his way, bound for the 
 court of France. Firmly resolved now to cast his 
 future fortune with the powerful and magnanimous 
 Charles VIIL, who, just victorious over all his 
 enemies, entered in triumph his capital, Paris, the 
 disappointed Genoese sea-captain had made final 
 disposition of his affairs in Spain and proceeded on 
 his problematical errand. His financial means were 
 almost exhausted. What little there remained he 
 left with his beloved Beatrice, whom he placed for 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 329 
 
 protection in the care of his eldest son by his first 
 wife, Diego Columbus, and well-tried friend Louis 
 de Torres. Proceeding on foot with his four-year- 
 old son Ferdinando, born to him by his mistress ; 
 carrying the child mostly on his back, he was on his 
 way to his brother-in-law, Pedro Correo, who lived 
 now in the town of Huelva, and who had generously 
 oifered to take care of the boy. All day the father 
 had tramped on that very road. His money had 
 given out entirely that morning, and, nearly famished, 
 he reached at nightfall the ancient convent of La 
 Rabida, belonging to the Franciscan friars. He 
 stopped at the gate and asked one of the friars 
 for a little bread and water for himself and his little, 
 hungry child. While receiving this humble refresh- 
 ment, the prior of the cloister, Father de Marchena, 
 happened to pass by, and was struck with the distin- 
 
 fiished appearance of the stranger. Observing 
 om his air and accent that he was a foreigner, he 
 entered into conversation with the traveller and soon 
 learned the particulars of his story. The prior was 
 a man of extensive information. He had consider- 
 able knowledge of geographical and nautical science. 
 He was greatly interested by the conversation of 
 this dust-begrimed guest and struck with the gran- 
 deur of his views. It was^a remarkable occurrence 
 in the monotonous life of the convent to have a man 
 of such singular character, intent on so extraordinary 
 an enterprise, applying here for bread and water. 
 
 When he found, however, that the voyager was 
 on the point of abandoning Spain to seek patronage 
 at the court of France, and that so important an 
 enterprise was about to be lost forever to Spain, the 
 patriotism of the good friar took alarm. He detained 
 Columbus as his guest, and, diffident of his own 
 judgment, sent for a learned friend. It was the 'cele- 
 brated Garcia Fernandez, a physician of the neigh- 
 
330 BEN BEOR. 
 
 boring city, Palos, who was summoned hither. 
 Fernandez was equally enchanted with the appearance 
 and conversation of the stranger. Several consulta- 
 tions took place, to which a number of well-experi- 
 enced sailors from the neighborhood were invited to 
 be present. Among these was an important person- 
 age, the wealthy and widely known mariner, Martin 
 Alonzo Pinzon. The project demonstrated by the 
 poor wayfarer was treated here with a deference 
 which had been sought in vain among the sages and 
 philosophers of the court. Pinzon especially became 
 so enthusiastic, fully convinced by the lucid and 
 feasible plans, that he offered to engage in them with 
 purse and person, ready to bear the expenses for a 
 renewed application to the court. 
 
 Prior Perez was confirmed in his faith by the con- 
 currence of those learned and practical counsellors. 
 He once had been confessor to the Queen and knew 
 that she was always accessible to persons of his holy 
 calling. But first he selected a trusty messenger in 
 the person of one Sebastian Rodriguez, whom he 
 sent with an urgent and explanatory letter to the 
 royal camp. Isabella was favorably impressed with 
 the writing, and replied that she thanked her old 
 friend for the great service rendered, requesting that 
 the old confessor should . immediately repair to the 
 court, and that Columbus should rest in confident 
 hope, as he should hear from her. There was great 
 joy in the little junta at the convent. The warm- 
 hearted friar, after a little preparation, had his mule 
 saddled and departed before midnight on his mis- 
 sion. On arriving, he was met by the Inquisitor- 
 General and myself, the third Grand Inquisitor. 
 De Talavera, who had in the interim been appointed 
 in the place of the dead second Grand Inquisitor, 
 would, however, have nothing to do with the dis- 
 coverer's schemes, as he was utterly opposed from 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 331 
 
 religious and scientific prejudices to Columbus, and 
 therefore hud systematically abstained from making 
 any report concerning the labors of the learned con- 
 clave held under his presidency at Salamanca, now 
 over a year ago. By our intercession, in connection 
 with his priestly standing, Father Perez gained 
 ready entrance to a court distinguished for religious 
 zeal, and soon was in the presence of the Queen, 
 and permitted, by the sacred relations he held to her, 
 great freedom of counsel. The results of the meet- 
 ing were favorable. Columbus was recalled to the 
 palace, and after many difficult negotiations, the 
 Queen from her own treasures, a large share of 
 which had come from the confiscations of the Mar- 
 rannen and Jews, agreed to furnish the necessary 
 ships and equipments for the so long-cherished jour- 
 ney of discovery in the West. 
 
 At last, after endless difficulties and troubles in 
 procuring them, three small vessels, the Pinta, Santa 
 Maria and the Nina, lifted anchor in the harbor of 
 Palos on the 3d of August, 1492. What proud satis- 
 faction the commander-in-chief of this little flotilla 
 must have felt as he stood on his flagship, the Santa 
 Maria, conqueror of all the difficulties which had 
 been thrown in his way, now ready to proceed to sea ! 
 He had been joined by his life-long friend, the Jew 
 Louis de Torres, who brought him an affectionate 
 farewell of beloved Beatrice and prayerful messages 
 from both his sons. As he stood there at the helm, 
 Alonzo Pinzon, captain of the Nina, by his side, 
 and surrounded by the officers, pilots and sailors, a 
 large concourse of peasants and mariners had 
 gathered on shore. Prior Juan Perez and a number 
 of clergymen, myself included, who came expressly 
 for the occasion, celebrated high mass, and most 
 fervent invocations were sent up to heaven for the 
 success of the perilous voyage and the safe return of 
 
332 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the brave sailors. Everything being now ready, the 
 last signal being given, the ships steered out of the 
 harbor, a favorable wind filled the sails and the 
 little flotilla soon was out of sight. 
 
 Oh! that I could have peered into the far-away 
 future and had known the ominous consequences of 
 this auspicious event ! Better I had hurled all the 
 curses of hell against that enterprise ; better I had 
 sunk ships and men to the very bottom of the ocean 
 than permit what they but a few months hence 
 achieved to find, as anticipated, a new world. Who 
 would have thought it ? On the self-same morning 
 when these ships, these three insignificant caravels, 
 steered West, the three hundred thousand exiled Jews 
 wandered south, east and north, with broken hearts 
 poverty, despair and hunger in front of them, death 
 and destruction in their wake. It was indeed a 
 " Ninth of Av ! " Would one have not been considered 
 a raving maniac who, in the depth of such misery, 
 could have cried out over the outcasts, as did the 
 prophet of old : " Console ye, oh console ye, my 
 people, saith the Lord your God." " The people that 
 walk in the darkness shall yet see a great light." 
 
 Section X. Tomaso Torquemada. 
 
 The thread of these episodes would not be com- 
 plete were I not to follow to the end one of the chief 
 means which, with fiery zeal and fanatic enthusiasm, 
 was instrumental in furthering my mission of 
 repressing the rights of the people, my third 
 great agency by which to kill thought "the 
 Holy Inquisition." With Torquemada at the head 
 of such an institution, the Church was no longer the 
 loving, kind and true mother, but the veritable 
 Moloch which devoured a lar^e number of its own 
 children, with an insatiable thirst for blood. The 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 333 
 
 Inquisitor-General started a reign of terror which 
 should last for centuries, extend to all lands and 
 zones, and apparently, to all intents and pur poses, 
 make the power of the altar so supreme and strong 
 as to prop the thrones wherever and whenever it was 
 necessary. 
 
 During the fourteen years of this terrible man's 
 official power he had burned at the stake, hanged on 
 the gallows and tortured to death not less than ten 
 thousand unrepentant victims, and as many more were 
 sent to the galleys. With this number of his sacri- 
 fices and the expulsion of a half of a million of Jews 
 and Moors, he inflicted on Spain, his own native 
 country, a malediction which coming ages will 
 not be able to remove. Her dominant culture, 
 reign of supremacy on land and sea, her pride and 
 valor, her flourishing commerce and trade all have 
 crumbled away as if Heaven's blight had struck her. 
 
 From the haughty pride of her nobility to the 
 peasants, heretofore the distinguished character of 
 that beautiful semi-tropical clime, the inhabitants 
 became pusillanimous, cowardly and timid. All this 
 illustrates the truth proclaimed by the poet : 
 
 " Lie is an arrow, turned by heaven's force 
 To strike its marksman in its backward course." 
 
 It proved even so to the person and state of mind 
 of the arch-persecutor. As he swept onward in his 
 unfaltering course, and as he grew older in cruelty 
 and years, fearful apprehensions of imaginary dan- 
 gers took hold of him. Suspicion filled his heart 
 and soul. He dared not eat, fearing poison in his 
 food. He could not sleep, for the rustle of the 
 leaves stirred by the winds alarmed him. He saw 
 in every man an assassin, in every woman an 
 avenger of her wrongs. Even little children fright- 
 
334 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ened him if they noisily and boisterously passed 
 his road. A mounted body-guard of fifty familiars 
 and two hundred on foot had to accompany every 
 step he made in public. The least ailment set him 
 frantic with apprehension of death. Under these 
 circumstances his body dwindled away, so that he 
 was nothing but skin and bones. The coward was 
 intensely superstitious, too. Spirits and sprites 
 haunted him day and night. The ghosts of those 
 whom he had caused to find untimely ends tor- 
 mented his ever-vivid imagination, dying over and 
 over again before him in their convulsions, pangs 
 and expiring gasps. All this certainly hastened the 
 hour that he should be called to his last account. 
 How he whimpered and wept, prayed and cursed as 
 he realized that the inevitable end was at hand! It 
 was pitiful to see him squirm and wriggle in his last 
 throes. As I stood there by his bedside, the only 
 friend left him on earth, as the last breath left his 
 lips, and his eyes were already broken, I could not 
 help but exclaim at his failing, ebbing strength: 
 8ic semper tyrannis ! 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XVIIL 
 
 THE ART OF ARTS. 
 
 It would be folly to follow in detail all the work- 
 ings of that dread machinery, started with such 
 powerful effect, first in Spain and then throughout 
 all lands and principalities within its reach. The 
 never satiated maw of the Inquisition continued 
 henceforth and for centuries to come to glut itself 
 with countless human beings of all conditions and 
 every sphere of life. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 335 
 
 Would it not seem that with the four almost 
 omnipotent agencies, " intoxicating drink, gunpow- 
 der, the unrelenting Church tribunal, and the false 
 Blood-accusation/' a complete realization of my 
 heinous mission should be attained? That the 
 sceptre and the mace were forever firmly established 
 in their supreme sway over the usurped domain of 
 the persons and consciences of their helpless vassals ? 
 That truth, justice and freedom, to all apparent 
 ends, were gasping with fluttering, waning pulse, 
 which seemed to be the last throes of dissolution? 
 Who could, who dared, snatch from me the sure and 
 inevitable victory for the overshadowing empire of 
 tyranny and superstition ? 
 
 And yet, while I revel in my unbounded successes 
 in the Pyrenean Peninsula, dreaming of the univer- 
 sal rule of the despots and fanatics, and concocting 
 new plans and schemes for the speedy attainment of 
 my ambition, nearly all was upset and effectually 
 crushed by some mechanical device, invented at the 
 little German town of Mentz by a person whose 
 name had never been mentioned anywhere before ; 
 working in a dingy and retired back office, in one of 
 those small rows of houses which any traveller would 
 pass as being beneath the dignity of even casual 
 observation. 
 
 How often, in my long and baneful career, have I 
 received the lesson that an all-overruling Providence 
 for the achievement of the grandest purposes avails 
 itself of instrumentalities deemed by the unso- 
 phisticated beholder as too insignificant to be even 
 \vorthy of notice. The little springs that bubble out 
 of the bosom of mother-earth form the globe's great 
 rivers ; and the passing spark which zigzags from a 
 fleeting cloud causes a conflagration which devours 
 the giant trees of the forest and lays in ashes in a 
 moment the teeming, stirring, bustling cities which 
 
336 BEN BEOR. 
 
 took the hands of man ages to build. Thus in 
 human affairs often the most minute causes produce 
 effects entirely out of proportion to their apparent 
 possibilities. 
 
 There was no longer any necessity for my presence 
 in Spain. The Inquisition was so effectually estab- 
 lished, its advocates and representatives so zealous 
 and watchful, and its success so phenomenally great, 
 that I deemed it by far more advisable to travel 
 northward for the introduction of this system among 
 the different nationalities of the continent. On this 
 mission I reached the city of Mentz (Mainz). 
 
 I had been here before. About forty years ago, 
 when bound southward, I had visited the resident 
 bishop, bearing letters of introduction and high recom- 
 mendation. I was then received with most cordial 
 welcome and great hospitality. At that time, in the 
 course of our conversation the prelate mentioned to 
 me that he had among the members of his diocese a 
 curious and remarkable family, whom he invited 
 me to visit. He had called there before, seemed 
 greatly interested in the workings going on there, 
 and so at the appointed time we started together. 
 I remember the circumstances so vividly because of 
 so unusual a nature. Our road lay through the 
 shabbiest quarter of the town, inhabited mostly 
 by day laborers and petty tradesmen. At last we 
 reached an alley, a dingy cul-de-sac, and stopping 
 at the very extremity, knocked at a low door, being 
 admitted by an old but venerable-looking lady. 
 The poorly furnished room which we entered ap- 
 peared clean and tidy, the floor being strewn with 
 white sand, and the little furniture, polished or oiled, 
 placed with good order and taste. Steam, however, 
 and the smell of soapsuds filled the space, and as 
 soon as we became accustomed to the semi-light pre- 
 vailing, I saw in one of the corners a buxom-looking 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 337 
 
 young woman at a tub engaged in washing clothes. 
 Even under the unfavorable circumstances, I noticed 
 the remarkably fine appearance of this busily engaged 
 person. On our entrance she discontinued for a 
 moment and made us a reverent courtesy, immedi- 
 ately afterwards wiping the perspiration from her 
 white, shining brow and then resumed her work. 
 She was a type of German beauty, with characteristic 
 rosy cheeks, large blue eyes and flaxen hair. The 
 bare arms, round and full, dripped with water; 
 their regular movement of washing displaying 
 the exquisite contour of her bust and form. 
 The bishop walked straight up, and chucking her 
 familiarly under her round chin, asked : " How is 
 our good Gretchen to-day?" Smiling, and with a 
 clear and euphonious voice, she answered : " Very 
 well, your Reverence ; helping mother as usual ! She 
 will show you to the workshop, where father, my 
 husband and Faust are busy in their work at the new 
 invention." The old lady led the way, the bishop 
 saying to me, " This is Mrs. Schoeifer, the best little 
 wife and daughter ! " As I bowed to her she grace- 
 fully returned my greeting, without, however, stop- 
 ping in her labor. We were soon ushered into the 
 u Werkstatt " (shop). It was a gloomy, smoke-be- 
 grimed, littered-up place, looking more like an old 
 laboratory than a mechanic's shop. As we entered, 
 the men, who were busily engaged with the work, 
 stopped and came forward to greet their visitors. 
 They were introduced to me by my host : Johannes 
 Guttenberg, Johannes Faust, and Peter Schoeifer, 
 all natives of this ancient burgh. A peculiar trio 
 they formed. Nature could not well have moulded 
 them with stronger characteristics concerning the 
 purposes and objects in which they were asso- 
 ciated. Old Guttenberg stood out most promi- 
 nent among his partners. The thoughtful Teuton's 
 
338 BEN BEOB. 
 
 face, with broad forehead, strongly marked features 
 and sunken eyes, became still more pronounced by 
 the long silver-white hair falling in profusion down 
 his shoulders. Faust was the picture of craft, cun- 
 ning and wily schemes. Unusually tall, slim and 
 cadaverous-looking, with dark complexion, sharp, 
 piercing eyes and hooked nose, his character was so 
 distinctly stamped upon him as to be read at sight. 
 Schoeifer was the embodiment of the "Gute Deutsche 
 Michel" (good Dutch Mickel). Broad-shouldered, 
 rosy, fat and smiling, he alone wore the peculiar 
 knitted " Night mtitze " (bell-cap) with its overlapping 
 points, while the others had paper caps upon their 
 heads, such as laborers generally make for them- 
 selves. These men were engaged in a work which 
 seemed to me of the most puerile and trifling nature. 
 They looked more like wayward children at play 
 with self-constructed toys, than earnest, hard-labor- 
 ing persons intent on earning a living. The old 
 fellow hammered away and labored hard over a big 
 machine that would not work at all. He called it 
 "a press" required, according to his statement, to 
 have an easy forward and backward movement. 
 Turning in every direction, except that which was 
 wanted, he would fuss and fume over it as if for life. 
 The others were cutting little sticks of wood, carving 
 letters on the top of each. These experiments must 
 have been somewhat costly too, and Faust, being 
 the only one possessed of some means, had to fur- 
 nish the money not only for this work, but also for 
 the support of his companions and their families. 
 They would not reveal to us what they were really 
 about, stating that we were the only visitors ever 
 allowed on the premises. Nor could we guess in the 
 least the object of their efforts. The only thing so far 
 accomplished were some pretty fairly executed paste- 
 board playing-cards, which they had successfully 
 printed on their machine. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 339 
 
 "When asked my opinion by the bishop concerning 
 the likelihood of any great results from the travail of 
 these people, I laughed at the seriousness of his mien, 
 and told him that the country was full of such 
 dreamers and idiosyncratic speculators, who would 
 by some impossible mechanical contrivance set the 
 world topsy-turvy. So they have tried to find the 
 philosopher's stone which is to change lead into gold; 
 so they have searched for the elixir of life to drive 
 death from the world ! Demented people have wasted 
 days and nights attempting to construct flying- 
 machines. Nay, they have experimented in the use 
 of steam from boiling water for a motive power, and 
 in the harnessing of those mysterious, inexplorable 
 natural principles called by various names electri- 
 city, magnetism and other kinds of fabled "isms" 
 to their service and use. Let us keep away from these 
 latitudinarians, many of whom become dangerous to 
 the state and church, by revolutionary thoughts con- 
 cerning the conservative laws which must rule forever 
 the masses of men. Suppose our three half-crazed 
 friends could contrive to print. All that they would 
 then accomplish might be to interfere with our copy- 
 ists and illuminators, taking the bread from these 
 hard-working scribes. Whatever the mind has 
 thought and thinks was written and must be written 
 by the hand. All efforts to avoid this are against 
 the rules of nature and amount to nothing. With 
 these specious arguments we reached the episcopal 
 residence. 
 
 ^ When seated comfortably at the table of mine host, 
 with the fine Rhine wine of a scarce and old vintage 
 before us, he said : " I told you that the people whom 
 we visited were of a curious and remarkable family. 
 Let me relate to you some of their history. Gutten- 
 berg is an old enthusiast on the subject of his con- 
 trivance, which he holds absolutely secret. Having 
 
340 BEN BEOB. 
 
 spent some of his earlier years, days and nights 
 with experimenting, and making no headway here, 
 he left one day and turned up in Paris. His wife 
 and only daughter had to shift for themselves, as he 
 left nothing for their support. All he had was this 
 little shanty ; this at least gave them a shelter. The 
 mother took in washing and sewing for the neigh- 
 bors, in which she was bravely assisted by the 
 daughter, who was handsome, cheery and uncom- 
 plaining. But Gretchen soon had two suitors a 
 rich one, who lavished a good many favors on her. 
 This was Johannes Faust. He was allowed to come 
 and go, with but little encouragement in his love- 
 affairs, as the girl showed a decided antipathy for him, 
 and it was only to please her mother, who saw a good 
 match in the odd old bachelor, that she permitted his 
 visits. The other was Peter Schoeifer, a fine me- 
 chanic, who earned enough to live comfortably, well 
 able, with his moderate means and by his industry, 
 when the time should come, .to support a wife. He 
 was good-natured, jovial, and so affectionately 
 attentive to the girl, so patient with the whims of 
 the old lady, who discouraged his frequent coming 
 by sour remarks, that it was soon obvious that Faust 
 with his money had very little chance in his wooing. 
 The fellow stood in very bad repute anyhow. His 
 mysterious air and not too attractive appearance, 
 with a somewhat condescending mode of speech, 
 spread the report that he got his riches by practising 
 the black arts, and old Babbles, a specially favored 
 busybody in the ward, positively asserted, with the 
 index finger striking the sides of her nose and the 
 head shaldng with that confidential nod peculiar to 
 her class, that the fellow frequently smelled of sul- 
 phur a sure sign that he had been in the company 
 of the Evil One. Faust himself saw that he was at a 
 disadvantage, and now had recourse to a bold stroke of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 341 
 
 stratagem. He hurried to Paris and hunted out the 
 father, trying to bribe the old man with gold to exert 
 paternal authority over his daughter. Guttenberg, 
 having made fair progress in his schemes, but sorely 
 in need of funds, was, however, of that true, honest 
 German stock who could not be bought nor cajoled 
 into any wrong. 'My daughter/ he answered, 
 * marries whom she loves, and were he as poor as 
 Job, if need be I would support both' although 
 he had not supported anybody barely himself for 
 the last ten years. After Faust had bought a lot of 
 trinkets and truck with which to dazzle his sweet- 
 heart, he and the father hied back to Mentz to let 
 Gretchen decide for herself. But there was no need 
 of hurry. Schoeifer, though otherwise obtuse, seeing 
 the trick of his rival, persuaded the girl to clandes- 
 tinely marry him. So they appeared one afternoon, 
 all by themselves here at the rectory, while I was 
 busily engaged in some official duty. It was the most 
 laughable sight imaginable to see them enter the 
 girl in advance, the timid booby following, with the 
 fingers o'f one hand stuck in his mouth, with the 
 other holding shyly on to her skirt. She did all the 
 talking, he simply nodding his head, which dripped 
 with perspiration. I had seen the girl frequently. 
 Not having paid any special attention, she always 
 appeared to me one of those modest, shrinking young 
 females who would not do anything extraordinary 
 and out of the usual way of her sex. So they got 
 married, and to the credit of the young husband 
 it must be said he paid a handsome fee, which he 
 however tremblingly handed to his bride to be passed 
 to me. The news spread quickly through all the 
 parish. The mother when she at last learned of the 
 marriage, fumed and fretted a good deal at first, 
 but, seeing that the inevitable had come, soon recon- 
 ciled herself to the fact. When the two travellers 
 
342 BEN BEOR. 
 
 came home there was a scene. The father was very 
 angry and boisterous ; but when Faust made some 
 sneering and disparaging remarks about pauper- 
 marriages, Schoeifer jumped at him in righteous 
 indignation and pounded and beat him well. The 
 old man, who was himself of a chivalrous nature, 
 was filled with respect and admiration for his son- 
 in-law, took both men by the hands and restored 
 peace and tranquillity in the house. Now Faust, 
 withal, had really and truly loved Gretchen, and 
 although disappointed and chagrined, seeing that 
 matters could not be changed, gave her generously 
 all the presents he had brought from Paris. For 
 reasons the world could not understand, he now 
 remained with the family, supporting them with his 
 means, and furnishing Guttenberg with funds for 
 the continuation of his experiments. He and 
 Schoeffer are joined in partnership with the old man, 
 and they work away day in and day out, improving 
 the contrivance. There is a new little girl-baby in 
 that family, and the way that fool Faust carries on 
 with the child is a sight. If he were its own father 
 he could not fondle, caress and fuss more lovingly 
 over the infant. This has made him and SchoeBer 
 bosom friends, although Gretchen has no use for 
 him, and calls her girl's fond admirer, Ein alter 
 deutscher Narr (an old German fool)." 
 
 Here the bishop ended his quaint story, and after 
 a good laugh over the curious and remarkable rela- 
 tions in that house, having emptied quite a number 
 of cups of the precious old wine, we both retired. I 
 soon after set out on my journey. 
 
 Now after these many years I returned to this 
 place. I had given no further thought to the 
 inventors or their invention. The pressure of other 
 affairs had absorbed my attention entirely. Frivol- 
 ities, as I considered those innovating attempts, had 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 343 
 
 certainly no claim on my time amidst the portentous 
 task of setting the torture and the flaming pyres to 
 do their work against the heretics and infidels. But 
 now here I was back. Assuming a changed and 
 aged appearance, I presented once again my cre- 
 dentials to the bishop, who also had grown hoary 
 and feeble. On explaining to him my momentous 
 mission, for which I asked his zealous co-operation, 
 he recognized the old friend and acquaintance, and 
 extended the former cordial welcome and unbounded 
 hospitality to the returned visitor. When my affairs 
 were fully talked over, he again pressingly invited 
 me to visit our former acquaintances, saying that 
 great surprises were in store for me. After a sump- 
 tuous dinner we were driven to our destination. 
 There were indeed marvels of changes presented to 
 my wondering gaze, wrought by the hand of time 
 and favorable circumstances. 
 
 The dingy, foul quarter, with its former tum- 
 bling-down dwellings, was transformed into fine 
 edifices and palace-like buildings. The narrow, 
 dirty streets, inclusive of the mean cul-de-sae, were 
 replaced by broad, well-paved avenues, and the 
 poor and squalid inhabitants had given way to 
 a wealthy, cultured and refined class of citizens. 
 We stopped before one of the finest looking mansions. 
 After rapping repeatedly we were admitted, and on 
 our entrance ushered into the presence of Schoeffer 
 and Faust, who were much pleased to see their old 
 friends again. They welcomed us heartily and quickly 
 called in the now aged Gretchen and a troop of her 
 married and unmarried progeny, inclusive of a crowd 
 of sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, with an end- 
 less row of grandchildren. Guttenberg and his 
 wife had long since died ; the old man had yet seen 
 the realization of his dreams, having become re- 
 nowned and comfortably situated as the inventor of 
 
344 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the printing press and movable types. Faust and 
 Schoeffer, as partners and chums, had continued the 
 business. 
 
 Back of the residence was an immense stone 
 structure, their factory. They were not so much en- 
 gaged in printing work themselves as in furnishing 
 types and presses to the many offices already estab- 
 lished all over the continent. A little army of em- 
 ployes worked incessantly at bench and furnaces. 
 Nearly three hundred offices, situated in the remot- 
 est quarters of the country, received their supplies 
 from here, and orders for the organizing of new 
 ones came in so fast that, in spite of all available 
 working forces, they were continually much behind 
 in satisfying customers. They were engaged in the 
 practical art of printing in another department. 
 We were shown the compositors at work setting 
 type ; the pressmen, rolling off sheet after sheet of 
 the prints. These consisted mostly of copies of the 
 Bible or parts thereof. In one corner was stacked 
 up a pile of folios containing the Old and New Tes- 
 taments in Latin, printed on vellum with types imi- 
 tating script in form. The book consisted of some 
 637 leaves, and was the last and only complete work 
 executed by the inventor himself. (The only com- 
 plete one of these in America is in possession of the 
 Lenox family at New York, costing them $2,600.) 
 At some of the furnaces the workmen were casting 
 Hebrew types. On inquiry I learned that the men 
 were preparing the means for an early publication of a 
 complete Bible and Talmud in the original lan- 
 guages. Here Faust took me aside, and almost in 
 a whisper said to me : " I will tell you some secrets 
 which I have imparted to no one as yet. In my 
 younger days I did not get the bride ; that was, 
 perhaps, best, for, sooner or later, she and her friends 
 would have learned what no one suspects even now 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 345 
 
 that I am a Jew. A goldsmith by trade, like 
 many of my wealthy race, I had gone to Spain on 
 business. While there I thought it best, as help to 
 my enterprise, to join the host of 'New Christians/ 
 and prospered greatly. However, persecutions were 
 commenced against those who remained secretly 
 true to the old faith. Then I quietly wound 
 up my affairs and returned here to my native place. 
 When in Paris with the old man Guttenberg I saw 
 the great possibilities which were in store for the 
 genius of that man's labor. So I remained at- 
 tached to the family, invested my means for their 
 support and the development of the invention, and, 
 God be blessed, you see how we all have prospered." 
 The bishop and myself took leave and departed 
 for the rectory. The garrulous prelate kept on talk- 
 ing incessantly, praising in extravagant terms the 
 wonderful achievements we had witnessed. It was 
 well that he did all the conversing, and that only 
 now and then, when asking some approving ques- 
 tions, I was aroused from my painful reverie to re- 
 turn some answer. At last I could retire, and pre- 
 tending some special religious meditation went into 
 the cathedral. Here, after walking for some time 
 up and down the aisles, I found myself finally 
 standing before the high altar, and almost involun- 
 tarily gave vent to my exasperated feelings. I 
 shrieked out, as if with cries from my infuriated 
 soul: "Accursed fate that follows in my wake; 
 that thwarts every effort of my life ! Here, as if 
 over night, has grown up again a giant power which 
 I might have easily strangled but a few decades ago 
 with one blow in that maledicted back office. Short- 
 sighted phantom that I am ! who could not see in the 
 pigmy at which I then laughed in scorn and deri- 
 sion, the germ soon to grow into the gigantic pro- 
 portions which it has attained already and which 
 
346 BEN BEOR. 
 
 will expand to encircle the world, now unchecked 
 and unrestrained ! I was so confident that I had 
 gagged and bound the people, had smitten their 
 rights and prerogatives; had propped the thrones 
 securely by the gunpowder, and the Church su- 
 premely by the Inquisition ; I had revelled in the 
 countless tortured deaths of the maledicted New 
 Christian and the expulsion of the Jews from every 
 land and every zone, and here, by the agency of one 
 mechanical contrivance, all is thrown back all is at 
 hazard once again ! Must I despair ? Shall I give 
 up? Never never never ! Types and press shall 
 not stand in my way ! Break them ! smash them ! 
 printers and books together! To the bottom of 
 eternal confusion with them ! They shall not con- 
 quer me ! Never never ! " 
 
 A crescent of light shot as if out of darkness be- 
 fore my eyes. Over the chancel stood in life-size 
 two beautiful pictures, master works of ancient art. 
 They were the portraits of Moses and Christ. In 
 my exhaustion I riveted my eyes upon the paintings. 
 Suddenly they seemed imbued with life. Out of the 
 black recess in the background above them stepped 
 the prophet Elijah. It seemed as if the wide space 
 of the immense nave was filled with sunshine and 
 music. The grand organ opposite me thundered out 
 its mighty strains all combined to echo back my 
 last words Never ! never ! never ! Some priests com- 
 ing in late for midnight mass found me lying like 
 one dead at the steps of the altar. They carried 
 me to my apartment. For several days I remained 
 comatose. The doctor forbade all visitors. When 
 I came to life again the first to see me was the good 
 bishop. He had been greatly concerned about the 
 misfortune which had befallen his guest, and genu- 
 ine gladness beamed from his benignant face when 
 he saw me so far recovered as to be able to sit up. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 347 
 
 He recommended that I should keep myself quiet 
 and perfectly comfortable. But nothing soothed 
 and strengthened me more than the news he im- 
 parted before leaving : Faust had gone on some 
 business several days ago to Paris. Black-death 
 had not entirely disappeared from that city. He 
 had on his arrival there fallen as one of its vic- 
 tims, and was dead and buried. Although a little 
 drop of comfort only, there was no use in repining. 
 Soon bidding my host a grateful farewell, I de- 
 parted for the furtherance of my missionary work, 
 as chief agent of the Inquisition, to another and dis- 
 tant land, awaiting future developments for the anni- 
 hilation of the devil, of the printer and the demon of 
 the press. I state here, however, as the head advocate 
 of all that is evil, tyrannous, ignorant, false, bigoted 
 and hypocritical, I am more afraid now of the Art 
 of Arts than of all other causes combined. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XIX. 
 
 THE FIGHT AGAINST THE TALMUD. 
 
 Section I. Dominicans and Franciscans. 
 
 My main commission consisted in repairing to the 
 city of Cologne, and there assuming the leadership 
 as chief of the Inquisition of the southern section of 
 the country. The appointment under the high but 
 familiar name of Frater Jacob Hochstratten had 
 been sanctioned in Rome, and the " brevet " therefor 
 had preceded my arrival. So I was received by the 
 superior of the Dominicans with great ceremony 
 and eclat. They had here their wealthiest and most 
 powerful abbeys and domains. But lately they suf- 
 
348 BEN BEOR 
 
 fered much by the aggressions of enemies, a rival 
 order known as the Franciscans. The two ecclesi- 
 astical bodies at this time (1505) to a large extent 
 represented the spirit of the entire German nation. 
 We, the followers of St. Dominico, considered our- 
 selves the emissaries of every reactionary, conserva- 
 tive principle, and with the wealth and power of 
 ages on our side, were the embodiment of despotism 
 incarnate, holding even sovereigns and popes in awe 
 of our unyielding, tyrannous sway. 
 
 The Franciscans were mendicant monks, pledged 
 to poverty and abstinence, closely knitted together 
 in the relations to their order, very numerous and 
 highly popular with the masses of the people. Great 
 scholars and thinkers, they hated our arrogant, 
 ignorant and aristocratic presumption ; helped in 
 many instances to humiliate our pride and repeatedly 
 thwarted our ambitious designs and oppressive 
 schemes. They were esteemed at the Vatican and 
 held in great honor by the then reigning Emperor 
 Maximilian. But for this we would long since have 
 utterly crushed these offensive beggar-friars. 
 
 Aside from powerful opponents, the conditions 
 under which I assumed my great office were ex- 
 tremely different from, those of the " South lands/' 
 whence I had come. This was caused by the nearly 
 opposite and diverging characters of the people. 
 
 The Spaniard, in general, has very little mind of 
 his own, is superstitiously ignorant, impulsive and 
 easily stirred up, and when once aroused, in his pas- 
 sionate temper is readily led, even in most chimeric 
 plots and enterprises, by the strong will of a master 
 spirit. The German in his true character is of en- 
 tirely opposite traits. Thoughtful, slow and medi- 
 tative, the emotional counts for very little in his 
 motives of action, which mainly rest upon reason 
 and unswayable convictions for honesty and truth. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 349 
 
 Let no one who wishes to make a correct estimate of 
 this nationality fall into my serious error, to mis- 
 take that apparent immovability for stupor, or that 
 seeming want of sentimentality for an absence of 
 humane sympathy. A blinded measurement of such 
 mistaken notions prepared for me all the fatal trou- 
 bles arising from this period into the long avenues 
 of a calamitous future. I came here with the falla- 
 cious idea that this was the land of robber-knights ; 
 that the people were coarse and stupid ; that every 
 one was a coward when dealing with a superior, 
 and a despot when in the presence of an inferior ; 
 that the overawing j urisdiction of the " Fehm" tri- 
 bunal in its tyranny had extinguished manhood and 
 resistance, and that it required but the heavy arm of 
 the sturdy Chief Inquisitor to carry everything be- 
 fore him and reign supreme over a subservient and 
 abject people. I did not count upon the dormant 
 powers of the genuine Teuton, which, once awakened, 
 would cause a regeneration not dreamed of even by 
 the most sanguine lover of Deutschland. Sim- 
 plicity of life, a strict morality, uncouth and even 
 brusque, had been well preserved among the 
 masses. Christianity here was yet an ideal and a 
 living religion ; while in Rome, Madrid and Paris 
 the educated and advanced laughed at its tenets and 
 despised its priests. 
 
 True, it took a mighty rattling to rouse the tor- 
 pid, easy-going giant. Unfortunate creature that I 
 am ! to be myself the bearer and wielder of the 
 prod that should goad these otherwise harmless ob- 
 jects to rise in majesty against their oppressors, and 
 thus once stirred, overwhelm with defeat an adver- 
 sary deemed until then nearly all-powerful. Such 
 proved the woful result of my ensuing experiences. 
 
 The most influential associates who received me at 
 my arrival in Cologna with enthusiastic cordiality, 
 
350 BEN BEOR. 
 
 were the prior Ortimus Gratius, a great literati, 
 widely known for his theological and controversial 
 works; Victor van Karben, his factotum and 
 amanuensis ; and Arnold of Tongern, a professor of 
 Dominican theology. As this trio of men play an 
 important role in the portentous events now follow- 
 ing, it is meet to give here so much of their bio- 
 graphical notices as will lead to an understanding of 
 their characters. 
 
 Gratius was the illegitimate son of a priest, well 
 educated and highly praised by some of his contem- 
 poraries as a poet and magister. Feeling keenly 
 the reproach which attached to his birth, it stung 
 him to the quick like a deformity which always 
 sours the disposition of an unfortunate cripple. He 
 became a cynic, hater of man, and among these a 
 most rampant maligner and foe of the Hebrews. 
 When a boy at school, he had once unmercifully 
 beaten a companion of that race, and the whipped 
 fellow in his anger cried out tauntingly the words of 
 Scripture : "A bastard shall not come into the con- 
 gregation of the Lord." This decided his character 
 and all future tendencies in his career. He became 
 a monomaniac in the direction of writing books full 
 of wrath against the Israelites, ever endeavoring to 
 prejudice the Christians against them and to raise 
 revolts among the Catholics against the Jewish peo- 
 ple. Ignorant concerning the most important data 
 for successful authorship in that direction, he 
 selected as his friend and secretary a renegade 
 Jew, Victor van Karben. This self-styled rabbi 
 had but a smattering of biblical or rabbinical He- 
 brew, had abandoned wife and three children, in 
 order to follow out his craving for notoriety. Not 
 regarded as anybody among his own, he had recourse 
 to the baptismal font and was welcomed as a great 
 acquisition by the ever-ready proselyting clergy. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 351 
 
 Gratius adopted him in his favor and employed the 
 apostate to furnish material from the books of the 
 Jews containing accusations of traducing and vili- 
 fying the Christian religion. A volume of bitter 
 charges of this kind had made its appearance under 
 the title of " Life and Fashions of the Jews " (1504). 
 Although thousands of these were distributed gratis 
 they fell flat. It had been written in a clumsy, coarse 
 and vulgar style and found neither readers nor 
 friends. The last one in our trio was Arnold of 
 Tongern. He was, according to the standard of his 
 age, a profoundly learned man, and had been elected 
 as professor of theology at the priestly seminary of 
 our order. His reputation, however, had become a 
 stench in the nostrils of the people, it being gener- 
 ally known that in his youth he had been convicted 
 of a felonious crime. Several Israelites, as eye- 
 witnesses of the dastardly deed, testified in court 
 against him. For this he turned into a life-long, 
 raging Anti-Semite. 
 
 And these were the chief people with whose as- 
 sistance I must stamp out heresy and unbelief in 
 this widely affected territory. Ever since Johannes 
 Huss and the Albigenses, his followers, had been 
 hunted to death, the leaven of their teachings had 
 fermented among all classes of citizens, and while 
 not openly an organized sect, yet large numbers in- 
 clined toward liberal principles were known among 
 themselves by the title of " Humanitarians." They 
 had influential adherents everywhere among the 
 learned and illiterate, the rich and the poor, the high 
 priesthood, nobility, and even among kings and 
 princes down to the mechanics and day-laborers. 
 The Franciscans favored them and obstructed by 
 every means in their power any agency that had 
 been thus far devised against them by my prede- 
 cessors. Tolerance, a word hitherto stricken out 
 
352 BEN BEOR. 
 
 with bloody hands from the dictionary of the Church, 
 became their boasting watchword, and behind the 
 towers and palisades of Truth was erected for the time 
 being a refuge-place for my eternal enemies and an- 
 tagonists. Growing intelligence was tired of hunting 
 down, persecuting and butchering people because of 
 belief and differing modes of worshipping God. 
 Here it was not an easy matter any longer to throw 
 fire-brands for outbreaks of Jew-baiting. Germany 
 had been oversatiated with revolting cruelties since 
 the brutalities of the Flagelants, and had prac- 
 tically experienced the damage done in all directions 
 by the merciless havoc. But since my arrival at 
 this place from Mentz I had great and additional 
 reasons to dread a peaceful settlement for the fa- 
 vorable position secured by the hated children of 
 the house of Jacob. Had I not seen with my own 
 eyes in that printing office of Schoeffer and Faust 
 the preparing of publications of their Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures, and, worst of all, the Talmud? What does 
 this book contain ? I know it not ! Nor do any 
 one of the many sages and wiseacres among the pre- 
 lates and doctors of learning, inclusive of my im- 
 mediate associates, whom I since have consulted. 
 But I know, and they all confirm this, that it was 
 the most sacred and revered book among the He- 
 brews, who, with singular industry and persever- 
 ance, pore over the huge volumes with the rising of 
 each day deep into the night. I was possessed of 
 the idiosyncratic idea that within the leaves of those 
 maledicted tomes were hidden the secrets which had 
 preserved and maintained their existence through 
 all the afflictions and woes which I had brought so 
 plentifully on their devoted heads. Therefore I was 
 determined on war war to extermination on this 
 well-preserved labyrinth of thought and knowledge. 
 But whence should I get help necessary to accom- 
 plish my object ? 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 353 
 
 Section 1 L Joseph Pfe/erkorn. 
 
