The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 14, 1902, Page 2

THE SUNDAY CALL TerrseN h%e7=> first section of The Sunday Call’'s great Christmas £ Edition, is printed the first install- f “The Gospel of Judas Isca- by Aaron Dwight Baldwin, has created a tremendous fu- Europe and America. g Frank Norris’ Octopus,” which k agazines Sec- the most im- has yet been ay Call's new g its readers the writers of t 1 OLUTELY FREE. d the most remarkable ewspaper i it only stallment of Iscariot” is itself Its in Christmas offering. is moreover a real stroke of up-to- date twentieth century journalistic enterprise, for the Sunday Call has secured the exclusive rights to this, the literary and religious sensation of the hour. “The Gospel of Judas Iscariot” throws a new light on the strange life, the character and motives of the most bitterly execrated man in either the biblical or profane history of all ages. It shows the splendors, the vices and follies, the wars and the feasts, and the sports and pleasures of Rome as they have never been shown before, and tells of the com- ing of Christ and his ous struggle dom of heaven remarkable his crucifi Its publication is able for the reasox trated by re maste 11 the more not- that it is illus- om the art mous paint- of the stir- st suffered is a full page picture on the preceding page of Christ and his disciple painted by B. Plockhorst. It is a splen example of this artist’s best skil On the back page of th n is the picture of the blood-thirsty Roman Emperor in the arena, strewn with the dead who were slain to satis- fy the howling populace. Then there are two scznes along the Appian Way, both art creations of the most striking order, and also “Buth and the Swine,” by Rivere; “The Chariot Racs,” by Wagner; “Julia,” by Sichel, and “Buth,” by the same master, the whole making up a banner number. After “The Gospel of Judas Isca- riot” will come “When Knighthood Was in Flow by Charles Major; “The Leopard’s Spots,” by Thomas Dixon Jr.; “The Gentleman From In- diana,” by Booth Tarkington; “Taint- ed Gold,” by Mrs. C. N. Williamson, whose “Mystery Box puklished a few weeks ago in The Sunday Call, was one of the best stories in this remarkable “The Turnpike House,” by Fergus Hume, etc., ete. Just ponder over this list of bocks, as well as the names of the writers, and remember you get all these stories free with The Sunday Call. Other announcements will be made later. series; » Dwight Baldwin. BOOK 1. GREAT ROAD. ¢ bbles that dance joyous- with the basin of the 1 Hebron are when touch- s of the glow with than ers on nd ready fairest of inted them great clus- of Moses cut at the hol, hard by, might well ripened here. The Romans rule but God hath not forgotten _his the land still floweth with milk trees in the olive or- beneath their loads megranaies are swelling g trees are fast fash- offering for the year. valley, the bearded bariey bowed its white heaGs before Q) the wind and raised them again as an invitation to the sickles of the reapers e songs of the gleaners. The men of Boaz b owed not piump- upon Ruth then those of Simon st left for the maidens of Kerioth. This vear we shall not want tor e, oil and bread. Surely, God is vod We who dweli here are fdvored above many of our neighbors and far beyond cur deserts. Next to Jerusalem is not this the most favored spot of .all the land innabitea by God’s chusen peop.e? Was not our city built in tne days of Abraha: Was not David here anoint- ed as ning over all isiael? When tae watcher the roof of tne tempie, w.th his the it, He! rned to the sovuthward, s sws of sualight strike upon s aloud, ‘it is day at the trumpeis are sounded that sieep m the Holy iamb is avout to be sac- es ana wasen all y, tor the d he great road that passes below, somelmes cut through towerimng rocks, sometimes winding around precipices, al- ways secure nd well paved, stretches from Egypt to Jerusalem and thence rihwace through Galilee to Damascus. without swiTing trom our homes, Keep ine icasis in the Holy € P.Ugrans ahu trave.ers trom City, w all quarters ci the earth and acquire wmuch Knowieoge. God hath veen gobd to us, but we ucglecied his precepts. We h Jdued ke earih. our lache er- ed Lhe hius and mouawuns, and nere ocuce toe fout of & gual m.gat d.y Le secure fig trees support \iues, t green and somber. fol.age chari- ingiy relle by the bright-nued lLiies ¢t ibe ue.d waien blovi giauly and gracelully be th them. The people vf tne pi mounia, i are igoators; it 1s oniy I tne 1s that tne vude of Goa is heard Jmanus obeyed.” used, reclinng in the shade own vine anu fig tree on tne ey were, iU 1S wrue, part of uLs of Simon, but was 1 not son? A weil-thumbed serall e Torah was in my hiand, a pen was thrust withun tue folus of my turban, while my girdle, which 1 nad scarce worn otherwise, held an ink-horn, ine gift of Rabbi Samuel, my schoolmaster, a