 In a narrow lane of the Ghetto at ancient 
 Cologne there was one of the usual butcher shops, 
 kept by Joseph Pfefferkorn. He was a broad- 
 faced, dark and sinister-looking man, who had 
 come here several years ago with his spruce, 
 lively and handsome little wife, Brendel, from a 
 small city of the Christian province of Moravia. 
 He boasted to be a direct descendant and pupil of 
 the renowned Rabbi Meyer Pfefferkorn, of Prague. 
 Presenting himself on his arrival before the board 
 of examiners to be licensed as one of the official 
 butchers (Shochet), an office of some considerable 
 religious trust, he was found to have just enough 
 knowledge and technical practice to pass. With the 
 assistance of some benevolent co-religionists, he was 
 enabled, though abjectly poor then, to hire the little 
 shop and establish himself as one of the meat sellers. 
 The little woman took her stand behind the counter 
 and attended to the customers, as her husband was 
 absent from home a great deal. The couple did not 
 live happily together, he being rude and coarse, and 
 she frivolous, inclined to spend a good deal of 
 money 011 extravagant dress, and not too modestly 
 ogling with the young men of the neighborhood. 
 Both were heard repeatedly quarrelling and had 
 angry altercations; one of the newsmongering women, 
 living close by, even asserted that she heard cries 
 and falling blows toward midnight in that shanty, 
 considered awful among the Jewish people, to whom 
 such an outrage as striking a woman had never been 
 known. And yet the financial affairs of the concern 
 prospered astonishingly, and everybody wondered 
 whence the sources came from, when the dimensions of 
 the store were widened at several periods, and the 
 custom increased in quantity and quality. A fine 
 
354 BEN BEOR. 
 
 pair of horses with a handsome butcher-cart were 
 the latest additions to the establishment. It became 
 soon the envious talk among the dwellers of the 
 quarter, and as nothing succeeds like success, Rabbi 
 Joseph Pfefferkorn, as he loved to have himself 
 called, rose in importance and influence among the 
 congregation. Many whispered about that he was 
 ambitious to be elected at the next session .as one of 
 the board of managers. This, however, came to a 
 speedy end. One morning the store was found 
 sealed up by the municipal authorities, and the 
 butcher Joseph was led through the streets in irons 
 between mounted policemen. He had been caught 
 in the middle of the night burglarizing the house of 
 a wealthy citizen and stealing a large sum of money. 
 Suspected for some time of being the author of such 
 recurring crimes, he had lately been closely 
 watched, and, although working with the skill and 
 shrewdness of a professional thief, the eye of the law 
 watched the sinner, and the heavy hand of punish- 
 ment was now upon him. There ensued a quick 
 trial, and the guilty offender found himself without 
 delay behind the bars of the prison. Brendel, in 
 her trouble and anxiety, went before the rabbi and 
 his assistants, pleading and imploring for help to 
 procure the release of her husband. But there was 
 nowhere sympathy for the case. It was the official 
 and general opinion that if an Israelite so far forgets 
 his honor and becomes a thief, which always casts a 
 black shadow upon all his co-religionists, he should 
 suffer the full penalty of the law, without any med- 
 dling of or help from friends or the people. "We 
 pity you in your misfortune and tears," they all said 
 to Brendel, " but will not and must not mix our- 
 selves up with the case. Let the Christians know 
 that we are even more eager to punish any one of 
 ours who commits a crime than they are." So, with- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 355 
 
 out a crumb of consolation, she went to the prison 
 and reported to her husband the cruel reception she 
 had received from her own people. Rabbi Joseph, 
 who had been hopeful of relief, fell into a paroxysm 
 of wrath. He swore and raved that he would have 
 revenge on the whole crowd, and that they should 
 rue to the end of their days for keeping one of their 
 own in humiliation and shame. 
 
 And he was as good as his word. Early next day 
 he sent to the priory soliciting a visit from the 
 father confessor. As the case seemed to me of some 
 importance I went myself and found my surmise 
 correct. I had, by mere chance, discovered the man 
 I wanted and needed. After expressing my regrets 
 at finding so clever a man in such a bad predicament, 
 he asked if I knew of any possibility by which he 
 might become relieved and his offence condoned. I 
 explained to him that there might be found a way 
 with the Count of Gutenstein, the judge, to obtain 
 pardon, " but the conditions under which I would 
 exert myself for this purpose may seem too hard for 
 you." " And if your reverence please, what are they ?" 
 he rejoined. " Foremost of all," I replied, "you 
 and yours must be baptized and become Christians." 
 "Well/' he answered, in a cynical, almost sneering 
 manner, " that cannot be so very difficult, and will not 
 hurt much, will it?" "No, not much," I said, with 
 an involuntary smile, looking the rascal through 
 and through, "but that is not all do you know 
 anything of the Talmud?" "I know everything 
 about it," he quickly responded, and his eyes 
 actually glistened as he proceeded to say, "and 
 if you Christians were only aware how its pages are 
 full with blasphemy against the founder of your 
 religion and crammed with virulent animosity and 
 hatred toward its professors, the book and its stu- 
 dents would not fare well much longer. They ought 
 
356 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to have been burned together long ago." "But the 
 Jews are your brethren," I said, interrupting him. 
 "No longer, your reverence," he almost hissed out; 
 "they have insulted my poor, innocent, pretty little 
 wife, and scorned me in my present condition, 
 instead of helping me." "Ah! is that it?" I ex- 
 claimed, as I shook him fervently by the hand, " then 
 you are my man ; you seek to be revenged on these 
 cormorants, and shall have it to your heart's content. 
 When admitted to our fold I will take you in my 
 service to tell the whole world what is in that delec- 
 table Talmud, and we shall fare ill if the last copy 
 of it is not burned before we have done with it." 
 He rubbed his big, red hands in joyful glee. I could 
 have hugged that convict to my heart. Two sub- 
 jects better fitted for the satanic work in prospect 
 could not well have been brought together by aus- 
 picious fate. Within three months the prisoner, 
 released by my intercession, and his sprightly wife 
 were admitted to the bosom of the Holy Church. 
 Count von Gutenstein and his pious spouse stood 
 sponsors at the altar. Kabbi Joseph was changed 
 into Johannes, and his marital partner into Bertha. 
 They proudly and ostentatiously left the cathedral, 
 and were followed by a large procession of a jubilant 
 mob, moving through the Ghetto, parading them- 
 selves to the chagrined and mortified Jews. Next 
 day the new Johannes was installed in his office near 
 the Dominical rectory, and could be seen sitting at 
 a writing desk engaged in his treacherous work. 
 His wife had now, instead of young Hebrews, a 
 host of shaven clericals for admirers, who vied with 
 one another in paying her assiduous attention ; and 
 the willing husband, as he pocketed the villanous 
 proceeds, whispered in her ear, " The more the bet- 
 ter, only remain true to me! " 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 357 
 
 Section III. The WShumed at Work. 
 
 " M'Sh umed " is a loathed name given by the Jews 
 to one of their race who for mercenary purposes 
 forsakes the religion of his forefathers. Nothing 
 in any language embodies in one term such concen- 
 trated scorn, virulent disdain and consummate es- 
 trangement than this epithet, applied to a speculating 
 convert. It is a universal axiom among the Semitic 
 people that every misfortune which has befallen 
 them through all the eras of their history had its 
 origin and cause through the treachery of some such 
 rascal. 
 
 4-t last Johannes Pfefferkorn had finished the long 
 anticipated manuscript of his labors entitled, "Hos- 
 tis Judaerum." A printing outfit and skilled laborers 
 had been imported from Mentz, and the typographical 
 work was pressed forward with all possible speed. 
 Two editions, one in Latin and one in German, were 
 issued at once, and as soon as finished distributed 
 over the reading world. 
 
 The book was written in a peculiar, aggravating, 
 sarcastic tone, a style of its own, by the author. It 
 arraigned the ancient and modern rabbins of obsti- 
 nately refusing to acknowledge Christ as the Messiah, 
 nor paying proper reverence to the Madonna and the 
 Saints. It showed, by fulsome quotations torn from 
 their contexts of the Talmud, ignorantly translated 
 and misinterpreted, that stealing, lying and even 
 killing were no sins if committed against non- 
 Israelites. It charged the whole race to be usurers 
 and non-producers, Jiving on the fat of the land at the 
 expense of their hard-working neighbors. It adjured 
 all good Catholics to burn this pernicious literature, 
 including even the Hebrew Scriptures, substituting 
 the Latin Vulgate especially, however, the accursed 
 Talmud and rabbinical writings, and insisted upon 
 
358 BEN BEOK. 
 
 that the whole Ghetto should peremptorily be com- 
 pelled to attend mass; that the children of the 
 Hebrews should be taken by force from their parents 
 to be baptized and educated as Christians. It de- 
 clared it was absolutely necessary to deprive these 
 crucifiers of all their worldly goods, to be confiscated 
 for the benefit of the state and the altar, and that 
 they be forced by the authorities to the lowliest 
 menial labors, to earn their bread by the sweat of 
 their brows. The book closed with the implied as- 
 severation that the old, sage minister of state, Haman, 
 of Persian memory, was right when he asserted a 
 thousand years ago : 
 
 " There is a peculiar people scattered abroad and 
 dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of 
 thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from those 
 of every nation ; neither keep they the king's laws ; 
 therefore, it is not for the king's profit to suffer 
 them." (Esther iii. 8.) 
 
 All this was but the oracular teachings of the 
 hateful Dominicans, printed now by their new 
 mouthpiece, the " M'Shumed." 
 
 Nor did it fail, as all such vituperous literature 
 always will, to create quite a stir among the different 
 classes of readers. Foremost it was highly satis- 
 factory to our sacred order ; all the more so, as it had 
 been fathered by one of those Hebrews, the hapless 
 subjects assailed. The learned and thoughtful had a 
 grim laugh at the incongruities and skilfully falsified 
 facts, expressed in language so crude and hobbling, 
 even after painful correction and polish, that it be- 
 trayed to them the ignoramus at sight. The mass of 
 general readers did not comprehend at all what these 
 slings and arrows meant, why they were sent forth, 
 and they took very little stock in the book. 
 Distributed free of charge by the thousand, the volume 
 did not create in a single instance any special excite- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 359 
 
 ment, nor anywhere the least open act of violence. 
 A hundred years ago its inflammatory taunts, 
 hurled broadcast over the land, would have made 
 the streets of the Ghetto flow with blood and set 
 firebrands loose over the domain. Now they failed 
 entirely to have any effect. It bore, however, one 
 strong result. Among the Jews themselves it created 
 a spirit of caution and watchfulness that manifested 
 itself in various ways. Like a burned child which 
 fears the fire, they set to work in various places and 
 by several means tried to avert danger. Unfor- 
 tunately for them, there was now not a single promi- 
 nent strong leader among the rabbins. So they 
 had recourse to the large number of eminent physi- 
 cians of the race, who in many instances were em- 
 ployed in their profession by kings, princes and 
 nobles ; and being generally highly esteemed by most 
 patrons and profoundly learned withal, effective 
 efforts were made in this direction to deprive Pfeffer- 
 korn's efforts of any lasting impression. In this the 
 Hebrews were largely assisted by fair-minded and 
 generous Christians. These had very little use for 
 the resurrection of old hatred and the prejudices of 
 a baptized renegade. It was publicly declared in 
 many places that the thief Pfefferkorn was a worth- 
 less subject, undeserving belief. So it became mani- 
 fest that it required another and more effective policy 
 to get legal possession of the Talmud. This might be 
 quickly achieved if the reigning and easily impressed 
 German Emperor Maximilian could be won over to 
 such purpose. In this direction, then, were turned 
 immediately all our now forthcoming efforts. Our 
 protege, with the superabundance of enthusiasm 
 evinced by most new converts, a heaven -towering au- 
 dacity, furnished with plenty of funds and provided 
 with letters of introduction from high-standing parties 
 and credentials of the most superior order, went 
 
360 BEN BEOR. 
 
 forth on the errand of seeking an audience with His 
 Imperial Majesty, now in camp before Padua, at war 
 with the Italian provinces. Pfeiferkorn had full in- 
 structions how to proceed preliminary to the main 
 issue, and he left his dear wife behind, to the great 
 gratification of her many tonsured admirers. 
 
 Section IV. The Abbess of Clarissa, 
 
 A powerful ally was needed to act upon the busy 
 Emperor. Engaged in a long and serious war 
 against the Venetians, his attention could not be 
 directed to a book affair, and that a Hebrew book, 
 except through the potent intercession of some great 
 influence. The only available person for such pur- 
 pose was his sister Kunigunde, the Abbess of Clarissa, 
 to whom he was fondly attached. 
 
 This princess had a very strange career. In the 
 days of her budding girlhood she had been beautiful 
 and bright, but also extravagantly romantic and 
 wayward. Kings and princes came to pay her court 
 and sue for her hand and heart. The idol of her 
 father, the Emperor Frederick III., who lavished the 
 tender est paternal love and his boundless wealth 
 upon her, she nearly broke his heart by concluding a 
 clandestine marriage with his arch-enemy, the Bava- 
 rian Grand Duke Albert of Munich. An intense 
 rivalry existed between these two monarchs. The 
 important city of Regensburg had lately been acquired 
 by the crafty Wittleberg, and now he received with 
 the hand of the princess, as her dowry, the not in- 
 considerable territory of Tyrol and a big slice of 
 Upper Austria. The Emperor was so wroth over 
 the perfidious treachery, that he immediately declared 
 war against his hated son-in-law, and marched a large 
 army to the boundaries of the Bavarian domain. By 
 the most prudent, wise and persistent intercession of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 3d 
 
 the Crown Prince Maximilian peace was restored, 
 and even a reconciliation between the angry parties 
 effected. But the cruel, filial wrong preyed so on 
 the father's heart that he soon sickened and died. 
 Nor did Albert enjoy his triumph long. An in- 
 sidious malady sapped his robust health, and after a 
 lingering and painful illness, death at last came to his 
 relief. This double bereavement affected the young 
 widow to such an extent that she became melancholy 
 and intensely religious. Remorse and grief soon 
 caused her to abjure the ways of the world,* and she 
 took the veil as a nun in the Franciscan cloister. As 
 a high and influential personage, and by her devotion 
 and zeal, she was soon elevated to the position of 
 Abbess of the Clarissans, the most important of all 
 the many branches of the sister order. In this 
 capacity she became a zealous devotee, fanatically 
 laboring toward extending the scope and power of 
 the Catholic religion. This bigoted woman was 
 selected as the fittest instrument to advance the cause 
 of Pfefferkorn. By our letters of recommendation 
 he readily gained admittance to her presence. It was 
 to her a singular spectacle : a former Jew came to 
 revile his race. But it gained for his statements all the 
 more credence. This was the cunning device of the 
 Dominicans in their shrewd calculations when sending 
 forth the convert. He now painted to her in glow- 
 ing language how Christ, the Virgin, the Apostles, 
 Saints and the whole Church were secretly despised 
 and hated by the blasphemous tribe, and that they 
 were encouraged in and taught such disgraceful acts 
 by the pestiferous contents of their rabbinical books. 
 These, he loudly declared, ought to be utterly annihi- 
 lated as a shame and discredit to the holy faith, and 
 the sooner the last copy thereof was confiscated and 
 burned, the better for the faithful. He had no diffi- 
 culty in stirring up the sensitive feelings of this 
 
3G2 BEN BEOR. 
 
 easily impressed devotee, and she furnished him 
 without delay a strong letter by her own hand ad- 
 dressed to her imperial brother. In this she pitifully 
 implored him to make an end, by his sovereign 
 authority, of the sacrilegious calumniations of the 
 Israelites, and command the burning forthwith of the 
 Talmud and Prayer books. Otherwise, she pointedly 
 added, the sins of the heretics committed daily in his 
 realm would fall upon his august head. Fortified 
 with this powerful missive, the truculent apostate 
 dcpartedyand reached in safety, after several days, the 
 camp of the Emperor. 
 
 Section V. In Camp. 
 
 Everything was hurry and bustle among the sol- 
 diers. Several battles had recently been fought. 
 Another was preparing. The busy, anxious ar- 
 rangements for the coming fray were in full pro- 
 gress. The hardest worker in the army was the 
 Emperor, who in person superintended the auspi- 
 cious task in hand, mapped out the plans, directed 
 the movements, and kept posted concerning every 
 detail appertaining to the affairs of the campaign. 
 At headquarters, the Emperor was surrounded by the 
 gaudily attired members of his staff, many of whom 
 were aged men, much battle-scarred, and wearing 
 plentifully the decorations and insignia of bravery 
 and merit upon their uniform. They all stood bare- 
 headed and in respectful but dignified attitude before 
 their master. His majesty sat behind a long table 
 littered with maps, books &nd papers. He was 
 dressed in the uniform of the Honvets, his favorite 
 regiment, the well-becoming "tchacko" on his head, 
 a single large golden cross upon his breast. He 
 argued, what seemed an important point, with 
 several of his generals. A liveried footman entered 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 3C3 
 
 and announced the arrival of a special courier from 
 his august sister. Pfefferkorn was ushered in, 
 and with an obsequious bow handed the autograph 
 letter of the Abbess to the Emperor. He threw a 
 sharp side-glance at the unexpected visitor. The 
 Kaiser's face showed that he was not too favorably 
 impressed with the appearance of his new guest. He 
 then broke the seal and read the missive. Mumbling 
 something between his lips about trifles to bother 
 him at such an important moment, he beckoned to 
 one of the secretaries and instructed him to make 
 out a mandate in compliance with his sister's request. 
 A wave of the hand dismissed that functionary and 
 the convert. These two retired together. Before 
 evening the imperial rescript, duly signed and sealed, 
 was in Pfefferkorn's pocket. Maximilian did not 
 even read the document, but quickly scrawled his 
 name thereto and ordered it to be sealed. He 
 was sure his affectionately loved and pious sister 
 would not ask anything unfair and unreasonable. 
 The document read : " By the grace of God : We, 
 Emperor Maximilian, hereby authorize our well-be- 
 loved subject, Johannes Pfefferkorn, to investigate 
 throughout our whole German realm and its depend- 
 encies all Hebrew writings, and destroy such as are 
 directed against our faith, the Holy Catholic Church. 
 It is recommended that, in every instance, the resi- 
 dent vicar and the municipal authorities shall be 
 present at such investigations. To our body-vassals 
 (Kammer-knechte) the Jews, we command them not 
 to resist our servant Pfefferkorn, but to bring before 
 him all such writings as come under the head of this 
 mandate, and to furnish him with all copies ne shall 
 demand. Signed, Maximilian I., Rex." 
 
 AVith this autocratic instrument in his pocket, the 
 jubilant renegade returned to Germany. He was 
 now constituted fully the master over all Hebrew 
 
364 BEN BEOR. 
 
 literature, arbitrarily and at will to condemn and 
 burn whatever he saw fit of that literature in books 
 and manuscripts. It was now no longer a war of 
 killing bodies, but of the spirit and the fondly cher- 
 ished intelligence of a people, the means by which 
 they had outlived fire and sword, persecution and 
 expatriation, and alas! all this in the hands of so 
 unscrupulous and mercenary a wight as this M'shu- 
 met. If ever the cause of Israel seemed lost, it 
 appeared now to have come about. Thousands 
 might die as martyrs and the loss of their lives be 
 compensated in the glory of their deaths ; treasures 
 and worldly possessions might be taken from them 
 and they themselves made fugitives and outcasts; 
 they yet could survive by the inexterminable strength 
 and indestructible power of their inspired literature. 
 But now this was to be taken from them also. Well 
 might they cry out in their deep despair, "I lift my 
 eyes to the heights, unto the Lord, whence shall 
 come my salvation." 
 
 Section VI. The First Effort. 
 
 The homeward journey of the newly created im- 
 perial commissioner led directly through the ancient 
 free city of Frankfort-on-the-Main. Here was one 
 of the oldest, best organized, wealthy and most 
 influential congregations of Jews in the world. A 
 successful blow struck at them would be a signal 
 triumph for the work in hand. Many celebrated 
 Talmudists taught here the contents of the Mishna 
 and G'marah, these two chief parts of the rabbinical 
 literature. Often they would dispute among them- 
 selves over important, difficult or doubtful passages. 
 These arguments they called a Pilpul. Hair-split- 
 ting, sharpness of casuistry, fine display of logic and 
 rhetoric and fine legal knowledge were displayed in 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 365 
 
 these mental tournaments. Such a place, set aside 
 especially and often maintained by the pious charity 
 of individuals, was called Beth Hamidrash, some- 
 times, too, a Klause. There were very few houses 
 in which a copy of the Old Testament or a complete 
 Talmud might not be found. The veriest peddler, 
 who groaned all day under the burden of his heavy 
 pack, when returning tired out in the evening from 
 daily labors, would, notwithstanding, never retire 
 before occupying himself for some time with the 
 study of the Law. In the fall of the year 1509 
 A. D., on the evening of Friday, September 28th, 
 when the joyful feast of Booths commenced, an 
 immense concourse of worshippers were congregated 
 in the old Shuhl (synagogue). The cantor, a widely 
 celebrated singer, was just about to chant the open- 
 ing song of the Sabbath (Ixxxviii.), "Come, let us 
 sing unto the Lord, let us shout to the rock of 
 our salvation." At that moment the central portal 
 of the edifice was violently thrown open by a gruff- 
 looking halberdier in his official uniform. He 
 pounded with his weapon rudely on the floor and 
 cried out in commanding tones, " In the name of 
 the Emperor! " Now Pfefferkorn, attired in a self- 
 assumed garb of a high governmental dignitary, 
 accompanied by two well-known city councillors 
 and three priests, entered the temple and advanced 
 as far as the bihma, enjoying to its full extent the 
 consternation and dismay pictured upon the scared 
 and surprised worshippers. He then commanded, 
 by behest of his majesty, that every one present 
 bring forth their prayer-books and deposit them at 
 the foot of the holy shrine. This done under a great 
 deal of commotion, he next enjoined them that they 
 must bring at early morning to the city hall all 
 their Hebrew books of whatsoever description, the 
 parchment scrolls of the Law alone excepted; head- 
 
366 BEN BEOR. 
 
 monished them that concealment or withholding a 
 single copy would be visited with severe punishment. 
 He lastly, with a cunning sneer, peremptorily for- 
 bade them the observance of the now ushered-in 
 feast. Against this last wicked and frivolous tyranny 
 the Catholic clergymen present violently protested. 
 They prevailed upon the would-be commissioner to 
 postpone the delivery of the books till the next 
 Monday and to permit them the celebration of their 
 holidays. Then the intruders departed. But the 
 Jews took courage. Immediately after service, 
 during which many tears flowed in invocation to 
 the God of their fathers for help in this hour of 
 need, they convened in general meeting. Brave 
 words were spoken. They would no longer permit 
 themselves to be unresistingly, as heretofore, plun- 
 dered, robbed or slain like patient lambs led to the 
 shambles. A committee, consisting of the venerable 
 Rabbi, the Presidents (Parnassim), and five of the 
 most influential and widely-known members, were 
 appointed to appear on the next day before the 
 Mayor and City Council to protest against the wan- 
 ton insults offered in the house of worship, to demand 
 recognition of their rights, granted them under seal 
 by Emperors and Popes, securing free exercise of 
 their religion, which included, as they claimed, the 
 secure possession of their books. They should insist 
 upon postponement at least of any arbitrary act 
 against them, granting sufficient time for an appeal 
 by special deputies to the Emperor and the German 
 Federal Conclave (Bundesrath). That same night a 
 mounted courier was riding at breakneck speed on 
 the road from Frankfort to Mentz. He had been 
 despatched by the Catholic clergy to their newly- 
 elected archbishop, His Eminence Uriel von Gem- 
 mingen. The messenger bore documents relating 
 in full the violent proceedings in the synagogue and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 367 
 
 requesting orders from the superior what position 
 the Church should take in these extra-judicial trans- 
 actions. A full meeting of the city authorities 
 could not be held till next Monday. Then the 
 committee of the Hebrews were permitted to appear 
 before them. The Rabbi was their spokesman. It 
 is a pity that history has not preserved the name of 
 that worthy. He pleaded so pathetically, urged so 
 forcibly, and remonstrated so eloquently, that the 
 Council would have unanimously decided in his 
 favor, but Pfeiferkorn threw the mandate of the 
 Emperor before them and demanded obedience to 
 the writ and execution of its behest. There was no 
 alternative left, they must command the confisca- 
 tion of the books. At that moment the three clergy- 
 men and their dust-begrimed courier entered. The 
 archbishop, under his hand and seal, had ordered a 
 stay of proceedings, and summoned PfefFerkorn with 
 the official document to his presence. The oppres- 
 sive measure for the time was foiled. The Council 
 was glad to have the disagreeable business taken off 
 their hands. Not one of them was in favor of wag- 
 ing war against books or recommencing distasteful 
 hostilities against a race whose industry and honor- 
 able conduct greatly enhanced the prosperity of the 
 loved city. To their credit, it is recorded, they went 
 further. One of their number was commissioned to 
 accompany the Jewish delegation to Padua, and aid, 
 by petition and remonstrance, the immediate revoca- 
 tion of that obnoxious edict. 
 
 Pfeiferkorn dared not ignore the hierarchical sum- 
 mons. He started next day on his journey to Mentz. 
 
 Section VII. Before, the Archbishop. 
 
 A new policy had been inaugurated at the See of 
 the high episcopacy of Mentz since the death of the 
 
368 BEN BEOR. 
 
 old bishop and the entrance to office of his succes- 
 sor, Uriel von Gemmingen. By special decree from 
 the Vatican, his dignity had been raised to an arch- 
 bishopric, with a largely extended diocese. The 
 incumbent was a favorite and friend of the Pope, to 
 whom he had endeared himself by kindness of heart, 
 loftiness of views concerning the high ministerial 
 profession, and profound knowledge, not only in 
 theological lore, but also the classic languages and 
 belles-lettres. There was no room in the mind and 
 feelings in such a humane character for any gross 
 prejudice or persecuting intolerance, who, in the 
 scope of his ministration, was both father and priest. 
 The people, especially the W 7 omen and children, 
 idolized the strong, fine, apostolic-looking, good- 
 natured man whose many kind deeds, unbounded 
 charity and ready helpfulness on all occasions were 
 in the mouth of everybody. It was a pathetic sight 
 to find the little toddlers run up to him when passing 
 through the streets, and, after reverently making the 
 sign of the cross, kiss his hands affectionately. He 
 soon knew them all by name, and had a kind or jovial 
 word as he laid his fingers benignantly on one or the 
 other's head. Among these children there were fre- 
 quently, also, some of the black-haired, dark-eyed 
 Hebrews, who were treated with the same impartial 
 affection as the rest, although none of them would 
 cross themselves on their approach. There was 
 especially one boy, Isaac, the son of a poor widow, 
 in whom the bishop had taken a deep interest. Re- 
 peatedly he was heard to say that the ideal image of 
 the child Jesus came to his mind when looking upon 
 that little fellow. Once, indeed, he had visited the 
 mother and offered to adopt Isaac and have him 
 educated if she would permit him to be baptized. 
 But against this the woman protested with tears. 
 "Our religion," she said, "is all that is left us, and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 369 
 
 your Eminence is too good and generous to take the 
 last we own." " Well, well," he responded, " I did 
 not mean to hurt your feelings ; we will see by-and- 
 bye what can be done for little Isaac." The very 
 next day after this occurrence, the message from 
 Frankfort was brought to him at early morning. 
 Its contents were a shock to his sensibilities. This 
 man loved learning ; a book to him was almost like 
 a human being. He had studied a little Hebrew, 
 and what he knew of it made him revere that lan- 
 guage. Was it not the words and accents in which 
 his dear Saviour had conversed and preached that 
 eloquent, immortal Sermon on the Mount ? And 
 here came a villanous interloper who had possessed 
 himself of a decree by a thoughtless Emperor to 
 burn a literature which his friend and teacher Obadja 
 Sforno had assured him was a treasure-store of 
 thought and intelligence, which the Christians, when- 
 ever able to understand it, would prize as highly as 
 the Jews. Such uncouth vandalism went entirely 
 against the grain of his disposition. And then the 
 studied insult to a people while engaged in worship- 
 ping God ! His innate, true piety revolted against 
 the barbarous attempt. He felt keenly, too, the 
 slight implied at least to his official dignity for the 
 Emperor to arbitrarily interfere with the ecclesiasti- 
 cal aifairs of the diocese, never heretofore exercised 
 except by the Church. So it did not take him long to 
 issue his peremptory decree of stay of proceedings, 
 demanding the presence of the imperial mandate 
 and its bearer. When Pfefferkorn at last arrived, 
 his unprepossessing appearance and coarse nasal 
 jargon, none of which the holy water- of baptism had 
 been able to wash away, impressed the genial prelate 
 very unfavorably. On examining the official docu- 
 ment, it was seen at the first glance that it had been 
 issued fatally defective, bearing neither the name of 
 
370 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the place where, nor a date when, promulgated. 
 This was pointed out to the crestfallen renegade ; he 
 was told that such illegalities would give to the 
 persecuted subjects good cause for resistance. These 
 important omissions must be remedied before any 
 further action dared to be attempted. Pfeiferkorn 
 agreed to return to Padua to have these errors cor- 
 rected. The archbishop would, however, agree to 
 no active participation in the matter, except on 
 stipulation that the Emperor should appoint three 
 learned, truthful, conscientious and impartial com- 
 missioners, to whom should be entrusted the task, 
 as experts, to investigate and search all Hebrew 
 books and writings suspected as irreverent, blas- 
 phemous or dangerous to the Christian religion, and 
 nothing should be done until the official opinion of 
 these commissioners was in possession of the emperor. 
 The proposition was so reasonable, equitable, and 
 advanced with such a persistent tone of high authority, 
 that it was fully accepted. The members of that 
 commission were then agreed upon. The archbishop 
 nominated his renowned and learned friend, the 
 Professor Johannes Eeuchlin, a great theological 
 and linguistic scholar of European reputation. Pfef- 
 ferkorn nominated himself and Victor von Karben. 
 These three were subsequently confirmed by the 
 Emperor, who, however, added Hochstratten and 
 Von Gemmingen as authorized commissioners, ap- 
 pointing also the Universities of Paris, Mentz, 
 Erfurth and Heidelberg to participate in the Talmud 
 investigation. These negotiations took nearly two 
 weeks. A journey of Pfeiferkorn's to Cologne for 
 consultation with Hochstratten became necessary 
 in order that all the proposed measures be sanctioned 
 and approved. Meanwhile, the Emperor had found 
 time, pressed by many high-standing personages, to 
 give audience to the Frankfort deputation. It con- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 371 
 
 sisted, in behalf of the Jews, of two powerful advo- 
 cates, both well and favorably known to Maximilian, 
 Jonathan Levy Zion and Jacob Triest. They were 
 greatly aided by the imperial chamberlain, Goldecker. 
 The easily swayed and readily convinced Emperor 
 recognized that he had acted in too great haste. It 
 was obvious that he was inclined to revoke the 
 mandate. But Pfefferkorn appeared again with 
 another letter from dear sister Kunigunde, more 
 devoutly sanctimonious than even the first, conjuring 
 her high and potent brother not to shame all Chris- 
 tianity any longer by the existence of such treason- 
 able Hebrew books. The document, now rectified, 
 remained in power. The Talmud must be confis- 
 cated. But it was further " ordered that nothing 
 should be done until the imperially appointed com- 
 missioners had rendered their verdict. The preser- 
 vation or burning of the books hung henceforth in 
 the scale balanced by the learned judges. His 
 Eminence Von Gemmingen was authorized as 
 commissioner to proceed with the confiscation and 
 store the corpus delicti safely with the authorities in 
 Frankfort. The distasteful task had to be executed, 
 and within a week from the receipt of the rescript 
 the bonded warehouses of the free city were filled 
 with libraries of rabbinical writings. All eyes were 
 now directed upon Professor Reuchlin, the acknowl- 
 edged chief of the learned Junta, andanxious curiosity 
 awaited patiently for his verdict. 
 
 Section VIII. Johannes JReuchlin. 
 
 There are as many species of heroism in this 
 world as there are avenues to display them. Unfor- 
 tunately, military genius, with its brilliant and 
 ostentatious achievements, so absorbs the admiring 
 attention of mankind as to throw every other act of 
 
372 BEN BEOR. 
 
 distinguished merit in the shade. A thousand 
 monuments of marble and bronze immortalize the 
 bloody conquests of the sword, where one laurel- 
 wreathed shaft commemorates a victory of the mind. 
 And yet have the peaceful labors of the brain 
 wrought greater and more lasting good for the race 
 than all the conqueror's violent handiwork. It is 
 the thoughtful student, burning the midnight oil, 
 solving some intellectual problem, who has contri- 
 buted more successfully to the true civilization of 
 mankind than all the infantry, cavalry and artillery 
 of the gory battlefields. 
 
 Such a hero we meet in his dingy study, poring 
 over tomes of classic lore at a late hour when most 
 of his fellow-citizens of Trier are wrapt in sleep. 
 Itis Professor Johannes Reuchlin,the lately-appointed 
 commissioner for deciding a great and highly-import- 
 ant controversy, which fiercely agitates the whole 
 thinking world. In all Christendom he w r as the 
 only man supremely fitted for the ponderous task. 
 Foremost, the irreproachable integrity of his char- 
 acter, sterling morality that valued truth above all 
 worldly consideration, with a mild and tender dis- 
 position, and yet deeply sensitive to praise or blame. 
 Such a man could be implicitly relied upon for 
 impartiality and honest convictions. But what 
 made him so superlatively fit for the work assigned 
 consisted in the singular fact of being the only 
 European Gtntile scholar who possessed a profound 
 knowledge of the Hebrew biblical and rabbinical 
 language. True, he had acquired most of this late 
 in life, but with the persistence of an enthusiast and 
 the tenacity of a lover, he had never rested until the 
 goal was attained. This, under the prevailing cir- 
 cumstances, was a herculean undertaking. There 
 was not to be found among all his learned confreres 
 even an elementary teacher. In the great libraries 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 373 
 
 there existed no works for his instruction. But the 
 desire to learn the " Holy Word" burned in his soul. 
 It became a passion. He had arrived already at 
 the age of manhood. By this time his presence was 
 required at the court of the aged Frederic III. at 
 Linz in Austria. Here he found an eminent He- 
 braist, the imperial Jewish physician, Count Jacob 
 Loans, and placed himself at the feet of this profoundly 
 learned man, commencing at the age of thirty-five 
 to con the " Aleph Beth. 7 ' But the pupil was a born 
 linguist. In Latin and Greek he rivalled the Italian 
 savants, and excelled them, to the astonishment of 
 his contemporaries, in eloquence of diction and ver- 
 satility of expression. To the wonderment of his 
 teacher, he mastered the difficult intricacies of the 
 Semitic tongue in an astonishingly short time, and 
 soon was able to read the Pentateuch and the rest 
 of the Scriptures in their original versions, no less 
 advancing rapidly to use and understand the exe- 
 getic commentators. A new light broke upon him. 
 Never before had he been able to comprehend so 
 completely the profound legal depth of the Mosaic 
 legislation. Now there blazoned upon him, in the 
 radiant light of a new and extended horizon, the 
 eloquence of Isaiah, the incomparable poetry of the 
 Psalms, the compact wisdom of the Proverbs, and 
 the sublimity of Job. It was to him, he repeatedly 
 stated, as if a blind man had been brought to light. 
 Then he delved with the same eagerness into the 
 rabbinical writings. Like an ambitious schoolboy, 
 who by untiring efforts has solved some difficult 
 lesson, entering the labyrinth of the Talmud, so try- 
 ing even for the acute native mind, he walked 
 through it as if it were a garden around the king's 
 palace. When he came to the writings of Maimon- 
 ides, the very existence of which he barely knew, 
 his mind at first became like one dazed. Here was 
 
374 BEN BEOR. 
 
 a moral and ethical philosophy to which even that 
 of his idolized Aristotle must stand in the shade. 
 Every lesson to him was a rapture. At last he tried 
 his hand at the mysteries and mysticism of the 
 Cabalah. There, however, his clear mind strayed 
 in the effort of forcing the confused and confusing 
 norms and forms to Christiology. Many precious 
 hours, afterwards sorely regretted, he wasted in try- 
 ing to find the En Sof (cause of causes) by a soph- 
 istic interpretation of the Hebrew name of Jesus 
 (Joshua). But he soon got over these vagaries, and 
 with renewed interest continued the absorbing labors 
 of his love in their legitimate channels. 
 
 One other great influence was exerted casually by 
 his connection with so excellent and exemplary a 
 teacher. The meetings of these two spiritually 
 rejated men took place generally in the house of 
 Doctor Loans. It was unavoidable for the professor 
 not to come in contact with the family, which con- 
 sisted of a wife, a son, who studied with the father 
 for the medical profession, and a young daughter, 
 nearly twelve years old. The domestic life which 
 he found here was another revelation to him. From 
 earliest youth he had imbibed the dislike and preju- 
 dice prevalent against the Semites, especially among 
 the higher class of citizens. Forgetting that the 
 blood of Abraham, Moses and Christ flowed in the 
 veins of these pariahs, whom a thousand years of 
 most cruel hatred had deteriorated from noblest 
 manhood and womanhood to what they were generally 
 now, a class of hucksters and peddlers, subservient 
 and apparently slavish and submissive, never aware 
 that there was secretly stored away in their hearts a 
 great share of that nobility which made them fit ob- 
 jects for divine intercommunion. Reuchlin had for- 
 gotten himself so far, in an unguarded moment, 
 when already at the age of maturity, to publish a 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 375 
 
 sarcastic and bitter tirade against them. Later in life 
 he was to sadly regret this. Now that he could 
 make allowance for the physiological influences 
 which centuries of unprecedented sufferings and woe 
 must have exercised upon the status of these people, 
 it became a marvel to him that they had not long 
 ago succumbed altogether, socially, physically and 
 spiritually. Is it a wonder that he was thrown 
 from his poise altogether when coming in contact 
 and intimate relation with a higher and better type 
 of a nationality so much maligned and misrepre- 
 sented ? Here, in first instance, was Dr. Loans him- 
 self, who had climbed the ladder of the medical 
 profession to its utmost height. He was trusted 
 and relied upon implicitly concerning the health of 
 the Emperor and family, the members of the court 
 and princes and nobles, and consulted as an authority 
 by his medical brethren. To be thus distinguished 
 would have been enough honor for a man in his 
 generation. But he was also a celebrated literati, 
 who read and understood the Greek, Latin, Arabic 
 and Sanscrit dialects. The German language he 
 spoke and wrote fluently and eloquently, but, to cap 
 the climax, he \vas acknowledged the greatest living 
 Hebraist, to whom even the rabbis referred theo- 
 logical and ritual questions. With all this, he never 
 lost sight of being a most considerate and loving 
 husband, a tender and affectionate father. Strict 
 in the fulfilment of his religious duties, he had 
 become a leader in the congregation. The poor and 
 needy worshipped him, and it had become a univer- 
 sal saying that he would rather attend at the bed- 
 side of a beggar than that of the princelings and 
 barons. To all this must be added a behavior at 
 once dignified, modest and unassuming. 
 
 Then there was the wife. A matron of advanced 
 age when he first met her, time had but slightly 
 
376 BEN BEOR. 
 
 effaced her beauty, but given her in highest degree 
 dignity and womanly graces. Kenned, cultured and 
 lovely, she was all in all to her husband and chil- 
 dren ; ever patient, ever forbearing, ever helpful and 
 unselfish, the domain of her household was blessed 
 with peace, congeniality and love, extending to a 
 large circle of friends and embracing the entire com- 
 munity of the poor. The children were perfect types 
 of their parents, the sunshine of the family and the 
 pride and hope of father and mother. 
 
 The intimate friendly relations thus commenced 
 here at Lintz continued for a lifetime, and it is on 
 record that they remained mutually the source of 
 greatest felicity and ever dear and cherished remem- 
 brances. 
 
 When the Dominicans accepted Reuchlin as the 
 chief arbitrator in the absorbing issue which they 
 had so cunningly evoked, they flattered themselves 
 and were entirely confident that the whole subject 
 was decided beforehand in their favor. Was he not 
 their friend and coadjutor, a professor of Christian 
 theology? Had he not in previous publications 
 expressed his bitter attitude to their common adver- 
 sary ? Were not all worldly consideration for honor, 
 emolument and advancement with the Emperor, 
 his sister Kimigunde and the whole orthodox clergy 
 on their side ? Nor had his name ever been con- 
 nected with the arrogant and impertinent Humani- 
 tarians. The powerful and wide-awake opponents 
 who styled themselves " the Obscurants " (Dunkel- 
 manner) might rightly claim the professor as their 
 own. For the accomplishment of his work he had 
 asked three months' time, and this was cheerfully 
 granted him. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 377 
 
 Section IX. A Short Armistice. 
 
 The interim of ninety days, during 'which the 
 experts were to work out their official opinions con- 
 cerning the Talmud, was too important a time to be 
 lost in waiting inactivity. Pfetferkorn sat down, 
 and knowing that he would compromise his standing 
 by ignorance were he to compete with Reuchlin, 
 wrote, in stead of an official opinion, two new pamph- 
 lets, grossly vituperative and violently assailing his 
 former co-religionists. He had the greatest faith in 
 the efficacy of his poisonous pen. The title of these 
 literary efforts were, "The Little Easter-book" 
 and " To the Praise and Honor of the Emperor ." 
 He engaged for himself and wife, as soon as the 
 manuscripts could be printed, to distribute these 
 pamphlets from house to house, and to read extracts 
 therefrom in the public markets and places. And 
 they were soon off on their errand, to the great regret 
 of some of the younger monks, \vho did not like to 
 be separated from the company of their dear and 
 devout friend, Madame Bertha. Strange, I could 
 never rise into any of her special favors. She would 
 treat me with abject reverence, but keep me always 
 at such distance that not even a familiar word was 
 ever spoken between us. But there was a young 
 dominie, rosy, foolish and flustering, who became so 
 enamoured of her that public talk and scandal arose. 
 This friar's name was Tetzel. It became necessary, 
 in order to stop the damaging report, to send him 
 away to some distance, and as I needed forthwith an 
 emissary on some delicate yet important mission, 
 and as he was otherwise bright, cunning and shrewd, 
 I got him, at least for the time being, out of the way 
 of the possible wrath of the husband, who pretended 
 to be very jealous. I had watched that monk since 
 my arrival here. The errand for which I selected 
 
378 BEN BEOR. 
 
 him was just fitted for the young rogue. Was it 
 not possible to find among all the petty governments 
 and principalities into which Germany was cut up, 
 one of the reigning and powerful princes to use 
 the arm of the Inquisition to venture, in case 
 of great aggravation, to commit to the stake some 
 of his Jewish subjects? I happened to pitch 
 upon the proper party in the Elector of Branden- 
 burg. He had just succeeded his father upon 
 the throne, was very ambitious, quick-tempered, 
 and blindly passionate when aroused to anger. Such 
 a man would act violently if occasion stung him, 
 and he was known to look with disdain and dislike 
 upon his Semitic vassals. To his residence in 
 Pomerania I sent Tetzel, with full instructions for 
 working out my plan, and he did credit to his mas- 
 ter. Very soon the report came that the holy vessels 
 and golden utensils for the sacrament had been 
 stolen from the cathedral of Berlin. The robber 
 had been caught. My presence as Grand Inquisitor 
 was requested to the scene of the sacrilegious 
 theft. The burglar was promised immunity if he 
 would reveal his confederates in the crime. He 
 named several of the principal Jews, to whom he 
 had sold the Holy Host, which they, as he averred, 
 had pierced with needles in his presence. To his 
 horror, as he stated, blood immediately spurted 
 from the consecrated wafer. The terrible sight had 
 so filled him with remorse of the awful crime that 
 he could not eat or sleep till he, as he now did, made 
 a full confession of the awful sin. All this was carried 
 out exactly as planned beforehand. The Elector 
 Joachim I. commanded me immediately to apply 
 the torture and have the accused executed at the 
 very scene of the crime. Thirty-eight Hebrews, for 
 the first time that any of their race ever entered 
 Berlin, on the 19th of July, 1510, mounted the pyres 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 379 
 
 erected before the cathedral and were burned. Above 
 the rustle and the rattle of the flames could be heard 
 the prayers and the songs of the expiring victims, 
 'keeping up their courage even unto the end. From 
 the dais where I was seated I could notice the differ- 
 ence between the populace here and that of Spain. 
 The Southern spectators, in fanatic sympathy with 
 the proceedings, came in holiday attire, as if to a 
 feast or a bull-fight. They screamed themselves 
 hoarse with acclamations of joy and jubilation 
 as the flames made their way upward and reached 
 the doomed. Here the most appalling silence reigned 
 at first. Then curses and maledictions became audi- 
 ble on every side. Women and strong men fainted 
 as the fagots commenced to burn. It would have 
 taken but a bold leader for revolution to have broken 
 out instantly. The conviction came upon me 
 firmly auto dafe's would not do among these Teu- 
 tons. The effect of this one, upon which I had 
 counted so much, proved entirely contrary to my 
 fond anticipations. Disappointed and chagrined, I 
 returned with Tetzel to Cologne. Pfefferkorn had 
 kept his engagements. He had proceeded with his 
 ^yife and his books to Frankfort, had indiscrimi- 
 nately distributed the literature, read portions of it 
 publicly in the beer and coffee houses and saloons. 
 A thoughtless, unscrupulous priest had allowed him, 
 the layman, contrary to the strict rules of the Church, 
 to mount the pulpit and harangue the worshippers. 
 Such unprecedented proceedings, however, disgusted 
 the people more than it fired their hearts. Strong 
 complaints were made to the archbishop. Rector 
 Peter Meyer, who had allowed his church thus to be 
 profaned, had to do penance for the offence, and a 
 repetition of the same was interdicted on threat of 
 excommunication. 
 