great dactor of Jerusalem, who Spent’ muca of time at Kerioth, h:s unauve piace. om iny childhood L had luved the .aw nd learning, and scarce on the Sabbath could withhuld wmyself frum oreas- vorite it by wriling two ccnnected ledters ink. Often, before tne setting of un on the sixth uay of the weex, I provided myselt with the juice of grapes or of other frult, that I mught write on the_ Sabbath witnout viclating the law. ihese narrow restrictions began to ap- pear foolish to me, for how can man bet~ ter serve God than by acquiriig wis- dom wherewith to pra.se hium, and skill to write that he may record his giory? Of all the boys in the village schoul none kept his eyes more irmly fixed upon liis Torauh, or quicker lesrned the worus and letiers as they were drawlingly pro- nounced by old ‘lobias, the Chazzan of cur synagogue, who acied as scnool- master. Long befure I had reached the required age of 12 years I could recite the Shema; and then when I went with my father to ithe temp.e at Jerusalem, at the feast of the Passover, 2s is pro- vided by the law, to become a son uf the Covenant, none acquitted himself beiter betoré the priess. It was then that the desire to become a scribe seized upon me—not mereiy one that copies the law and is known as such to the people only because he carriés a pen in the streets, as a tailor displays a needle and a money-ctanger has a smali coin suspended from his car. I burned to'become one that makes clear hard points of the law, renders straignt the path to heaven and is known to ail as a man of learning. Perhaps I might stand either at the right or left hand of the great semicircle of seventy chairs in the Hall of Hewn Stones in the tem- ple, to keep the records and decide hnot- 1y questions for the BSanhedrim, which at once makes and execules the laws. Nor was my ambition aitogether world- ly; I believed the Scriptures and yearned 1o serve the great Jehovah who had made me one of his chosen people; I wished to act the part of a man where men were few. Simon, my father, was rich and spared not his wealth that I might have the means of acquiring krowledge. But, with that thrift and prudence which are the distinctive marks of all Jews, he gave me an occupaticn; 1 became a dresser of vines, and none in Judea knows better than 1 how much of the old wood to cut away and in which Cirection to train a tendril. To becomc & scribe had been mine own choice, and yet as the feast of the Tabernacles. which follows hard on the ending of the harvest. drew nigh, when 1 was to accompany Rabbi Samuel 1o Jerusalem, there to continue my stud- jes, there arose misgivings in my mind. i believed the law and the prophets, but 1 had begun to realize that emply forma were being more and more observed, to the exclusion of the spirit that actuated our fathers. Fast day and Sabbath: ob- servances, instead of adding 1o,5were de- siroying the real piety of the people. Lawyers, such as 1 aspired to be, wera neglecting the weightier matters of the law to wrangle over ftrifles, as, what kind of a knot might be untied on the Sabbath, or whether a cripple might go forth on that day with his wooden leg. “Surely,” said I, “God never meant these things to be.” Chafing under the weight of a foreign yoke, tne people diiigenuy searched tine scriptures for signs of the coming of the Messiah who should redeem Israel and Te-esiablish its glory. Like them, I had learned to expect his speedy appear- ance, and to hope for a spiritual as well as a material improvement. As I lay that morning within the shadow of the vines that mine own hands had pruned, the law, as then taught aund enforced, ap- peared to me almost a mockery. This feeling was destined soon to be intensi- fied. My musings were suddenly disturbed by scunds of laughter, mingled with loud jries of “Judas! Judas!" Waiting only to roll up my scroll and make certain that my ink-horn was secure in its place, 1 sprang to my faet and hurried forward through the vines and fig trees. Reach- ing the border of the vinevard, about which wound a narrow path, a scene met my gaze that in an instant banighed the founiain at Hebron, the watcher on the roof of the temple and the quibbles of the Jawyers from my mind. On the broad terrace, next below, a gay crowd—gay_ at least for somber Judah— was assembled. The most, joyous time of all the long harvest season was at hand=the" grapes were to be gafhered.’ In the center of an gpen space stood the wine press that had made glad the hearts of many generations of my . people, the day and the year of its building having been long since forgotten, even by thdse Who best preserved our ancient traditions. Like all those in the land where the vine WoozA WAS A YOUNG GIRL - A .BEA'TJTIFUL,JO}Q?OWFUL . FAcEe._ w7’ 3 -’ flourisheth, it comsisted cf a, large vat, ashioned from a single huge stone. At the bottom was 4 grated opening, through which the wine flowed, not into a brick receptacle, as is usually the case, but into a circuiar cistern cut in the sclid rock below. This was marked at stated intervals to indicate, without the trouble of measuring, the number of baths, hins and even logs that it contained. To the right of the wine press stood twelve bas- kets—one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel—filled, after the true scriptural measure, with rich, ripe fruit. To its left were numerous bottles, fashioned of goat- skins, for storing the joy inspiring blood of the grapes. There were 2also many earthen vessels, for there are some who like not the flavor of wine that hath grown old in bottles. All was ready| and the youthful friends of Simon awaited only the coming of his youngest son to begin those simple rejoicings. with which the vintage season is always ushered in. The assembled company was as rare as the grapes. Of graybeards there were none, but most of the youth and beauty of Kerioth was gathered there to make merry in song and dance, partake of the 800d cheer and—my heart swelled a little at the thought—to do_honor to the young scholar, the son of the vinevard's mas- ter. ' All were” inf holiday attire and the effect was most. pleasing to the eye. The tunics of the young men were of the fin- est linen, their mantles of soft wool were blue, or. striped with brown and white, as fancy dictated! Some carried short staves, or walking sticks, some wore signet rings, while the loins of nearly. all were encir- Ii/_c/‘/fl:fi']‘ TTEIV IV DEVOTEE OF WITH cled with linen girdles, that they might the better engage in the dances that were to fallow. The garments of the Jews have changed but little in many generations, but they impressed- me that day as never before, and formed an essential part of a most moving picture. The garb of the majdens did not differ greatly from that of the Young men, except that the different ar- ticles were much more ample in size and were confined by girdles of linen, long enough to encircle many times the slender waists of the wearers. For the most part their garments were of pure white, the true festal color, but bright tints, artfully combined, were not wanting-in mantie and turban. Their shoes were of camel skin, and the same soft leather served to make the’sandals of the young men. Nearly all of them wore their hair in curls, though a few long plaits were visi- ble. These were cunningly fastened back with pins and combs, after the manner so severely condemned by the Essenes, Gold- en bracelets, rendering whiter fair wrists and elbows, necklaces, chains and ear- rings, flashed brightly in the ruddy sun- light. Not a'veil was to be seen, for our maidens do not always, as the Gentiles believe, cover _their. faces; and when shgg'lq’beam;y be seen ‘it not on.such a ay? o As'I descended the narrow stone stairs @ shout went up in which every voice Jjoined, including that of my brother Enos, upon whose-face I thought I saw a_look of half suppressed jealousy, while Ruth, daughter of Peleg the silversmith, fair- est and most provoking of all the maid- ens of Kerioth, tripped merrily forward in time to the musical jingling of the pen- dants on her bracelets and, bowing low with a peculiar grace, proclaimed in tones wherein love seemed struggling with mirth, admiration with mockery: “Welcome to the harvest, the song and the dance, most worthy and learned Rabbi Judas.” Bowing my thanks—for the raillery comn- cealed no sting for me—I advanced and took from one corner of the wine press a ready made garland of entwined flowers, olive leaves and grapes. Then, well knowing what was expected of me, and .quite willing to accept the challenge in good part, I announced in a loud voice: “Ruth, daughter of Peleg, among the maidens of Judea fairest of that name since the Moabitess left the land of her birth and adopted as her people the peo- ple of Naomi, her motheér-in-law, and as §1er God the God of Israel, with this gar- land, the living proof of the bounty of God, I crown thee queen of the vintage. What a rabbi hath proclaimed may not be questioned by the people. Reign thou this day.” As I placed the wreath above the shin- ing band of gold that confiffed in place her rich dowry of jet-black hair I caught a glimpse of my brother Enos’ face. It was dark and lowering. A sudden pain shot through my heart. I had long admired the daughter of the silversmith; her beauty, grace, wit and, above all, a_certain strange mingling of modesty and boldness, of sincerity and satire, strongly attracted me. Perhaps this was largely due to a common feel- ing, always powerful in producing fel- lowship; a feeling that was outspoken on her part, concealed on mine. More than once had I gently reproved her for flip- pant remarks touching certain Sabbath observances, though heart I thought her right, her irrev- erent manner. Yet