 Thus the auspicious ninety days were passed and 
 at last were over. 
 
380 BEN BEOR, 
 
 Section X. Signed, Sealed and Delivered. 
 
 It was now the 5th of October, 1510. On this day 
 Professor Keuchlin had finished the task assigned 
 to him by Emperor Maximilian. This consisted in 
 answering the single ominous question, " Is it godly, 
 praiseworthy and useful to Christianity to destroy 
 by fire the Hebrew, especially the Talmudic, litera- 
 ture ? " The elaborate answer was a heavy, volum- 
 inous document. It had been carefully enclosed in 
 safe envelopes, sealed with official seal, addressed : 
 " For His Majesty the Emperor, by hand of His 
 Eminence the R. R. Archbishop Uriel von Gem- 
 mingen." Then he entrusted it to a special courier, 
 who was placed under oath for its security and safe 
 delivery. Thus it reached its destination and was 
 deposited in the episcopal office with the other docu- 
 ments appertaining to this subject which had arrived 
 also, to be perused at the earliest leisure of his 
 Eminence. It remained still sealed. It was con- 
 sidered high treason for any one not authorized to 
 break or even meddle with the sanctity of letter 
 secrets. PfefFerkorn, who by appointment had ar- 
 rived here to be present with his fellow-commission- 
 ers, was so feverishly eager to find out the opinion 
 of Reuchlin, found ingress to the episcopal office 
 and opened the package. He excused this after- 
 wards with the belief that his official position under 
 imperial authority gave him this right. He could 
 barely trust his eyes as he read the contents of these 
 papers. The opinions therein expressed were abso- 
 lutely stunning. He thought it necessary to hastily 
 make abstracts therefrom and forward them to his 
 superior at Cologna. 
 
 Here was a clear and full vindication of the Tal- 
 mud and the rabbinical writings. In highest terms 
 of praise the Commentators were especially recom- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 381 
 
 mended to the study of the Christian clergy. These 
 learned books were pronounced the fountains of 
 truth and righteous understanding. The philo- 
 sophical and theological treasures contained in 
 Hebrew literature were compared to the highest and 
 best written in modern or ancient times, and the 
 attempt of destroying such master works of almost 
 inspired thought denounced as vandalism. 
 
 Nor did it stop with this. The position and treat- 
 ment of the Israelites in his Majesty's realm were 
 reviewed as right, justice and humanity had never 
 dared to open their lips for a thousand years. They 
 were boldly declared to be children of a common 
 God nay, German citizens, with all the rights, 
 duties and claims for protection implied in this title. 
 Finally the doings and brutal schemes of Pfefferkorn, 
 Hochstratten and the entire order of the ambitious 
 Dominicans were exposed as inhuman, unchristian, 
 unpatriotic, and the strongest invectives launched 
 against these as the real betrayers of Jesus. 
 
 A lightning stroke out of a clear sky could not 
 have stunned the reader more than did these terri- 
 ble, unexpected sentences. Had not at that moment 
 the Archbishop entered the sanctum, it is more than 
 likely the filcher of the secrets would, in his first 
 passion, have torn the papers. The prelate, seeing the 
 strange behavior of the intruder, and finding, to 
 his astonishment, the seal of the parcel in his hands 
 broken, took the document from him. Curiosity 
 being thus aroused, his Eminence seated himself at 
 his writing table to read the opinion from beginning 
 to end. Pfefferkorn stood respectfully aside, but 
 from the niche near the window, where he placed 
 himself, watched like a tiger its prey, with eager 
 gazing, to judge from the countenance of his superior 
 what impression the sentiments of Reuchlin would 
 make. Astonishment, delight, actual rapture became 
 
382 BEN BEOR. 
 
 visible on the reader's face as page after page was 
 perused. Several times he broke out in loud accla- 
 mations, such as "The very sentiments from my 
 soul I" " Bravely done, my good friend !" When the 
 last line was read, the archbishop rose from his seat, 
 removed the red skull-cap from his head, raised the 
 ivory crucifix hanging from his girdle to his mouth, 
 and then broke forth : " Thanks to God that His 
 name has been glorified by the great light of one 
 of His faithful servants ! " 
 
 Crestfallen and dumbfounded, the convert begged 
 leave to retire. Permission for this was given until 
 next morning, when his presence was required in 
 this place. As he left, his Eminence followed him 
 with a long look of detestation, and mumbled to 
 himself, "I will keep him here long enough to foil 
 any of his mischievous plans ! " Then the divine 
 became very busy. He wrote a long letter to the 
 Emperor, commending in highest terms Reuchlin 
 and the Opinion, endorsing every word thereof. Next 
 he summoned a visitor, a young man who had 
 arrived the evening before. He was a fine, stal- 
 wart, earnest-looking person, clad as a cavalier of 
 those times. Von Gemmingen greeted him with a 
 warm shake of the hand, and then said, " Friend 
 Von Hutton, there is serious work for you ! It is 
 of the utmost importance that you ride for life, and 
 after five days, at the outside, deliver this package to 
 Maximilian's own hands. The sons of Belial, these 
 Dominicans, will otherwise get the start of us, and 
 mar what the divine genius of Reuchlin has done 
 for the honor of humanity, the Church, and our Ger- 
 man fatherland. Take it, be off, and farewell. God 
 speed thy errand ! " 
 
 Toward evening of the fifth day the package was 
 handed to the Emperor. He read the letter from 
 the archbishop, and this was so pressing, almost 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 383 
 
 peremptory, that a council of secretaries was called 
 at once to make a digest of the lengthy writings and 
 deliver the same before retiring for the night. It 
 was rather late when the scribes returned, but his 
 Majesty sat up patiently, and conversing with the 
 messenger, became deeply interested in one of the 
 most remarkable persons of those times, to whom he 
 became attached henceforth with a never-ending 
 friendship. Long after midnight the secretaries 
 re-entered, and these too, having become enthusiastic 
 in the work, delivered in glowing language the con- 
 tents of the Opinion. The Emperor attentively heard 
 them through, then he swore an oath that sleep 
 should not visit his couch until this war against 
 books was ended and his much-wronged subjects, 
 the Jews, were righted. It was near daybreak when 
 the imperial mandate for this purpose was in pos- 
 session of Von Hutton. 
 
 Poor, brave fellow ! Fatigued and exhausted as 
 he must have been, at sunrise he was in the saddle, 
 and never rested until he stood before the archbishop 
 again, delivering the message of victory. 
 
 After a good night's rest, the two friends started 
 for Frankfort. Immediately on their arrival there, 
 the Mayor and City Council were summoned for 
 an extra session, and the imperial mandate read to 
 them. Within an houi the public criers hearlded 
 the message through the streets. The city's author- 
 ities, greatly relieved of an onerous task, had the 
 books re-delivered to their rightful owners amidst 
 great rejoicing of the whole town. That same evening 
 the Jews en masse gathered in their place of worship, 
 the "alte Schuhl," and celebrating a second Purim 
 for their deliverance, sent prayers of praise and thanks 
 to Heaven, asking fervently, devoutly and full of 
 gratitude, blessings, prosperity and long life for 
 their exalted friends, the Emperor, Reuchlin, the 
 
384 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Archbishop Von Huttou. All over Germany the 
 Kaiser's decree was promulgated as quickly as 
 copies could be forwarded, and the same scenes of 
 worship and benediction enacted among the Israel- 
 ites throughout the land. 
 
 [It is a stain upon the Hebrew people that they 
 have not yet gratefully and generously erected a 
 monument to their great benefactor, Reuchlin, who 
 justly has deserved it at their hands. THE EDITOR 
 AND PUBLISHER.] 
 
 Section XI. Aftermath. 
 
 It would be a great mistake to believe that I and 
 my order, the Dominicans, took our so unexpected 
 defeat passively or submissively. On the contrary, 
 every nerve was strained to make it ineffective. 
 From a comparatively trifling cause, it became now 
 a gigantic struggle between the Orthodox Catholics 
 and the Humanitarians. We, the former, had, 
 according to all human calculations, the might, the 
 power and the resources to overthrow at no distant 
 period our momentarily successful adversaries. 
 
 Pfefferkorn was detained at Mentz on one pretence 
 or the other for three days. He was virtually a 
 prisoner in the cathedral, and would not have been 
 released yet but for my personal appearance at the 
 scene. Von Gemmingen told me openly that this 
 man ought to be tried for heresy, having, as a lay- 
 man and unconsecrated, preached from the altar, and 
 that by right he should have been imprisoned for 
 audaciously breaking the seal of letters not addressed 
 to him. Claiming, however, that he belonged ex- 
 clusively under my jurisdiction, he was set free. 
 After a long consultation with him concerning the 
 untoward event which had happened to our cause, 
 he was off for Padua, where he arrived in great haste, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 385 
 
 armed with another letter from sister Kunigunde. 
 The missive was received, but the Emperor refused 
 its bearer an audience, on the excuse of being too 
 busy, and desired no longer any worry concerning 
 matters which had been finally adjusted. When he 
 returned to Cologna, the new mandate was already 
 published and executed. What to do next became 
 an enigma. The Universities came, to our relief. 
 Copies of Keuchlin's opinion were demanded from 
 all, and they almost unanimously declared it anti- 
 Catholic, heretical, and dangerous to the State. The 
 King of France demanded, through his subservient 
 High School at Paris, the public burning of the docu- 
 ment and the immediate trial of the author before 
 the Inquisition. Maximilian had a personal spite 
 against his august brother, and peremptorily forbade 
 any such proceedings. Both appealed to the Holy 
 Father in Rome. But the Pope, Leo X., only lately 
 elevated to the see, was a kind and liberal-minded 
 vicar, prudently carried their quarrels upon both 
 shoulders, not to spoil his standing with the two pow- 
 erful majesties. He appointed a conclave of cardi- 
 nals, handed over to them the whole matter, no doubt 
 with the intimation that there was no special hurry 
 about a decision. In the interim a war of words in 
 pamphlets and books, full of crimination and re- 
 crimination, flooded the continent. Insults and 
 vituperations were heaped upon Reuchlin and the 
 Jews. The pens of Gratius, Von Karpen and Pfeff- 
 erkorn were plied incessantly to stir up prejudices, 
 enmities and revolts. But the Professor answered 
 with a ponderous, crushing work called "Eye-Mir- 
 ror." It was the defense of a wounded lion in his 
 own lair, and every blow from his herculean power 
 shattered an adversary. For the glaring liberalism 
 expressed in this book, which actually roused Europe 
 from pit to dome, I summoned Keuchlin, already 
 
386 BEN BEOR, 
 
 an aged man, to appear before the High Inquisition. 
 I was convinced that I had the bold intermeddler by 
 the hip, and to make our triumph all the more 
 conspicuous, ordered him to Mentz. If we only 
 could condemn the old reprobate, he should surely 
 be burned to death upon the pyre. Some of the most 
 potent princely personages protested against the 
 proceedings, but all to no purpose. On the 12th 
 of October, 1511, to our surprise, Reuchlin with 
 two advocates appeared before the tribunal. The 
 sham formalities of the court were gone through ; 
 evidence pro and con was heard ; but the verdict of 
 guilty was announced, and I had risen to pronounce 
 sentence. At that instant Ulrich von Hutton, who 
 had been, as accredited representative of the arch- 
 bishop, a quiet spectator of the proceedings, rose in 
 his seat, declared, in the name of his master, the ver- 
 dict null and void, dissolved the ecclesiastical court, 
 its power and functions, and took the accused by the 
 arm, leaving the hall with him, to the consternation 
 of every member there assembled. The crowd wait- 
 ing anxiously outside, on learning the facts which 
 had transpired, bodily lifted the two men on their 
 shoulders and carried them in triumph through the 
 streets. Violence against us was only prevented by 
 an armed guard sent for our protection. I immedi- 
 ately returned disguised and in great haste to 
 Cologna. 
 
 To still more complete our discomfiture, there 
 appeared at this time a series of caricatures, no one 
 knowing the authors. They came under the title of 
 "Obscurant Letters." What reason and argument 
 had not yet fully achieved, ridicule did. The whole 
 continent laughed, having their risibles excited by 
 the comic and humorous delineation of the funny 
 situations and the compromised persons. The tone 
 of these epistles was so serious and disguised that 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 387 
 
 at first we took them to be in our favor, and thus 
 duped, took active and strong measures for their 
 widest distribution. When our eyes were opened 
 and we understood the reality of the thing, although 
 chagrined and nearly bursting with anger, yet we 
 could not help it we laughed too, we had to laugh. 
 To me, however, came the conviction that a new era 
 had broken upon civilized mankind, and that if I 
 was to continue in my mission of upholding thrones 
 and altars against the rights and liberty of the 
 people, more wily and effective measures would have 
 to be set into action. So Hochstratten, foiled and 
 thwarted, after a few more years of useless attempts 
 concerning the issue pending, quietly disappeared 
 from the scene. He was reported to have died 
 suddenly, as stated by the malicious friars of Cologne, 
 from poison administered at the hands of the still 
 maligned Jews. 
 
 The record of these affairs would be incomplete 
 were it not to relate what became of two of its prin- 
 cipal actors. Poor Pfefferkorn ! as if Nemesis were 
 at his heels, he soon found his avocation as agitator 
 against his own race gone. From the companion of 
 princes and church dignitaries, he was leveled down 
 to become a book-peddler, vainly trying to earn a 
 living by disposing of his own writings to a world 
 which had outgrown such truculent literature. At 
 first, after entering the folds of the Church, his influ- 
 ential clerical friends had obtained for him from the 
 burgomaster, as a reward for abjuring his creed, a 
 lucrative position as overseer in the hospital and as 
 salt inspector, but his frequent and long absences at 
 last lost him the place. Financial affairs had never 
 been too flourishing with him, and the ever-increas- 
 ing extravagant habits of little Bertha helped greatly 
 to deplete the exchequer. True, she received 
 many gifts and often costly presents from her devoted 
 
388 BEN BEOR. 
 
 friends, but these consisted mostly of jewels and 
 wearing apparel. What money came to her pockets 
 she stingily shared not with her complaisant spouse, 
 but hoarded in sscret the larger part as a nest-egg 
 for a rainy day. That much of Jewish saving pru- 
 dence remained in her disposition, despite the new 
 religious alliances. The budget record of Frankfort 
 shows it in evidence that the magistrates voted two 
 gold guilders to assist PfefFerkorn on his second expe- 
 dition to Padua. The home life of these two ill- 
 matched people became now hateful and embittered. 
 The husband must have been fully aware of her 
 unfaithful and unchaste conduct with the monks. 
 As long as she appeared devoted to him and chuck- 
 lingly boasted in confidence how she fooled these 
 friars, all went on smoothly. Unfortunately, how- 
 ever, she had for the first time in her life actually 
 fallen in love with the friar Tetzel. Everybody knew 
 that she was infatuated with him and had become 
 openly his mistress. And the passion was mutual. 
 The priest became violently jealous of her, and in 
 one of these fits of uncontrollable feeling made her 
 swear upon the sacrament that she would as soon as 
 possible divorce herself from her husband, with 
 whose disposition and habits she was long since dis- 
 gusted. Now, however, came the time that she had 
 to accompany the old man on his huckstering expe- 
 dition, being even required to carry some of the 
 packages. Life became to her a heavier burden 
 than all these. She pined for the man she loved, 
 now far away. Determined to carry out the unholy 
 vow, it led to frequent fierce quarrels and violent 
 altercations. One evening, after a long day's tramp, 
 they put up at a wayside inn. That night, after they 
 had indulged to excess in intoxicating liquor, to which 
 they both had become habituated, the convert, in 
 drunken fury and blind in his rage, turned viciously 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 389 
 
 upon her and would have throttled the woman but 
 that she was prepared for such an emergency. As 
 he made a rush for his murderous design, she 
 drew the dagger concealed in her bosom and stabbed 
 him to the heart. When she realized the desperate 
 deed, which would commit her to the executioner's 
 axe, her reason became dethroned and she grew 
 violently insane. All this happened during a dark 
 and stormy night. Next morning the landlord 
 found the murdered corpse, bleeding and stiff. It 
 created a great commotion in the house. The peo- 
 ple of a near-by village were horrified at the sight of 
 a crazed woman running through their streets with 
 wild shouts and flourishing a bloody dagger in her 
 hand. When at last they caught the wretched 
 creature, she had to be shackled hands and feet. 
 After a quick judicial investigation, they immured 
 her in a lunatic asylum, where she soon died in one 
 of her frequently recurring paroxysms. 
 
 Thus ended another and one of the most strange 
 and remarkable periods in the history of human 
 civilization. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XX. 
 
 THE REFORMATION. 
 
 Section I. A Change of Base. 
 
 When the general of an army fails, after many 
 brave but ineffectual efforts, to dislodge an enemy, by 
 reason of disadvantageous position, he may think it 
 advisable at heavy risks to move to a better vantage 
 ground. This is called a change of base. Always 
 involving great danger, if it succeeds it may lead to 
 immediate victory. As in the conduct of armies, so 
 
390 BEN BEOR. 
 
 in the prosecuting of some great civil or religious 
 plan, a movement of this kind may become necessary. 
 
 My experience during past centuries, attempting 
 the subjugation of the people, had failed in most 
 instances through the pusillanimous conduct of the 
 very powers whom I sought to benefit. Generally 
 by some bold stroke victory might have perched 
 upon our banners, but the cowardly conduct of my 
 allies and friends, who shrank from the final con- 
 summation of the object to be attained, made all 
 previous efforts futile. True, such last crushing 
 acts would have required the callous striking down 
 of what maudlin sentimentalism called Humanity ; 
 but what should they have cared for the squirming, 
 suffering, hungry and bleeding masses, provided 
 they could have stridden conquerors forever over 
 the heads and hearts belonging to the miserable 
 slaves? Nor was it cowardice alone which foiled my 
 ambitious mission. Petty jealousies among the 
 rulers and priests, internal dissensions in their ranks, 
 wasting disunion when fighting for an aim and 
 object, played greater havoc in the achievement of 
 the goal than either the strength, cause, or the des- 
 perate stubbornness of the other side. 
 
 Defeated along the whole line in every battle 
 which I had thus far fought, should I give up the 
 contest? Should I see hated Freedom, Right and 
 Independence lift up the despised children of toil to 
 the very pinnacle of happiness, prosperity, intelli- 
 gence and culture ? Should I see my proteges lay 
 down crowns and abdicate mitres in fulfilment of 
 the prophecy of the cursed Torah and Prophets, 
 bringing in its direct wake the emancipation of 
 Mosaism and its loathed confessors? Should all 
 this come now in spite of my hellish agencies, Drink, 
 Gunpowder, Inquisition, Blood Accusation and 
 Intolerance, in spite the uncountable faithful co- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 391 
 
 laborers in the spread and effect of either, despite the 
 mountains of the slain and dead fallen at our hands 
 during the long bloody struggles of the ages ? 
 
 To abandon my malignity, to declare myself con- 
 quered by that monster called People, to sue for 
 peace from Moses, Elijah and Christ 1 It is too 
 horrible to contemplate ! Once more, to arms ! to 
 arms ! all ye legions of hell, all ye powers of dark- 
 ness! 
 
 There is a great crisis at hand in the development 
 of civilization. It boils, ferments and heaves amidst 
 the spiritual life of the nations, Kome is the central 
 point against which the storm-beaten waves of the 
 coming revolution will dash with the whole hurricane 
 of the age. 
 
 The papal power of a thousand years, built up 
 with the cement of uncounted treasures, wasted lives 
 of hosts, crushed intelligence and thought, must now 
 stand the coming awful, fearful onslaught of rebel- 
 lion. No eye so blind but to see in the near future 
 this coming cataclysm, in which the long-chained 
 consciences of men shall rise against their tyrants. 
 The earth will be turned into a charnel-house, the 
 continents into a blood-bath, Europe into a powder 
 magazine. Upon the volcanic foundation the two 
 giants, Fanaticism and Tolerance, will clinch in 
 conflict for supremacy in life or death. Who will 
 conquer ? 
 
 I know it not! but I clearly comprehend what 
 must be my position in the struggle. I am deter- 
 mined to try henceforth a change of base for my 
 purposes. Playing the part of the Lion, I have 
 failed to destroy my opponents. Let me try the 
 role of the Fox, who in disguise of friend and ally will 
 invade their own lines and from there lead them with 
 guile and cunning to death and destruction. With 
 my powerful, ever-present agents on one side, myself 
 
392 BEN BEOR. 
 
 intriguing on the other, it must go hard if we shall 
 not crush the enemy between us. 
 
 Section II. Johannes Tdzel. 
 
 Even the ever-busy Emperor had learned of the 
 base, treacherous and lecherous part which the vile 
 monk Tetzel had played with Bertha Pfefferkorn. 
 In his great indignation he had commanded to drown 
 the perfidious friar in the river Inn. But that wor- 
 thy preferred a superfluity of wine to water, and 
 prevented the roasting of the hare before the game 
 was caught. His powerful friends, the Dominicans, 
 interceded in his behalf and he escaped the death- 
 bath. The audacious fellow is found next in some 
 even more outrageous proceedings. 
 
 The Archbishop of Mentz, Von Gemmingen, had 
 suddenly died. It is reported that his enemies at 
 Cologna, raging over their defeat in the Reuchlin 
 matter, had a hand in his untimely taking off. He 
 was succeeded by the Elector Albert. Such an ele- 
 vation to priestly honors involved the payment of 
 twenty thousand gold guilders to the See of Rome. 
 But Albert was poor. Where should he raise this 
 enormous sum? In this emergency Tetzel offered 
 his specious services. It would be folly to hold the 
 Catholic Church responsible for the outrages of per- 
 sons presumably acting as her agents. 
 
 A new method to press money from the pockets 
 of the ignorant masses was introduced by that wily, 
 scheming monk. It was known that Pope Leo X. 
 needed funds sorely for the continuance of rebuild- 
 ing the Cathedral of St. Peter at Rome. The works 
 of Maestros Michael Angelo and Raphael in the 
 golden dome, creating the immortal frescoes of the 
 renowned church, had to go on. On pretense of 
 aiding His Holiness in this emergency, a vast mar- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 393 
 
 ket was opened upon earth by this friar. From the 
 crowd of purchasers and the shouts and jokes of the 
 sellers, it might be called a fair conducted by monks. 
 The merchandise offered at " reduced prices " was 
 the salvation of souls. The Elector injudiciously 
 permits his diocese to be opened for this traffic on 
 condition that he be released from his financial diffi- 
 culties. 
 
 Tetzel was chief auctioneer for the disposal at 
 public cry of the precious " letters of indulgence." 
 Christendom was to be shaken from its very founda- 
 tion by these unheard-of proceedings. He traversed 
 the country in a handsome carriage accompanied by 
 three horsemen, living in great state and spending 
 money freely. When he approached a town, one of 
 the riders, as deputy, waited on the magistrate and 
 exclaimed : " The grace of God is at your gates ! " 
 Instantly everybody in the place was in commotion. 
 The clergy, the priests and the nuns, the council, 
 schoolmasters and pupils, the trades, with their 
 banners ; men, women, young and old, the sick and 
 decrepit all bearing lighted tapers, advancing to 
 the sound of music ; every bell tolling. They could 
 not have received the Lord himself with greater 
 honor. Salutations being exchanged, the procession 
 moved towards the church. The pontiff's bull of 
 grace was carried in front on a velvet cushion or on a 
 cloth of gold. Tetzel came next, holding in his 
 hand a large, red, wooden cross. Then followed the 
 crowd singing, praying and incense in their wake. 
 The sound of the organ and martial music welcomed 
 all in the temple. The red wooden cross was raised 
 in front of the altar ; on it was suspended the arms 
 of the Pope. As long as it remained there, daily 
 before the salutation or after vespers, everybody 
 rendered homage to the insignia. The quiet cities 
 of Germany were in great excitement and commo- 
 
394 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tion, aroused by this strange religious spectacle. 
 Tetzel played the principal role in the performance. 
 He was robed in the grand Dominican dress. His 
 voice was sonorous and commanding, although it 
 had in it already the tremor of prematurely advanced 
 age. His salary was eighty florins a month and all 
 expenses paid. A carriage and three horses were at 
 his command. But his largest income was derived 
 from the commission on his sales. He gained in 
 one day at Freiburg two thousand florins. It 
 would have been difficult to have found in all Ger- 
 many a man better fitted for the business in which 
 he was occupied. To the theological training as a 
 monk and the zeal and spirit of an inquisitor he 
 united the effrontery of a mountebank and the bra- 
 vado of a political trickster. The circumstance 
 which especially facilitated his task was his skill in 
 inventing extraordinary stories, by which he cap- 
 tivated the mind of the people. As soon as the cross 
 was erected he went into the pulpit, extolling the 
 value of indulgences. The assemblage listened and 
 stared as the boisterous eloquence flowed from his 
 lips. Everybody was made to believe that they 
 were assured of salvation and the deliverance of the 
 soul from purgatory as soon as one had given the 
 money. This is the refrain with which the voluble 
 monk frequently interspersed his harangues : 
 
 "As in my box the money rings, 
 The soul from purgatory springs!" 
 
 Here is one of the delectable addresses delivered 
 by the adroit frater, as a specimen of his cunning 
 and ever-successful rhetoric : 
 
 " Indulgences are the most precious and noble 
 gifts of the Lord. This cross (pointing to the red 
 staff) has as much efficacy as the very crucifix of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 395 
 
 the Saviour. Come and I will sell you letters, all 
 properly sealed, by which even the sins which you 
 intend to commit at some future day shall be par- 
 doned. There is no crime so great that an indul- 
 gence may not remit. If any one had offered violence 
 to the Virgin Mary, let him pay only let him pay 
 well and all will be forgiven. Reflect ! for every 
 mortal sin you must, after confession and contrition, 
 do penance for seven years, either in this life or in 
 purgatory. Think how many mortal sins there are 
 committed in a day, week, month, in a year or in a 
 whole lifetime ! Alas ! these sins are almost infi- 
 nite, and entail eternal penalty. And now by means 
 of these letters of indulgence you can obtain plenary 
 remission ! Do you not know that if any one desires 
 to visit Rome or any country where travelers incur 
 danger, he sends his money to the bank, and for 
 every hundred florins that he wishes to have, gives 
 five or six or ten more, that by means of letters of 
 this bank he may be safely repaid his money at Rome 
 or elsewhere? And you, for a quarter of a florin, 
 will not receive these letters of indulgence, by means 
 of which you may introduce into Paradise, not a vile 
 metal, but a divine and immortal soul, without its 
 running any risk? But more than this: Indul- 
 gences avail not only for the living, but also for the 
 dead. For that, repentance is not even necessary! 
 Priest ! noble ! merchant ! wife ! youth ! maiden ! do 
 you not hear your parents, your friends who are in 
 the tomb, cry from the bottom of the abyss: 'We 
 are suffering horrible torments ! a trifling alms would 
 deliver us ; you can give it will you not ? ' O 
 stupid brutish people, who do not understand the 
 grace so richly offered ! Heaven is everywhere open ! 
 Now you can ransom so many souls ! Stiff-necked 
 and thoughtless man, with twelve florins you can 
 deliver your father from purgatory ; and you are so 
 
396 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ungrateful not to save him ! I shall be justified on 
 the day of judgment, but you? you will be chastised 
 so much more for having neglected a great salvation ! 
 I declare to you, though you should have but a 
 single coat, you ought to strip it off and sell it in 
 order to obtain the grace. The Lord our God no 
 longer reigns. He has resigned all His power to His 
 supervisors on earth. Do you know why our most 
 holy Lord distributes so rich a grace? It is to 
 restore the ruined church of St. Peter and St. Paul, 
 so that it may not have its equal in the world. This 
 church contains the saintly bodies of the holy apos- 
 tles Peter and Paul, and those of a multitude of 
 martyrs. These saintly bodies, through the present 
 state of the building, are now, alas ! trodden upon, 
 inundated, polluted, dishonored, reduced to rotten- 
 ness by the rain and hail. Shall these sacred ashes 
 remain longer in ruin and degradation ? All cavilers 
 and traitors who are opposed to this work are hereby 
 declared excommunicated. Blessed are the eyes that 
 see the things which you see, for I tell you that many 
 prophets and kings have desired to see those things 
 and were not permitted to do so, and to hear those 
 things which you hear and have not heard them ! 
 Therefore bring ! bring ! bring ! " 
 
 Thus aroused to the height of expectation, the 
 indulgence was now considered to have established 
 its throne in the place with due solemnity. Confes- 
 sionals decorated with sacred arms were ranged about. 
 The under-eommissionaries and father-confessors 
 took their places. On each of their stalls were 
 posted in large characters their names, surnames 
 and respective titles. Then thronged the crowd 
 around the confessors. Each came with a piece of 
 money in his hand. Even those who lived on alms 
 raised some such gift. The confession over and 
 this was soon done the faithful hastened to the ven- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 397 
 
 dor. Tetzel alone was charged with the sale. His 
 booth was near the cross. All who approached him 
 he examined with a scrutinizing eye. Their gait, 
 dress, mien and bearing helped to decide what sums 
 should be required of the individuals who presented 
 themselves. A regular schedule for the traffic had 
 been established. Kings, queens, princes, archbish- 
 ops and bishops were, according to the scale, taxed 
 twenty-five ducats for an ordinary indulgence. Ab- 
 bots, counts and barons, ten. Other nobles, rectors, 
 and every one with an income of five hundred florins, 
 six ducats ; and so on, all in graded proportions. 
 For particular sins there were extra taxes. For 
 sacrilege and perjury nine ducats, murder eight 
 ducats, witchcraft two ducats, infanticide a half 
 ducat, parricide or fratricide one ducat. 
 
 The letter of absolution read thus : " May our 
 Lord Jesus Christ have pity on thee and absolve 
 thee by the merits of His holy passion ! And I, in 
 virtue of the power that has been vested in me, 
 absolve from all ecclesiastical censures, judgments 
 and penalties which thou mayst have incurred; 
 moreover, from all excesses, sins and crimes which 
 thou mayst have committed, however great or enor- 
 mous they may be, and from whatever cause, were 
 they even reserved for our most Holy Father and for 
 the Apostolic See. I blot out all the stains of ina- 
 bility and all marks of infamy that thou mayst have 
 drawn upon thyself on this occasion. I remit the pen- 
 alties that thou shouldst have endured in purgatory. 
 I restore thee anew to participation in the sacraments 
 of the Church. I incorporate thee afresh in the com- 
 munion of saints, and re-establish thee in the purity 
 and innocence which thou hadst at thy baptism. So 
 that in the hour of death, the gate by which sin- 
 ners enter the place of torments and punishment shall 
 be closed against thee, and, on the contrary, the gate 
 
398 BEN BEOR. 
 
 leading to paradise of joy shall be open. And if 
 tliou shouldst not die for long years, this grace will 
 remain unaltered until thy last hour shall arise. In 
 the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy 
 Ghost. Amen ! 
 
 Friar Tetzel, commissionarv. has signed this with 
 his own hand." 
 
 Will any impartial investigator maintain with a 
 shadow of reason that i he doings of this crafty, pre- 
 sumptuous monk were ever sanctioned or ever known 
 to the see at Rome, just at this time occupied by one 
 of the most liberal and generous Popes known to 
 history ? The excitement of the times, however, 
 and fanatical partisanship afterwards charged the 
 culpability of the individual on the body which he 
 represented, or misrepresented. The pupil of Ben 
 Beor proved worthy of his teacher ! 
 
 Section IILThe Fiat Goes Forth. 
 
 On the morning of October 31, 1517, in one of 
 the dormitories of the University at Wittenberg, 
 two greatly excited men gave vent to their highly- 
 aroused feelings, each one in his own peculiar way 
 the elder, a majestic-looking Augustine monk, Mar- 
 tin Luther, whose name on that day was not known 
 outside of his small sphere. He was professor at 
 this comparatively obscure seat of learning, and 
 paced now violently up and down the narrow quar- 
 ters, gesticulating fiercely, often shaking his massive 
 head and speaking loudly to himself. His guest, 
 Ulrich von Hutton, in a chevalier's dress and with 
 a soldier-like appearance, sits at a table, resting his 
 highly-flushed cheek on one hand, while in the other 
 hand he holds a copy of TetzePs plenary absolution. 
 Presently he jumps from his seat, and with an 
 immense blow of his mighty hand upon the table, he 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 399 
 
 vociferously exclaims : " This disgrace to the Church 
 must no longer continue ! " And, without saying 
 another word, he rushes out of the room, his heavy 
 sword clanging as he passes down the stairs and out 
 into the street. "Right he is," says the other; 
 "and when that brave fellow once undertakes to do 
 a thing, he will make the ears of his foes ring. But 
 I must not be idle while such shame and scandal go 
 on right beneath my eyes, to disgrace all Christen- 
 dom ! " With these words, he proceeds to a side 
 closet, takes therefrom a large scroll of paper, unrolls 
 the sheets on the table, and seats himself to read 
 what is written thereon. Then he continues to ply 
 his pen, never resting until late into the night. The 
 big clock in the high cathedral dome strikes twelve. 
 The night-watchman has stopped right under the 
 window of the writer, blowing his horn, and then 
 singing in his gruff voice the usual refrain : 
 
 " List ye well ! all folks be told, 
 'Tis twelve o'clock ; now, young and old, 
 Take ye care of fire and of light, 
 That harm may not our city smite ! " 
 
 When all was grown still again the monk looks for 
 a hammer and some nails, and provided with these, 
 takes the scroll of paper and proceeds to the doors 
 of the cathedral. He rapidly nails the paper on the 
 panel of the huge portals. Then he falls upon his 
 knees, and more fervent and earnest prayer has never 
 risen to heaven than he utters in that stilly dark- 
 ness. Now he retires as quietly and quickly as he 
 has come, and within a short time he is sound asleep 
 on his hard and solitary couch. No one but God, 
 the moon and the stars have seen the quiet act which 
 was on to-morrow to shake and heave the civilized 
 world in its very foundation. 
 
 At daybreak the citizens and yeomanry from miles 
 
400 BEN BEOR. 
 
 away turn their steps towards the great church. It is 
 All Saints Day, a great and important festival of the 
 Catholic religion. As they came, all seemed greatly 
 excited, and they tell one another a curious story 
 which has happened only on yesterday in the not far 
 distant village of Interbogh. From the disjointed 
 dialogues between the several parties, told amidst 
 lively gesticulations, smiles and loud laughter, the 
 following facts can be garnered : 
 
 While the sale of indulgences was going on at a 
 lively rate in the large town church, a gentlemanly 
 person with three stalwart followers approached 
 demurely the reverend friar and requested to pur- 
 chase an absolution document for a sin which he 
 and his friends were under necessity of committing 
 at some future time. After much haggling, twenty 
 ducats were finally agreed upon as the price, paid 
 over and the certificate properly signed and made 
 out. The three companions of the purchaser then 
 fell upon Tetzel, took away his heavily filled chest 
 and disappeared, while their leader remained, and 
 with drawn sword threatened any one with instant 
 death who should follow or interfere with his con- 
 federates, explaining that this was the sin which 
 they had intended to commit, for which they had 
 paid the demanded price, and were in possession of 
 the absolution. Being now arrested and brought 
 before a magistrate, the sly fellow produced his 
 papers, and, to the great discomfiture of his clerical 
 prosecutors, was instantly discharged. The holy 
 friar with his gang had thereupon disappeared, no 
 one knew where ; nor did he ever again dare show 
 his face before the people, most of whom had long 
 since become disgusted and angered by the preten- 
 tious holy fraud. 
 
 But what means all the commotion, astonishment 
 and swaying surprise amidst the wondering crowd 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 401 
 
 % 
 
 who throng the great staircase and the wide court 
 leading to the portals of the cathedral ? A cluster 
 of priests and monks stand in front, perusing the 
 paper which was fastened to the entrance of the 
 sacred edifice. A universal shout comes from the 
 densely packed mass of humanity: "Read read 
 read ! " One of the reverend fathers is lifted 
 quickly upon the shoulders of two gigantic peasants, 
 and he, with a stentorian voice, reads the proclama- 
 tion : " Ninety theses against the folly of indul- 
 gences and the abuse of the papal power ; by the 
 priest and monk, Martin Luther ! " 
 
 After the first few articles of this astounding pro- 
 test are read, it is found that this will not do. The 
 eager crowd cannot hear. The cry once more goes 
 forth : " Copy them ! copy them ! we will patiently 
 wait ! but quickly copy them ! " Ink, pen, paper, 
 chairs and tables are brought. Twenty hands write 
 incessantly to the dictation of one friar. Within an 
 hour the transcriptions are made. The people 
 divide in as many groups as there are copies to be 
 read. When one party has heard them, newcomer 
 take their places to listen. The readers, when 
 exhausted, have to be changed. New copies are con- 
 tinually made. Prices for sheets of the theses were 
 paid on that first day of November hitherto unknown 
 in the annals of literature. Nobody thought of 
 church or service on that auspicious morning. Next 
 day the printers had done their work effectually and 
 the ninety theses were rolled off from the presses by 
 the thousands and scattered to all the points of the 
 compass. They are now too well known to be 
 reproduced here. Never had the minds and con- 
 sciences of the Christian nations experienced such a 
 stirring up. It was the bold gauntlet thrown right 
 into the face of Rome. Within a month the docu- 
 ment had found its way all over Germany, France, 
 
402 BEN BEOR. 
 
 
 
 Spain, Italy, to Holland, the Netherlands and Great 
 Britain. The fiat had gone forth against the Cath- 
 olic Church, and the name of Martin Luther was on 
 the lips and in the hearts of millions. 
 
 Section IV. The Lull before the Storm. 
 
 History at this period made immense strides. 
 Her progress was like an avalanche, accelerated in 
 furious force as it gained in momentum. All the 
 passions which ever heated the thoughts and feelings 
 of men were let loose. The coming revolution 
 worked like a leaven, penetrating every stratum of 
 society. Politics and theology became strangely 
 mixed up. The shrewdest observer could not tell 
 from one day to the other what new events and com- 
 plications might be born. 
 
 Pope Leo X., a refined, scholarly and peace-loving 
 gentleman, looked upon Luther's disaffection as a 
 quarrel among rival monks ; similar ones having wor- 
 ried him throughout his administration. He refused 
 at first to interfere. The clamors came, however, so 
 fiercely from high and low that he sent a special 
 nuncio to investigate the whole affair, charging him 
 to conciliate the contending factions. 
 
 The position of the Wittenberg Reformer is uncom- 
 promising, firm and unalterable. He will hear of 
 no retraction, conciliation or change. Standing 
 upon holy ground, the Bible exclusively, he is 
 willing to be refuted by the sacred word, but no 
 other authority shall move him from his purpose. 
 The schism is at present engaged in tearing down 
 the old barriers to clear the ground for the erection 
 of a new structure. It has not come to creed-mak- 
 ing yet. In his grave, preliminary work, the author 
 of this new spiritual movement finds friends, sym- 
 pathizers and hosts of co-laborers. Melanchthon, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 403 
 
 the classic, amiable and true, becomes to him what 
 Jonathan was to David. Zwingli, of Bern, is at his 
 right hand. Erasmus, the great and popular sage, 
 joins the forces. The Elector of Saxonia, the brave, 
 strong Frederick, becomes his ally and protector. 
 They all are agreed upon bringing down what they 
 call this overbearing, hated power of Rome ; the lay- 
 ing of the foundation of a new religious edifice which 
 shall have for its strength and supremacy the eternal, 
 adamantine basis of the Bible. 
 
 At this incipient stage and while thus deeply 
 engrossed in the study of the law and the gospel, yet 
 under the benignant, tolerant and personal influence 
 of Reuchliu, it is curious to see how the sturdy, 
 rough-edged and abrupt rebel-priest takes up 
 humanely and even affectionately the cause of the 
 Jews. His voice, now stronger and mightier than 
 that of princes and potentates, cries out in their 
 behalf, goes forth in their defense, recorded in his 
 collected writings in the following strain : 
 
 " The rage against these Hebrews is yet defended 
 by some trifling theologians, who advocate in their 
 silly arrogance that these offspring of Abraham are 
 the slaves of the Christians and the property of our 
 rulers. Our preachers know of no higher ambition, 
 especially in Passion (Easter) week, than to exagger- 
 ate the misdeeds of the old Israelites towards Christ ; 
 to embitter the hearts of the faithful against them. 
 Our fools, the Papist bishops, sophists and monks, 
 have until now so treated these Jews that any good 
 Christian would rather have joined them than stay 
 with us. If I were a Hebrew and had such knaves 
 rule and teach the only saving faith, I would rather 
 have turned into a pig than to a Christian. For they 
 have treated these people as if they were dogs and 
 not men. They are our blood-relations, kin and 
 brothers of our Lord. When boasting of genealogy, 
 
404 BEN BEOR. 
 
 they stand nearer in flesh and blood to the Redeemer 
 than we do. I pray all dear Papists, when ye grow 
 tired to nickname me a heretic, commence to call me 
 a Jew. 
 
 "Therefore it is my advice that we shall treat 
 them tenderly. To use persecution and to malign 
 them with lying accusations that they drink the 
 Gentile's blood for their sacred rites, and whatever 
 else are these foolish imaginations ; to forbid them to 
 work amongst us, ostracize them and force the 
 whole tribe to usury this is not the way to make 
 them come and join us. Whoever wishes to help 
 them must extend to these people, not the Pope, 
 but the law of Christian love ; receive them friendly, 
 so they may find cause and room to associate with us 
 as neighbors ! " 
 
 Thus spoke Luther at the start, when the Scrip- 
 tures were yet his only standard. Later on we shall 
 see him change his tune and become one of the fierc- 
 est and most malignant Anti-Semites. For this was 
 the direct logical consequence when the Reformer, 
 in making a new catechism, after having fought suc- 
 cessfully the material Pope, endeavored to replace 
 him with a new creed as a spiritual autocrat. 
 
 These considerations were, at this stage of the por- 
 tentous events now ensuing, side-issues only. The 
 aged Emperor Maximilian had died, and the young, 
 ardent and enthusiastic grandson, Charles V., 
 greatly aided by the help of the Elector Frederick of 
 Saxony, became successor. He was crowned Octo- 
 ber 22, 152C. 
 
 During the turbulent state of affairs, His Holiness 
 Leo, on June 15, 1520, had at last issued the famous 
 bull declaring all the writings of Luther as heretical. 
 But papal decrees had no longer their wonted force 
 in the world, and condemnatory instruments were 
 received everywhere, but especially in Germany, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 405 
 
 with indifference and contumely. It was nothing 
 strange, under the circumstances, that the menaced 
 reformer opposed force to force. The Pope has put 
 him under ban at Rome ; he places the Pope under 
 ban at Wittenberg. Hitherto the Pontiff's com- 
 mands were all-powerful ; now sentence will be pro- 
 nounced against sentence. The people are constituted 
 judges! On the 17th of November a notary and 
 five witnesses met at ten o'clock A. M. in one of 
 the halls of the Augustine convent. There the 
 public officer, Sartor of Eisleben, draws up the pro- 
 test against the papal " bull," and Luther's appeal 
 to the future general Christian council against the 
 authorities of Rome. The new Emperor is called 
 upon to adhere to this protest in behalf of the 
 defense of the new church. This is the bill of 
 divorce of Luther from the Catholic creed. 
 
 On the 10th of December a placard was posted on 
 the walls of the University of Wittenberg, inviting 
 the professors and students to be present at nine 
 o'clock in the morning at the eastern gate, near the 
 holy cross. A great crowd of notables marched to 
 the spot. Luther was at their head. A scaffold had 
 been prepared. One of the old masters of arts set 
 fire to it. As the flames rose high into the air, the 
 formidable Augustine monk, wearing his cassock, 
 approached the pile. He carried the canon laws, 
 the " Decretals, the Clementines, the Papal Extra v- 
 agants," some writings of his foes Eck and Emser, 
 and the Pope's bull. All the other documents hav- 
 ing been first consumed, Luther held up the bull 
 and said, " Since thou hast vexed the Holy One of 
 the Lord, may everlasting fire vex and consume 
 thee ! " He then flung it into the flames. Never 
 before had war been declared with greater energy 
 and firmer resolution. 
 
 The wheel of time continued to turn round, groan- 
 
406 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ing and crunching. In one of its next mighty 
 sweeps a solemn diet is open in the city of Worms. 
 It is now the 28th of January, 1521. At no time 
 had so many princes met in sacred conclave. Each 
 one was desirous of participating in the first official 
 act of the then young Emperor, who was hardly 
 twenty years of age. Electors, Dukes, Archbishops, 
 Landgraves, Margraves, Counts, Bishops, Barons 
 and Lords of the Empire, as well as deputies of the 
 towns and the ambassadors of nations, throng with 
 their brilliant trains the highways that lead to 
 Worms. On this, the birthday of Charlemagne, the 
 new Emperor in person opened the first session of 
 the august conclave. There was much worldly and 
 important business to be transacted, but the most 
 momentous affair was the disruption of religion in 
 Germany. Luther had been summoned through his 
 friend, the Elector Frederick, to appear. The impe- 
 rial pledge was given that no injustice should be 
 shown to the Reformer, that no violence should be 
 used against t him, and that learned men should con- 
 fer with him. It was a sacred safe-conduct for his 
 coming and departure. 
 
 The Emperor was placed in a very great dilemma 
 by the whole affair. What must he do, placed 
 between the Papal Nuncio and the Elector, to whom 
 he owed his crown ? How can he avoid displeasing 
 either Alexander or Frederick ? The first entreated 
 His Majesty to execute the Pope's bull ; the second 
 besought him to take no steps against the monk 
 until he had been heard. It was a political melee, 
 by which the Church swung to and fro in the balance 
 of affairs. 
 
 In this strait an official "seneschal" was sent 
 to Wittenberg, bearing the Diet's summons for Dr. 
 Martin Luther's appearance at its bar, entrusted with 
 safe-conduct in the Emperor's own handwriting. It 
 read: 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 407 
 
 " Charles, by the grace of God Emperor-elect of 
 the Romans, always august. 
 
 " Honorable, well beloved and pious ! 
 
 " We and the States of the Holy Empire here 
 assembled, having resolved to institute an inquiry 
 touching the doctrine and the books that thou hast 
 lately published, have issued for thy coming hither 
 and return to a place of security, our safe-conduct, 
 and that of the Empire, which we send thee herewith. 
 Our sincere desire is that thou shouldst prepare 
 immediately for this journey, in order that within 
 the space of the twenty-one days, fixed by our safe- 
 conduct, thou mayst without fail be present before us. 
 Fear neither injustice nor violence. We will firmly 
 abide by our aforesaid safe-conduct, and expect that 
 thou wilt comply with our summons. In so doing 
 thou wilt obey our earnest wishes. 
 
 " Given in our imperial city of Worms this sixth 
 day of March, in the year of Our Lord 1521, and 
 the second of our reign. CHARLES. 
 
 " By order of my Lord the Emperor, witness my 
 hand and seal, Albert, Cardinal of Mentz, High 
 Chancellor. NICOLAS ZIVIL." 
 
 The letter was addressed " To the honorable our 
 well-beloved and pious Dr. Martin Luther, of the 
 Order of Augustine." 
 
 Here was a great anomaly : a man whom the head 
 of the Church had excommunicated, with all the 
 fearful consequences which this hitherto implied; 
 the Emperor conferred on him the title of " well- 
 beloved, honorable and pious." As herald commis- 
 sioned to bear this message was one Gaspard Sturm, 
 who delivered the same safely and was to escort the 
 professor to Worms. 
 
 Depite the apprehensive warnings of friends who 
 remembered the fate of John Huss under similar 
 guarantees ; in spite the well-known machinations of 
 
408 BEN BEOR. 
 
 enemies who tried everything to intimidate the 
 Reformer and make him disobey the summons, but to 
 stay away and flee for his life ; on the second day of 
 April he bade tearful farewell to the host of his inti- 
 mate companions and started for Worms. The 
 journey resembled a triumphal march. Everywhere 
 the cortege was received with shouts of greeting 
 and exultation. The monk tinder the ban was hailed 
 as liberator, and treated in all places where he passed 
 as a guest of the nation. At length on the morning 
 of April 16, the walls of the ancient city of Worms 
 came into view. Here a train of one hundred 
 lords and knights met Luther, in his modest car, 
 preceded by the herald Sturm, in gaudy trappings. 
 A friend, Jonas, followed on horseback. The cava- 
 liers rode on both sides. An immense crowd awaited 
 the Wittenberg doctor at the gates. Here a messen- 
 ger approached him. Spaladin, the chaplain of the 
 Diet, a warm supporter of the new movement, appre- 
 hensive that the safe-conduct would not be respected 
 as being given to a condemned heretic, sent the urgent 
 advice : " Do not enter the city !" But Luther is 
 undismayed. He turns his eyes, always full of fire, 
 on the messenger, and undauntedly replies : " Go 
 tell thy master : if there were even as many devils 
 in Worms as there are tiles on the housetops, still 
 will I enter it ! " 
 
 Cited by the hereditary grand marshal of the 
 empire, Ulrich von Pappenheim, on the seventeenth 
 of April, at four in the afternoon, Luther is con- 
 ducted to the famous town-hall. The crowd is so 
 great that his conductors have to pass through the 
 adjacent houses before they can reach the huge iron 
 portals. Here an old battle-scarred general on 
 guard taps the doctor on the shoulder and says to 
 him : " Little monk ! little monk ! thou art now going 
 to make a nobler stand than I or any other captain 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 409 
 
 have ever held in the bloodiest of our wars. But if 
 thy cause be just andthou art sure of it, go forward 
 in the name of the Lord of Hosts and fear nothing. 
 God will not forsake thee ! " 
 
 Now the doors of the hall are opened. Never had 
 ordinary man appeared before so imposing an 
 assembly. The Emperor Charles V., whose sov- 
 ereignty extended over the greatest part of the world, 
 on his golden throne ; his brother, the Archduke 
 Ferdinand, and six Electors of the Empire, all wear- 
 ing kingly crowns, by his side. Just beneath them 
 are seated twenty-four dukes, each an independent 
 ruler over countries more or less extensive; eight 
 margraves, thirty archbishops, bishops and abbots, 
 seven ambassadors, including those of France and 
 England ; the deputies of the free cities ; a great 
 number of princes, counts and sovereign barons. 
 Among the conspicuous papal nuncios stood fore- 
 most the Emperor's confessor, Alexander. In all 
 there were two hundred and four persons. Such 
 was the Diet now in session. The memorable pro- 
 ceedings, charges and investigations lasted for two 
 days. The trial concluded with the immortal words 
 of the im terrified Reformer : " Unless I am con- 
 vinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the 
 clearest reasoning; unless I am persuaded by means 
 of the passages I have quoted from, and unless my 
 conscience is bound by the word of God, I cannot 
 and will not retract. Here I stand, I cannot otherwise. 
 May God help me I Amen ! " 
 
 The assembly was thunderstruck. Many of the 
 princes found it difficult to conceal their admiration. 
 The Emperor, recovering from his first impression, 
 exclaimed: "This monk speaks with an intrepid 
 heart and unshaken courage." Luther had with- 
 drawn. Charles V. arose and all the assembly with 
 him. " The Diet will meet again to-morrow to hear 
 
410 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the Emperor's judgment," said the chancellor, with 
 a loud voice ; " the meeting stands adjourned ! " 
 
 On the next day, at the hotel called " The Knights 
 of Rhodes," where Luther had taken residence, the 
 imperial chancellors and a notary appeared and had 
 the doctor brought before them. One of the chan- 
 cellors said to him : " Martin Luther, his imperial 
 majesty, the electors, princes and states of the 
 empire, have at sundry times and in various forms 
 exhorted thee to submission, but always in vain. 
 Our sovereign, in his capacity of advocate and 
 defender of the Catholic faith, finds himself com- 
 pelled to resort to other measures. He therefore 
 commands thee to return home in the space of 
 twenty-one days and forbids thee to disturb the 
 public peace on your road either by preaching or 
 writing." This was tantamount to condemnation, 
 although the edict of judgment was not issued, 
 signed and sealed until the 8th of May. 
 
 Within a few hours the outlawed Augustine pro- 
 fessor departed from the city which had seen his 
 glory and the plans for his soon-to-be-encompassed 
 downfall. Great apprehension was felt by his friends 
 that he would be waylaid and assassinated on his 
 road homeward. Unknown to the fugitive, they 
 watched over his safety. They knew that his oppo- 
 nents would shrink from nothing to annihilate the 
 original agitator of the troubles. Luther himself 
 thought his fate was now sealed. He would once 
 more see his parents and the dearly loved old village 
 of his nativity. The old peasant clasped in his arms 
 that grandchild, as did his elated parents their now 
 renowned son who had defied the Emperor and 
 the Pope. One day was spent with relations, too 
 happy, after the tumult at Worms, to enjoy here 
 a short respite of tranquility. Next morning he 
 continued his journey through the dense forests of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 411 
 
 Thuringia. He was accompanied by a brother, 
 James, and friend, Armsdorf. When they reached a 
 secluded spot in the woods, five horsemen, masked 
 and armed from head to foot, sprang upon the trav- 
 elers. Three of these seized Luther, threw a military 
 cloak over his shoulders and placed him upon a 
 horse. All was done without a word being spoken. 
 The driver, brother James and Armsdorf fled, chased 
 away by the two other masked men. Then the five 
 remounted and in the twinkling of an eye vanished 
 with their prisoner into the gloomy forest. At dark 
 the Reformer was safe in the castle of the Wartburg, 
 a prisoner with his friend and protector, the Elector 
 Frederick. The monk was made to lay off his 
 friar's garb and dress himself in military uniform. 
 His name for the time being was changed into Count 
 George. No one in the castle or surroundings 
 except the initiated knew or apprehended who this 
 stranger really was. In the solitude of this ancient 
 keep, midst the giant trees of the forest and the walls 
 of beautiful gardens, the translation of the Bible 
 into the language of his fatherland, the real great 
 work of his life which will endure forever, was 
 accomplished. Often he had spells of misgivings 
 and hallucinations. Once he even fancied that he saw 
 the devil rising from the ground to take possession 
 of his soul. He threw the inkstand at the wall ; 
 the blots there remain even unto this day. 
 
 All the intelligent world was in an uproar of com- 
 motion. No one knew what had become of the cele- 
 brated reformer. His enemies were delighted, but 
 the host of admirers, friends and adherents were 
 struck with amazement, indignation and horror. A 
 cry of grief resounded through all Germany: 
 " Luther has fallen into the hands of our enemies ! " 
 They should soon learn otherwise. 
 
412 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Section V. The Rebel, Thomas Munzer. 
 
 During all these troublesome and exciting times 
 what had become of Ben Beor, the wandering Gen- 
 tile ? Aware that the crisis of the dismemberment 
 of the Church had come, and that no power on earth 
 could stay the revolution, I stood aside to wait and 
 watch the upheaval of such fiercely aroused relig- 
 ious elements. There surely must come a time 
 and place where cunning and craft might put in its 
 counteracting work, and by this scheme, if possible, 
 once again support and perpetuate the supreme 
 powers of State and Church. The turbulent masses 
 themselves, under the guidance of a wily leader, 
 must help to bring about the destructive downfall 
 of the whole cursed movement. My new policy had 
 commenced. It is what the sportsman calls a still- 
 hunt. 
 
 The suiferings of the peasants, especially in Thur- 
 ingia and the provinces of the Upper Danube, are 
 beyond all description. The land here is poor, and 
 repeated droughts had brought the tillers of the soil 
 to the verge of starvation. The miserable huts in 
 which they lived fell into decay; the women and 
 children were in rags, and want stalked over the 
 land. To this was added the misfortune that the 
 men were given to dissipation, spending their time 
 and what little means they could scrape together in 
 the taverns. These places were low, smoky and often 
 filthy, and here on rude benches the swilling farmers 
 passed away their time till deep into the night. 
 The stuff which they drank went by the general 
 name of " Fusel," and was the crudest, most fiery 
 and poisonous alcohol which could be distilled. 
 Under its influence the men became boisterously 
 talkative, and in this were given much to discours- 
 ing politics and religion. The inexorable tax-gath- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 413 
 
 erer came in greatly as the subject for their bitterest 
 denunciations. Every distrainage and every eviction 
 executed by that omnipresent official was the cause 
 of inciting the inflamed minds to frequent outbreaks, 
 ending in bloodshed and murder. 
 
 To this simple-minded population had come a 
 confused report how one of their good priests, Father 
 Martin Luther, of Wittenberg, had bidden defiance 
 to the Pope and the Emperor. To them it meant 
 nothing else but " no more tithes and no more col- 
 lectors ! more drink and less work." Among such 
 people in the small village of Altstadt there had 
 settled a priest, a very peculiar man, by the name of 
 Thomas Munzer. He appeared to be well-informed 
 of Luther's reformation movement, and on pretense 
 of deeply sympathizing with the distressed yeomanry, 
 drew dense crowds to hear his rough, plain eloquence, 
 just such as would be understood by his unsophisti- 
 cated audiences. He attained a controlling power 
 over them ; his reputation soon extended to a great 
 distance. The Church reform was to him no reform 
 at all. The deliverance of the people from hunger, 
 oppression and tyrants was the watchword with 
 which he set his deeply-aggravated hearers crazy. 
 Every one of these acted like a missionary in the 
 spreading tumult. A conspiracy of wide extent 
 was soon inaugurated, which became all the more 
 dangerous as it acted by a new device of Munzer's 
 own invention and direction. Secret societies were 
 established, whose ever-increasing members pledged 
 themselves under the penalty of death not to reveal 
 the work, doings and principles of the initiated. 
 The outside world little dreamt of the existence of 
 the powerful plot when already thousands had joined 
 its ranks. The new herald of freedom in his public 
 utterances openly declared that he and his followers 
 did not care about this fight with the Pope; that 
 
414 BEN BEOR. 
 
 those arrogant reformers, as soon as they had ousted 
 Rome, would institute an equally despotic hierarchy of 
 their own. It was immaterial to the suffering slave 
 whether mass was said in church or no ; whether a 
 priest might marry or stay in celibacy. It is always 
 the Bible, ever the Bible, with which they would 
 feed the starving giving them, in the very words 
 of that book, a stone instead of bread. The only 
 cure for all existing evils is community of property 
 and the principle of free-love affinity in the domestic 
 relations of mankind. Ensnaring and enticing as 
 such firebrands of words proved among the be- 
 nighted, ignorant and easily excited masses, some- 
 thing dreadful happened right in the centre of this 
 sleeping crater which stirred up the approaching 
 calamity to earthquake violence : 
 
 A number of years ago a middle-aged man with 
 an only daughter and two sons had come to reside 
 in the village. Lately bereaved, a gloom of deep 
 mourning was cast over the family, which the loss of 
 a good wife and fondly loved mother makes visible 
 in many ways. The father bought a tract of land 
 amidst the farming dwellers, and erected thereon a 
 comfortable house, something unusual for this dis- 
 trict. The lower portion was arranged for dealing in 
 merchandise, and to the great accommodation of his 
 neighbors they could now purchase their goods at 
 home. The newcomers endeared themselves greatly 
 to the neighbors by friendly intercourse and an ever- 
 ready hand and heart for charitable and benevolent 
 help wherever distress called for such, and this, alas ! 
 was too often the case. Mirjam, the daughter, was 
 the soul of the house. Although not more than 
 fourteen years old, the little woman took charge of 
 the entire domestic care, including the management 
 of her two younger brothers. She was bright, quick, 
 and prematurely developed in body and mind. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 415 
 
 The boys, not more than thirteen and eleven years 
 old respectively, loved her fondly and obeyed her 
 as if this was self-understood, she having a natural 
 tact which assured ready obedience without com- 
 mand. Several times the family had been visited by 
 wealthy relatives. These, as everybody in the neigh- 
 borhood knew, made efforts to induce Moser, the 
 merchant, to sell out and return to the city ; but he 
 would not listen to such well-meant proposals. He, 
 as was his ever-ready answer, enjoyed a happiness 
 among the ruralists, contentment and health, to which 
 during a long previous career the family had been 
 strangers. So the girl grew into a young lady, and 
 Morris and Joseph, the boys, into strong and sturdy 
 lads who delighted in farm work and gardening, of 
 which they made a great success. Everything flour- 
 ished and prospered in this simple mode of life. It 
 was remarked that they never went to church. 
 Before the arrival of Munzer the old genial pastor 
 had called several times at the house, where he was 
 cordially received. When he left the last time he 
 was satisfied with the reasons why these people 
 stayed away from mass and communion. " Chil- 
 dren," he was heard to say to his inquisitive par- 
 ishioners, " they do not believe as we do, but they 
 fear God and are so kind and good that it matters 
 not." By-and-bye it was learned they were Jews ; 
 but nobody cared. And when the people saw repeat- 
 edly their own reverend pastor sit with the mer- 
 chant, both poring over books in friendly dispute, 
 it increased respect and attachment for the family all 
 the more. Lately it had been whispered about that 
 their own dear Mirjam would soon have to leave 
 them, as she was shortly to be married. While 
 everybody rejoiced at her good fortune, they sincerely 
 regretted losing the little mother, as all were wont to 
 call her. She would be replaced by an aunt, an old 
 
416 BEN BEOR. 
 
 maiden sister of her lamented mother, who had 
 already arrived and helped in the busy arrangements 
 and preparations for the wedding. 
 
 A few miles away there stood upon one of the 
 lofty crags of the " Wald," the ancient castle of 
 "Eagle's Nest." Its old baron and only son were 
 rough, boisterous and profligate nobles, such as a 
 short period ago were the terror and plague of the 
 country. Among the robber knights and chivalry none 
 were more feared and dreaded than the Von Schwarz- 
 bergs, who held their revel and committed their 
 crimes here on their possessions. The strong hand 
 of the Empire had forced these lawless marauders 
 into some decent behavior. The old man Wilhelm 
 and his young scion George never had passed through 
 the pauper village of Altstadt, and barely knew its 
 existence. But it happened that one day while on a 
 boar chase they and a lot of kindred companions were 
 led this way by a wounded animal. They charged 
 on their foaming horses through the town, making 
 the usual stillness a pandemonium of noise and up- 
 roar with their shouts. Everybody ran to the doors 
 to see what was the cause of all this unearthly dis- 
 turbance. Among the curious was Mirjam; she 
 was unfortunately espied by the young Baron 
 George, who gazed at the beautiful form like one 
 entranced. At his bidding the whole wild crowd 
 dismounted. They were already excited by the 
 desperate chase and plentiful intoxicating potions 
 imbibed fiom their well-filled drinking horns. They 
 rushed pellmell first into the store, then into the 
 private rooms of the house. Mirjam and her aunt had 
 taken refuge in their sleeping apartment. The girl 
 in her desperation had snatched up a dagger and hid it 
 in her bosom. Moser ran to the protection and defense 
 of his daughter. He was felled to the ground with 
 blows from the guns, and lay bleeding and dying 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 417 
 
 before the door. The intruders kicked him aside 
 and forced the doors open. The two lads had come 
 running in from the garden, where they had been at 
 work. They flourished their pitchforks, and seeing 
 their father on the floor, they fought bravely and 
 frantically, wounding several of the crowd ; but they 
 were soon knocked down, mortally wounded. Then 
 the feeble women were dragged forth. The old aunt 
 resisting all in her power, a savage blow on her head 
 spattered her brains against the wall. The leader, 
 young George, tried to clasp Mirjam in his arms, 
 crying out: " Beauty belongs to the castle!" The 
 girl, however, quickly drew her dagger from its 
 hiding-place and, nerved by desperation and despair, 
 plunged it into the breast of her assailant, piercing 
 him through the heart. The would-be kidnapper 
 fell dead at her feet. She was then soon over- 
 powered. The old Baron, when he saw and realized 
 the irreparable loss of the last of his house, was 
 frantic. In his fearful rage he snatched the dagger 
 from the breast of his son, and with his own hand 
 thrust it into both the eyes of the shrieking woman, 
 screeching out to his shuddering companions, "Let 
 the wench go blind through the world to tell the 
 vengeance of a Schwarzberg ! " When his fearful 
 deed was done the crowd took up the body of the 
 Baron. In a few minutes all were gone and the 
 place was silent. Half an hour had sufficed to 
 transform the peaceful, happy paradise of a home 
 into destruction and blackest hell. 
 
 Then the peasants, already ripe for insurrection, 
 came and viewed the terrible scene, the desolation, 
 anguish and death among those whom they had 
 learned to revere and love. One cry of revenge 
 broke forth from the exasperated crowd. After the 
 burial of their favorites, and after taking care of 
 poor Mirjam and the most scrupulous watch over 
 
418 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the estate, they armed themselves with spades, flails, 
 pitchforks, axes and hammers. On the morning of 
 the second day after the outrage, under leadership of 
 Munzer, five thousand farmers climbed the heights 
 leading to the castle of the " Eagle's Nest." Before 
 night there was not left a living soul within its ram- 
 parts. They caught Baron Wilhelm and his friends 
 lamenting and mourning over the corpse of the late 
 noble George. One by one was hurled from the 
 walls into the abyss on the east side of the keep. 
 Then fire was set to the premises. Not one stone 
 was left upon another. Blind Mirjani and her sac- 
 rificed family were well avenged ! 
 
 The ball was now set in motion. " The Peasants' 
 War" had commenced. Under the guidance of 
 their fanatical leader and priest they became a semi- 
 organized body, ready to perform any deed of 
 violence and outrage at every opportunity. They 
 were divided into several sections. Each had 
 its own favorite banner. Inscriptions of " Liberty," 
 " Equality," " No more tithes," " No more taxes," 
 " No property," " All for All," graced in their sev- 
 eralties the woolen buntings. There was seen at 
 their head a blind demented woman. It was Mir- 
 jam. As soon as sufficiently recovered physically, 
 the priest Munzer had taken care of her. The 
 maiden's mind, once so bright, lovely and loyal, was 
 now idiotic. She turned like wax in the hands of 
 the designing priest and he had her soon fired with 
 a frenzy for the new religion. Her anxious affianced 
 and relations were not permitted to see her. On 
 threat of instant death they were warned away from 
 approaching the village, cordoned by a band of 
 rebellious farmers. Shortly she was baptized into 
 the church and made a prophetess in the new rebel 
 cause. Her overwrought brain turned now on 
 pious hallucinations. She had supernatural visions 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 419 
 
 and divinely exalted dreams. God appeared to her 
 in person. She was commanded to break down the 
 idols and the images of the church. She was bidden 
 to detroy the mass and its idolatrous ministrants. 
 And as she said, so Munzer and the willing hosts 
 obeyed ; and as she commanded, so these now furi- 
 ous mobs would execute. From church to church, 
 from village to village, from town to town the crazed 
 rabble moved. Not a sacred picture was left, not 
 an image remained. The altars were hewn down, 
 crucifixes and sacred shrines burned and destroyed. 
 But yesterday worshipped as divine, to-day they were 
 defiled and profaned. The consecrated priests, who 
 now eagerly joined these bands, were foremost in 
 carrying out the senseless havoc. Many of them 
 forsook their vows of celibacy and married. Mun- 
 zer had proposed a spiritual connubial union with 
 Mirjam. But against this she remained obdurate. 
 Christ was her wedded spouse, and no mortal man 
 should mar her celestial love. 
 
 The news of this ever-swelling outbreak in a short 
 time reached Luther at Wartburg. He had just 
 returned there after risking his life and safety, quell- 
 ing dangerous dissension in the midst of his friends 
 and followers at Wittenberg. And now, after giant 
 efforts to restore union among the discontented and 
 rebellious priests, professors and students, came the 
 report from the threatening political uprising of the 
 exasperated, greatly tormented peasants. Their cause 
 was certainly to a large extent justifiable. But the 
 question of the church reform, yet in its infantile 
 weakness, was and must be, at least for the present, 
 supreme. Both could not possibly succeed. One 
 must be sacrificed. The disaffected farmers warred 
 directly against the rights and privileges of his noble, 
 aristocratic and powerful associates. If these should 
 be armed against him, both causes would be unques- 
 
420 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tionably in instantaneous and certain peril. So his 
 choice was taken and with firm determination. The 
 revolution must be put down with force of arms and 
 at whatever cost ! He called for the Elector and such 
 princes and magistrates whose sovereign territory 
 was in danger of being overrun by the bold rebels. 
 Before they could meet, new reports of shocking 
 occurrences came in. Towns were sacked, cities set 
 on fire, all bonds of law and order torn asunder. 
 The extent of the rising grew with fearful velocity. 
 Now or never this commotion must be quelled. 
 
 As soon as his noble patrons met, he urged with 
 the rough eloquence and persuasive powers of which 
 he was an incomparable master, the immediate neces- 
 sity of taking the field and making a speedy end of 
 the revolt. His language was overwrought and, 
 even in the opinion of those who sided with him, he 
 overstepped the just bounds within which one who 
 professed the "gospel of love" should have con- 
 tained himself. He said : " These peasants commit 
 three horrible crimes against God and man, and 
 deserve death of body and soul. First, they revolt 
 against their magistrates, to whom they have sworn 
 fidelity; next, they rob and plunder convents and 
 castles ; and lastly, they veil their sins with the cloak 
 of the Gospel. If you do not put a mad dog to 
 death, you will perish and all the country with you. 
 For this reason, my dear lords, help, save, deliver ! 
 have pity on these poor people ! Let every one 
 strike, pierce and kill who is able! If ye die, ye 
 cannot meet a happier death, for it is in the service 
 of God and to save your neighbors from hell!" 
 
 The princes elected as their chief commander George 
 von Truchsess. Within a short time the imperial 
 army was in the field. They found brave and deter- 
 mined resistance ; but how could an undisciplined, 
 unorganized, ill-provisioned mob stand against the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 421 
 
 regular army? It was pitchforks and rails against 
 guns and powder. Munzer had tried by every pos- 
 sible effort to provide his wild cohorts with firearms. 
 In this, however, he failed, although he had plenty 
 of ammunition. Nor would the weapons have been 
 of any practical service with his untrained people, 
 who had a great prejudice against any other warfare 
 than with their crude, heavy farming implements. 
 As may be readily foreseen, in several bloody 
 encounters the yeomanry were slaughtered by the 
 thousands. Mirjam the prophetess was taken pris- 
 oner and instantly put to death. A soldier took 
 a sick man from the loft of a house at Franken- 
 hausen. The invalid thinking that he would fare bet- 
 ter by simulating to be Munzer, owned after pressing 
 questions that he was the now renowned and notori- 
 ous leader. He was beheaded without trial and 
 delay. But the real Munzer, "the Wandering Gen- 
 tile, Ben Beor," was far away, rejoicing in the suc- 
 cess of his first trial of a most promising plan, and 
 projecting new schemes for his direful, cruel mission 
 against the people and their rights. 
 
 Section VI. The Num of Nirnptsch. 
 
 In the monastery of Nimptsch, near Grimona in 
 Saxony, there dwelt in the year 1523 nine nuns. A 
 stranger who pretended to be a colporteur of the new 
 Reformation, left there one day a German transla- 
 tion of the Bible ; and the young, pious sisters became 
 diligent in reading the word of God. From this 
 they discovered the contrast which existed between 
 a domestic and a monastic life. Their names as 
 entered in the cloister records were Magdalen 
 Staupitz, Eliza Canitz, Ava Grossen, Ava and Mar- 
 gareth Schonfeldt, Laneta Golis, Margareth and 
 Catharine Zeschau, and Catharine Bora. The first 
 
422 BEN BEOR. 
 
 impulse of these young women, when the new idea 
 had taken root in their minds, was to write to their 
 parents : " The salvation of our souls will not permit 
 us to remain any longer in this convent." Their 
 prayers were harshly rejected. The poor nuns were 
 dismayed. What should they do ? Their timidity 
 was alarmed at so desperate a step as leaving the 
 cloister by their own volition. At last the horror 
 they now felt against the papal services prevailed, 
 and they promised one another to keep together and 
 repair in a body to some respectable place, orderly 
 and with decency. Two worthy and pious citizens 
 of Torgau, whom the nuns made their confidants, 
 Leonard Koppe and Wolff Tomitzsch, offered assist- 
 ance, which they accepted, believing that it came 
 from God himself. On the seventh of April, 1523, 
 a wagon stopped before the cloister and the nine nuns 
 climbed in, amazed by their own boldness. Their 
 two rescuers drove them directly to the gate of the 
 old Augustine convent at Wittenberg, where Luther 
 now resided. "This is not my doings !" exclaimed 
 the Reformer, " but would to God that I might rescue 
 all captive consciences and empty every monastery. 
 The breach is made !" Many worthy citizens offered 
 to receive the nuns in their homes, which was- 
 accepted. Catharine Bora found welcome in the 
 family of the burgomaster. 
 
 It has been charged against the new church move- 
 ment that the special preferment to this last of the 
 nine was brought about by Luther himself. He at 
 this time had more solemn thoughts of ascending the 
 scaffold as a martyr to his cause than to approach 
 the hymeneal altar. Many months after this he 
 replied to those who spoke to him of marriage: 
 " God may change my heart, if this be His pleasure; 
 but now at least I have no thought of taking a wife. 
 Not that I do not feel any attraction for that estate. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 423 
 
 I am neither a stick nor a stone but every day I 
 expect the punishment and death of a heretic." How- 
 ever, on Sunday, October 9, 1524, he laid aside the 
 garb of an Augustine monk and assumed the dress 
 of a secular priest. He then made his appearance 
 thus clad in the church, where this change caused a 
 lively sensation. It was another token that the 
 old religious ideas had passed away. 
 
 Shortly after this all the monks left the Augustine 
 convent. Luther alone remained. His footsteps only 
 re-echoed through the long galleries ; he sat silent and 
 solitary in the refectory, which had so long and until 
 lately resounded with the chatter of the friars. An 
 eloquent silence, attesting the doctor's triumph, 
 followed. The cloister had ceased to exist. About 
 the end of December, 1524, Luther sent the keys of 
 the monastery to the Elector, informing him that he 
 should see where it might please God to feed him. 
 The Elector presented the building to the University 
 and invited Luther to continue his residence in it. 
 This was accepted for the present. 
 
 Luther's heart was formed for domestic life ; he 
 honored and loved the marriage state. Did not the 
 comeliness and attractiveness of Catharine Bora add 
 to his natural inclinations? For a long time his 
 scruples and the fear of criticism which the mar- 
 riage of a monk would occasion had prevented 
 his thinking of her. He had offered poor Catharine 
 first to Baumgartner of Niiremburg, and then to a 
 Dr. Glatz, of Orlamund. But Baumgartner refused 
 to take her, and she refused to accept Glatz ; so he 
 Basked himself seriously whether he ought not to 
 marry her himself? 
 
 His aged father, who had greatly grieved when 
 his son embraced a monastic life, now urged him to 
 enter the conjugal state. But one idea above all 
 was daily present before the Doctor's mind and 
 
426 BEN BEOR. 
 
 were not slow in rejoicing to see their ministers of the 
 Gospel once more husbands and fathers. 
 
 (Data and facts of this episode are mostly taken 
 from the historian, J. H. Merle d'Aubigne".) 
 
 Section VII. Creed-Making and its Results. 
 
 As long as the great cause of the Reformation 
 was in its primary stage of development, its evolu- 
 tionary work was militant only; its attacks were 
 directed against the overwhelmingly abused power of 
 Catholicism. But after the period of negation and 
 destruction passed over ; after the first enthusiasm 
 of its promulgators had accomplished complete 
 severance from their mother of Rome ; after priests 
 and princes had joined forces to dissolve partnership 
 with the old faith a new era came, as it logically 
 must come, reconstructing upon the debris of the 
 wrecked building of a past religion the new edifice 
 of another. Had there been but one chief leader, 
 this goal could prove of no great difficulty. But the 
 impulse given- at Wittenberg acted with rapidity, 
 spreading in its velocity throughout the continent. 
 Germany, with Luther and Melanchthon, did not 
 long remain alone. Switzerland and its Zwingli 
 loomed up as a contemporary. France and her 
 Calvin came next. Holland and the Netherlands 
 had their Esch and Yoe. In Scandinavia, two 
 brothers, Olaf and Lars Peterson, headed the new 
 religious movement. In England and Scotland the 
 Reformation took a political as well as a religious 
 tendency ; Wycliffe and the Lollards were the fore- 
 most representatives of the new faith. Henry VIII. 
 stood here at the head of the political cause against 
 the Pope and his authority. In every land and 
 country it boiled and fermented among the rulers 
 and the people, joining the procession in the march 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 427 
 
 onward. Had all these united in one strong "new 
 church/' they might have stood against the world ; 
 but, unfortunately for them, every one of the leaders 
 had sprung from the very bosom of the old church, 
 and had imbibed from earliest training some strong 
 and unconquerable Catholic predilections which be- 
 came controling in the several spheres where they 
 now moved. It is not in human nature to throw 
 off at will the impressions ingrained during childhood. 
 
 The views of the leaders were as different and 
 diversified as their characters and the peculiar traits 
 of their native countries. Each one set to work to 
 formulate a creed of his own. Soon there were 
 almost as many Christian sects as there were chief- 
 tains in the cause of the Reformation. And it did 
 not take long ere these antagonized one another as 
 much, and in several instances more, than they did 
 their arch-enemy of Rome. Their very worst foe 
 could not have wished it better; and while every 
 Papist rejoiced over this family feud, the Anti-Mes- 
 siah, myself their prime antagonist, helped on the 
 foment and disturbance in the most sly and under- 
 hand fashion possible. 
 
 Luther distinguished himself principally in his 
 pride and inflexible temper in keeping up the divi- 
 sion. Melanchthon, with his mild and gentle disposi- 
 tion, tried everything in his power to bridge over 
 some of the difficulties, but with hardly any results. 
 The sturdy Augustine monk had been foremost to 
 help demolish the material church of St. Peter ; he 
 bombarded it effectively with the all-powerful mis- 
 siles of the Holy Scripture; but the gist of hie creed, 
 as a substitute for the old hierarchy, was the embodi- 
 ment of a spiritual papacy which, if logically carried 
 out, would tyrannize and oppress the mind and con- 
 science far more than the object he fought so 
 bitterly. The declaration of some of his chief tenets 
 
426 BEN BEOR. 
 
 were not slow in rejoicing to see their ministers of the 
 Gospel once more husbands and fathers. 
 
 (Data and facts of this episode are mostly taken 
 from the historian, J. H. Merle d'Aubigne.) 
 
 Section VII. Greed-Malting and its Results. 
 
 As long as the great cause of the Reformation 
 was in its primary stage of development, its evolu- 
 tionary work was militant only ; its attacks were 
 directed against the overwhelmingly abused power of 
 Catholicism. But after the period of negation and 
 destruction passed over ; after the first enthusiasm 
 of its promulgators had accomplished complete 
 severance from their mother of Rome ; after priests 
 and princes had joined forces to dissolve partnership 
 with the old faith a new era came, as it logically 
 must come, reconstructing upon the debris of the 
 wrecked building of a past religion the new edifice 
 of another. Had there been but one chief leader, 
 this goal could prove of no great difficulty. But the 
 impulse given- at Wittenberg acted with rapidity, 
 spreading in its velocity throughout the continent. 
 Germany, with Luther and Melanchthon, did not 
 long remain alone. Switzerland and its Zwingli 
 loomed up as a contemporary. France and her 
 Calvin came next. Holland and the Netherlands 
 had their Esch and Yoe. In Scandinavia, two 
 brothers, Olaf and Lars Peterson, headed the new 
 religious movement. In England and Scotland the 
 Reformation took a political as well as a religious 
 tendency ; WyclifFe and the Lollards were the fore- 
 most representatives of the new faith. Henry VIII. 
 stood here at the head of the political cause against 
 the Pope and his authority. In every land and 
 country it boiled and fermented among the rulers 
 and the people, joining the procession m the march 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 427 
 
 onward. Had all these united in one strong "new 
 church/' they might have stood against the world ; 
 but, unfortunately for them, every one of the leaders 
 had sprung from the very bosom of the old church, 
 and had imbibed from earliest training some strong 
 and unconquerable Catholic predilections which be- 
 came controling in the several spheres where they 
 now moved. It is not in human nature to throw 
 offat will the impressions ingrained during childhood. 
 
 The views of the leaders were as different and 
 diversified as their characters and the peculiar traits 
 of their native countries. Each one set to work to 
 formulate a creed of his own. Soon there were 
 almost as many Christian sects as there were chief- 
 tains in the cause of the Reformation. And it did 
 not take long ere these antagonized one another as 
 much, and in several instances more, than they did 
 their arch-enemy of Rome. Their very worst foe 
 could not have wished it better; and while every 
 Papist rejoiced over this family feud, the Anti-Mes- 
 siah, myself their prime antagonist, helped on the 
 foment and disturbance in the most sly and under- 
 hand fashion possible. 
 
 Luther distinguished himself principally in his 
 pride and inflexible temper in keeping up the divi- 
 sion. Melanchthon, with his mild and gentle disposi- 
 tion, tried everything in his power to bridge over 
 some of the difficulties, but with hardly any results. 
 The sturdy Augustine monk had been foremost to 
 help demolish the material church of St. Peter; he 
 bombarded it effectively with the all-powerful mis- 
 siles of the Holy Scripture; but the gist of hie creed, 
 as a substitute for the old hierarchy, was the embodi- 
 ment of a spiritual papacy which, if logically carried 
 out, would tyrannize and oppress the mind and con- 
 science far more than the object he fought so 
 bitterly. The declaration of some of his chief tenets 
 
428 BEN BEOR. 
 
 was so contradictory and incompatible as to lead 
 directly back to Rome, instead of forever parting 
 with it. Among others, he maintained: (1) That 
 sacred Scripture is the source of all authority. And 
 yet, barely was the ink dry with which he penned 
 this sweeping sentence, when in 1543 he declared the 
 laws of the Old Testament, inclusive of the Decalogue, 
 forever annulled. (2) We must be sived not by 
 our works, but by our faith. (Der Glaube allein 
 macht selig.) 
 
 Could he have looked through a spiritual telescope 
 at these incongruous principles, he would have seen 
 in the distant focus " Tetzel justified " in the sale of 
 absolutions. The faith of the simple country 
 folks in these sacred paper promises would, under 
 Luther's own auspices, require not his reformation ; 
 their belief ought to be their salvation. Therefore 
 Tetzel was not wrong ! The heart of the old sturdy 
 Reformer was in the right place, but his head ran 
 away even in some of the great essentials of his pon- 
 derous work. Soon he found himself at loggerheads 
 and enmity with his confreres and chief fellow- 
 workers. No argument or persuasion could reconcile 
 him with the clear-reasoning Zwingli and the more 
 erudite Calvin, in spite of the very best efforts of their 
 noble and sovereign friends. Here the germ was 
 planted that grew to such bloody harvests later on 
 between the dissenters, which was to ripen after many 
 centuries to come. 
 