I not love her, had never once thought of making her my wife. That one black look of my brother had opened his heart as a scroll before me. The~pain I had experienced was on his account, and was short lived as it ‘was sharp. No great harm had been done; 1 did not stand in his way, and would tell him so upon the first opportunity. “Now, how is this?" demanded Ruth, drawing her lithe figure up to its fulle: height and raising her hand in a com- manding manner, that Alexandra, called Salome, could not have equaled: ‘“How is this? Of late queens have been scarce with us as baked meats on fast days; but I will not be one span the less a queen on that account. Where is my retinue, my court? One would think ye village rustics rather, than lords and la- dies. Straighten thy back, David; tie thy shoelace, Berenice; stop twirling thy thumbs, Aminadab; would you disgrace me on the day of my coronation? To the harp, Anna, and you, Martha, strike the psaltery. Tighten your girdles, ever: body. All forward with timbrel and cas tanet.. Rabbi Judas, you lead the dance with me. Come, begin.” They may have been—they were—rustic maidens, but I thought then, as I.know now, that full many a noble lady in the great Gentile world would have given something more than a denarius for their beauty, grace and strength, even. Heavy must be the heart of a Jew who refuses to dance on a holiday, for dancing hath been the pastime of ou d nation since the days of the Not one biit responded to the call, and T saw with pleasure the dark cloud, like the morning mist that hovers over the Jor- dan, lift from the countenance of Enos, Joy reigned as royal consort of our queen. None noted how the time passed, nor once looked toward the stone sundial that Stood hard by the wine press; and when at length the pastime was ended it was Weariness. not satlety, that stilled tim- bry, castanet and the responsive sound of shoe and sandal on the broad stone ing floor. dan e have done well: now indeed do 1 feel myself a queen. There are no sub- Jects llke the Jews.” cried Ruth as, not a whit less beautiful for her heaving Preast and heightened color, she threw herself upon the heap of empty wine skins, while the other maidens crowded around her, arranging disordered tresses and exchanging whispered boasts of con- quests achieved during the dance. Such incidents as 1) am narrating may appear frivolous, in view of the weighty matters that are to follow, but they were part and parcel of the events, which, in the providence of God, have made 'me an humble - participator in a movement Sestined, as I believe. to redeem Israel from her sins and to invade the lands of the Gentiles. perhaps as .far as Alexan- dria and Rome. If, as seems most prob- able, the dark storm of foreign greed and crueity that hath so long been gathering above Israel, aided by our own folly and dissensions, is about to descend and en- gulf us until we are no more a people such_joyous and harmless scenes may be- come but memories among us and these pages come to possess something of real interest. Lastly, that vintage celebration marks an epoch in my life; with it closed the innocence of my youth and before it opened a career of sin and folly. Let me, then, a little lonier linger beside the wine press at Kerioth. *T¥A “sonig now 'In"praise of the wine,” proclaimed our queen in truly regal tones, as she arose after a brief rest. “Rather a hymn in praise of God who hath permitted the vine to blossom and bring forth fruit,” I suggested. “Be it so, though I would sing it with greater unction if bis laws did.not for- M4 the untying of a wine bottle on the seventh day of the week.” The silversmith’s daughter empiras her almost im smile which broug countenance of m ingly roticing neitt hymn_weli know after the follow “As the prun cutting away the dead the young branches r snd dew, and rain, ar sunshine; so may lives, removing var ness, that love anc t fashion: ok pruneth the vires, nd useless, flourish in our hearis. “As the hand of the recteth the way of the y twining tendrii, that th and bring forth, and Support r 80 may the hand of the Lord fashion our young lives we may hear, and understand, and obey his or- dinances and pt “As the young grapes that hang in great clusters among the brauches he fig trees swell and calor.and ripen against the coming of the vinta 0, O Lord, may the good :hat thou, hast implanted within our heafts acquire strength ar form, and perfection against the beginn of thy harvest. “As the fruit of tne vine whens fully ripened is plucked, and crushed and trampled under the feet med and maidens unti bocometh rare 1 precious wine iy good time, may we chastened, and made pu become worthy a plac A3 queen « stal day,” declared Ruth, raising mbrel in lieu of & Bcepter, I procia e vin.age hath begun but the hands of me th of malder 1 em into hea ~ € h a glad maids. ur f your