 Here was also a physiological explanation of the 
 difference in the attitude which the great Reformer 
 took towards the Hebrews. When Reuchlin, their 
 supreme friend, was dead and his influence no 
 longer prevailed, they became a thorn in Luther's 
 side. His faith-principle compelled him to discard 
 the Old Testament, whose closing sentences were 
 a contradiction in words and spirit of his new 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 429 
 
 hobby. " The end of all things is, fear God and obey 
 His commands, for this is the end of man " (Koh- 
 eleth xii. 13). So he hated the living witnesses of 
 the contradiction, and with the powerful language at 
 his command, in his old age undid the kindness of 
 his youth and exceeded in vituperation and malig- 
 nity the worst of hatred against the Jews and their 
 literature. 
 
 The storm brewing in every quarter against the 
 Reformation broke forth in fearful fury without 
 much delay. It started in Switzerland, where can- 
 tons were soon arrayed against cantons. Zwingli, 
 with a handful of men, faced heroically the out- 
 break ; he fell pierced by the lances of the assailants, 
 the first martyr in the cause. Stultified Germany 
 did not raise an arm in his defense. There is no 
 more pathetic death recorded in the annals of history 
 than that of the brave, noble defender of the new 
 faith of Switzerland. In the ridiculously unevenly- 
 matched battle at Cappel, where the five powerful 
 Catholic cantons were arrayed in treble numbers 
 against the dissenters of Zurich, when the action had 
 scarcely begun, Zwingli in cuirass and helmet was 
 at the post of greatest danger. At a moment when 
 he had stooped down to console a dying man, I, Bfen 
 Beor, who had hurried hither to take a hand in the 
 fray, followed him closely during the entire combat, 
 hurled now a heavy stone from the eminence where I 
 had posted myself. It struck him on the head with 
 such force that it felled him to the ground and made 
 him speechless. I hurried down to where he lay and 
 dealt him two heavy blows, so that in his efforts to 
 rise he staggered back. He was fearfully wounded. 
 Twice he tries to stand, but now he receives a thrust 
 from my lance ; he falls back and sinks on his knees. 
 Then he lifts up his head, and, gazing with a calm 
 eye upon the trickling blood, exclaims in tremulous 
 
430 BEN BEOR. 
 
 words : " What matters this misfortune ! They may 
 kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul." He 
 had scarcely uttered them when he sank backwards. 
 There, under a tree, ever afterwards called the 
 " Zwingli pear-tree," he remained lying on his back 
 with clasped hands and eyes turned upwards to 
 heaven. Two soldiers were prowling over the bat- 
 tle-field.' When they came near the Reformer, one 
 asked the dying man : " Do you wish for a priest to 
 confess ? " Zwingli, unable to speak, made signs in 
 the negative. "If you cannot speak," said the 
 other, " at least think of the Mother of God and call 
 upon the saints." The expiring man again shook 
 his head. "No doubt," exclaimed the first, "you 
 are one of the heretics of the city." The other 
 being curious to see the face of his foe, stooped down 
 and turned the head of Zwingli in the direction of a 
 camp-fire which burned near the spot. The soldier 
 immediately let it fall to the ground. "I think," 
 said he, amazed and surprised, "I think it is 
 Zwingli." At this instant comes a brutal captain 
 of Unterwalden. He has heard the last word of the 
 soldier. " Zwingli ! " he exclaims ; "that vile heretic, 
 that traitor ! " Now raising his sword, he struck 
 the dying Christian on the throat and shouted in 
 violent passion : " Die., obstinate heretic ! " Then 
 the prostrate man expired. All this happened 
 October 11, 1531. 
 
 France was not slow in following the struggle to 
 the death of the new spirit which had invaded her 
 religion, the Catholic Church. The learned Calvin 
 had given the first active impulse to the Reformation 
 movement, and the vivid wide-awake character of 
 the nation took up with vehement ardor the long- 
 suppressed anger against the Church. " Hugue- 
 nots," the new sect called itself, most likely from the 
 chief leader Hugues, although several other strong 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 431 
 
 reasons are given for that strange appellation. A 
 desperate struggle had for several years been waged 
 between the Catholics and the Reformers. No 
 special agency was required to keep this alive 
 and fiercely raging. The powerful opposing 
 houses became the leaders of the conflict : the Guises 
 for Rome, the Condes for the Huguenots. On the 
 throne was the bigoted, weak-minded Charles IX., 
 but his masculine, cruel and scheming mother, Cath- 
 erine de Medici, was the real sovereign. Never 
 had Ben Beor a representative who more eagerly 
 would join my plans than this woman. The feeble 
 Charles and his sickly brother Henry were childless. 
 It was certain that Henry of Navarre, of the Bour- 
 bon line, an adherent of the Reformers, would be 
 the next heir to the throne. He was by birth and 
 education a Protestant, and therefore fiercely hated 
 by the whole family. In 1570 a truce was patched 
 up between the parties, who up to this time were 
 engaged in continual war. This peace was to be 
 made more secure by a marriage between the heretic 
 crown prince, now only 20 years old, and Margaret 
 of Valois, sister of the king, sacrificed to this politi- 
 cal scheme, as she had been previously engaged to 
 and dearly loved the Duke of Guise. 
 
 The ceremony was to take place on the 18th of 
 August, 1572. The dowager queen had in the 
 arrangement completed a plot which for treachery, 
 deception and horror of execution surpassed any 
 tragedy of ancient or modern times. The Hu- 
 guenot leaders were enticed to come to Paris to be 
 destroyed in a general massacre. After that the 
 same scenes were to be enacted in the different parts 
 of the kingdom, until the Protestants should be 
 utterly extinguished on French soil. It was secretly 
 arranged that this should begin at the sounding of 
 the matin bell Irom the Church of St. Germain on 
 
432 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the morning of St. Bartholomew's day. Orders were 
 confidentially issued to all the provincial cities of the 
 realm to proceed in the same manner, until none of 
 the Huguenots should be left to trouble the peace 
 of Catholic France. The terrible programme was 
 carried out to the letter. Charles IX. hesitated at 
 first to sign the mandate, but was overborne by his 
 mother and the Duke of Guise. In accordance with 
 the warrant, the inhuman duke, at early dawn of this 
 twenty-fourth day of August, sallied out with bands 
 of his followers. He made his way to the hotel 
 where Coligni lodged. This old admiral was the 
 head and leader of the Huguenots. His assassins 
 burst into the sleeping apartment and stabbed their 
 helpless victim to death. They then threw his body 
 out of the window into the street. Guise was wait- 
 ing below on horseback. He dismounted and wiped 
 the dust from the murdered man's face to make sure 
 that there was no life remaining. The head of the 
 great Coligni was cut off and sent as a trophy to the 
 Cardinal of Lorraine. Now the bells of St. Germain 
 were sounded and the general massacre of helpless 
 men, women and children, began. Paris soon reeked 
 like a charnel-house. The gutters of the streets 
 flowed with blood. The residence of every Hugue- 
 not had been marked, and now woe to 'those unfor- 
 tunates ! The city became a horrid uproar. Crowds 
 of fugitives surged along the streets, pursued by 
 other crowds with drawn swords, dripping with 
 gore. When the pitiful wail of the dying began to 
 rise from all quarters, the King suffered a momen- 
 tary shudder. But he overcame this soon and shared 
 with his mother and friends their insane delight. 
 He, with Catherine and his brother Henry of Anjou, 
 took his station at one of the windows of the Louvre, 
 and with his own hands fired shot after shot from his 
 fowling-piece after the fleeing heretics. For seven 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. . 433 
 
 days the murderous work continued, until at last 
 death, drunk with the blood of thirty thousand 
 victims, chanted " Te Deum laudamus." In some of 
 the principal provincial cities the governors refused 
 to obey the diabolical edicts of the court. The brave 
 mayor of Bayonne answered the mandate in these 
 words: "Your majesty has many faithful servants 
 in this loyal town, but not one executioner." In 
 other places the scenes were almost as horrible as 
 those in Paris. The city of Meaux ran with the 
 blood of the reformers. At Lacharite the massacre 
 occurred on the 26th, and at Orleans on the 27th. 
 Nor did this dreadful drama cease until October 3d, 
 when it stained with the crimson life-fluid the surf 
 beyond Bordeaux. 
 
 Poor Germany ! In all the travail of civilization's 
 efforts and labors, the scene of the contest and the 
 battle-ground of the warring passions were always 
 concentrated here. Luther, Calvin and Zwingli were 
 dead, but their revolutionary work lived and grew 
 into ponderous dimensions. Thus far the struggle 
 had been local. At first Germany was affected ; then 
 came Switzerland, France, England and the Nether- 
 lands. As to Spain, the Reformation made no 
 progress. Portugal and Italy despised the move- 
 ment and proceeded in the old persecuting and 
 intolerant track. Thus far, however, there had been 
 no general or international conflicts between the Cath- 
 olics and Protestants. Many symptoms had already 
 appeared of the formation of a general league among 
 the states which still held steadfast to the ancient 
 religion against the Reformed faith. Nor can any 
 one who understands the scope of my anti-messianic 
 policy, to uphold the power of the Church and to 
 recover the sadly lost unity that until lately had 
 prevailed, fail to perceive that all my efforts now 
 were spent to rally into one phalanx those sovereigns 
 
434 . BEN BEOR. 
 
 who still recognized the supremacy of Rome, and to 
 urge them on for a grand final struggle to recover 
 the lost inheritance. The time had come, now or 
 never, when I must move all the organic strength of 
 what is left of Catholicism for the suppression of the 
 great Protestant schism. It brought with it as a 
 consequence the combination of the reformed states 
 to prevent such a result. Germany was the doomed 
 soil on which this harrowing issue must be fought. 
 It commenced with the storming of the Council Hall 
 in Prague on the 23d of May, 1618. History 
 denominates it " The Thirty Years' War." 
 
 It is not my scope to enter into the details of this 
 fearfully prolonged clash of arms in which almost 
 all Europe participated. The earth never had seen 
 such misery, such indescribable suffering and havoc. 
 The nations poured out their blood and their treas- 
 ures. Patriotism expended its utmost force to stand 
 erect. Loyalty to chosen causes was never so matched 
 before in straining every nerve for victory. Heroism 
 of the sublimest as well as of the most brutal 
 essence never flagged throughout all this long period 
 to achieve wonders on both sides. Human endur- 
 ance was tried to the snap of the muscles and nerves, 
 to hold out often against the inevitable. A galaxy 
 of men crowns these tear-washed annals. Why 
 repeat here the names which every school-child com- 
 mits to memory, or battles which fill the pages of 
 every common history? Alas! out of the perished 
 lives of the millions, the devastated lands and indi- 
 vidual estates, the hunger and the suffering of the 
 despairing masses, the conflagration of the cities, 
 towns and hamlets, where the fire-fiend devours what 
 battle has left ; the cries of anguish and despair of 
 starving widows and orphans ; out of the pestilence 
 and fever which stride in ghastly array over the 
 battle-scarred countries and transform half the con- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 435 
 
 tinent into one festering, panting lazaretto; out of 
 the fathomless, indescribable, unspeakable, writhing, 
 quivering, revolting, hellish torments of humanity 
 what paltry, disappointing, woeful results in the grand 
 finale of the re-established peace! In the city hall 
 of Osnabriick, on the 24th day of October, it was 
 decreed by the nations' congress there assembled, 
 and after adjustment of the political issues, that reli- 
 gious freedom was now and henceforth and forever 
 guaranteed and confirmed to the Lutherans and 
 Calvinists. All my efforts had been in vain "Sic 
 transit gloria mundi!" 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XXI. 
 
 SABBATHAI ZEVI. 
 
 Section I. Beautiful Esther. 
 
 While all the rest of Europe was fighting for 
 liberty of conscience, in the Southern lands the brutal 
 work of persecution went on with ever-increasing 
 fury and callous barbarity. It was almost exclu- 
 sively directed against the hapless, exiled Hebrews, 
 who, under promise of security for their lives and 
 scant possessions, were induced to settle for the time 
 being under the government of King loao II. of 
 Portugal. On payment of extravagant sums of 
 money, Rabbi Isaac Aboab succeeded in securing 
 temporary homes for the outcast people. Every 
 one so coming had to submit to a head-tax of two 
 ducats, an oppressive amount for those poor creatures, 
 who had saved nothing when driven from their old 
 homes. They were, however, largely assisted by 
 charitable brethren from all over the world. On 
 
436 BEN BEOR. 
 
 paying the stated amount they were permitted to 
 remain here in security for the period of eight months. 
 The king himself provided cheap transportation in 
 his ships during the granted time. It was stipulated 
 that any Hebrew found in his kingdom at the expi- 
 ration of such short period, without special permit, 
 should forfeit personal liberty and be sold into 
 slavery. Over twenty thousand families accepted 
 these terms of momentary relief. Once domiciled, 
 their good behavior, their cultured ways and their 
 pitiful condition insured them the warm sympathy 
 of Christian neighbors. There were among the 
 Hebrews profoundly learned astronomers and mathe- 
 maticians, and the ambitious sovereign was eager to 
 engage them in his service. But nature itself seemed 
 to conspire against the forsaken people. 
 
 Black pestilence, the never-ending scourge of these 
 times, broke out again among the inhabitants, who, 
 in their ignorance and superstition, assigned it as a 
 punishment that their ruler had permitted the Israel- 
 ites to come into his land. When, therefore, the 
 eight months had expired, the callous command went 
 forth that all who would not submit to baptism 
 must depart. So most of the unfortunates were 
 huddled like cattle into ships, consigned to the mer- 
 cies of inhuman captains, who, after starving and 
 maltreating their poor passengers, landed them on 
 distant coasts in Arabia and Africa, there to become 
 the victims- of the wild tribes or the prey of beasts of 
 the wilderness. But even this was not the worst. 
 The stone-hearted monarch ordered all Jewish 
 children under ten years of age taken from their 
 parents, to be exported by special ships to some 
 island across the ocean and there to be raised as 
 Christians. The heartrending scenes which ensued 
 are beyond description. One mother sank flat on 
 her face before the king as he rode by, and with 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 437 
 
 sobs and wailing besought him to return her only 
 little boy. The king put his spurs savagely into 
 the flanks of his horse, but the beast, more merciful 
 than his rider, passed over the prostrate form of the 
 woman, not hurting her. 
 
 Among the distinguished families who preferred 
 sham baptism to exile and the loss of an immense 
 fortune was Francesco Perez Mendes, a member of 
 an old Marrannen family of the Bevenisti. His 
 beautiful, noble-minded wife, Donna Gracia Mende- 
 sia, joined him in this outward change of religion; 
 but both remained true in their hearts and souls to 
 the faith of their forefathers. Observing with over- 
 scrupulous zeal all the outward requirements of the 
 Church, they attended mass regularly and went to 
 confession as often as the best of Papists, in order 
 to avoid even the slightest suspicion of backsliding. 
 In the privacy of their lives, however, they were 
 most pathetically devoted to their ancient religion, 
 and as far as possible practiced it in the recesses of 
 the family. For generations the ancestors of hus- 
 band and wife had been prosperous bankers in 
 Lisbon, and now the united houses were counted as 
 the wealthiest and most influential of all Europe. 
 There was hardly any reigning prince or potentate 
 who had not become indebted to the firm, and who 
 had not entrusted at one time or another to their 
 sagacity and scrupulous honesty the finances of court 
 and state. 
 
 In the fearful crisis which had now overtaken the 
 Jews, the Mendes became the veritable angels for 
 the distressed and despairing. This had to be done 
 with the utmost caution, for if detected in their 
 princely charities and the superhuman exercise of 
 benevolence, the never-sleeping Inquisition would 
 eagerly have made an end to their existence and 
 swallowed up their coveted fortune. The means by 
 
438 BEN BEOB. 
 
 which they successfully reached the countless chan- 
 nels of misery never became known, despite the 
 argus eyes of their prying enemies. It became a 
 common saying among the relieved sufferers, that a 
 second " Beautiful Esther " had arisen to stand by 
 them in the hour of their great need, and daily 
 prayers and blessings were showered upon the 
 unknown benefactors. In the middle of the six- 
 teenth century Mendes died, leaving to his wife the 
 care of their only daughter Reyna. He endowed the 
 widow with his share of the boundless fortune and 
 appointed her the head of the banking house, which 
 consisted of several members of his and her family. 
 She was a phenomenal woman, gifted with all the 
 graces and comeliness of her sex, possessing a won- 
 derful genius, sagacity, foresight and administrative 
 ability. .Although she loved intensely the land of 
 her birth, it now became unbearable to her. 
 
 When the greatest danger to her co-religionists had 
 passed, . she quietly and gradually wound up the 
 financial affairs of the house in Lisbon, turned into 
 ready cash and bills of exchange its assets, and leav- 
 ing what real estate could not be disposed of to the 
 tender mercies of the government and priests, then 
 secretly went with the whole family to Antwerp 
 in Belgium. At this place her nephew, loao 
 Migues, had long since established a powerful branch 
 of the banking house, and from here the family of 
 the Mendes, with their high standing in the Dutch 
 community, their exhaustless means and influence, 
 soon became the centre of a colony of the fugitive 
 Marrannen. 
 
 When the report of these doings reached the heads 
 of the southern Inquisition it was feared that a nuc- 
 leus of a powerful opposition against them was 
 growing up in the northern lands, and I, Ben Beor, 
 being near the seat of the trouble, was commissioned 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 439 
 
 to thwart the baneful efforts. Charles V., grandson 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella, was now Emperor of 
 Germany and King of Spain. By right of his mater- 
 nal grandmother Maria he was the regent also of 
 Belgium and the Netherlands. Cognizant and 
 envious of the great wealth of the Mendes, I watched 
 eagerly for an opportunity to engulf them with 
 criminal charges and have their treasures and estates 
 confiscated. 
 
 Furnished with authority to investigate the past 
 lives of the several members of these New Christians 
 and watch over their present doings, I repaired to 
 Antwerp, and there succeeded in cultivating a close 
 and intimate relationship with the banking family. 
 I had introduced myself as a government inspector 
 of imports, and as such had the right of access to the 
 books of the firm. These I found scrupulously cor- 
 rect. They were in charge of the widow's brother- 
 in-law, Diego Mendes. An expert accountant, 
 knowing that the written affairs of the house were 
 subject at any moment to official examination, his 
 work was done so as to be ever ready for such trial. 
 It was impossible to find throughout the extensive 
 monetary and mercantile affairs any shortcomings. 
 During the transaction of this official business the 
 woman was constantly by iny side, and it was 
 remarkable what memory and judgment she dis- 
 played in the explanation of such points as required 
 statements of detail My conduct towards her was 
 studiously suave and cordial. From debits and 
 credits the conversation often turned to topics of 
 religion and politics, for I secretly had planned to 
 draw her into some committal by which 1 might get 
 a clue for criminating charges. But the woman 
 proved to be my master in finesse and discernment. 
 She must have instinctively guessed the nature of 
 iny objects. Never evading a question, always 
 
440 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ready to make an answer, yet a trained lawyer could 
 not have been more precise and less liable to mis- 
 construction or misrepresentations. 
 
 These people have become by their sad experiences 
 wary like foxes and sly like serpents, and these 
 traits had culminated in this woman to masterly 
 perfection. In fact, it is astounding how, through 
 all the long years of tribulation, the weaker sex in 
 Israel bore bravely, unflinchingly and loyally the 
 greater share of the sorrowful fate of the race. The 
 preservation of the stock must be largely ascribed to 
 the patience, fortitude and moral character of its 
 females, who, despite the greater sensitiveness of feel- 
 ing and the physical disparity of sex, never swerved 
 from the path of duty or forsook the allegiance to 
 their faith and kindred. In many instances they 
 might have saved life and purchased comfort yea, 
 even wealth and rank by abandoning the cause of 
 their people and going over to the enemy ; but in all 
 trials, with misery and death before their eyes, they 
 proved even more steadfast and firm than their male 
 relatives and friends. 
 
 My occupation with the books was suddenly in- 
 terrupted. Diego Mendes one afternoon was taken 
 seriously ill and had to be carried to his home. Not- 
 withstanding the best medical attendance and the most 
 assiduous nursing, he died in a few days, leaving a 
 disconsolate widow, the younger sister of Signora 
 Gracia, and an only daughter, named after the aunt 
 Gracianna. There was the most intense, heart- 
 rending lamentation, mourning and weeping. At 
 the funeral obsequies all Antwerp seemed to have 
 turned out to show last honors to the deceased and 
 highest respect to the bereaved family. From the 
 deathbed scene I, however, received the clue which 
 I had been seeking so assiduously. Credible infor- 
 mation was at hand that after a priest had bestowed 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 441 
 
 the last sacrament on the dying man according to 
 the rites of the Catholic Church, and after the min- 
 istrant had departed, a rabbi entered the gloomy 
 chamber and, while all the others left so as not to be 
 witnesses in case of an accusation, the Jewish prayers 
 and ceremonies for the dying had been performed 
 also. If this could be proven it was the worst form 
 of "Judaizing" would have subjected the entire 
 estate to confiscation and every member of the family 
 to imprisonment. All depended now on finding the 
 rabbi. Had we been in Spain I could have bought 
 any number of witnesses on threat of torture ; but 
 among the stolid boors of the North, without a grain 
 of sentimentality in their compositions, sturdy and 
 unbendable in their feeling of right and justice, the In- 
 quisition was already in bad odor. Here it needed at 
 least evidence of presumptive guilt before the native 
 officers would move, and then in many instances 
 everything went on so slowly and deliberately that 
 victims were rather allowed to escape than be perse- 
 cuted. Never before had I known the power of 
 money exercised so effectively as here. Wielded by 
 a woman like Gracia, of such tact, sagacity and 
 shrewd calculation, every step I made was counter- 
 balanced by gold and popularity. The breath of 
 the reformatory spirit had been wafted, too, across 
 the borders from Germany and fiercely agitated the 
 masses of the Dutch nation/ kindred in reasoning 
 and belief to their Teutonic neighbors. Nothing 
 but the iron hand of Spain, which held in its clutch 
 the throat of these people, prevented the religious 
 revolution from conquering their land. When I 
 therefore brought the accusation of Judaizing against 
 the Mendes family before the imperial Fiscal, 
 somebody informed them of the impending danger, 
 and every step in the prosecution met with delay and 
 procrastination. 
 
442 BEN BEOB. 
 
 It happened at this time, fortunately for my victims, 
 that the court at Vienna was in pressing and imme- 
 diate want of large sums of money. Negotiations had 
 been under way to furnish such, already before the 
 death of Diego. Now these were brought to an 
 .issue by the sagacious woman giving the most favor- 
 able terms to Charles V., on condition that all pro- 
 ceedings against her and hers before the Holy Office 
 should be unconditionally quashed. The urgency 
 of the Emperor's troubles caused him to finish the 
 transaction by acceptance of this clause. The secu- 
 rities being exchanged and the money paid over, all 
 my efforts proved nugatory. My connection with 
 the persecuting plot had been kept secret, and my 
 position therefore was not compromised, so that I 
 could continue to watch and wait. Seeing that I 
 was outgeneraled and foiled everywhere by the sly 
 Gracia, and could do nothing against her ever wide- 
 awake capacity, I directed myself now to her 
 younger widowed sister, Bianca, bringing myself into 
 her good graces, and from the familiar connection in 
 her neighborhood spying out some plausible way to 
 overwhelm the hated house with disaster. 
 
 This woman was as giddy, senseless, frivolous and 
 vain as her sister was noble, firm and strong of 
 character. She listened readily to my honeyed words, 
 and I soon was in high favor and confidence with her, 
 contrary to the warnings from some other members 
 of the family. But I could learn very little from 
 her concerning the plans and mano3uvres of the 
 firm; she was never trusted to know its internal 
 affairs and had been kept in ignorance of its secret 
 proceedings. She often complained to me about 
 this, what she called, unfairness and injustice, and I 
 instilled into -her mind poisonous discontent and 
 rebellion against her kindred. This much we both 
 could readily perceive, that there was unusual activity 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 443 
 
 going on in the bank. Loads of specie were being 
 received and shipped to foreign parts. Sales of 
 estates were made, even under unfavorable condi- 
 tions, and it seemed as if a concentrated gathering 
 of all the available assets of the house was in 
 progress. 
 
 Nearly two years elapsed when, at this juncture, 
 a strange event transpired which bore serious con- 
 sequences. The nephew, loao Migues, unexpectedly 
 and to the surprise of everybody, eloped with Reyna, 
 the only daughter of Gracia. The beautiful, accom- 
 plished and finely-educated girl had been admired 
 and wooed by the highest nobles and her hand was 
 sought by lords and princes. The young couple fled 
 to Venice. The mother resolved forthwith to follow 
 them, and gave notice to the sister to prepare for 
 accompanying her. I received a polite invitation to 
 form one of the escorts of the family. This was, as 
 may be readily surmised, accepted. The whole pro- 
 ceeding had been a very strange affair, masterly 
 planned and executed. When we arrived at Venice 
 we were received with open arms and jubilant greet- 
 ings by the elopers. Here I learned, too, that the 
 palatial residences in Antwerp had been sold, the 
 business wound up entirely, and that a single con- 
 fidential clerk only was left behind to attend to little 
 matters which remained unfinished. The clandestine 
 marriage was a successful ruse for the whole family 
 to emigrate unmolested. And I, benighted fool that 
 I was, had been circumvented by this brave woman, 
 without even a suspicion that all was pre-arranged 
 and schemed beforehand. 
 
 Venice was no longer the mistress of the sea. 
 Her continual wars with neighboring states, caused 
 by arrogant pugnacity, had gradually brought the 
 proud city of commerce and maritime power into 
 decline. Especially had she been chastised by the 
 
444 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Turks under the great Sultan Suleiman, who exer- 
 cised now a kind of dictatorship over the humbled city. 
 Here I succeeded in inveigling the discontented 
 Bianca into a complete breach with her sister and 
 family. She demanded peremptorily her own and 
 her daughter's share of the inheritance. This being 
 resisted by Gracia as the head of the house and as 
 the legally appointed guardian of her niece Gracianna, 
 a treacherous complaint was therefore laid before 
 the Signoria, the municipal authorities of the city, 
 wherein the misguided widow not only sued for her 
 portion of the estate, but also lodged information 
 that the firm intended shortly to transfer the princely 
 wealth of the whole family to Turkey, there pub- 
 licly to rejoin Judaism, while she and her daughter 
 were determined to stay as good Christians at 
 their present domicile and use their wealth for the 
 benefit of the city and the Church. The Venetian 
 authorities, too glad to get hold of so promising a 
 prey, did not hesitate a moment to entertain the 
 accusation, summoned the parties before their courts 
 and placed them under strict surveillance to prevent 
 their flight. Not satisfied with having acted the 
 despicable part of informer against her own flesh 
 and blood, Bianca sent me to France, where the 
 house had large interests, there to make charges 
 against the Mendes as having been guilty of treason 
 against the Catholic Church by secretly practicing 
 the religion of their ancestors. Henry II., who 
 reigned then in Paris, greedily availed himself of 
 this pretext to confiscate what property the banking 
 house owned in his realm and to repudiate the state's 
 indebtedness, which had been contracted previously. 
 Poor Gracia! how all these unforeseen troubles 
 must have tried her great soul, and how the treason 
 of her dearly loved but deluded sister must have 
 troubled her! Yet she lost not courage and soon 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 445 
 
 became full mistress of the painful situation. During 
 my temporary absence a complete reconciliation of 
 the sisters was effected. An appeal for protection 
 was then made to the Sultan Suleiman and powerful 
 influence brought to bear upon him. He peremp- 
 torily demanded the release of Donna Gracia and 
 placed the rights and liberty of the family under his 
 special care. Within a very short time the firm was 
 established in Constantinople, bringing with them 
 the entire family, their wealth and a whole train of 
 Spanish and Portuguese Marrannen, most of whom 
 were in possession of great riches. Soon their new 
 home felt the beneficent hand of Donna Gracia and 
 her kindred. The newcomers formed themselves 
 into a colony, joining with great eclat the never- 
 forgotten, ever dearly cherished religion of their 
 fathers ; building a magnificent synagogue and erect- 
 ing schools and colleges as well as almshouses and 
 orphan asylums. They elected the renowned and 
 profoundly learned Rabbi Joseph Ibu-Lab, expatri- 
 ated by Spain, as their chief spiritual guide, and 
 they became from here the centre of relief for the 
 amelioration of the pitiful condition among the 
 Hebrews all over the European continent. Poets 
 and historians vied with one another to do honor 
 to the remarkable woman who now resumed her 
 Portuguese name Charma, immortalized in poetry 
 and prose as the Second Esther of the house of Israel. 
 
 Section II. Scientists and Literati. 
 
 The power of the priests as far as to be a union 
 was broken forever. Instead of warring against the 
 masses and holding them down in ignorance and 
 superstition, there would be, as became apparent 
 everywhere, henceforth a continual feud among the 
 different sects and creeds. Persecution, hatred and 
 
446 BEN BEOR. 
 
 torture would not cease, but in the future these 
 would be employed, even with increased bitterness, 
 church against church and priest against minister. 
 They would so weaken one another that, as a 
 supreme agency of control over the minds and con- 
 sciences, no reliance dared to be placed upon either 
 in their divided state. Envy, rivalry and jealousy 
 would now continue to undermine what strength 
 there had been heretofore in the altar, and the ulti- 
 mate outcome, as could be clearly foreseen, must 
 culminate in a reign of intolerance and illiberalism. 
 Such was the cursed result of the Eeformation and 
 the Thirty Years' War. 
 
 Here I was, signally defeated and had lost my 
 cause. Worst of all, this had been brought about 
 largely by the abuse, scheming and intrigues of a 
 wily and bad clergy in the Church. And now an 
 equally great danger threatened the second great 
 potency of my mission. The foundation of the 
 thrones became insecure, unknown to the crowned 
 heads, but perfectly palpable to my prophetic sight. 
 The chains which had shackled Liberty and Right 
 through all these thousand years visibly became 
 rusty and corroded. There is music in the air 
 which I can no longer hush, and which must at no 
 distant day awake the slumbering powers of Free- 
 dom and Truth. Not that I am afraid of the repeated 
 outbreaks by a brutal and benighted rabble, who had 
 before, in their hunger, despair and debased serfdom, 
 risen in revolts, to be butchered and slain like wild 
 beasts. Danger threatened from other quarters which 
 all my cunning and wiles will not much longer be 
 able to withstand. The very fact of its insidious 
 working makes it all the more irresistible. Since 
 the last hundred years there has arisen a galaxy of 
 spirits, unprecedented in number and high calibre, 
 giants of minds who overturn all preconceived sys- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 447 
 
 terns of science and art and traverse high into the 
 realms of literature. It is indeed the golden eia of 
 the mind. The printing press, its mistress, helps 
 with omnipotent sway to, disseminate the long 
 restrained rush of human genius. Contrary to my 
 warning, in face of my remonstrances, the sovereigns 
 and political heads will not raise a finger to suppress 
 these worst agitators against their interests ; nay, in 
 many instances they caress the enemy who batters 
 down the very gates of their security. Such is human 
 nature, fallacy and blindness ! They ridicule the idea 
 that there is any destructive connection between the 
 progress of science, art and literature and their 
 divine right of absolute rule. Experience, however, 
 will soon teach them better. I can here cite but 
 some of the most prominent examples. 
 
 The earliest of revolutionist-disturbers of ancient 
 and traditionally founded facts was, as usual, in the 
 fields of destroying conservatism, a profoundly 
 learned German, one Nicholas Copernicus, born at 
 Thorn in Prussia, February 19, 1473. He was the 
 intellectual giant who at one fell swoop overthrew 
 the old and sanctioned Ptolemaic theory of the stellar 
 universe and substituted a new and unassailable 
 system in its place. On his deathbed he was handed 
 the first copy of his great work, " De Orbium Celes- 
 tium Revolutionibus." When he closed his eyes 
 forever on May 24, 1543, he had advanced the world 
 in knowledge of the Cosmos many thousand years, 
 and shattered into atoms the old superstitions con- 
 cerning the same. 
 
 A worthy successor to this Teutonic mind 
 appeared in the distinguished person of a Danish 
 nobleman, Tycho de Brahe, born at Knudstorp in 
 Scania, December 4, 1546. With his inherited 
 wealth he was able to follow a native inclination for 
 astronomy. As a favorite of princes and kings, he 
 
448 BEN BEOR. 
 
 developed a knowledge of the heavenly bodies as 
 even the greatest lights of antiquity dared not dream 
 of. When he died at Prague, the friend and protegS 
 of Emperor Rudolph, October 13, 1601, he left his 
 incomplete labors in worthy hands. The mantle of 
 his genius had fallen upon Johannes Keppler, an- 
 other German, born at Magstatt, near Weil, in 
 Wurtemberg, December 27, 1571. On reaching 
 manhood he joined the spreading religious Reforma- 
 tion, and for his great ability and learning was 
 appointed professor at the University in Gratz. 
 Poverty and family troubles soon made him accept 
 the proffered place of assistant to Tycho de Brahe, 
 with whom he completed the great discovery of the 
 system of laws governing the constellations of the 
 heavenly bodies. Struggling with adversity and 
 contrary circumstances, waiting for over a quarter 
 of a century until enabled, in spite of all difficulties, 
 to publish the result of his scientific investigations, 
 " The Rudolphine Tables," he consoled himself for 
 all the untoward hindrances in his unparalleled mind- 
 labors, by exclaiming : "God has waited six thou- 
 sand years for an observer, well may I wait a 
 century for a reader ! " When he died of disap- 
 pointment, fatigue and want of care, at Ratisbon, 
 whither he had travelled to make a last effort for 
 obtaining from the imperial assembly the arrears of 
 his long-unpaid salary, his earthly departure taking 
 place November 15, 1630, he had already been pre- 
 ceded by another human mind-star of first magni- 
 tude, in a different quarter of the hemisphere. 
 
 Giordano Bruno, born under the happy sky of 
 Italy, at Nola, near Naples, his natal day being for- 
 gotten, he became first a Dominican monk. Of that 
 independent mind which acknowledges no authority, 
 no matter how time-hallowed, his skeptical philosophy 
 became so obnoxious to the orthodox order that its 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGOKIA. 449 
 
 superior expelled him from the ranks and drove him 
 from his native land. Like unto the astronomers, 
 his contemporaries who pounded to piecemeal the 
 ancient notions of the movement of the stars, so this 
 friar smashed the reasonings of the antiquated Aris- 
 totle. To the careful observer it must become 
 patent that these newly-risen innovators went hand 
 in hand and became possible only in their might and 
 power by the mutual evolution of uncontrollable 
 facts. The banished Bruno led a roving life, teach- 
 ing and lecturing at all learned institutions, which 
 were eager, from the renown which had preceded 
 him, to hear his eloquent logic and conclusions. 
 He became personally acquainted at Wittenberg 
 with Luther and the other great lights of the Refor- 
 mation. Alas! amidst all the triumphs which 
 greeted him everywhere, like a true son of the South, 
 he pined for his native country and actually returned 
 at last to Venice. Here he was arrested by the 
 minions of the Holy Office, sent to Rome, and refus- 
 ing to recant his radical free-thought principles, was 
 burned at the stake February 17, 1600. 
 
 Contemporary with him was an even more bold 
 and reformatory spirit Galilei Galileo also an 
 Italian, born at Pisa, February 15, 1564, a descend- 
 ant of a noble Florentine family, the Bonajulis. 
 Well educated, with a finely developed talent for the 
 arts, especially painting and music, graduating in 
 medicine, he finally abandoned all these for his 
 native inclination in mathematics and the natural 
 sciences. Through his inventive genius, for the first 
 time in the history of the world men were enabled to 
 observe the heavens with a telescope, and greater 
 surprise and wonderment had never been in store for 
 his fellow-beings. By its means he confirmed and 
 extended all modern discoveries concerning the stel- 
 lar spheres, especially the facts contradictory to 
 
450 BEN BEOR. 
 
 orthodox Bibliomania that the earth stands still and 
 the sun and planets move around it. All the 
 works of this great scholar and those of his renowned 
 predecessors were placed on the " Index Expurga- 
 torius," which made it mortal sin for any good 
 Christian to peruse or touch. He soon was declared 
 suspected of heresy. Sentence quickly followed, 
 which was solemnly pronounced on June 22, 1633. 
 It set forth the offense of the accused teaching con- 
 demned propositions, requiring him to abjure his 
 errors and all other heresies against the Catholic 
 Church condemned him to be imprisoned during the 
 pleasure of the Inquisition and to recite once a week 
 for three years the seven penitential psalms. 
 
 Galileo, remembering the fate of some of his unfor- 
 tunate colleagues, made his abjuration with all the 
 formalities which attended such proceedings. Clad 
 in sackcloth and kneeling, he swore upon the Gospel 
 never again to teach the earth's motion and the sun's 
 stability ; he declared his detestation of the pro- 
 scribed opinions, and promised to perform the 
 penance laid upon him. Then rising, all the shame 
 of his cowardice came upon him and all the pride 
 of his manhood returned, as he exclaimed in defiance 
 of his persecutors, the immortal words : " E pur si 
 muovo ! " (" It moves in spite of all this "). Yet, 
 strange to say, he was permitted to depart after a 
 short confinement. Continued vexations, how- 
 ever, the death of a favorite daughter, and bodily 
 infirmities, he becoming entirely deaf brought on 
 him fever and palpitation of the heart, and he died 
 in retirement at Arcetri, January 8, 1642. 
 
 Shortly after, and in the northern horizon of Great 
 Britain, another great master-mind was ushered into 
 this world. William Harvey was born at Folke- 
 stone, England, April 1, 1578. After taking his 
 degree of M. D., studying for this purpose at Padua 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 451 
 
 in Italy, he settled in London and there became in 
 1607 a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. 
 Soon after he made his celebrated discovery of the 
 circulation of the blood, thereby clearing up one of 
 the profoundest mysteries of nature, more conducive 
 to the enlightenment of physical knowledge than 
 anything which had been done so far in that depart- 
 ment of medical science. Political complications of 
 his time tended greatly to embitter his illustrious 
 life, and the jealousy of his benighted colleagues 
 added to his disappointments and heavy struggles. 
 He lived, however, to be considered the first anato- 
 mist and physician of his time, and to see his dis- 
 coveries universally acknowledged. He died in 
 London, June 3, 1657. 
 
 Contemporary with him and of the same land and 
 language, came one of the most phenomenal and 
 gigantic minds of any age or clime, the poet and 
 dramatist, William Shakespeare. He was born at 
 Sfcratford-upon-Avon, England, April 23, 1564, of 
 comparatively obscure parents, under unpromising 
 conditions, receiving but a scant education, and living 
 up to the dawn of his manhood and genius a life little 
 better than that of a poacher and vagrant. There- 
 after, however, like a cycle of brilliant meteors shot 
 forth from his brain and hands a wealth of literary 
 treasures which blinded and bewildered the astounded 
 contemporaneous witnesses, and which will con- 
 tinue to amaze the cultured world till Time shall 
 be no more. Such insight of human character, such 
 knowledge of men's passions; such incarnation of 
 right, truth, liberty and love; such incomparable 
 tracery of wit, humor and burlesque ; such elevated 
 diction and eloquence; such cutting satire; all this 
 thrown over every phase of the living and the dead ; 
 over childhood, man's estate, and old age; over male 
 and female ; combining history and fiction ; marshal- 
 
452 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ing in quick procession mythology, the theological 
 Christian Church, the Jew and the Gentile cun- 
 ningly disguising in his hero of Shy lock the detes- 
 table common prejudices of race, and in his Moor of 
 Venice the curse of caste; the best of Moses, Christ, 
 Confucius, Plato, Socrates ; the legislator, philoso- 
 pher, scientist and statesman, culled and combined 
 for the play on the stage that mimics the world all 
 of this is the work of the greatest intellectual hero 
 and educator, of the unsurpassed author of Britain 
 or any other land, who departed this world, April 
 23, 1616. 
 
 And as if the measure of knowledge were to be 
 filled to overflowing, there arose beside a host of other 
 great celebrities in the three united kingdoms, one 
 more especially to be mentioned among the giants in 
 the realms of science, the renowned Sir Isaac Newton. 
 He was born at Woolsthorpe, in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
 land, December 25, 1642. He never knew his father, 
 and was but indifferently treated by his mother, who 
 remarried during his infancy. Retired and shrinking 
 as a child, apparently dull and backward in his 
 studies, yet the fire of his genius, like that of his 
 illustrious compatriot Shakespeare, broke forth at 
 the verge of manhood, and he soon astonished the 
 world with the celebrated discovery of the law of 
 gravitation, following up this his most eminent of 
 achievements with a number of other great mathemat- 
 ical discoveries and physical inventions. Crowned 
 with glory and with years, he died at Kensington, 
 near London, March 20, 1727. 
 
 In France, too, illustrious additions to the galaxy 
 of the human mind arose at this time. Foremost 
 among these was Charles de Secondat Montesquieu, 
 born at the Chateau La Brede, near Bordeaux, Jan- 
 uary 18, 1689. Receiving fine educational training 
 in his youth, gifted with even abnormal strength of 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 453 
 
 mind for reasoning and investigation, he early dived 
 into the depths of the already heaving and boiling 
 elements of an intellectual awakening, and soon pro- 
 duced his ever-memorable work, " De PEsprit des 
 Lois " (The Spirit of the Law), a master conception 
 of the political and social fundamental structure for 
 modern conditions of state and church. The views 
 and principles expressed therein, logical, irresistible 
 and radical, shook all intelligent Europe from end to 
 end. Twenty-two editions had to be made in eigh- 
 teen months, and it was translated within a very 
 short time into every language of the continent. The 
 inferential outcome of these two volumes was Revo- 
 lution and the Republic. He was only to see the 
 beginning of his labors, dying at Paris, February 
 10, 1755, in his sixty-sixth year of age. 
 
 His junior compatriot by about ten years was 
 no less a man of spirit, capacity, genius, but also 
 full of caprice and whims Frangois Marie Arouet de 
 Voltaire. He saw the light of this mundane sphere 
 at Paris, November 21, 1694. His cynical and 
 doubting disposition soon became apparent. Every- 
 thing which man had thus far considered sacred and 
 venerable was to him mockery and sham. Endowed 
 with a giant mind for destruction, he took hold, like 
 Samson of old, of the pillars of the church and state 
 and tried to pull them down. Yet, while he suc- 
 ceeded with his voluminous writings to stir them 
 from their bases, his supercilious vanity, arrogance 
 and malice proved him not equal to the task, and he 
 died in his native city, May 30, 1778, the most over- 
 rated and comparatively least operative factor in 
 the progress of civilization. 
 
 A by far less presumptuous and unpretending 
 spirit, with the modesty of a child and the strength 
 of a Cyclops, arose in neighboring Holland, in the 
 person of Baruch Spinoza, one of the detested 
 
454 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Jews, a direct offspring of the fugitive Marrannen, 
 born, as is surmised, at Amsterdam, November 24, 
 1632. His parents, in connection with numerous 
 other exiles from the Pyrenean peninsula, had found 
 in the hospitable lands of the Dutch a refuge place 
 and home, where Israelites were permitted to openly 
 recant their forced adherence to Christianity and pro- 
 fess the religion of their fathers, for which they had 
 suffered and endured so much. When, therefore, in 
 his fifteenth year, barely having finished his talmud- 
 ical and secular education, young Baruch evinced a 
 skeptical tendency, worrying his teachers, Rabbi 
 Morteira, and the stern Chief-Rabbi Menasse ben 
 Israel with suspicious questions and doubting inter- 
 rogations, they looked with great concern upon the 
 precocious youth and warned him to desist from pur- 
 suing such trains of dangerous investigation. His 
 Latin tutor, the physician Van Ende, however, a 
 renowned linguist and himself a skeptic, who had 
 taken a special liking to the bright youth, encour- 
 aged him in the pursuit of negative philosophy and 
 opened to him the most celebrated writings in that 
 direction. The young student was accused of disre- 
 garding the laws of Moses, condemning the Talmud, 
 denying the immortality of the soul, and ridiculing 
 the reality of supernatural revelation and angelic 
 communications. 
 
 Publishing a number of heretical works, amongst 
 which the " Ethica " and the " Tractatus Theologico- 
 Politicus r ' immediately gave him the reputation of 
 a great philosopher, he was summoned before a 
 rabbinical tribunal, but anticipated excommunication 
 by formally withdrawing himself from the synagogue. 
 Neglecting the repeated citations of the Sanhedrim, 
 and after several threatenings and the offer of a pen- 
 sion if he would desist from his writings and teach- 
 ings, which undermined the barely resuscitated and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 455 
 
 reviving Judaism, at length in 1656 the " Cherem 
 Godol," the Anathema Marantha, was officially pro- 
 mulgated against him. It reads thus : " The 
 masters of the Mahamad (title of the Hebrew 
 synod of Holland, consisting of the rabbis and the 
 officers of the congregations,) make known to all that 
 some time ago information had reached us of the 
 wicked opinions and acts of Baruch Spinoza (de 
 Espinoza), and we in different ways and modes had 
 endeavored to withdraw him from his evil roads. 
 Since we, however, could not succeed in this, but on 
 the contrary received every day more proofs of his 
 heresy, which he exercised and taught, and everything 
 being proved by credible witnesses, he therefore has 
 been condemned for all this. Now in presence of 
 the Masters, ' Chachamin ' (sages), it is unanimously 
 decreed that said Espinoza be banned and cut off 
 from the community of Israel, as by these presents, 
 they have placed him in the following i Cherem ' : 
 " With concurrence of the angels and the verdict 
 of the saints, we ban, sever and maledict Baruch de 
 Espinoza, in accordance with the blessed Lord and 
 His sacred congregation, before the holy books of the 
 Torah and the six hundred and thirteen commands 
 which are contained therein, with the excommuni- 
 cation with which Joshua has banned the city of 
 Jericho ; with the curse by which Elisha has cursed 
 the youths ; with the maledictions which are recorded 
 in the law. Accursed be he by day and night; 
 accursed when he lies down and when he rises, in 
 his coming and his going. ' Adonoy ' may not pardon 
 him ! His wrath and vengeance be upon this man 
 and lay upon him all the maledictions which are 
 written in this book of the law. ' Adonoy 7 extinguish 
 his name from under the heavens, and separate the 
 evil from the community of Israel, with all the 
 curses of the firmament, which are writtten in the 
 
456 BEN BEOR. 
 
 book of the law. And all ye who cling to ' Adonoy,' 
 may ye all live. 
 
 " We warn you that nobody, orally or in writing, 
 shall hold intercourse with him ; nor do him favor ; 
 nor live with him under the same roof or within 
 four ells of his person ; nor read aught of writings 
 which he has made or written. 
 
 " Aera mundi 1656. Month of 6th of Av." 
 
 But the time had gone by when such flashes of 
 cold lightning had any special terrors. The excom- 
 municated philosopher, banished by request of his 
 foes from Amsterdam, had learned the art of polish- 
 ing lenses for the astronomers, and following this 
 precarious mode of earning a living, after traveling 
 hither and thither, found a home at last among 
 friends and admirers at the Hague. Declining 
 several offers of kindness for office or pension, he 
 endured the toils and sufferings of poverty, protract- 
 ing his labors until deep into the night. For months 
 he would not leave the room, following his manual 
 labor of polishing glass to gain a scant support, but 
 reveling in the luxury of creating a religio-ethical 
 system which even during his lifetime was titled by 
 his name. He died here, February 21, 1677, in the 
 prime of his manhood, buried in an unknown grave, 
 wept over by a few friends only, and under the male- 
 diction of men whose memory will be forgotten and 
 lost when the name of their victim shall live till the 
 trumpet ot resurrection brings the dead to life again. 
 
 Now, amidst this ebullition and the fermenting 
 process of the master spirits of these times, a coun- 
 terpoise must be found by the Anti-Messiah, neutral- 
 izing in some shape and to some extent the prodi- 
 gious influences their efforts would exercise among 
 the masses. More and more I, Ben Beor, was losing 
 my foot-hold in the mission of Wrong against 
 Right, Serfdom against Liberty, and Ignorance 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 457 
 
 against Enlightenment; so I determined to make 
 another grand concentrated effort to achieve my pur- 
 pose and demolish the victories gained so signally by 
 my adversaries. If it succeeded I might well defy 
 science, art, philosophy and literature, and laugh at 
 the Reformers and the Reformation. 
 
 I had hied to Constantinople to see if my labors 
 could not be brought to bear by some intrigue 
 to ruin the growing Perez Mendes colony. Here, 
 amidst my undermining schemes, I learned from a 
 half-crazed Jewish traveller, who called himself the 
 preacher Abraham Jachina, a curious story that 
 commended itself as a starting point for my future 
 plans. 
 
 Section III. Sabbathai Zevi. 
 
 There lived in the inconsiderable city of Smyrna 
 in the Levant a Jewish dealer in small wares and 
 poultry. His name was Mordechai Zevi. His stall 
 and residence formed one of the quaint hovels in 
 the street where most of his race dwelt. Late in 
 life had been born to him a third son. The mother 
 unfortunately died on the child seeing this world's 
 light. It being Friday, after the day of rest having 
 been ushered in, the father named the little newcomer 
 Sabbathai. The infant grew up under the care of 
 his nurse to unusual sturdy physical proportion and 
 precocious mental development, being able to walk 
 when six months old and speaking fluently after one 
 year. All the old cronies and wiseacres prophesied 
 great things for the babe's future. At five years he 
 had mastered the Hebrew language sufficiently to 
 commence the study of the Talmud. His principal 
 teacher was the then celebrated Rabbi Joseph Iskaja. 
 At ten years the boy received the honorable title of 
 " Chaver " (Bachelor), and was soon after introduced 
 
458 BEN BEOE. 
 
 into the mysterious and mystic lore of the Kabbala. 
 According to the custom of the country he was mar- 
 ried to a beautiful girl when yet a lad, but he showed 
 so little domestic inclination and neglected his child- 
 wife so constantly that she soon applied for a divorce 
 and was readily granted such by the authorities of 
 the synagogue. At twenty he was the finest and 
 most remarkable looking man in the neighborhood. 
 Like Saul of old he towered head and shoulders over 
 the people, his long black hair falling in natural 
 ringlets over his back and breast. An immense fore- 
 head, dark piercing eyes and well-proportioned, 
 finely chiseled features, with a full beard, gave him a 
 distinguished appearance. 
 
 A war between Turkey And Venice had made com- 
 merce in the Eastern metropolis insecure, and several 
 European houses, especially Dutch and English, 
 opened their mercantile bureaus at Smyrna. Morde- 
 chai Zevi became commercial agent for one of these, 
 and by promptness, industry and scrupulous honesty 
 soon prospered for himself and his employers. Now 
 the wealth of the doting father could supply all the 
 whimsical and extravagant notions of his already 
 famous son, who, at the age of eighteen, had been 
 honored by the " Beth Din " with the title of a 
 " Chacham " (Doctor of Divinity). He became an 
 ascetic, fasting, praying and seeking solitude. They 
 had married him for the second time, but his young 
 and comely spouse fared no better than the first, and 
 sought and obtained a divorce also. His renown 
 for sain tlin ess and oracular lore spread far and wide, 
 and was helped to extend by the father declaring 
 often and loud that the great success in his financial 
 operations was due as a blessing from heaven for the 
 piety and devotion of the God-chosen son. The 
 English merchants who came here to trade were 
 all pietistic dissenters, and brought with them the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 459 
 
 widespread belief of the coming of the millennium, 
 which, according to their leader's calculation from 
 the Apocalypse, was certainly to occur in the year 
 1666, to be especially distinguished by the Jews 
 returning in great glory to the Holy Land, there to 
 rebuild the temple and become the mightiest nation 
 of the world. Such fanatic reports reached Sab- 
 bathai Zevi, and finding in the mysticism of the 
 Book of Light (Sohar), the greatest of all cabalistic 
 writings, proof of this delusion, in one of his hallu- 
 cinated trances, which now occurred to the dreaming 
 enthusiast, he fancied himself selected as the " Mes- 
 siah ben David." With an assurance bordering on 
 madness he proclaimed suddenly this mission of 
 Israel's early redemption to his ever-growing train 
 of followers. The commotion became so great that 
 the college of rabbins, with the old teacher Joseph 
 Eskafa, pronounced the excommunication over the 
 now twenty-two year old pretender and his friends and 
 banished the whole crowd from the city. Nothing 
 had been heard since from Sabbathai Zevi. It was 
 reported that he sought refuge in a cave in Southern 
 Arabia, and it is more than likely that he there was 
 slain by some of the wandering tribes. But among 
 the people far and wide, Jewish, Christian and 
 Heathen, it was believed that he only abided his time, 
 and at its fullness he certaiuly would re-appear to 
 fulfill his peerless celestial mission. 
 
 " So far goes my story," said the preacher ; " but 
 I find," he added, "so much and such remarkable 
 resemblance in your stature and mien to the vanished 
 Smyrna Messiah that I actually took you at first 
 to be him. Two drops of water could not be more 
 similar to one another than is your appearance 
 to his." Meanwhile the excitement caused by the 
 expectation of the early re-appearance of the second 
 coming of Christ and his anointed prophet had 
 
460 BEN BEOR. 
 
 assumed abnormal proportions. "Verily, were I 
 in your place, nothing should prevent me from 
 assuming the glorious role. I have found lately this 
 apocryphal scroll in the ruins of the holy temple " 
 and here he drew from his kaftan a yellowed vellum 
 manuscript, which he read. It contained the follow- 
 ing prophecy : " I, the son of the patriarch Abraham, 
 immured for forty years in a cave, was in vain wait- 
 ing for the promised time of the miracles. Then 
 came to me a voice from heaven (Bath Kol) herald- 
 ing the period near at hand and saying, 'A. son will 
 be born in this world in the year 1626 (5386 A. M.) 
 in the hour of the coming Sabbath, wherefore his 
 name shall be called Sabbathai. He will demolish 
 the great Dragon, for he is the true Messiah who 
 shall conquer the world without warfare/ " 
 
 Nothing could have suited my scheme better to 
 overthrow the march of intelligence now rushing 
 over the continents, than the counter-play of rousing 
 to fever frenzy the teeming and easily excited 
 masses of the East and West. The misery of the 
 common herd of humanity, always verging on the 
 point of starvation ; the disgust prevailing among 
 the Gentiles, with their impotent idols and their ra- 
 pacious priesthood, ready to rush over to anything 
 that offered something more plausible and promising; 
 the angry excitement between the old and new church 
 in Christendom, which yet was prevailing upon every 
 inch of soil in Europe, and, no matter its outcome 
 and result, plunged the people deeper and deeper into 
 the mire of pauperism from which no religious 
 movement would extricate them and give them bread 
 and rights; the unparalleled and yet not ended 
 sufferings, oppressions and persecutions of the He- 
 brews, who kept the easily inflamed last hope of 
 their dispersion wide-awake, the ever-cherished 
 longing to return to the land of their forefathers, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGOEIA. 461 
 
 there to rebuild the holy temple and become once 
 more a nation of the world all these conditions 
 combined, united the Idolaters, the Christians and 
 Jews in being ripe for rising under the leadership of 
 the right man, into one great upheaval, to rush over 
 the earth with a cataclysm of fury which would engulf 
 the entire established order of society, state, and 
 religion. So, in connection with my new confeder- 
 ate, a most wily plotter, I started the great drama 
 that should at no distant day accomplish my all- 
 overwhelming purpose. Salonichi, a not far distant 
 city, full of dervishes, kabbalists and monks, was 
 chosen as the first scene for the prelude of our per- 
 formance. Jachini went thither and heralded the 
 early resurrection and re-appearance of the long dead 
 Messianic Sabbathai Zevi, and that he would enter 
 in great splendor and glory as his first resting place 
 at this renowned city. "Prepare!" the preacher 
 cried, " for the coming of the Messiah, when the long- 
 expected Star of Bethlehem shall reappear in the 
 heavens. [This event had been calculated by the 
 modern astronomers to occur in the now beginning 
 year 1666.] Assemble on the night of the Lord's 
 nativity and ye shall behold the sign of the coming 
 of the Eternal!" In consequence of his prophecy 
 the whole city turns out at dark of Christmas night, 
 Jachini standing in their midst upon a raised dais. 
 Every eye is directed to the sky. Suddenly at mid- 
 night the expected celestial guest breaks forth upon 
 the vision of the excited multitude. A scarlet, flam- 
 ing stellar body of the first magnitude lights up the 
 fleecy clouds, surrounding in silvery sheen the full 
 orbit of the moon, and at sight the masses send forth 
 in one great shout of exultation : "Hosannah! Ho- 
 sannah ! " 
 
 Presently the fanfares of cornet and trumpet- 
 blasts are heard from afar, and against the star-lit 
 
462 BEN BEOR. 
 
 sky arise the black outlines of a great multitude, 
 approaching in procession with a sea of torches to 
 the now wild city. The cry of " The Messiah hath 
 come ! " rends the air, and the now frenzied crowd 
 rushed forth to meet the triumphal entry of the 
 coming Redeemer. At the city gate the leader of 
 the procession halts, and by his order the scroll of 
 the law, the Torah, is brought from the holy ark of 
 the ancient synagogue, the crucifix and chalice from 
 the cathedral, and the golden horn from the mosque. 
 When all is ready, rabbis, priests, mueddzins, 
 dervishes and idol-prophets for the first time in 
 religious experience unite to perform by their pres- 
 ence and assistance the Wedding of the Law to the 
 anointed Messiah of the Lord. For days and 
 days fasting and feasting, prayers and jollifications 
 interchanged, and the report that the blessed Ben 
 David had arrived at last spreads like wildfire to 
 every point of the compass. "On to Jerusalem!" 
 soon became the cry, and the mob moved towards 
 the Holy Land, increasing as it proceeded onward. 
 Means for subsistence were furnished almost exclu- 
 sively by one infatuated millionaire, the Saraf 
 Bashi (mint-master and wool contractor) of Cairo, a 
 man with a wonderfully benevolent heart but a 
 muddled brain that had been distorted and inflamed 
 by the incessant study of the Kabbalah. This man, 
 whose name was Raphael Joseph Chelebi, as soon as 
 he learned of the doings in Salonichi, proceeded 
 there at once with a caravan of camels loaded with 
 untold treasures, and placed himself forthwith at 
 the head of the march to the Holy City. The people, 
 too, through whose lands the pilgrims pass have 
 been informed in advance of the glad tidings by 
 gaudily attired heralds, mounted on splendidly capari- 
 soned chargers. They bring provisions and provide 
 comforts, many of the inhabitants swelling the great 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 463 
 
 crowd moving eastward. At last the tumultuous 
 hordes arrive in Jerusalem. Here, too, everything 
 is prepared for their reception. Ignorance, poverty 
 and religious frenzy ruled supreme at that period in 
 the city of the Lord. Years of the most cruel 
 oppression had made the denizens of that once 
 favored seat of the Shechinah now a sink of super- 
 stition. Unlike the Crusaders who came as invaders 
 and foes, the Messianic crowds were received with 
 open arms as friends and deliverers. Sabbathai 
 moved forth like a mighty potentate and prince, sur- 
 rounded by a court of servile and devoted attend- 
 ants. A fine palace was selected for his residence ; 
 obsequious honors were paid him every time when 
 he showed himself in public. This occurred very 
 seldom, as he wisely preferred the mystery of retire- 
 ment. Even the foreign consuls and embassadors, 
 partly from curiosity, partly from some selfish 
 motives, called to do him honor and then sent their 
 exaggerated reports to their home governments. 
 Only the Vizier of the Sultan, who was the ruler of 
 the state, kept aloof and keenly watched the course 
 of events. A new phase now occurred, which gave 
 the already stirring affair new eclat and sham lustre. 
 
 Section IV. The Affianced of the Messiah. 
 
 During one of the periodical outbreaks against 
 the Hebrews, wherein generally numbers were slain 
 and the congregations dispersed, it happened in a 
 Polish city under rule of the inhuman general 
 Chonienicke that a little girl-waif, orphaned by the 
 massacre, was found by the Christians. They placed 
 her with the nuns of a Carmelite cloister. She was 
 about six years old then, and of her whole family 
 none was left but an elder brother, who found 
 refuge in Amsterdam, whence the boy had fled with 
 
464 BEN BEOR. 
 
 many others of these persecuted people. The found- 
 ling, bright and exceedingly handsome, was adopted 
 by the sisters to be raised and educated in the 
 Catholic faith. Her quaint, arch and affectionate 
 ways made her the favorite of her foster-mothers, 
 and in fact she ruled with her irresistible, cunning 
 ways the whole pious household. She retained 
 vividly the early impressions of 'her parental home, 
 and nothing that the nuns could do made her forget 
 these. So, often when reciting the "Ave" and 
 " Paternoster," which they taught her to repeat 
 morning, noon and eve, in the midst of her Latin 
 words she would cry out her " Sh'mah Israel," and 
 the little cheat never enjoyed a night's rest before 
 she had said her accustomed Hebrew prayers. 
 There was nothing left undone by her kind benefac- 
 tors to give her a fair and thorough education, and 
 she amazed her teachers by quick comprehension, 
 great memory and insatiable thirst for learning. 
 To this was added an eccentric and fantastical 
 disposition that filled her with dreams and illusions. 
 She grew into a rapturous, beautiful maiden, the 
 very type of oriental comeliness. A tall and com- 
 manding stature, cream-colored complexion, with 
 deep carmine waxen cheeks ; rosy lips, large dark 
 eyes with long fringed lashes and straight, full eye- 
 brows; a high forehead encircled with short wavy 
 curls which studded her well-rounded head like 
 clusters of blue-black grapes ; finely developed bust 
 and form such she appeared now, when sixteen, 
 preparing to take the veil, which was to occur 
 shortly. But it had not been willed so. One night 
 she disappeared from the cloister. In the morning 
 she was found by some of her co-religionists, a few 
 of whom had returned to their former home, in the old 
 Hebrew burial-place. She was dressed in her night 
 gown only and lay prostrate on the grave of her 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 465 
 
 parents. She declared to the astonished people that 
 in last night's sleep the spirit of her father had 
 appeared to her and had carried her to this spot. 
 Women were called and she showed them the bloody 
 traces of finger-nails on her waist and arms. More 
 remarkable still, she asserted that the spirit had 
 proclaimed to her before he vanished, at dawn of 
 light, these words : " Sarah, my daughter, thou art 
 to be the spouse of the Messiah ! " There was 
 extreme danger to the Jews who thus had found her, 
 to shelter a runaway from the convent, and yet they 
 had it not in their hearts to deliver one of their own 
 back into the hands of those who insisted upon her 
 conversion and immurement. So they secretly and 
 in disguise sent her to Amsterdam, delivering the 
 girl to her glad brother. Here she lived in ease and 
 comfort for one year, admired by all who saw her, 
 but repulsing the many wooers for her hand, con- 
 tinually asserting that she could only become the 
 wife of the u Ben David," and that in due time his 
 messenger would come to lead her to the fulfilment 
 of her heaven-prophesied destiny. Strange to say, 
 just at the expiration of the year since her arrival at 
 the Dutch capital, an ambassador from Sabbathai 
 Zevi arrived, demanding for his lord and master the 
 hand of the girl in marriage. He related that the 
 Messiah had been informed in a nightly vision of 
 the whereabouts of his future spouse, and had been 
 commanded to have her conducted to Jerusalem for 
 the marriage. The excitement caused by this event 
 was immense among all classes of people. 
 
 She departed in company with her brother and 
 without delay. Her journey resembled a triumphal 
 tour. Everywhere she was received with princely 
 honors. The inhabitants where she passed flocked 
 in crowds to see the chosen bride of the Messiah. 
 Thus she reached at last the gates of the Holy City. 
 
466 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Here she was met by a procession of the magnates 
 and grandees of the place, inclusive of an outpouring 
 of the citizens, a medley from all lands and quarters 
 of the globe. Bands of musicians preceded them; 
 a throne-chair had been provided, in which she was 
 lifted and carried to the palace and the waiting 
 groom, like a veritable queen. An arch of lotus 
 and palms had been erected at the portal. Here sat 
 Zevi surrounded by his bodyguard, awaiting the 
 coming of his affianced. As she approached the 
 stairs he rose and cried out, like one dazed, " Merris, 
 my veritable Merris ! " Impressing a kiss upon her 
 forehead, he led her to the throne. A more imposing 
 couple was never seen. The " Chacham Pashi " re- 
 ceived them. That official was dressed in the full 
 garb of the former high-priest the mitre on his head, 
 the golden breastplate suspended from his neck. 
 Proclamation was made by him that the now-to-be- 
 celebrated union was a spiritual consecration of the 
 lives of the august pair, that the fulfilment of man- 
 kind's redemption must be achieved by a complete 
 man in the welded nature of a perfect male and 
 female, as prophesied by Holy Writ. Joining their 
 hands together, placing iron rings in each of which 
 was set a priceless solitaire diamond on the forefinger 
 of both, and bestowing the Aaronic blessing with his 
 outstretched arms over their heads, he pronounced 
 them " husband and wife ! " They now retired amidst 
 the hosannahs and hallelujahs of the jubilant masses, 
 and for three days the city was given over to feasting, 
 dancing and carousing. No greater miracle could 
 have been wrought in the eyes of the people than 
 this wonderful coming of the bride and the union of 
 two imperial souls, fitted as if by decree of Provi- 
 dence for the unprecedented delusion of the age and 
 the continents. 
 
 The influence which now commenced to reveal 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 467 
 
 itself in the new life of this auspiciously connected 
 pair became visible within a very short time. The 
 man grave, decorous, stern and commanding 
 upheld firmly his celestial claim. The woman 
 sprightly, engaging and unusually attractive drew 
 to him by her beauty and interesting ways hosts of 
 admirers and devoted followers. She conquered as 
 much with her smiles as he with his dignity and 
 pretensions. They lived in separate apartments, 
 each one occupying a wing of the palace,- and never 
 met except at the hour for public audiences. A con- 
 fidential intercommunion was kept up between them 
 by a third personage, a most trusted and important 
 servant, Zevi's private secretary, the profoundly 
 learned and piously devoted Samuel Primo. Never 
 had mundane cause more faithful and apt manager 
 one who understood how to make the liveliest 
 propaganda for the agitation, surrounding it with a 
 sheen of dignity and glory and watching over his 
 master and mistress like a guardian angel; provid- 
 ing for every contingency and prepared for all re- 
 quirements. Imbued with an absolute belief in the 
 genuine mission of Sabbathai and his spouse, he 
 prized himself too happy to be permitted living in 
 constant companionship with the chosen of heaven, 
 and his unbounded enthusiasm inspired all who 
 came in contact with them with an equal fervor, 
 forming as it were a magic circle which widened and 
 extended by every day's experience. 
 
 Fearing hostile interference from the Governor of 
 Jerusalem, Emin Pasha, and believing it greatly 
 advantageous to remove with his august patrons to 
 new fields of glory, he planned and carried out in a 
 most regal way a journey to Smyrna, the birthplace 
 of the Messiah. A solid train of chariots, a long cav- 
 alcade of splendidly mounted men, and an endless 
 caravan of camels, led by bands of music, inter- 
 
468 BEN BEOB. 
 
 spersed with fifes and drums, moved in gallant array 
 westward. Amidst this brilliant procession rode 
 the hero of the day and his spouse in palanquins 
 draped with purple and gold, carried by docile, easy- 
 moving elephants. They were surrounded by a gor- 
 geously dressed bodyguard of two hundred men. 
 Heralds, furnished with silver trumpets, preceded 
 the procession and announced its coming for miles 
 ahead. Such splendor had not been witnessed in 
 the East since King Darius the Great moved from 
 Macedonia. Everywhere the populace turned out, 
 singing and praying, eager multitudes to behold the 
 coming of the Lord. As the gold-tipped minaret 
 spires of Smyrna came in sight, a spectacle met the 
 comers which perhaps has no parallel in reality 
 or fiction. Virtually the whole city had turned out 
 to meet them. Men, women and children, the rich 
 and the poor, the young and the old, had come in 
 holiday parade. The municipal authorities carried 
 between them the ancient father and the two older 
 brothers of Zevi. The ministers of the several 
 religions, dominant in these regions, followed next. 
 As the two hosts met, the hosannahs and acclama- 
 tions of frenzied joy rent the air. A grand jubilee 
 memorial service was held here in the open field, and 
 the ecstasy of the multitude was raised to the high- 
 est pitch. Towards evening the masses moved 
 forward, to arrive in the brilliantly illuminated city 
 at nightfall. Here the house of the Redeemer's 
 nativity had been transformed into a magnificent 
 palace, and the whole quarter changed to a metro- 
 politan avenue which resembled more a palm grove 
 and a flower garden than a street. It was wonderful 
 what the hand of man had accomplished with skill 
 and a profusion of wealth. That night there lived no 
 prouder man in all the world than was Samuel Primo. 
 Nor was there a more pitiful, abjectly miserable 
 
HISTORICAL, PHANTASMAGORIA. 469 
 
 wretch than the lion of the hour, the Messiah. He 
 had fallen violently in love with his wife. That 
 woman in her grave beauty and splendor, from 
 the moment of her arrival had, with the keen sense 
 of her extraordinary perception, looked through the 
 pretender, recognized the sham and hollowness of 
 the performances, and loathed and detested the man. 
 In public and to all appearances she showed him 
 divinest deference and profound respect, but on sev- 
 eral trials of amative approach her repulse was full 
 of venom and tiger-like hatred. Worst of all, the 
 tender passion of her heart, like a shadow-begotten 
 plant, will turn to daylight, so she was bent towards 
 the faithful, humble Primo, a passion realized by no 
 one but herself and her madly jealous husband. It 
 was the realization of my old curse. This domestic 
 calamity did not, however, interfere with the pompous 
 progress of events. 
 
 After a few days of rest, recuperation and organi- 
 zation, the active work for the campaign of the com- 
 ing reign of the " Ben David " commenced. The 
 machinery of a high and imposing court was set into 
 motion. Messengers with royal authority were sent 
 to all parts of the civilized globe, announcing the 
 arrival of the millennium ; these were especially com- 
 missioned to the largest Jewish congregations in 
 Europe. As if a mania had overpowered all reason, 
 they were received with all tokens of credence, and 
 the people everywhere went wild over the auspicious 
 news. Men of the highest standing, of culture, 
 learning and sagacity, were duped into the hallucina- 
 tion. Church and synagogue united to spread its 
 extent. Trade and commerce came to a standstill. 
 There was no longer credit ; there were no debtors. 
 The governments fell into the snare, and many high 
 officials became as crazily enthusiastic over the por- 
 tentous affair as the ignorant and easily gulled 
 
470 BEN BEOE. 
 
 people. The fact was that already highly colored 
 and exaggerated reports had reached Europe by the 
 ambassadors, consuls and commercial agents, which 
 tended towards the general ensuing commotion. 
 Everybody made ready for " The Day of Doom " 
 and the early re-establishment of the Kingdom of 
 God in Palestine. Foremost among the Hebrews 
 were the -communities of Amsterdam and Hamburg, 
 who went frantic over the news. Jubilees with 
 noisy music, dancing and frolicing in the houses of 
 prayer, castigations and fastings for the repentance 
 of sins, were the uninterrupted order of the day. 
 The printing presses worked day and night to pub- 
 lish the new messianic rituals, in which Sabbathai 
 as "King David" graced the frontispage. The 
 public gyrating and performances of sedate, earnest 
 and respectable people everywhere would under ordi- 
 nary circumstances have made it appear as if the 
 human mind had been dethroned and all had become 
 maniacs. Under the new regime the old order of 
 things was entirely reversed. The Talmudical and 
 Mosaic laws were declared no longer in force. The 
 strangest vagaries, the crazy teachings of the Kabba- 
 lah, took their place. Never before had the Anti- 
 Messiah's efforts to destroy the Torah come so near 
 its realization as just now, and this by the hands 
 of its own guardians and protectors. What the 
 Wandering Gentile could not achieve with fire, 
 sword, tears, suffering, persecution and death, seemed 
 now to come about by wile, delusion and super- 
 stition from within the very ranks of the faithful. 
 At the seat of his residence in Smyrna things went 
 on with equal success and ever -increasing fervor. 
 From far and near came ambassadors without num- 
 ber and of all creeds to hail the newly-arisen star. 
 Soon the " King of the Jews," as now ran his title, 
 received recognition and acknowledgment of fealty 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 471 
 
 from crowned heads and potentates . Pilgrims whose 
 hands were filled with treasures came from every 
 quarter of the globe to worship the holy sovereign. 
 It was reported that the representative of St. Peter in 
 Rome had sent a special nuncio to declare the Holy 
 Father's submission to his Eastern celestial peer. 
 
 On the first morning of the new year 1666 A. D., 
 the auspicious date that should fulfill the beginning 
 of the glad tidings, another remarkable scene was 
 enacted publicly from the portals of the renowned 
 palace. Upon a raised platform sat on their golden 
 thrones the king and queen of the new heavenly- 
 appointed realm. Before them were gathered the 
 representatives of the nations, and the neighborhood 
 was black with the various races of men. This day 
 the subdivision of the spiritual rulers of the globe 
 should be proclaimed to the world. Amidst the 
 blare of the trumpets and the fanfares of the cor- 
 nets sounding over the tumultuous uproar, went 
 forth the august edicts. Besides his own supreme 
 power over all the earth and his special claim over 
 the Dragon of Turkey, who was to be subdued with 
 song and music without the lifting of a sword, 
 twenty-six faithful servants were appointed as his 
 chief vice-regents over all the rest of mankind. The 
 lion's share was given to his brothers Elias and Joseph. 
 The first in his biblical namesake character was titled 
 "the king of kings"; the next in same capacity as 
 "King of Israel." Then came his faithful yet 
 secretly hated secretary, Samuel Primo; friend 
 Jachini, Raphael Joseph Chelibi of Cairo were not 
 forgotten. Even a common Jew tramp and beggar, 
 the lowliest man of Smyrna, Abraham Rubino, was 
 endowed with one of the Utopian crowns. None but 
 offspring of the chosen people were named for the 
 regal vacancies. All received titles of some royal 
 biblical celebrity. For a wonder, neither Gentile nor 
 
472 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Christian took umbrage at this. Was it not the 
 restoration of the ancient people of God ? It became 
 plausible that none but the seed of Abraham would 
 have share directly in his glorious work. 
 
 With this fanatical act the movement had reached 
 the acme of its glory. That self-same day the jour- 
 ney of conquest to Constantinople began. Prophe- 
 cies of the miracles and achievements soon to happen 
 were published in flaming placards to the faithful. 
 The hour was foretold in which the anointed of 
 the Lord should make his victorious entry into 
 the city of the golden horn. The voyage had to 
 be made by sea. An ample number of ships had 
 been provided. The star-studded pennon of the Re- 
 deemer was hoisted over a royal craft. Every one 
 who list might go, but by special command no 
 weapon of any kind was allowed on board of the 
 armada. The conquests to be achieved were those 
 of peace and good-will. So they sailed as the Star 
 of Bethlehem appeared in the sky. A terrific storm, 
 however, arose in the Bosphorus and threw the 
 vessels on a lonely spot bordering the Dardanelles. 
 
 The Sultan's government had been apprised of the 
 revolutionary doings of Sabbathai Zevi and watched 
 his proceedings with anxious attention. The Mendes 
 colony in Constantinople held aloof from the popular 
 infatuation, and keeping well informed of its prog- 
 ress, no doubt kept the authorities posted of what was 
 going on. The Grand Vizier Achmed Kopreli, a 
 sagacious, stern and determined man, was entrusted 
 by the Serail to watch over the enthusiasts and crush 
 them if possible with one blow at the first opportu-, 
 nity. Knowing their coming by water, he had sent 
 out a well-armed maritime expedition with orders to 
 destroy the ships and to bring all who escaped drown- 
 ing loaded with chains as captives into his presence. 
 When therefore the storm-tossed ships from Smyrna 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 473 
 
 foundered, their passengers found themselves in the 
 hands of the Turkish men-of-war, who had watched 
 for them and here surprised the entire host. It was 
 a sorry spectacle to see the proud, stalwart Messiah 
 loaded with heavy irons, and many wept as he was 
 led to the hold of the commander's ship to isolated 
 imprisonment. Disenchanted Sarah was perhaps 
 the most indifferent spectator. She had foreseen that 
 something of this nature must ultimately happen to 
 burst the over-inflated bubble. This strange-natured 
 woman spent most of her time henceforth in consol- 
 ing the almost despairing Prinao. The captive Jews 
 were landed first in a small suburb of the metropo- 
 lis to give them a chance to celebrate their now 
 approaching Sabbath. Next Sunday morning they 
 were escorted by land to Constantinople. Here Zevi 
 was publicly flagellated, and he cowardly owned to 
 the examining magistrate, Mustapha Pasha, that he 
 was none else but a travelling rabbi who had come 
 from Jerusalem to gather alms. It was not his fault, 
 he added, that the people made so much of him. He 
 was sent after due process to the fortress of Abydos 
 on the Dardanelles as a prisoner of state. His 
 quasi-wife and secretary were permitted to accom- 
 pany him. The rest of his still faithful followers 
 were permitted to depart to their homes, but many 
 lingered about awaiting some miraculous deliver- 
 ance. Zevi was treated leniently and with an un- 
 wonted and unexpected generosity by the Sultan. 
 In consequence the arrant traitor entered upon new 
 schemes and machinations to revive his waning cause. 
 He once more assumed the role of a Messiah. From 
 all parts of the globe Jewish pilgrims came to see the 
 captive lion, in whom they still had faith. All the 
 misfortunes of his late experience were prophetically 
 the necessary concomitants to his final mission. At 
 the latest within two years this would be achieved 
 
474 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and the Kingdom of Israel in the Holy Land re- 
 established in greater glory than ever before. Pre- 
 vious, however, the Torah and the Talmud must be 
 totally abolished. Despite of this anomalous decree, 
 the orthodox Hungarian and Polish Hebrews became 
 his warmest adherents. These had long since dab- 
 bled in the mysteries of the Kabbalah, and lived now 
 in such misery and misfortune under their cruel op- 
 pressions that anything which promised relief was 
 acceptable for a hope of betterment. Among the 
 fanatics a sect was established by the name of their 
 leader the Sabbatharians. They steadily increased 
 in numbers and influence. The tumult abroad had 
 either not ceased or was revived with renewed vigor 
 by messengers and proclamations. A formal govern- 
 ment and court was re-established at Abydos with 
 connivance of the subservient castellan, whose eyes 
 were blinded by golden gifts. The agitation in the 
 larger continental cities continued with unabated 
 fury, and this among all religious denominations. 
 The news of the incarceration of the Ben David 
 either had not reached them or was not believed. 
 But the overstrung-, artificial excitement under so 
 unfavorable circumstances, with the hero in confine- 
 ment, could not long remain a secret at the head- 
 quarters of the Sultan. When information reached 
 him, a consultation took place between Mahomed IV., 
 the Chief Mufti Wanni, and the court physician 
 Didon, a Jewish proselyte to the Moslem faith. 
 After long deliberation it was agreed to give the arch 
 disturber of the peace choice between death and ac- 
 ceptance of the Islam. A messenger (Tschansch) 
 with troops was sent to Abydos. He first dispersed 
 the mob that had gathered here in immense numbers 
 to do reverence to their idol; then they took the 
 prisoner and departed with him to the capital. Now 
 he was met by the court physician, informed of his 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 475 
 
 sentence and urged to abjure his faith. "If this is 
 refused," the wily advocate of conversion added, 
 " burning torches will be bound around thy body 
 and then set afire; thou wilt be whipped through 
 the streets until life is consumed." But it did not 
 need these threats. The pseudo-Messiah had already 
 made up his mind. How could the exultant, ex- 
 pectant world, and especially the deluded Hebrews, 
 be made now more chagrined, disorganized and 
 shamed than if their boasted Redeemer in sight of 
 all the people submitted to the demand of the Sul- 
 tan and became pusillanimously a convert to Allah 
 and his Prophet? Consternation and chaos would 
 overtake civilization, reform and learning. A 
 greater blow could not well be dealt to them all. So 
 it was not hard for me, the Ben Beor, to decide what to 
 choose. My resolution being made known, the Chief 
 Mufti waived all preliminaries, and the ceremony of 
 conversion was publicly and with great pomp and 
 display performed at the principal mosque of the 
 capital. The great Ben David had become a little 
 dervish of the Moslem faith. 
 
 Sarah and Primo were present at the humiliating 
 spectacle. The woman was not surprised at the 
 craven action of the would-be Messiah. She had 
 looked him so through and through, was so fully 
 convinced of his cowardice and villainy, that the farce 
 here performed was to her but a fit climax to the 
 comedy which had preceded. Primo, however, was 
 livid with rage. His faith and trust in the chosen 
 of the Lord had remained firm to the last. He was 
 convinced that at the final moment even, his master 
 would raise his right hand and, by bringing down the 
 wrath of heaven, smite the captors and revilers from 
 head to foot. But as Zevi permitted himself like a 
 patient lamb to be led to the golden crescent, as he 
 himself threw down the crown from his head and 
 
476 BEN BEOR. 
 
 with his own hand changed it for the white turban 
 of the infidels, Primo swooned away and had to be 
 carried out of the holy place. By Sarah's direction 
 he was taken to the Mendes colony. Here under 
 her tender care the nearly heartbroken man soon 
 revived. Thus far he had withstood all blandish- 
 ments and seductive graces of the woman, now his 
 nurse. His great reverence and awe for his former 
 master did not permit him to raise his eyes in long- 
 ing even to the sacred wife. He knew that she dis- 
 loyally had placed herself repeatedly in his way with 
 such tokens of affection as could not be well misin- 
 terpreted. He was aware that there was but the 
 coldest and most formal relation between the strange 
 pair, but he had steeled his heart like unto flint 
 against harboring the faintest feelings of treason 
 against the august person of the Messiah. Now that 
 the veil was lifted and the base idol was shattered, 
 he no longer resisted the long suppressed, passionate 
 inclinations of his affections. It was no hard wooing 
 and winning. The two, who seemed to be made for 
 one another, were shortly after married, stayed at the 
 colony in contented retirement, and a happier pair 
 was not known to live among the here prosperous 
 Israelites. 
 
 The ridiculous Messianic denouement and catas- 
 trophe was indeed a great shock to the disenchanted 
 nations and people. For some time there were thou- 
 sands who would not believe the humiliating reports. 
 They asserted that these were the malignant work of 
 revilers and slanderers. But the truth had to be 
 accepted at last. While the recoil was like a stab in 
 the heart of the faithful, yet, the first convulsive 
 pang over, cool judgment and sagacious measures 
 everywhere brought order out of chaos, and the dam- 
 age wrought, though great, was neither fatal nor last- 
 ing. Wise and conciliatory measures were adopted 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 477 
 
 by the secular authorities. The clergy everywhere 
 united to efface as much as possible the memory of 
 the delusion, and the rabbins ordained that excom- 
 munication should be pronounced against any one 
 who taunted or reviled a former adherent to the 
 folly. Within a decade, Time, with her all-healing 
 hand, had spread her soothing shadows over the 
 scars left by the wound civilization had received in 
 this wild eruption, and soon thereafter it was re- 
 membered only as an inexplicable vagary of history. 
 The Torah, the law of God and Moses, survived 
 unscathed to live, to save and to enlighten. Only 
 in the dark and superstitious hamlets and villages of 
 benighted Hungary and Poland the Sabbatharian 
 sects vegetated and groped in a blind existence for 
 years and years to come. 
 
 And what of the false Messiah? When the first 
 excitement of his conversion was over, all reports to 
 the contrary, he disappeared from the scene of his 
 late exploit. Several pretenders tried in and by his 
 name to renew some scheme to excite their contem- 
 poraries with revived reports of the Redeemer being 
 on hand, and that he was to arise now from the 
 golden-horned minarets of the prophet Mahomet. 
 But the real Anti-Messiah, the genuine Wandering 
 Gentile, disappeared from here in order to continue 
 his unceasing work of malediction against Enlight- 
 enment, Right, Truth and Liberty in other zones 
 and climes. 
 
478 BEN BEOR. 
 
 PHANTASMAGORIA XXII. 
 
 THE CLIMAX: FREEDOM TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 Section I. A Resume. 
 