tunics well up out of harm's way this is a festiva eight of a well- made wine learned and piou véu, young mer their feet in Jews are clear and scoffing Ge grapes into the break their hearts their blood.” Amid shrieks o under Da not tiles t We may f laughter and downcs looks of modesty te was obey- ed with greater an were those of Valerius at C r his im al master, Tiberius Caesar, at R . Never at Kerioth did wi begin under better aus) T must splash ter never did the first drops that trickled into the .cisterp be- neath, sound sweeter to the ears of teners, to whose £ y was suggest music of rich old wine gurgling jo from skin bot in the days come. Wearied with long daneing, vigor of the maldens soon began to f and it was not long before, red a panting, they were all seated upon edge of the wine press. “But why are not the village here?” redly ovef the asked Ruth, looking sud- denly up from the garland, the imsignia eople of of her office, from which she had been plucking the already withered flowers— so fast doth royalty fade. ‘‘Rabbl Sam- uel was to have been here at nogn to be- stow h lessing, and it is now the sev- enth hour, if the sun-dial may be be- leved.” “And the dinner?” suggested Anna, hi daughter, the leanest, and hence the hungriest of them all. “They promised to provide us with festal fare.” “And the wine,” added Aminadab, who studied h's stomach mors attentively than his Torah; ‘Peleg, the silversmith, prom- ised us the oldest bottle in his cellar.” “I am more concerned about the biess- ing,” sald our queen, replacing the gar- land upon her head and smiling after the manner of the cynics at Rome. “But Heard'st nothing? IL In the dead silence that followed this question of our queen a confused sound arose from the valley below.:. At first it was b he murmur of many voices, * in w of anger could be de- tected, though word was_distinguish- able. This rapidly increased im velume, snd shou ‘Kill him!" Stone him ‘were Soor tly -audible. I waited to hear no mantle and but drawing up my that my feet might be free, T and rapidly destend- ed the ston The last terrace passed, I entered the at road to J alem, where, at some 1w on the stone pavement gry crowd of at least a sons. It flashed upén me the numerous robbers that country had been captured, short of that could well e strange scene and loud ared the spot this suspicion was y strengthened by what I saw. A bound the wrists, was T to ape from the restw s of nearly half a score of p He w »f powerful build, and see: young and handsome, though _his face was covered with blood and dust. His mantle had been torn to shreds, his funic d, while his turban had en- tirely di Suddenly he ceased his strug looked, half indig- nantly, I ly, upen his captors. “Is he a I asked of Rabbi Samuel, who stood scowlingly confront- ing_the prisoner “Yea, and worse,” was” the stern re- ply. “He steals not our earthly posses- sions, but would rob us of eternal lif 3 s the law, the prophet Je- He is a blasphemer said?” was an idolator and Da- % the golden calf and Uriah but answered nothing. “He sai Daniel was no prophet, and jeeret} ur holv Sabbath day.” “He must be a Gentlle,” gested 1, “and not answerabl law.'” “Thou canst not speak Aramalc bet- ter, and 1 doubt me if thou kmowest ag much of jebfew. Let him be stoned the Hittit e him! mes repeated, ran ng, Jjostling throng. ed it in tones suggestive f wild bulls,among the beyond the Jordan. The usually >thing voices of wom- en ean ery, their shrill tones deaying like the discordant shriek 1s of prey, Toothless old men, avily upon staves, and little © clihging to the garments of the joined in the demand for blood, cracked and lisping voices lending in a strange echo ofs the: loud rage and hate that rent the. air. ‘The it of love Lhat God breathed into the seemed to Have giv all-possessing d - turned away. Could fest itself thus? rew, the tailor, a man Suddenly Ar whom 1 had often seen Tobias, the Chaz- zan_of e Synagogue, scourge.: for a theft, at the command of our local sanhedrim, wrenched a stone!from the pavement and held it aloft. In an in- stant nearl the people were g staves, walking sticks and even their fingers to secure like justruments of I shouted, rushing forward and myself before the tim; this ‘man hath not demned. *Not condem: " replied Rabbi Sam- most sneering manner. “Look here is a strange thing. Dan- the blasphemer dented, s not he liveth and giveth judgment. Listen, my son. There.are soiie things thou mayest yet learn at Kerioth b tore_departing .for Jerusalem. . His o words have condemnéd him. What s 4“ the JTaw? Shalt not dne that leadeth th people away: from Mases, even though he be a worker of miracies, be put to ceath? ¥ ““‘And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreamis, shall be put: to"death: because he hath spoken to turn gou away from. the Lord your God; which brought you el, whom