 It must not be believed that the hateful utterances 
 of so illustrious a man as old Martin Luther passed 
 without serious results to the Hebrews. It stirred 
 anew spasmodic ebullitions of cruel outrages over 
 the fatherland, for which the great Reformer be- 
 came responsible. Nor was now the presence of 
 the Anti-Messiah required to start ugly passions 
 into active operation. The clannishness, ignorance 
 and bigoted notions of the medieval all-prevailing 
 Trades-Unions (Zuenfte) were as eager to commit 
 acts of violence as any other agency possibly could 
 be. Notable instances of their inhuman perform- 
 ances were the expulsion of the Jews from the free 
 city of Frankfurt-on-the-Main in the year 1614, 
 under the leadership of a notorious master-baker, 
 Yincennes Fatmilk, and a similar extensive one in 
 the city of Worms, under the auspices of a petty law- 
 yer named Doctor Chemnitz, both agitating about the 
 same time. There is no necessity of relating the 
 details of such occurrences enacted by the scum of 
 the German people. They all resemble one another 
 in cruelty and wanton destruction. The fact must, 
 however, be noted, which became prominent among 
 the lawless uproar, that the better classes of society 
 did not now look on with indifference, but in many in- 
 stances commiserated and helped the hunted victims. 
 The authorities, imperial as well as municipal, inter- 
 ceded with the strong arm of the law, and visited 
 the offenders with heavy fines or capital punish- 
 ment. Order was thereby to some extent restored. 
 All these circumstances could not prevail on me to 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 479 
 
 tarry on these grounds, no matter how necessary my 
 presence might be for the suppression of religious and 
 political progress. Too long had I stayed in the 
 Orient with that futile escapade of the Sabbathai 
 Zevi affair. My presence was cryingly demanded in 
 more northern regions of the Western Continent. I 
 had carelessly neglected to look after the headlong 
 march of civilization on the Albion Islands. 
 Thither I hied now with all possible speed. A 
 resume of the affairs there will explain the danger 
 to my cause in this region. 
 
 The British populace has ever been difficult to 
 manage. They are a sturdy and aggressive people. 
 When scarcely emerging from the state of semi-bar- 
 barism they had, as early as 1215 A. D., wrested 
 from their tyrant king John, called Lackland, 
 the foundation of national liberty, the peerless 
 Magna Charta, with its supreme provision for per- 
 sonal freedom, culminating in the famous writ of 
 " habeas corpus." They had during the Middle 
 Ages, despite of all internal dissensions between the 
 clans and tribes and the continual external wars, 
 created and maintained the supreme right to repre- 
 sentation in the law-making and taxing powers of 
 the two houses of Parliament. From their midst 
 had sprung during these often turbulent periods the 
 grandest results in art, science, philosophy and liter- 
 ature. England stands out as the first nation for 
 whom was made a translation of the Bible in the 
 vernacular, under James L, 1616. This was only 
 possible by the successful introduction of the art of 
 printing as early as 1474. Although they had, in 
 conformity with the ruling prejudices of the age, 
 persecuted and expelled the Jews from the entire 
 dominion in the year 1290 under Edward L, yet 
 thanks to the efforts of the great Rabbi Menasseh 
 ben Israel, who came over from Amsterdam in 1655 
 
480 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and pleaded in their behalf, by the progress of civili- 
 zation, they were for the first time after these many 
 years legally permitted to return and find an asylum 
 with nearly full rights of citizenship. Except in the 
 conquered and ever-maltreated Ireland, the Church 
 of Rome had never any great supremacy among the 
 Anglo-Saxons and Scots, and her power was over- 
 thrown entirely almost contemporaneously with the 
 Reformer Martin Luther in Germany. This occurred 
 during the reign of Henry VIII., about the year 1532. 
 What elsewhere was the work of the people, ema- 
 nated in Great Britain from the throne and the 
 nobility. Two women were at the bottom of the 
 whole movement The profligate king had mar- 
 ried his deceased brother's wife, Catherine, a 
 daughter of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and 
 Isabella. He soon tired of her and fell in love with 
 the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Religious scruples were 
 the pretext for asking Pope Clement VII. to grant 
 a divorce from Catherine. This being promptly 
 refused and a marriage with Anne forbidden, the 
 enamored king defied the Holy Father, had his 
 creatures, under the first Protestant Archbishop 
 Cranmer, pronounce the hated matrimonial alliance 
 annulled and the marriage with Boleyn sanctioned. 
 But the Pope remained firm. The unscrupulous 
 king out of revenge convened Parliament. This, to 
 please their monarch, subserviently annulled the 
 papal authority over the British Islands and declared 
 the English royal majesty to be henceforth the head 
 of the Church. They thus joined the forces of the 
 German Reformation. But it was in form only. 
 For the schism on the island resembled the power 
 of Rome, with the only difference that the King at 
 home exercised exactly the power of the Pope 
 abroad. From the start it could be seen that this 
 religious disruption was paramount to a political 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 481 
 
 revolution also. It became patent that this organic 
 movement, which took place with such violent and 
 turbulent consequences, became the centre of re- 
 bellion, which must spread abroad until, sooner or 
 later, the old theory of government with the right 
 of the king to rule by divine origin was destroyed or 
 modified in every civilized state of the world. 
 
 As if by providential interposition, the haughty 
 Spaniard, under the monstrous tyrant Philip II., 
 should find his downfall in the gigantic effort to 
 crush by his navy, fancied all-powerful, called the 
 " Armada," his rival and hated foe, the matchless 
 heroine Elizabeth. The intent to restore Catholi- 
 cism on the English throne was foiled by a raging 
 storm in the Channel. The thirst for revenge, 
 because the British queen had refused Philip's offer 
 of marriage, remained unappeased by the courage of 
 the brave captain Lord Howard of Effingham and 
 his gallant sailors. And the wrath of fate was 
 visited upon the ill-advised and malconducted 
 maritime expedition, when the bulky, unmanageable 
 caravals of Spain found their graves amidst the 
 reefs and shoals of Scotland and Ireland. Eternal 
 justice executed here the 'sentence of compensation 
 upon doomed Spain, levelling her might and power, 
 never to rise again, against outraged humanity. 
 Henceforth " Britannia ruled as the mistress of the 
 sea." Such was the record of 1588. 
 
 Ponderous events followed sharply in the now 
 united three kingdoms, culminating in the over- 
 whelming episode which transpired not more than 
 fifty years after the great Elizabethan reign, under 
 her second successor Charles I. The struggle of 
 this despotic and overbearing king with Parliament 
 an arbitrary sovereign against his liberty-loving 
 people, led the monarch ultimately to the execu- 
 tioner's block, crushing with his downfall and death 
 
482 BEN BEOR. 
 
 the monarchy, and raising the republic with the 
 supremely strong and noble Oliver Cromwell at the 
 head of the newly established commonwealth. But 
 that the people here, as elsewhere, proved to be too 
 unripe for self-government; but that their frenzied 
 sectarian strifes divided and disunited their omnipo- 
 tent strength, all would have been over with the 
 thrones and monarchs, and universal democracy 
 might have taken the place of the political govern- 
 ment. As it was, the republic proved an ephemeral 
 episode, like a lightning flash in the dark history of 
 despotism. The death of Charles and the audacity 
 of the Protector Cromwell were avenged by the res- 
 toration of the throne with a new king, accompanied 
 by the cruel consequences of a restored royalty. In 
 this, historical events passed for a long time. 
 
 All was not lost yet for Ben Beor, the Anti-Mes- 
 siah, as he landed on the shores of Albion shortly 
 after George III. had ascended the British throne in 
 1760. Truly affairs looked squally and boisterous, 
 but the most threatening clouds came from across the 
 ocean. There a new world had arisen. Christopher 
 Columbus had primarily discovered it. After sail- 
 ing out with his three insignificant caravals on that 
 momentous third day of August, 1492, and after 
 twice repeating his successful voyages of discovery, 
 he had given to the world and to his sovereigns a 
 new continent, glorious America. Perfidious Ferdi- 
 nand and Isabella on his third return loaded him 
 with chains of a common felon. He sank into his 
 grave heartbroken by the base ingratitude of his 
 royal patrons and the world at large. Not even his 
 ashes were permitted to find a resting place either 
 in his native Genoa or in the soil of his adopted 
 country ; but after being carried from one place to 
 another in Spain, they were at last shipped to St. 
 Domingo and then to Havana, there across the ocean 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 483 
 
 to find a last resting place. While even* deprived 
 the honor of having the country of his discovery 
 known by his name, Americas Vespucio snatching 
 that privilege from him, yet in the annals of humanity 
 there is no brighter and more glorious record than 
 that left behind him for time and ages. The ingrate 
 Ferdinand could not refuse to erect a marble statue 
 to his memory and inscribe thereon : " A Castilla 
 y a Leona nuevo mundo dio colon." (To Castile 
 and Leon, Columbus gave a new world.) 
 
 Spain remained, however, not long in exclusive 
 possession of the newly acquired territory. France, 
 Portugal, Holland, and especially England, sent their 
 bold mariners across the ocean, there to discover new 
 lands, plant colonies and introduce in them Euro- 
 pean vices, cruelties, intolerance and bloody scenes 
 of the home countries. The natives, whom they 
 called Indians, were mostly hospitable and brave 
 tribes. Some of these, especially the Aztecs, vied in 
 refinement and civilization with their lately arrived 
 invaders; yet they were maltreated, plundered and 
 goaded into bloody warfare, and many were utterly 
 exterminated. The rough adventurers who came 
 here first were, however, soon superseded by a dif- 
 ferent class of people. As the news spread abroad 
 of the extensive, fertile and beautiful hemisphere 
 across the Atlantic, the oppressed and persecuted of all 
 lands flocked thither to find liberty of conscience 
 and new homes. A large number of Huguenots from 
 France took ships for the southern portion of Middle 
 America "and settled in the States called South and 
 North Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. They 
 brought with them their French habits, education 
 and refinement, and flourished soon in all their colo- 
 nies. The hunted Puritans of England and adjoining 
 countries fled Westward also, and, after successfully 
 crossing the ocean, inhabited the more northern 
 
484 BEN BEOR. 
 
 regions. - Their colonies, too, after many hardships 
 and struggles, became extensive and prosperous, 
 maintaining and perpetuating the distinctive char- 
 acteristics of their nativities. These settlements 
 growing into majestic proportions, remained nomi- 
 nally under rule and control of the Old World. But 
 governments from abroad for these distant lands 
 meant nothing except devastating wars between rival 
 monarchies, carried on here at the woful expense of 
 the settlers ; the sending of the most arrogant and 
 objectionable aristocrats representing the far-away 
 thrones; the exacting of oppressive taxes and the 
 harassing troubles heaped upon trade, commerce 
 and the development of natural resources. These 
 galling objections had made themselves bitterly felt 
 of late in the wide extent of the British possessions, 
 ranging now from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 Nothing but the iron hand of veriest despotism could 
 keep the distant subjects much longer in subjection. 
 At this juncture I e'ntered upon the auspicious scene. 
 Information had reached London of great discon- 
 tent and even lawless acts by the several Trans- 
 Atlantic settlers against the policy of the home gov- 
 ernment. The newly incoming administration was 
 resolved upon stringent measures to keep the colo- 
 nies in strict subjection. The peculiar character of 
 the new king fitted him exactly for carrying out this 
 despotic policy. Up to the time of his ascending the 
 throne, he had resided with his mother, the Princess 
 Dowager of Wales. George II. had cherished a 
 deep antipathy for that lady, and this feeling was 
 cordially reciprocated by her. By these circum- 
 stances the future heir to the realm was excluded 
 from the court of his grandfather, which brought the 
 calamity of the neglect for his proper education. 
 Secluded thus, the young Crown Prince was left 
 comparatively ignorant of the kingdom's political 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. ' 485 
 
 condition; and in general he had little familiarity 
 with those questions which should form the supreme 
 issues as soon as he became the sovereign of the 
 mighty kingdom. In addition to this, his disposi- 
 tion was arbitrary and crafty, and the methods which 
 he adopted, recalled those which brought about the 
 downfall of the Stuarts. The fact is everywhere ap- 
 parent that an hereditary taint of insanity mani- 
 fested itself early m his career, growing finally to 
 complete madness. With such a person at the head 
 of aifairs it was not impossible to hurl, by acts of 
 violence, proud England, with her love for freedom 
 and independence, into the vortex of destruction and 
 regain the mastery of the old absolute power of the 
 Throne and the Church. True, these things must be 
 brought about by cunning, wile and mischievous 
 stratagem ; but these were the very essence of my 
 destructive, scheming nature, and so I set to work 
 to get my hands into the well-planned work. I 
 found, however, great obstacles with the ministry 
 which just then guided the aifairs of the state. 
 
 William Pitt, a man of immense brain, firmness 
 of character and almost prophetic foresight, held the 
 helm in the Department of War, and from there, at 
 the zenith of his influence, resisted the wishes and 
 ambitions of the King. His Majesty was from the 
 beginning of his reign possessed with the wild notion 
 that the royal prerogative had declined in dignity and 
 extent of power since the Cromwell revolution ; that 
 it was now little more than an empty name, and that 
 it was his special mission and duty to become an ab- 
 solute sovereign by divine grace. Inspired by such 
 a hazardous idea, he forced his great minister to 
 resign office in October, 1761. With this to me 
 fortunate event there went also in retirement a per- 
 son whose innate shrinking and timid nature alone 
 has kept his name in oblivion, contemporaneous 
 
486 BEN BEOR. 
 
 history omitting it entirely from her records, being 
 too much engaged, as is her wont, in perpetuating the 
 follies and guiles of puerile, despotic dynasties, 
 arrogant courtiers and both their shameful lusts and 
 amative intrigues. The character, so ignominiously 
 slighted, was a certain Perez Mendes, a direct off- 
 spring from the remarkable Jew colony in Constan- 
 tinople. Wheryi youth he had received, under care 
 of his illustrious Turkish relatives, the highest edu- 
 cational advantages, both spiritual and secular, and 
 was sent to the University of Bologna, then the 
 foremost seat of learning in Europe. After acquir- 
 ing with distinguished honors the title of Doctor and 
 Rabbi, he went on an extensive tour of continental 
 travels, which brought him to London. Here, by 
 reason of his great learning, notwithstanding an 
 innate and morbid modesty, he found himself soon 
 within a circle of the foremost savants, becoming a 
 special favorite with the then celebrated and influential 
 Sam Jonson, who introduced the young man to the 
 prime minister Pitt. This great statesman, with his 
 keen knowledge of human character, took a strong 
 liking for the Jew and appointed him as his private 
 secretary. In this capacity the whole work of state 
 passed through his hands. The world will never 
 know what share such subordinate servants had and 
 have in the lustrous fame of their superiors. 
 Happy is certainly the great commander who wins 
 trusted and capable lieutenants to comprehend his 
 plans and carry out successfully the details of the 
 master's conceptions. Such a person was Mendes. 
 In the midst of his never-ceasing occupation he yet 
 found time to woo and win the hand and heart of a 
 most estimable lady, who, alas ! at the birth of their 
 daughter Judith, made the husband a disconsolate 
 widower and the infant a motherless orphan. Men- 
 des idolized the child. She grew up to maidenhood. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 487 
 
 He bestowed all his devotion and learning on the 
 education of the girl, who developed soon into a 
 tenderly affectionate daughter, beautiful in counte- 
 nance and a mind bright far beyond her years. She 
 was now fourteen years old and just budding into 
 womanhood, when I, Ben Beor, for the first time 
 visited their home by invitation of the father, with 
 whom I had become personally acquainted and soon 
 had established intimate relations. At the sight of 
 the girl I was perfectly staggered. She was an 
 identical copy in feature and form of that ideal 
 woman whose vision had haunted me through all 
 the ages a reproduced Merris, the queenly daugh- 
 ter of Pharaoh. At once brilliant and profound, she 
 evinced such piety, devotion and religious trust of 
 an ether ial, poetical nature as to surround her almost 
 with a halo of angelic sanctity. She had never min- 
 gled much with the world, and her innocence and 
 artlessness were really refreshing in comparison with 
 the bold and painted creatures who filled the courts 
 and the aristocratic households among whom I had 
 mingled of late. When the father acquainted the 
 child of the dismissal of the ministry and his own 
 lost situation, it was wonderful to see how her kind, 
 loving words and fond caresses filled the man with 
 consolation and resignation. 
 
 Sir John Granville now came into power as the 
 head of the ministry. He proved a submissive tool 
 in the hands of the king, with little force of charac- 
 ter, of ordinary capacity only, naturally indolent and 
 inert, leaving most of the work of his great office to 
 his subordinates. By high recommendation to His 
 Majesty and the new minister I had been chosen as 
 successor to Mendes, in consequence of which I 
 became acquainted and then intimately associated 
 with this remarkable person, my predecessor, with 
 whom I thenceforth kept up continual social rela- 
 
488 BEN BEOE. 
 
 tions. Frequently present at interviews between 
 George III. and Granville, I had in several instances 
 audaciously permitted myself to strongly favor the 
 opinions of the king against the mild objections of 
 the minister, and was rewarded for' this by the 
 royal smiles and frequent appeals to my opinion in 
 their controversies. It all concerned the policy to 
 be adopted and enforced in the American colonies. 
 I soon found the sovereign the very person to bring 
 about a conflict with the interoceanic possessions. 
 He certainly was one of the worst monorchs to fill 
 the throne in the pending crisis. Hk notion of gov- 
 ernment was altogether despotic. Stubborn, stupid 
 and thick-headed, the principles of human rights as 
 modern civilization had developed were entirely 
 wanting in him. H: could not conceive a magnani- 
 mous project, nor had ho force of character sufficient 
 to carry out his evil ones. With such a king and 
 ever-subservient ministry, it was not likely that the 
 descendants of the Puritan Pilgrims and Hugue- 
 nots would get on smoothly. 
 
 Section II. The Coming Crisis. 
 
 Oppressive measures for the Americans were the 
 pet schemes of the British crown The half-de- 
 mented king prevailed upon hits minister, and he 
 upon parliament, which plunged headlong into this 
 course. A number of acts destructive of colonial 
 liberty were readily passed. The first of these was 
 the Importation Act. It had existed since 1733, 
 but was evaded by the merchants. By its terms 
 heavy taxes were laid on sugar, molasses and rum 
 when imported. It further provided that no iron 
 works should be erected abroad ; the manufacture of 
 steel was especially forbidden. Thus far these stat- 
 utes were dead letters, disregarded and denounced 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 489 
 
 by the people across the Atlantic as unjust and 
 obnoxious. In 1761, with the new incoming Gran- 
 ville ministry a strenuous effort was made to enforce 
 the hated la\YS. The courts in America were author- 
 ized to issue to the King's officers search-warrants, 
 called "writs of assistance." Armed with these, 
 any petty constable might enter wherever he list, 
 searching for and seizing goods suspected of having 
 evaded the duty. In 1763 the officers of the admi- 
 ralty were authorized to seize and confiscate all ves- 
 sels engaged in the unlawful trade. 
 
 A great number of merchantmen having cargoes 
 of sugar and wine were thus attached. The colonial 
 trade with the West Indies was nearly destroyed. 
 All remonstrance from the oppressed was in vain. 
 Next year, in 1764, a far more oppressive measure, 
 galling to the very brink of revolt, was passed by 
 Parliament. By direct command from His Majesty, 
 which I, as private secretary of the ministry of 
 foreign affairs, brought to the House on the 10th 
 day of March, a resolution was adopted by the* 
 Commons that it would be proper to charge certain 
 " stamp duties " on all public documents emanating 
 from the dependencies. It was announced that a 
 bill embodying the principles would be prepared by 
 the ministry and be presented at the next session o'f 
 Parliament. The framing of this law became my 
 task. The news of this proposed measure reached 
 America and caused there universal excitement and 
 indignation. Political meetings became the order 
 of the day. Orators of unusual force stirred the 
 masses to fever heat. The newspapers, already 
 great engines for forming public opinion, teemed 
 with rousing arguments against the proposed bill. 
 Resolutions were passed by the people of almost 
 every town. Formal remonstrances were addressed 
 to the King and to Parliament. Agents were sent 
 
490 BEN BEOR. 
 
 to London in hope of preventing the passage of 
 the act. 
 
 Early in March, 1765, the Stamp Act was passed. 
 In the House of Commons it received a majority of 
 five to one. In the House of Lords the vote was 
 unanimous. Here is the text of the act as submitted 
 and legalized : 
 
 THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 " Whereas, By an act made in the last session of 
 Parliament several duties were granted, continued 
 and appropriated towards defraying the expenses of 
 defending, protecting and securing the British Colo- 
 nies and Plantations in America ; and whereas it is 
 of first necessity that provision be made for raising 
 revenue within your Majesty's dominions in Amer- 
 ica, towards defraying the said expenses, we, your 
 Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Com- 
 mons of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, 
 ^ave therefore resolved to give and grant unto your 
 Majesty the several rights and duties hereinafter 
 mentioned, and do most humbly beseech your 
 Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted 
 by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with 
 the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and 
 temporal, and Commons in this present Parliament 
 assembled, and by the authority of the same, that 
 from and after the 1st day of November, 1765, there 
 shall be raised, levied, collected and paid unto his 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors, throughout the 
 Colonies and Plantations in America, which now 
 are or hereafter may be under the dominion of his 
 Majesty, his heirs and successors. 
 
 " 1st. For every skin of vellum or parchment or 
 sheet of paper on which shall be engrossed, written 
 or printed any declaration, plea, replication, rejoin- 
 der, demurrer, or other pleading, or any copy thereof, 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 491 
 
 in any court of law within the British Colonies and 
 Plantations in America, a stamp duty of three pence. 
 [Here follow fifty-three other provisions of stamp 
 duties on all kinds of writings, documents, playing 
 cards, dice, newspapers and pamphlets, almanacs 
 and contracts.] 
 
 "55. Finally, the produce of all the aforemen- 
 tioned duties shall be paid into his Majesty's treasury, 
 and there be held in reserve, to be used from time to 
 time by the Parliament for the purpose of defraying 
 the expenses necessary for the defense, protection and 
 security of the said Colonies and Plantations." 
 
 The news of the hateful thing swept over America 
 like the bursting of a storm-cloud. Crowds of ex- 
 cited men surged into the towns. Acts of violence 
 were committed. The muffled bells of Philadelphia 
 and Boston, the two chief cities, rang funeral peals, 
 and people everywhere declared it was the death- 
 knell of liberty. In the metropolis, New York, a 
 copy of the act was carried through the streets with 
 a death's-head nailed to it and a placard bearing 
 the inscription: "The Folly of England and the 
 Ruin of America ! " 
 
 In the Virginia House of Burgesses, the oldest 
 and most powerful representative body of the land, 
 there occurred a memorable scene. Patrick Henry, 
 the youngest member of the house, a true scion of 
 Irish stock, an uneducated mountaineer, only recently 
 chosen to a seat in the provincial legislature, after 
 waiting in vain for some older delegate to lead in 
 opposition to Parliament, in his passionate way at 
 length snatched a blank leaf out of an old law- 
 book, hastily drew up a series of resolutions declar- 
 ing that the Virginians were Englishmen with Eng- 
 lish "rights; that the people of Great Britain had 
 the exclusive privilege and right of voting their own 
 taxes, and so had the Americans ! That the colonies 
 
492 BEN BEOR. 
 
 were not bound to yield obedience ta any law impos- 
 ing taxation on them, and whosoever said to the 
 contrary was an enemy to the country. The resolu- 
 tions were at once laid before the house. 
 
 A violent debate ensued in which the patriots had 
 the best of the argument. It was a moment of 
 intense interest. One man of most remarkable 
 character, who was to play great parts in future 
 history, was in the body. George Washington 
 occupied a seat as one of the delegates; he was as 
 vet a young statesman. The eloquent and audacious 
 Patrick Henry bore down all opposition. " Tarquin 
 and Caesar had each his Brutus ! " exclaimed the 
 indignant orator; "Charles I. had his Cromwell, 
 and George III." "Treason!" shouted the 
 Speaker. " Treason treason ! " exclaimed the ter- 
 rified loyalists, springing to their feet. "And 
 George III. may profit by their example/ 7 continued 
 Henry. Then he added, as he took his seat: "If 
 this be treason, make the most of it ! " The resolu- 
 tions were put to the house and carried. Similar 
 ones were adopted by the assembly in New York 
 and Massachusetts. At Boston a certain James 
 Otis successfully agitated the question of an Ameri- 
 can Congress. It was proposed that each colony, 
 acting without the leave of the king, should appoint 
 delegates to meet in the following autumn for the 
 purpose of discussing the affairs of the nation. 
 The proposition was favorably received and nine of 
 the colonies appointed delegates. On the seventh 
 day of October the first colonial congress assembled 
 in New York. There were 28 representatives. 
 Timothy Ruggles of Massachusetts was chosen presi- 
 dent. After much discussion a Declaration of Rights 
 was adopted, setting forth in unmistakable terms that 
 the colonists as Englishmen could not and would 
 not consent to be taxed without representation. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 493 
 
 On the 1st day of November the Stamp Act was 
 to take effect. During the summer great quantities 
 of the stamped paper had been forwarded to America, 
 but everywhere it was rejected, destroyed or sent 
 back, and the day appointed for its introduction was 
 kept as a national fast and mourning. At first legal 
 business was suspended. The court-houses were 
 shut up. Not even a marriage license could be ob- 
 tained. By-and-bye, however, the offices were opened 
 and business went on as usual, but no stamped paper 
 was used. A new and most powerful society, " The 
 Sons of Liberty," sprang into existence at this time. 
 The merchants of the principal cities entered into a 
 compact to purchase no more goods of Great Britain 
 until the Stamp Act was repealed. 
 
 All these portentous events were reported in 
 detuil by the first mail-packet to the home govern- 
 ment. They made a profound sensation. The col- 
 onists had many and staunch friends in England. 
 Eminent statesmen espoused their cause. In the 
 House of Commons, Mr. Pitt, almost in the throes of 
 death, delivered a most powerful address on the rela- 
 tion of the Mother-country to the Colonies. The gov- 
 ernment was especially and fiercely scathed for having 
 sent out troops to force by bayonets what could not 
 be obtained by good-will. There was no help for it ; 
 the Stamp Act had to be formally repealed ! It was 
 so ordered and done on the 18th of March, 1766. 
 A resolution, however, was added to this that Parlia- 
 ment had the right to bind the Colonies in all cases 
 whatsoever. 
 
 The repeal of this odious Stamp Act produced 
 great joy in America as well as at home. A few 
 months later a new cabinet was formed under the 
 leadership of Pitt. The poor man, however, was 
 now too sick to attend to any state business. The 
 King had not the courage to take the initiative for 
 
494 BEN BEOR. 
 
 * 
 
 any new measure of oppression. So I was selected 
 to influence by wile and guile some party in the 
 ministry of coming to the front. Lord Townshend, 
 a bold and ambitious member of that body, was too 
 ready to bring forward a new scheme for taxing the 
 Americans. On the 29th of June, 1767, another act 
 was passed imposing a duty on all glass, paper, paint- 
 ers' colors, and especially Tea imported by the colo- 
 nies. Its text was as follows : 
 
 THE TEA-TAX. 
 
 "An act granting certain duties in the British 
 Colonies and Plantations in America ; for allowing 
 a drawback to the duties of customs upon the expor- 
 tation from the kingdom of coffee and cocoanuts 
 of the produce of the said Colonies or Plantations ; 
 for the discontinuing the drawback payable on china 
 earthenware exported to America; and for more 
 effectually preventing the clandestine running of 
 goods in the said Colonies and Plantations. 
 
 " Whereas, it is expedient that a revenue should 
 be raised in your Majesty's dominions in America, 
 for making a more certain and adequate provision for 
 defraying the charge of the administration of jus- 
 tice and the supporting civil government in such 
 provinces where it shall be found necessary; and 
 to more further defraying the expenses of defending, 
 protecting and securing the said Colonies : We, your 
 Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons 
 of Great Britain in Parliament assembled, have 
 therefore ordered to give and grant unto your 
 Majesty the several rates and duties herein men- 
 tioned, and do most humbly beseech your Majesty 
 that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the 
 King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 495 
 
 temporal and Commons in this present Parliament 
 assembled, and by the authority of the same, that 
 from and after the twentieth day of November, 1767, 
 there shall be raised, levied, collected and paid unto 
 his Majesty, his heirs and successors, for and upon 
 the respective goods hereinafter mentioned, which 
 shall be imported from Great Britain unto any 
 Colony or Plantation in America which now is or 
 hereafter may be under the dominion of his Majesty, 
 his heirs or successors, the several rates and duties 
 following, that is to say : 
 
 "For every pound weight avoirdupois of tea, 
 three pence." 
 
 The act begins by taxing glass, red lead, white 
 lead and painters' colors; then comes the tax on 
 tea, and that is followed by a tax on paper of all 
 kinds ; next a number of provisions for the enforce- 
 ment of the act such as are used in customs acts. 
 
 If the Stamp Act had produced a storm, this meas- 
 ure brought forth a tornado across the ocean. An- 
 other agreement not to purchase English goods was 
 entered into by the Trans-Atlantic merchants. The 
 newspapers teemed with denunciations against Par- 
 liament. Early in 1768 the Assembly in Massachu- 
 setts adopted a circular calling upon the other colonies 
 for assistance in the effort to obtain redress of 
 grievances. In the month of June, a sloop charged 
 with evading payment of duty was seized by the cus- 
 tom-house officers of Boston. Hereupon the people 
 attacked these officers and obliged them to flee from 
 their houses to Castle William in the port of the bay. 
 Seven hundred troops under General Gage, brought 
 from Canada, marched into the rebellious city. 
 Criminations and recriminations passed now every- 
 where between the people and the government 
 officials. 
 
 Parliament now tried a trick. It removed all 
 
496 BEN BEOR. 
 
 taxes except on tea, and lowered the price of this to 
 such an extent as to hope the impost would readily be 
 paid. But the Americans looked through the sham 
 and pledged themselves not to use any more tea until 
 the tax should be removed. This happened in 1773. 
 Ships were loaded with tea for the American mar- 
 ket. Some of these reached Charleston, S. C., but 
 here the chests were stored in damp cellars and 
 the contents ruined. At New York and Philadel- 
 phia the vessels were not permitted to enter the har- 
 bors. At Boston the authorities would not allow the 
 tea to be landed. On the 16th of December there 
 was a great town-meeting at which seven thousand 
 people were present. Samuel Adams and Josiah 
 Quincy, two of the most popular orators, spoke to 
 the multitude. Evening came and the meeting was 
 about to adjourn, when a war-whoop, as the Indians 
 use, was heard, and fifty men, disguised as Mohawks, 
 marched to the wharf where the ships lay at anchor. 
 The vessels were boarded by these masquer aders and 
 three hundred and forty chests of tea were emptied 
 into the bay. This is known as the "Boston Tea 
 Party." 
 
 The crisis had come. These outrages must be 
 suppressed. These rebels must be punished ; the 
 supremacy of the parliamentary laws maintained ; 
 the sovereign power of the home government firmly 
 established, or the colonial possessions of Great 
 Britain must be given up as lost. The tocsin of 
 war is already in the air. Now or never is the time 
 to re-establish the supreme sovereignty of the King 
 as by divine right at home and abroad ! 
 
 Section III. Westward Ho! 
 
 While private secretary to Mr. Pitt, Perez Men- 
 des had become fully acquainted with the turbulent 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 497 
 
 affairs which then prevailed in America. A great 
 deal of correspondence concerning matters there 
 passed through his hands. He had grown into an 
 enthusiastic admirer of the far-away lands, every- 
 where described as boundless and beautiful, and in 
 the people he recognized a race destined to play a 
 grand and noble part in future history. The disa- 
 bilities under which the still prejudiced Hebrews 
 labored, even in liberal England, caused him to 
 determine to emigrate across the ocean. Since his 
 retirement from office he had been unable to find 
 other congenial employment ; and when now every 
 day brought news of the mighty rising of the colo- 
 nies, he, with prophetic enthusiasm kindled by the 
 burning eloquence of his master now in Parliament, 
 foresaw the results which a war of Great Britain 
 with America must ultimately bring. He declared 
 to me repeatedly, when the crisis came at last, that 
 those people could not be conquered ; that, fighting 
 on their own soil for their homes and firesides, they 
 in the end would surely throw off the yoke of the 
 mother-country and would succeed in establishing 
 their independence as a new and most glorious 
 nation. At this juncture there came to him by the 
 influence of his admiring Jewish friends, who knew 
 his profound theological learning, a call to become 
 Rabbi of a good and wealthy congregation in New 
 York. His mind was made up he would go ! To 
 young, beautiful, romance-loving Judith, his daugh- 
 ter, the prospective journey on the ocean and a home 
 in the new world, where honors and distinction 
 awaited her fondly-loved father, was like the fulfill- 
 ment of a dream in fairyland. By kindness of the 
 again-powerful Mr. Pitt, passage was secured for 
 them on the Challenger, one of the best and most 
 commodious men-of-war of the British navy. So all 
 was gotten ready and prepared for their early depar- 
 
498 BEN BEOR. 
 
 ture. This was settled to take place about the 
 beginning of April, 1776. Meanwhile I became 
 impressed with the thought also that my presence in 
 the turbulent states might become of great usefulness 
 to the government ; that from observations made on 
 the spot I might be instrumental in foiling the suc- 
 cess of the audacious rebels, and with the touch of 
 my tyrannous hand throttle the young, contumacious 
 liberty. Lie to myself as I would, deep down in the 
 recesses of my heart there were other motives which 
 bore this irresistible anxiety for accompanying my 
 new-found friends to America. An inexplicable 
 attachment drew me into hitherto unknown sympa- 
 thy to this grand, noble Jew ; and the pure, unselfish 
 feeling, such as had been a stranger to my mind in 
 the long career of my blasted wanderings, for his 
 daughter had taken possession of my very nature. 
 I could not bear to be separated from them. And 
 yet, what a contrast there was between the character 
 of these people and mine ! They, all goodness, 
 humanity, loveliness, piety and resignation in the 
 will of Almighty God ; I, all malignity, hatred, gross 
 desires, panting for doing mischief, wrong and crime. 
 They, completely happy as far as man can be, ever 
 hopeful, ever content, overflowing with human kind- 
 ness and love ; I, the most miserable wretch, despair- 
 ing, restless, cruel and forever cursing and cursed. 
 Is it not perhaps this very opposition in our nature 
 that draws me now so feverishly longing to them ? 
 When I broached the plan to my employer, of going 
 to America in the secret service of the government, 
 he approved of it at once and with very great avidity. 
 In the light which I presented my scheme and works 
 he readily saw what great importance a man might 
 prove who, situated as I would be, could operate 
 in the dark, without being suspected, for the interests 
 of the home-government. So every facility was 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 499 
 
 given me to be ready for departure when the Challen- 
 ger would sail. There was great and hearty re- 
 joicing when my friends learned I was to be their 
 company for the sea-voyage. Although it came 
 quite unexpected and as a surprise, they had grown 
 to me also attached and were really glad that we were 
 not to be separated. Never suspecting, even in the 
 remotest degree, my real motives, the plausible ex- 
 planations which I gave for my journey with them 
 were all satisfactory. A month at least must tran- 
 spire before the ship could be made ready for her 
 errand ; so we each had sufficient time to attend to 
 our preparatory business. 
 
 Section IV. A Great Conclave. 
 
 Messengers were at once dispatched by me to 
 every part of Europe for the immediate assembling 
 in London of my chief agents and subordinates. 
 Within a few days before I sailed they were all pres- 
 ent at the appointed hour and place. 
 
 In one of the suburbs of London, distant from 
 any frequented road, hidden away amidst bush and 
 heather, there stood an old abbey, fallen into decay 
 and covered with moss and lichens. At the be- 
 ginning of the Reformation it had been confiscated 
 by the government. The Dominican brotherhood 
 was dispersed, and the place which heretofore rang 
 with the bells for prayer and trodden by the pious 
 but ever-scheming monks, was used now for the 
 storage of plunder of all sorts. At first a keeper 
 was lodged here, but when the place became unin- 
 habitable the authorities did not care to pay out any 
 funds for repair. The ruins, very picturesque in 
 outside appearance, offered no longer shelter from 
 rain and sun and were entirely abandoned. The 
 last keeper died unattended and alone, and his body 
 
500 BEN BEOR. 
 
 was found several days after his demise. A huge 
 rusty lock was placed at the gate, and as the cloister 
 stood in very bad repute of being haunted, 110 one 
 cared even in daytime, much less in the night, to 
 invade the gloomy premises. In my regular daily 
 wanderings I had some time before strayed into this 
 neighborhood. Curious to take a look at the inside 
 of the cloister, I found no difficulty in removing the 
 lock, entering after a troublesome passage through 
 the brambles and briars into the interior. It was a 
 veritable home for bats and owls, who had chosen 
 the lulls and dormitories for colonies of their nests. 
 On reaching the chapel, in spite of the chaotic debris 
 which had accumulated here and the almost un- 
 bearable musty odor that prevailed, I tarried and com- 
 menced, through sheer whim of idleness, to sound the 
 floor by pounding with my heavy cane at such places 
 as I knew from former experiences with the habits 
 of the monlis might reveal the whereabouts of the 
 entrance to some subterranean chamber. Nor was I 
 mistaken in this iny surmise. I had reached the 
 spot where formerly steps must have led to the altar. 
 Here I was rewarded by hearing the peculiar hollow 
 sound which revealed that there was a trapdoor. 
 Marking the place carefully, I returned next day 
 with the necessary tools and commenced the difficult 
 labor of prying open the heavy oaken covering which, 
 even after these many years of decay and ruin, 
 proved as sound and firm as on the day when it was 
 laid. At last my efforts succeeded. The trapdoor 
 was removed and the opening revealed broad stairs 
 of stone leading downwards as if into the very bowels 
 of ihe earth. A rush of damp air came up from the 
 darkness. Being without torch or light, I deemed 
 it best to return next day provided with these; 
 meanwhile allowing the hidden recesses to purify 
 through the now uncovered orifice. Next day I 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 501 
 
 continued my ghostly exploration. To my surprise, 
 I found immense, well-preserved chambers rudely 
 furnished. The floors were covered with dry white 
 sand. Implements of all kinds lay strewn around 
 promiscuously. A smelting oven, standing in the 
 center of the great hall, revealed to me the fact that 
 not too long since the place must have been used as 
 the abode of counterfeiters or highwaymen. A huge 
 ingot of gold stood in the furnace, while all kinds of 
 treasures, costly curiosities, pearls, rubies and dia- 
 monds lay in little heaps on the long table as if ready 
 for distribution. The place looked like a scene 
 where a fierce combat had taken place. The floor 
 was literally covered with human skeletons in all 
 positions and attitudes. The rats, which swarmed 
 here in droves, had gnawed the bodies to the very 
 bones, which lay there bleached, white by age and 
 corruption. Arms and weapons of all kinds were 
 intermingled with the bodies. It was the most 
 ghastly sight imaginable. I soon had the priceless 
 treasures safely stored away in the strong box of my 
 residence. Then I collected the weapons and piled 
 them up in one of the many cells surrounding the 
 main hall. Next I dug a pit for the entire mass 
 of the mouldered remains. Without any special 
 reason at the time, I spent all my leisure hours in 
 setting the extensive subterranean vault in order, 
 clearing and cleaning away the dense cobwebs and 
 accumulated dust. Now, however, I found it fortu- 
 nate that I had taken all this trouble. It was the 
 place and a more appropriate one could not be 
 found in the world appointed by me for the meet- 
 ing of the Anti-Messiah's Conclave. 
 
 At midnight from the 3d to the 4th of April had 
 been set aside for the auspicious event. I had placed 
 myself inside the dilapidated lodge, keeping watch 
 at the wicket, from whence I could spy over the dis- 
 
502 BEN BEOR. 
 
 tance without being seen myself. Presently a torch- 
 light was beheld emerging from far away. As it came 
 nearer it revealed a muffled and hooded figure the 
 face masked, showing nothing but the eyes and the 
 mouth. "Who goes there?" I accosted the comer. 
 He leaned forward and whispered in my ear : " The 
 Despot." I admitted him and showed the way to 
 the vault. I brought him back, however, to act now 
 as a guide to the other comers. These emerged out 
 of the dark, all attired as the first and in the follow- 
 ing order : Priestcraft, Ignorance, Superstition, 
 Lechery, Drunkenness, Barbarity, Jew-hater, Lie, 
 Avarice, Corruption, Malice,Blasphemy, and Seducer. 
 These fourteen were my head agents. Then came a 
 host of petty helpers and assistants. As the clock 
 struck one all were in their seats. I, their master, 
 presided over the conclave and now addressed them 
 as follows : 
 
 ^Companions, Masters and Fellow-crafts : You 
 were called here together to receive, before my neces- 
 sary departure from the continent, such instructions 
 for upholding, propagating and fostering the cause 
 of evil, by which alone now the supremacy of the 
 Throne and Church may be restored and maintained 
 in their pristine powers. We have lost ground to 
 fearful extent by the Reformation, the progress of 
 the people in science, art and education. Perhaps 
 our greatest enemy has been the printing-press, with 
 its accursed multiplication of books, magazines and 
 newspapers. Great as our late discomfitures have 
 been all over Europe, still more immense dangers 
 loom up across the ocean, where the American people 
 have risen in revolt and threaten to establish a free 
 republic, separating State and Church and maintain- 
 ing eternal liberty by the power of self-government. 
 To foil this result my immediate presence is abso- 
 lutely necessary in that accursed country. Receive 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 503 
 
 therefore your commissions, which must guide and 
 direct you during my necessary absence. Foremost 
 of all, act together as a phalanx in your individual 
 and collective aims and works. Keep united against 
 the people. They are always separated in their best 
 interest. Disunion among them is our everlasting 
 strength. Never despair on account of momentary 
 failure. If foiled, start with new courage and rise 
 again. And now receive each one your separate and 
 distinct charge. Stand up as called. Despot and 
 Priestcraft for you, my head chiefs, are one in object 
 and purpose I appoint you here my vicegerents 
 over the Eastern world while I shall be away in the 
 West. Become as one soul and one body. Strain 
 every nerve to maintain supremacy of absolute 
 power. Let neither blood, tears nor death daunt 
 you. Avoid concessions, rights and privileges. 
 Where you must give way to rights and privileges, 
 where you must concede these temporarily, use craft, 
 wile and machination to annul what you have 
 granted. Every other of you, my associates and 
 friends, at all times and under all circumstances 
 lend your services readily and eagerly to these 
 your masters. Especially, thou noble companion 
 of my trust, Ignorance, rise and hear thy task: 
 Fight inch by inch every encroachment upon thy 
 realm. Grapple with education and learning among 
 the masses. Combat Reading, Writing and Arith- 
 metic. Enlightenment is our worst foe. The more 
 stupid and illiterate the nations, the easier they are 
 held in subjugation. Stand forth, Superstition, 
 darling pet of my ambition ! Waft thy ghostly hand 
 from hut to palace. Spread thy wings over the 
 minds. Draw everywhere the shades of night. 
 Shackle men from the cradle to the grave. Next, 
 thou pale and emaciated Lechery, come on ! Hold 
 steadfast in thy grasp the easily aroused carnal 
 
504 BEN BEOR. 
 
 passion of our foes. Truckle to their vile sins 
 and desires. Excite their gross imaginations. As 
 long as they shall serve thee, every danger for 
 their rising, their advancement, their progress is 
 at abeyance. Next, thou foremost of my allies, 
 Drunkenness, approach! Thy power is gigantic, 
 thy realm the universe. Of all my efficient subordi- 
 nates thou hast been the most faithful, pliant and 
 successful. Continue thy work of debasing and 
 ruining the races. Insinuate thyself more and more, 
 wider and wider into all ranks, conditions and posi- 
 tions. As long as thy maddening spell holds pos- 
 session over thy maudlin victims, our reign is yet 
 secure ! The intoxicating cup is the prop of Tyranny 
 and Fanaticism. Thou, poor, misshapen Barbarity, 
 come forth! Although thy brow is low, thy lips 
 are thick, thy hands are coarse and thy head and 
 body vulgar and mean in appearance, yet art thou 
 one of my chief powers. They have pressed thee 
 hardest of all my friends, have wrestled more tena- 
 ciously with thy power than any others. Thy losses 
 everywhere have been great and extensive. Yet 
 stand up courageously for thy hold on the power 
 left. Fight them yet wherever a chance offers. 
 Burn, tear, crunch, pierce, bite, pound, murder 
 everything and anything where thou mayest, so as to 
 regain as much as possible of thy lost vantage- 
 ground. Ah, but now rise, my ever faithful, ever 
 wary, ever zealous friend and right-handed ally, 
 glorious, successful Jew-hater! Though in disguise 
 like the rest of thy comrades, I recognize in thee a 
 brave, bold champion. Proceed in thy work. Never 
 let up against that thrice-hated Semitic tribe. They 
 and their accursed Torah are at the bottom of all 
 our troubles. Wherever thou mayest, smite them 
 hip and thigh. As one sham accusation against them 
 goes down, revive another. Never mind the falsity 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 505 
 
 of the malicious charges. Keep on to make the 
 people hate, despise and persecute them with the mean 
 pretences of their usury, greediness and avarice. 
 Let them be cursed as Christ-killers. Malign them 
 with the Blood-accusation, the poisoning of the wells. 
 As foolish and wicked as these are, they never fail 
 to find credence with the ignorant masses. These 
 Hebrews are in our way for their unfaltering mono- 
 theism, their unswerving morals, their love of free- 
 dom, their superior minis, the frugality, perseverance 
 and industry of their men, by which they are successful 
 everywhere; the chastity, domestic virtues and 
 fidelity of their women, all of which preserves and 
 perpetuates the race in spite of what I, the Anti- 
 Messiah, have attempted for their annihilation. Thy 
 brother, Lie, will valiantly help thee. Come forth, 
 thou brave champion of error and falsehood ! Thy 
 swift feet travel a mile before thy antagonist, Truth, 
 even starts for a journey. Continue to falsify his- 
 tory, records and men. Instill thy wanton errors 
 in philosophy, science and art. Lie about God, 
 lie about men, lie against virtue, patriotism, and 
 lie about truth! In this let your twin-brothers, 
 Avarice, Corruption, Malice and Blasphemy, stand 
 chivalrously by thy side. Never swerve, never falter 
 to the utmost for tearing down Right, Justice, 
 Honor and Enlightenment. And ye, the host of 
 Vice and Degradation, Gambling, Traducer, Malign 
 Blackmailer, Glutton! all powers of evil and hell, 
 keep together, aiding and abetting one another in 
 your machinations and intrigues to force under the 
 onward procession of Progress and Civilization. 
 Give a good report of yourselves while I am away, 
 that I may bless the day when I met you here for 
 the last time. And now that the morning hour is 
 dawning, farewell ! Depart to your different stations 
 
506 BEN BEOR. 
 
 and abodes as silently as you came. My best hopes 
 for success be with you ! " 
 
 The assembly dispersed as stealthily and noise- 
 lessly as it had been ushered in. At noon next day, 
 the 5th of April, I was on board of the man-of-war 
 Challenger. My friends, Rabbi Perez Mendes and 
 his lovely daughter Judith, had already arrived there 
 before me. 
 
 Section V. The Phantom of the Sea. 
 
 We were now three days at sea. The weather 
 proved auspicious ; the ocean was like a plate of 
 glass, and the good craft, strong and buoyant, made 
 great sailing headway. Myself and Rabbi Mendes 
 had experienced no inconvenience thus far on our 
 journey, and spent most of our time on the top deck. 
 Judith suffered for the first few days with the ill- 
 ness usually affecting travellers on the briny deep. 
 During this time she kept her room and bed, cared 
 for faithfully by the nurse belonging- to the ship. 
 
 Our conversation was earnest and engrossing. 
 That man held me spellbound with the intensity of 
 his convictions and the power of his broad, irresist- 
 ible logic, to me a new philosophical theology. An- 
 cient and modern learning were at his command, and 
 my sophistry and flimsy pretences tore like cobwebs 
 under his clear-cut reasoning and incontrovertible 
 arguments. These he interspersed with a most en- 
 rapturing fund of legendary lore from the Hebrew 
 writers, among which the wonderful traditions con- 
 cerning the prophet Elijah fascinated me with their 
 great interest. To Mendes an eternal and absolute 
 separation of Church and State was the only solu- 
 tion of the problem for the enfranchisement of civil- 
 ized humanity. God himself had demonstrated 
 years ago this truth by the dissolution of the nation- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 507 
 
 ality of the Jews, leaving to them the maintenance 
 and fostering of the Law in the ages of their exile. 
 For this purpose visibly had they been spared and 
 preserved by Providence under the most excruciating 
 trials and persecutions. Their supreme mission was 
 making the knowledge of One God universal, in 
 opposition to the towering obstacles from within and 
 without their spheres. The moral code emanating 
 from this chief axiom, as taught by Moses and the 
 Prophets, was simply the sequence of that know- 
 ledge. The extensive systems of ceremonial in 
 which the Orient had wrapped the truth are inessen- 
 tials only, and one after another most likely would 
 fall when absolutely untimely and impracticable, 
 especially in the new land of America. This, how- 
 ever, will prove no injury or obstruction to the great 
 final goal. Those who had formerly maltreated and 
 hunted down the Hebrew people would at no very 
 distant time be the foremost to take them friendly by 
 the hand and become chief aiders for the promulga- 
 tion of Monotheism as expounded in the Torah. 
 Was it the truth, or the peculiar sympathetic manner 
 in which it was delivered, or both, which fastened 
 their hold so strangely upon me? I could not resist 
 listening, perfectly overcome in my previous convic- 
 tions and directly contrary views. Often I felt my 
 murderous instincts rise in all their vicious strength 
 within me, propelling me to grasp the terribly earnest 
 man and hurl him headlong overboard into the 
 ocean. Why did I not do it ? Why did I not make 
 an end of words that pierced me to the very heart, 
 lacerating my soul, my feelings, the very essence 
 of my being ? Several times I was at the decisive 
 point, but my arms fell like palsied, my will as if 
 shattered by an invisible, an incomprehensible power. 
 It was on the thirtieth evening, at a point when I felt 
 as if I could break through all trammels which thus 
 
508 BEN BEOR. 
 
 far had prevented my fiendish design I had actu- 
 ally risen and made ready to spring with one fell 
 effort upon my unsuspecting victim when Judith 
 appeared before us, holding a scrap of paper in her 
 hand, and like an etherealized being stood there, 
 exclaiming : " Darling father, let me read these few 
 lines to you ; they have come to me like an inspira- 
 tion. I know you both will smile at the childish 
 verses." Then she began reading, as he and I had 
 approvingly nodded willing assent : 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE DIAMOND. 
 
 AN ORIENTAL LEGEND. 
 
 Listen to the curious story, 
 How the diamond in its glory 
 Grew amidst the giant blocks 
 In the strata of the rocks : 
 How the precious stone was wrought 
 From a spark of light and thought ; 
 Love-light shining on this earth, 
 In a tear the gem had birth. 
 Thought to love and light obedient 
 Its most pure and prized ingredient. 
 As from presence of the Lord, 
 Satan and his rebel horde 
 By ambition wild and fell, 
 Hurled were into deepest hell 
 Doomed to fire, fear and pain, 
 Without sunshine, light or rain 
 Mercy, the bright angel, crept 
 To the throne of God and wept 
 A hot tear, in deep prostration 
 E'en for Hades' re-salvation. 
 As an emblem it was wrought 
 To proclaim sublimest thought : 
 God will, says the precious stone, 
 Every sin at last atone. 
 Crystalized, proclaims the tear 
 Final quench of fire and fear : 
 Heaven's promise, Mercy's token, 
 Are, like diamonds, never broken. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 509 
 
 She recited the lines with such simplicity and yet 
 with such deep-felt pathos, that when she ended, her 
 father rapturously hugged her to his breast, and 
 amidst a shower of kisses led her back to the state- 
 room. I was wonderfully and deeply moved. These 
 words from the lips of a child struck a chord in my 
 breast to which I had been a stranger beyond my 
 memory. Like one dazed I walked the deck it 
 must have been for hours repeating the refrain : 
 
 " Heaven's promise, Mercy's token, 
 Are, like diamonds, never broken." 
 
 I was awakened from the trance-like state by the 
 ship's bell striking midnight. This sounded to me 
 like the tolling for a funeral. The muffled footsteps 
 of the guards below, walking to and fro, completed 
 the delusion. I stood up here alone, viewing the 
 wide expanse of the ocean, with its heaving and 
 regular swell coming and going. Myriads of stars 
 twinkled in the sky and were reflected like glittering 
 crystals by the sea. At the centre of this grand 
 picture now became visible a fleck of light of most 
 beautiful color. Having attracted my attention, I 
 watched its gradual growth. This soon assumed the 
 shape of a ring, and then expanded and increased 
 until at last there stood before me an immense ball 
 of blood-tinted fire. The moon in all her majesty, 
 as she only can be seen on the ocean in a clear 
 night, came nearer and nearer until she stood right 
 over the ship above my head. She lit up the heavens 
 and the water with that peculiar pale and roseate 
 tint which transforms darkness into semi-day. I 
 was disturbed in my reverie by the sudden appear- 
 ance in mid-air of a gigantic person whom I in- 
 stantly recognized as the prophet Elijah identically 
 the same in form and features as the one who had 
 hurled me thousands of years ago from the Levannah 
 
510 BEN BEOR. 
 
 back to earth. His aspect, then full of fierce wrath, 
 now was mild and gracious. Nor was he alone. On 
 his right rested, confiding and affectionate, a diminu- 
 tive figure, unmistakably hunchbacked. This second 
 person's face was characteristically Semitic and made 
 conspicuous by short, pointed chin-whiskers. He 
 held in his right hand an open folio, in which flamed 
 in letters of gold the words " Mendelsohn's German 
 Translation of the Bible." On the left side of the 
 ancient seer stood another, a poet-like, imposing 
 figure. His countenance could not be mistaken ; it 
 was expressively Teutonic. He, too, held in his right 
 hand an open book, in which the title-inscription 
 formed a flambeau of light. It read : " Lessing's 
 Nathan the Wise." Nearer and nearer they ap- 
 proached until in hailing distance. Suddenly I saw 
 the prophet by my side ; then he spoke : " Balaam 
 ben Beor, the end of thy malediction is at hand. 
 Soon thou wilt be permitted again to die. As in 
 time of yore thou hast been called upon to curse 
 but by Divine power wast forced to bless, so shall 
 thy blasting career end when thy feet tread the holy 
 ground of new -rising Freedom. What was begotten 
 by malediction shall be finished in benisons. De- 
 part in peace ! " I stared intently on him ; my 
 breath came panting and heavy. At last I broke 
 forth as one in the agony of despair and asked : 
 " What of the blighting agencies I left to work 
 abroad ? " He slowly and deliberately answered : 
 " Leave their destinies in the hands of Him who sent 
 me! In God's good time, when the measure of sin 
 and crimes shall be full, mankind shall see final re- 
 demption by Heaven's grace, in the universal reign 
 of Enlightenment, Liberty and Humanity. Depart 
 in peace depart in peace ! " Then the trio of this 
 supernatural night-vision rose upward, higher and 
 higher, until they reached again the precincts of the 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 511 
 
 moon. During all the time the air was full of celes- 
 tial music. Over and over again came back to my 
 obtuse hearing the refrain, as if echoed from above : 
 
 " Crystalized, proclaims the tear 
 Final quench of fire and fear : 
 Heaven's promise, Mercy's token, 
 Are, like diamonds, never broken." 
 
 At daylight the guards found me lying near the 
 mainmast prostrated and unconscious. They carried 
 me carefully. to my room, and informed my friends 
 of the strange disaster which had befallen me. Rabbi 
 Mendes came at once, and Judith followed soon. 
 They were dumbfounded at my changed appear- 
 ance so wan, haggard and weak. The ship's doc- 
 tor, after working over me for a long time, at last 
 brought me back to a state of consciousness. I 
 could recognize persons and things around me, and 
 with great exertion speak a few words. Every- 
 body was assiduously attentive in ministering to my 
 wants and comfort, but no one more so than Judith. 
 She was tireless in her never-ceasing efforts for my 
 relief and help, and her sweet, womanly ways accom- 
 plished everything without obtrusion or bustle. As 
 her soothing hands passed me the medicaments, dried 
 my perspiring brow and smoothed the pillows, she 
 stood over me like a guardian angel, then in my 
 half dazed state there came back to me the piercing 
 recollection of the cruel wrongs which I had heaped 
 upon her race and the vile crime which I came so 
 near perpetrating against her only protector my 
 friend and help in this hour of need her father. 
 Then the tears would involuntarily well up to my 
 now dimmed eyes ; and she she would dry them, 
 speaking comfort and consolation, as if sent to me 
 from Above like a messenger of peace. So day after 
 day rolled away. I grew a little stronger, and one 
 
512 BEN BEOR. 
 
 evening, when the ocean atmosphere was bracing 
 and exhilarating, I was carried on deck, having my 
 emaciated form propped with soft cushions and sup- 
 porting pillows. As I was laid down on one of the 
 lounges, the captain came and spoke a few sympa- 
 thetic words, and ordered the mariners and soldiers 
 to a distance, that nothing should disturb my quiet. 
 Rabbi Mendes and Judith were by my side. It was 
 a glorious evening ; the sun was just setting with in- 
 describable sublimity in the western horizon, cloth- 
 ing sky and water with a halo of rainbow colors. 
 Now the maiden held one of my hands in her own. 
 By an instinctive impulse I begged her to sing to 
 me. She complied with smiling readiness, and soon 
 the silver-clear tones of her fine voice rang over the 
 ship. It was a simple melody to the words of her 
 own poem : 
 
 " God will, says the precious stone, 
 Every sin at last atone." 
 
 As the final words came like a zephyr's breath from 
 her lips, the watchman placed on top of the main- 
 mast shouted out " Land ahoy ! ;; All this acted like 
 a charm upon me. I rose from my couch I could 
 stand upright and firmly walked a few steps for- 
 ward. Then, to the astonishment of my friends, 
 whom I now faced like one inspired, I exclaimed, in 
 loud but tremulous tones : " Now is the mystery of 
 strange words explained. Now do I understand the 
 last and mystic sentence of Scripture, heretofore 
 a sealed secret to the human mind. All of it is 
 light and life in that portentous prophecy the last 
 of Holy Writ fulfilled by my career and long and 
 terrible experiences. It is the promise of God, say- 
 ing : ' Behold, I will send to you the prophet Elijah, 
 before the great and awful day of the Lord cometh. 
 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their, child- 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 513 
 
 mi, and the hearts of the children to their fathers !' 
 The reign of Tyranny shall soon be ended ; the 
 sway of Intolerance must cease. The Kingdom of 
 God is at hand ! No mortal power dare gainsay it. 
 
 Pen owo w'hikysi es ho-orez cherem. 
 
 Din PKPI HK wnm NIIM* ja 
 
 LEST I COME AND SMITE THE EARTH WITH A 
 
 CUKSE !" (Malachi iii. 24.) 
 
 All on board of our ship now became bustle and 
 excitement. The captain and officers shouted orders 
 to the mariners and soldiers. Everything was made 
 ready for landing. The sailors were busy arranging 
 the multifarious rigging. A squad of them were 
 eagerly engaged preparing to lower the anchors by 
 means of working the capstan. The peculiar and 
 characteristic " hoi-ho," half song, half shout, came 
 from every quarter of the boat. Soon we landed in 
 Delaware Bay in sight of Cape May. The captain's 
 gig brought us without much delay to terra-firma. 
 Although the country before us was in the hands of 
 our Federal foes, thanks to the passports which the 
 American representative in England kindly had pro- 
 vided for our party, we were permitted to land with- 
 out molestation. 
 
 Section VI. The Declaration of Independeiice. 
 
 Desirous of proceeding immediately to our destina- 
 tion, which for me was the old Quaker city of Phila- 
 delphia, a government conveyance was placed at our 
 disposal. No other could have been procured for 
 love or money, as every sailboat, cutter or schooner 
 that plied the waters of the bay QT river was im- 
 pressed in the service of the rebel army. Official 
 despatches having arrived from England by the man- 
 of-war which brought us over, a special and swift 
 
514 BEN BEOR. 
 
 cutter was to proceed early next morning to the 
 headquarters of the yet provisional government. So, 
 after a good night's rest, we were on board at day- 
 break. The morning was grandly beautiful, and 
 we bowled along leisurely with a favorable wind. 
 It was early on the 3d of July when we started. I 
 stood the journey wonderfully well, feeling rejuve- 
 nated by the balmy land breezes and the beautiful 
 scenery which surrounds on all sides the bay and 
 river of Delaware. My friends 4 were enchanted to 
 see me recuperating so unexpectedly. Next day, 
 July 4th, shortly before noon, we landed in Phila- 
 delphia at the foot of Water Street, making fast to 
 the commodious and well-thronged dock, presenting 
 a fine picture of shipping life. We soon found our 
 way to the city. This was in a perfect uproar all 
 the church bells ringing, minute guns firing, bunting 
 and flags waving from every housetop and window. 
 A compact mass of humanity in holiday attire, and 
 with countenances expressing joy, happiness and 
 satisfaction, streamed in one direction. We were 
 caught in this rush, which never stopped in its 
 onward march until reaching the front of a massive- 
 looking stone edifice. This was, as we learned on 
 inquiry, the State House, commonly known as 
 " Carpenter's Hall." A perfect sea effaces filled the 
 entire square in front of it. We had been* hustled 
 near to the steps leading to the edifice. Presently 
 the wide portals opened just as the clock from the 
 dome above us struck twelve. A large number of 
 grave and stately men issued forth, led by one more 
 portly and tall than all the rest. They formed 
 themselves into a very picturesque group, ranging 
 down to the foot of the stairs. Their leader, stand- 
 ing in the entrance of the portal, held in his hand a 
 long parchment scroll. This he unrolled and showed 
 its inner contents to the people. It was a closely 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 515 
 
 written, beautiful manuscript-document, signed at 
 the end with many signatures. Then bringing it 
 close before his eyes, he commenced to read with 
 sonorous, stentorian voice : 
 
 "THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIR- 
 TEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS 
 
 ASSEMBLED. 
 
 " When in the course of human events it becomes 
 necessary for one people to dissolve the political 
 bands which have connected them with one another, 
 and to assume among the powers of the earth the 
 separate and equal station to which the laws of 
 nature and nature's God entitle them, a decent 
 respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they 
 should declare the causes which impel them to the 
 separation. 
 
 " We hold these truths to be self-evident : That 
 all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
 by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that 
 among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happi- 
 ness ; that to secure these rights, governments are 
 instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
 from the consent of the governed ; that when any 
 form of government becomes destructive of these 
 ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish 
 it and to institute new government, laying its founda- 
 tion on such principles and organizing its powers in 
 such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect 
 their safety and happiness." 
 
 I would hear no more. Quietly and stealthily I 
 slunk away. My friends did not notice my going ; 
 they were too much interested in the reading of 
 the ponderous instrument, the very beginning of 
 which upset all previously conceived notions of- 
 monarchical government. This was either Treason or 
 Liberty. Quickly I pushed through the crowd and 
 
516 BEN BEOR. 
 
 made my way with all possible haste to the suburbs. 
 I wandered wearily about as long as my feet would 
 carry me. Soon I entered the primeval forest, which 
 lay boundlessly before me. Towards night I felt 
 famished and agonized with thirst. Luckily I met 
 with a shepherd driving his flock. I begged him 
 for a morsel of food. He shared his supper with me 
 and gave me drink from his earthen jug. Then 
 I proceeded, walking on until tired nature would 
 no longer permit the exercise of my limbs. I 
 lay down under a mighty elm tree, whose leafy 
 crown offered shelter. Here I slept until broad day- 
 light. There was an abundance of wild berries 
 around me. With these I stilled my teasing appe- 
 tite. I always kept in my pocket a strong-bladed 
 knife. With it I now cut a fine sapling and trimmed 
 it for a walking-stick. Further on I wandered, not 
 knowing nor caring whence or whither ; all I craved 
 for now was to get away hide myself from mankind. 
 Often I passed a solitary house or a small settlement. 
 Everywhere they made inquiry for news from the 
 war. I pretended utter ignorance, but bought or 
 begged for nourishment. They looked upon me as 
 one demented. And well they might. My appearance 
 could certainly be nothing less than that of a maniac. 
 Thus I went on how long I do not know. Arrived 
 one day upon a high bluff, an insane desire pro- 
 pelled me to climb down into the deep gulch be- 
 neath. After many hairbreadth escapes I reached 
 at last the bottom of the gulch. Prospecting 
 around for some hours, I found this wondrous cave. 
 I determined to pass here the rest of my days in 
 solitude and the fascinating dreams which now came 
 frequently upon me. Sometimes I made long excur- 
 sions in every direction. On one of these I found, 
 miles away, a small settlement of woodchoppers. 
 They were very poor. One of them was especially 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 517 
 
 destitute, having a large family dependent upon him 
 for support. I employed him to do errands for 
 me to the far-off city. Through him I supplied 
 myself with tools, books, a timepiece in fact, every- 
 thing I wanted. I had ample means and paid him 
 well for his trouble. Whatever he brought I my- 
 self carried back to my haunts, declining his urgent 
 offer to accompany me and bear the burdens. Nobody 
 knew whence I came nor where I dwelt. I warned 
 all never to follow me, as I certainly would shoot 
 any one with the gun which I now always carried 
 when coming to the settlement. I forbade them 
 strictly to talk to me about the war, its progress or 
 results ; it was hateful to me to hear anything men- 
 tioned concerning it. The first thing I provided for 
 myself was a plentiful supply of paper, quills and 
 ink. I was anxious to have the means of whiling 
 away some of my lonesome hours with writing. 
 Soon I should have enough of this to do. But I 
 must spend some time first in constructing some 
 rude furniture, to make my cave habitable. A table, 
 a few chairs and a low couch on which to sleep were 
 soon ready for use, as I was skilled in the use of 
 tools. A supply of leaves and moss was then 
 gathered to soften my hard resting-place. 
 
 Section VII. The Recluse of the Mountains. 
 
 What became of my friends I never knew, but can 
 readily imagine their consternation and painful 
 disappointment when surprised by my sudden absence 
 and non-return to their company. They could not 
 stay long in Philadelphia, as they were anxiously 
 expected in New York, their new home. How my 
 old heart pined and longed to behold only once 
 more the angelic face of dear Judith, the venerable 
 countenance of Kabbi Mendes. But this, I am 
 afraid, will never more be granted to me. 
 
518 BEN BEOR. 
 
 It could not have been many months of my dwell- 
 ing in this solitary habitation, when one night I was 
 aroused from my slumbers by that terrific atmos- 
 pheric disturbance fully related in the opening 
 chapter of this story, inclusive of the subsequent 
 incidents and events which are comprised in the 
 pages of this book, bringing the narrative of my 
 strange life down to the present moment. My task 
 is nigh completed. I daily have grown more and 
 more feeble. Yet I have succeeded in writing 
 with my cramped fingers the long, long annals of 
 the gradual evolution of human civilization, until 
 Truth, Right and Liberty at last are realized. 
 But oh, how I do now long for the end to come! 
 How I pray that these eyes may close, that the 
 aching heart may be finally stilled forever! Yet 
 it seems my time has not arrived. There is still 
 something to transpire which keeps me here, which 
 makes my life linger on. 
 
 I cannot now remember how many years I have 
 been the miserable Recluse of these lonely moun- 
 tains. My memory has grown even more senile 
 than my body. To-night that much I recollect 
 is the 19th of October, 1781. While I wrote the 
 last pages of my biographical reminiscences, but an 
 hour ago, I began to feel especially sad, melancholy 
 and apprehensive. My eyes are now involuntarily 
 directed to yonder wall of record. Lo ! it lights up 
 again, it appears radiant ; its dimensions grow to an 
 enormous size. Now it represents a battlefield ! A 
 halo of indescribable brilliancy illuminates the scene. 
 It represents the grand finale of the War of Rebel- 
 lion. 
 
 The contending armies form the background of 
 the grand tableau. The men have stacked their 
 guns ; several are seen in friendly confab ; they 
 unmistakably fraternize among themselves. Two 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 519 
 
 heroic forms stand in front. Old, proud Lord 
 Cornwallis presents his sword in surrender to the 
 other, a tall, majestic-looking soldier, the great, im- 
 mortal George Washington. Though proud in mien 
 and distinguished in attitude, he receives the weapon 
 in humility and sorrowful dignity. The last great 
 act of the historical drama of the colonial war is 
 consummated : Great Britain and Monarchy pros- 
 trate ; the United States of America, the Republic and 
 Freedom, triumphant ! 
 
 Suddenly a great change in my cavern takes place. 
 A fierce commotion rages in the bowels of the -earth. 
 The mountains overhead rock. The earth quakes. 
 The oscillations of the ground are fearfully long and 
 terrible in their intervals of suspense. A sheen of 
 the dawning morning creeps through the entrance of 
 my cave. This grows and increases until it becomes 
 gorgeously brilliant with light. Behold there stands 
 once again the vision of the prophet Elijah. Look- 
 ing compassionately upon me for an instant, he 
 exclaims : " The reign of Liberty and Tolerance at 
 last has commenced ! By their united power the King- 
 dom of God is coming. Truth, Right and Humanity 
 will sway victorious over this land. A self-governing 
 nation is born, amidst whom all creeds will live in peace 
 together. No more oppression! No more persecution ! 
 The tyrant's and fanatic's work is finished. Thy end 
 is nigh. Thy friends are coming. Depart in peace! " 
 Then he is gone. A great agony overwhelms my 
 soul. I know the crisis of my shadow-life has come 
 at last. I feel sure that this horrible, awful, weary 
 existence will soon ebb away. Now it seems to me 
 as if celestial voices fill the air, and the softest, 
 sweetest harmony is breathed into my consciousness. 
 The cadence of this to me so familiar refrain, in 
 wonderfully pathetic, soul-stirring strains, comes and 
 goes: 
 
520 BEN BEOR. 
 
 " Heaven's promise, Mercy's token, 
 Are, like diamonds, never broken." 
 
 Then, as if my soul at last had burst its prison- 
 chains of malediction, I cry out the Psalm words 
 (cxviii.), now crowding upon my memory : " In my 
 deep distress I called unto the Lord and He answered 
 me!" 
 
 ADDENDUM II. 
 
 Missing Links Found. 
 
 The foregoing words from King David's songs are 
 the last on the final page of the manuscript written 
 by the Recluse. Towards the end the chirography 
 becomes nearly illegible ; trembling and faintness of 
 the fingers are visible in every letter. Appended to 
 the writings are several sheets in entirely different 
 penmanship and style. Their contents explain and 
 fill out some portions of the Recluse's narrative and 
 complete it by giving the final catastrophe, with 
 which ends the career and existence of the " Wander- 
 ing Gentile." So they form a necessary adjunct to 
 this story, and are therefore published in connection 
 therewith as its closing and final episode. 
 
 THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER. 
 
 Section VIII. The Last Episode. Rabbi Perez 
 Mendes' Story. 
 
 By the pressing and anxious desire of my dear 
 daughter Judith, I, Rabbi Mendes, use some leisure- 
 hours occurring but sparsely in my arduous duties, 
 to place on record some incidents connected with my 
 personal experiences. They have reference to the 
 Manuscript-story, which has come into our posses- 
 sion as a legacy from the author, and to some extent 
 explain and complete that curious and interesting 
 work. 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 521 
 
 We had become intimately acquainted several 
 years ago with the mysterious author, who had 
 shown feelings of real friendship for myself and 
 daughter. Crossing the ocean together on our coming 
 to America, we reached Philadelphia on the 4th of 
 July, 1776, and were just in time to have the great 
 fortune of hearing the Declaration of Independence 
 read at high noon from the steps of the State House. 
 Absorbed with keenest interest in the contents of that 
 memorable document, neither of us noticed the sud- 
 den disappearance of our fellow-traveller, who was 
 lost, no doubt, amidst the dense crowd which had as- 
 sembled during the ringing of bells and the boom- 
 ing of cannon. Our friend, so unexpectedly missing, 
 had experienced several days ago a severe spell of 
 sickness and was barely convalescent then. So our 
 anxiety and concern about him can readily be 
 imagined. We hunted all day for the lost one, but 
 in vain. Next day I employed the police officials to 
 assist us in our search, but to no avail. Advertise- 
 ments in the newspapers brought no better results. 
 Not a trace of him could be discovered. It seemed 
 as if he had vanished from the earth. I lost a whole 
 week in the fruitless effort to find him. Then my 
 departure became imperative, as I was anxiously ex- 
 pected in New York. Arriving there safely, and 
 after a warm welcome and installation into my min- 
 isterial office, I still continued my efforts and en- 
 gaged the help of many friends to unearth the 
 whereabouts of our deeply mourned Ben Beor. But 
 all without success. Time passed on quickly and the 
 stirring events of the war with England made us at 
 last forget the hapless person in whom we had taken 
 such deep interest. Judith was soon wooed and won 
 by one of the wealthiest and best of New York mer- 
 chants, an influential member of my congregation 
 and a congenial companion, who shared with me the 
 
522 BEN BEOR. 
 
 same boundless enthusiasm for the now struggling 
 cause of the young Republic. We idolized George 
 Washington, with whom we became personally and 
 intimately acquainted, serving him financially and 
 in many other and important ways. This was 
 widely and publicly known. When, therefore, un- 
 fortunately reverses of the most trying and bitter 
 kind overtook the ill-disciplined and easily disor- 
 ganized American militia, it became necessary about 
 the middle of September, 1776, for the undaunted 
 commander to evacuate New York. The city was 
 immediately taken possession of by the British under 
 General Howe. A large number of treacherous 
 Tories, who had kept under cover until then, let 
 themselves loose upon all patriotic citizens ; security 
 of property and life for us unfortunates ceased to 
 exist. Being among the most hated and singled out 
 for persecution and brutal treatment, myself, daugh- 
 ter and her husband found it necessary to seek safety 
 by flight. Shelter and security being offered us by 
 friends in Albany, we escaped successfully from the 
 hard-tried metropolis and reached, after many diffi- 
 culties, hardships and dangers, our place of refuge. 
 The journey thither took nearly a week. Here we 
 enjoyed the generous hospitalities and kindest treat- 
 ment at the hands of our Jewish compatriots and 
 remained till nearly the end of the war. At last, 
 when all danger was considered over, on the morning 
 of October 19th, 1781, we took the stage, then the 
 only conveyance, for our return to the now liberated 
 city of New York. This journey through the yet 
 scantily explored southern counties of the State ordi- 
 narily took about four days. The primitive high- 
 way, since the arrival of peaceful times, is obliter- 
 ated and forgotten. The road was built by and at 
 the expense of neighboring communities. 
 
 On the second night of this fatiguing travel an 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 523 
 
 unexpected accident occurred to us. The stage had 
 reached by this time the acclivity leading over Mount 
 Riga, which we must traverse. The horses labored 
 pantingly up the serpentine road which gradually 
 led to the pinnacle of the wooded highlands. We 
 had snugly ensconced ourselves in the lumbering 
 stage and had dozed away during the slow and 
 wearisome progress of the team. The night was 
 intensely dark. As we neared the top of the high 
 hill all were suddenly and rudely awakened from 
 our slumbers. The coach, without any previous 
 warning, was overthrown, and we found ourselves, 
 bruised and sore, pitched in the road. The horses 
 acted like frenzied, and after snorting, cavorting and 
 rearing wildly, succeeded in breaking loose from 
 the battered and nearly demolished vehicle and ran 
 frantically away. The ground trembled and heaved. 
 We heard the giant pines and oaks of the surround- 
 ing forest snap like reeds. It was the most fearful 
 earthquake that ever had convulsed this region. 
 Presently all became silent. Thus we found our- 
 selves so unexpectedly placed upon this peculiar 
 hillside. When the first shock of the awful occur- 
 rence had passed, we made a hasty survey of our 
 untoward position. The driver, who foresaw the 
 catastrophe, had sprung from his seat and was but 
 little hurt. When sufficiently recovered and com- 
 posed, a consultation took place to decide what was 
 best to be done under the hapless circumstances. 
 Without assistance it was clear that it was impossible 
 for us to proceed. No regular conveyance became 
 due till the following night, and other travel there 
 was none. 
 
 We finally decided that nothing could be attempted 
 for the present but to make ourselves comfortable for 
 the rest of the night as circumstances would permit. 
 Judith and her husband crept back into the coach, 
 
524 BEN BEOR. 
 
 which was righted with great difficulty for that pur- 
 pose. I and the driver made ourselves easy with our 
 great-coats and with cushions from the seats as pil- 
 lows, lying down on the bare ground. Sleepless the 
 dark night wore away. With the first dawn of morn- 
 ing we all arose. The driver of the coach volun- 
 teered to find the next settlement, from whence to 
 bring assistance. He soon started on this errand 
 and left us to while away the time as best we might. 
 The sun had fully risen now and revealed a wild yet 
 sublime landscape. Imagine who can our astonish- 
 ment when in this forlorn position we all at once 
 were startled by hearing from the deep gulch below, 
 in clear yet quivering tones, like the trembling voice 
 of an aged man, the distinctly pronounced words of 
 Psalm cxviii. 4, sung in a familiar tune : " In my 
 great distress I called upon the Lord and He an- 
 swered me ! " For some time we listened and stood 
 with folded hands and upturned eyes. The voice 
 had long since died away amidst the wakened echoes 
 of the hills, yet there we stood in the attitude de- 
 scribed, when presently Judith pointed to a spot near 
 our left, thus far unnoticed. It revealed steps cut 
 into the side of the rock, leading downwards. Forth- 
 with all three of us were there, and to our amaze- 
 ment saw a well-worn footpath leading to the yet 
 undiscernible depth. Holding one another by the 
 hand, the young husband in advance, we care- 
 fully descended step by step, often trembling lest our 
 feet might slip on the ground covered with the hoar 
 frost of autumn. This would hurl us headlong to 
 the bottom. Thus we finally reached the foot of 
 the hill. But greater surprises were yet in store for 
 us. Through the narrow lane which we saw at some 
 distance away from us, rolled in mirror-like placidity 
 the clear, silvery waters of a rivulet. We proceeded 
 thither. At the crystalline bottom of the little stream 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 525 
 
 we could see an endless number of piscatorial ten- 
 ants of all sizes and colors disport themselves amidst 
 the pebbles and moss-covered stones which had 
 rolled in there plentifully from the heights. In front 
 of us was a wide opening into the hill, and as we 
 directed our glances to this portal of the mountain, 
 a sight was revealed which dazzled our eyes. An 
 immense cave was lying open before us, wherein 
 stalactites of all forms and shapes glistened and 
 glinted in the sheen of a lamp which hung burning 
 from the ceiling. The appearance of the whole place 
 resembled some of those apartments in Oriental 
 palaces described with such flambent imagination in 
 the story of the Arabian Nights. We hesitatingly 
 entered. The ground was perfectly dry, hard, re- 
 markably smooth and level. As soon as our sight 
 became accustomed to the peculiar light which was 
 shed over the whole surroundings, we beheld near 
 where the lamp was suspended, lying on a litter of 
 leaves and moss, a most venerable-looking man. 
 His long beard and flowing hair, both silver white, 
 came into conspicuous notice. He slowly lifted his 
 head and rose with painful exertion to a sitting pos- 
 ture. His sunken eyes glistened brightly, though 
 his body shook and trembled. With audible, but 
 quivering voice he cried : " Come right in, dear 
 people! I knew you would be here! I have ex- 
 pected you, oh so long ! Night after night have I 
 seen you come in my dreams. I have beheld all 
 this. I knew God would not forsake me in my last 
 hours. I recognize you well. Lady, you are dear 
 Judith, my poet friend. Thou, reverend sir, art 
 Rabbi Perez Mendes the same faces and features 
 that are so affectionately impressed on my memory. 
 But there are three of you ; I knew of only two. 
 Well, be seated ; there is room for all. The supreme 
 moment of my departure from earth is at hand. 
 
526 BEN BEOR. 
 
 Listen to the last wish and final bequest of your old 
 friend, now a dying man." 
 
 We newcomers, who stood aghast at seeing the 
 strange apparition, hearing the still stranger words, 
 mechanically took the seats to which we were 
 motioned by the bony, withered hands. My 
 daughter and I recognized our dear, long lost and 
 now so strangely found friend. Then, " Ben Beor," 
 for it was he, continued to speak, tremblingly- 
 broken and often gasping for breath : " It is now 
 many years since I have lost myself here and became a 
 Recluse in these mountains. How many years I do 
 not remember. Here I have lived the life of a 
 dreamer. My few wants were easily supplied. 
 Yonder brook gave me drink ; fish, roots and ber- 
 ries supplied food. I studied the books you see 
 lying around. There are also the tools with which 
 I worked. My existence has been one continued 
 hallucination and trance-like vision. While these 
 were upon me I wrote the story of my life. Ever 
 since this was finished, and repeatedly before, I saw 
 you, dear friends, come to me once more, to renew 
 the old and deeply cherished memory. Now mark 
 attentively my words : There lie the rolls of my 
 manuscript. I have sealed them up into two pack- 
 ages. Take them now ! I make you conjointly my 
 heirs and testators. It is my last will that the seals 
 of the packages shall never be broken until peace in 
 this country is fully established. After this has 
 come to pass, read together the curious annals. And 
 now take my hand in token that you accept the trust 
 and will scrupulously comply with my wishes. You, 
 dear sir, whom I do not know, be our witness that 
 my dying request is granted ! And now, since you 
 all have signified that you are sacredly pledged in 
 accepting my last testament, take the rolls depart ! 
 Stay not another moment! An earthquake last night 
 
HISTORICAL PHANTASMAGORIA. 527 
 
 has broken several pillars that uphold this immense 
 cavity. Repeatedly all here has shaken and trem- 
 bled. Presently the mountain-side above us will be 
 crushed and crumbled. Flee, therefore, from here, flee 
 for your lives ! Begone, quick, quick else it will 
 be too late too late ! " 
 
 The speaker fell back exhausted. We felt indeed 
 a strong and continuous tremor pervade the whole 
 atmosphere. Certainly there was no time to lose. 
 We begged and entreated the Recluse to make an 
 effort and come away with us. We two men bent 
 over him, attempting to lift and carry him away. 
 But he, with a struggle not expected in one so aged 
 and failing, resisted. " Fools!" he yelled at the top 
 of his unearthly voice, " shall we all die ? Kiss me 
 but once on my forehead, my angel, my Judith, then 
 begone quick, begone !" 
 
 There was no help for it. Judith wept, but she 
 did as bid. Then we snatched the rolls amidst the 
 rumble and rattle caused by some mighty convulsion 
 in the bowels of the earth. We ran for our lives. 
 When reaching the outside we fled to a far-away dis- 
 tance. Now there occurred one terrific, stunning, 
 deafening crash. It buried the Recluse, the cave and 
 all therein, while a column of dust and rocks rose 
 skyward from the rebound of the avalanche of the 
 fallen debris. 
 
 Soon afterwards the shouts of our now returning 
 driver were heard by us, the exhausted and deeply 
 moved travellers. He had fortunately met with a 
 party of discharged soldiers who were on their way 
 homeward. We joined them and were conducted to 
 the nearest settlement. Were it not that we had in 
 our possession the two large rolls of manuscripts to 
 testify to the reality, the past events would have 
 been taken by us for a terrible illusion. 
 
 The next stage-coach took us to our destination, 
 
528 BEN BEOR. 
 
 where we arrived safely on the following evening. 
 Our lives soon went on in their accustomed smooth 
 and happy way. True to our pledge, the manu- 
 scripts were carefully stored away until the war was 
 ended with the recognition by Great Britain of the 
 independence of the Republic as the United States 
 of America. On the 3d of September, 1783, the 
 definite treaty of peace between the two contending 
 parties was signed at Paris in France. On the 18th 
 of October Congress issued the same to the American 
 people. There was rejoicing, glorification, ringing 
 of bells, firing of cannons, and public worship all over 
 the land. 
 
 We fitly celebrated the day by breaking the 
 seals of our inheritance, and commenced to read 
 the chapters of the strange and certainly interesting 
 story. It took us nearly all winter to finish it. 
 When this was achieved, I wrote the short sequel 
 which seemed necessary to complete the work. 
 Gladly would I have proceeded at once to have the 
 manuscript printed in book-form, but the financial 
 condition of the country was very much disturbed, 
 and no publisher could be found to undertake so 
 extensive and costly an enterprise. So this must be 
 postponed to a more auspicious time. When this 
 once shall be done it will be an everlasting monu- 
 ment to the memory of our dear, unhappy friend, 
 BEN BEOR, THE WANDERING GENTILE AND ANTI- 
 MESSIAH. 
 
 THE END. 
 
J3VUJX J.B JLIUXi W JLJDLCi lift DA JJ.A..I.JQ 
 
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