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cloths, sealed down with the signet of the church : these are removed on the third day, when he is declared innocent or guilty, according to the condition in which his hands are found. "Si sinus rubescens in vestigio ferri reperiatur, culpabilis ducatur. Sin autem mundus reperiatur, Laus Deo referatur."

Such is certainly one of the most extraordinary records of the craft, the audacity, and the weakness of mankind.

D

SPECIMENS OF THE RABBINICAL APOLOGUE.

I.

THE CHILDHOOD OF ABRAHAM.

1 IN those days Nimrod the king persecuted Tharah, and sought after his life.

2 And Tharah fled into the caves of the rocks; and Abram, his son, was born and reared within the darkness of the cave.

3 Yet even in the dark cave the law of God was in the heart of the boy; and continually within himself he said, Who is my Creator?

4 At length it came to pass that Abram walked abroad from the cave, and was in freedom to behold the heavens and the earth. Then did he earnestly survey all things, still meditating within himself, and saying, Who is he that made the heavens and the earth, and is the God of all things that be?

5 Then Abram beheld the sun ascending in his glory, and he fell upon his knees and said, Kingly, kingly art thou, O sun: Thou art the God of heaven. 6 And in this faith remained he all that day.

7 But when the evening was come, and the sun was gone down into the sea, then saw Abram the moon shining clearly in the east.

8 And Abram said, The light that hath descended and been cast down into the sea, how can he be the

SPECIMENS OF THE RABBINICAL APOLOGUE.

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God of heaven? Behold this lesser light is king of heaven, and these stars that shine around about him are his nobles, that do him homage, and his captains, and his host.

9 But yet a little while, and the moon and the stars were clean gone out of the firmament, and Abram was left alone in the wilderness.

10 Then ran he unto Tharah, his father, and said unto him, I pray thee, O father, reveal unto me who verily is the God of the heavens and of the earth.

11 And Tharah took him by the hand, and led him into the inner chamber, where his idols stood; and Tharah said unto Abram, These be the gods of the heavens and of the earth: My son, bow down before them, and worship them. And as his father commanded him even so did he.

12 ¶ Now after three days it came to pass that the mother of Abram gave unto him a certain sweet cake; and Abram said unto himself, I will not eat of this cake, but make thereof an acceptable offering unto the gods of heaven and earth, whom my father shewed unto me in his inner chamber.

13 And the boy went into the inner chamber, and laid the cake upon the table before the carved images, saying, O ye gods of the heavens and the earth, let mine offering be well-pleasing and find favour in your sight; stretch forth your hands now and take this cake.

14 But the images moved not, neither did they stretch forth their hands to take his offering.

15 And when Abram went in on the morrow, behold the cake was yet lying on the table, and none of the carved images had touched it, nor tasted thereof.

16 Then Abram mused within himself, and said, Of a surety the gods of my father be not the true gods. 17 And Abram took a hammer, and he broke all the images, save one which stood in the midst of them; and that image he left standing.

18 And he ran unto Tharah, and cried unto him with a loud voice, saying, My father, Behold, the god that standeth in the middle of the table hath slain, in his anger, all the other gods, and broken them into pieces in the fury of his indignation, and utterly destroyed them.

19 Then Tharah waxed angry with Abram, saying, Verily it is thou that hast done all this evil.

20 As for the god that thou speakest of, is he not the work of mine own hands? Did I not carve him out of the timber of the tree which I cut down in the wilderness? How then could he lift up his hand, being a piece of carved wood, or do violence upon his fellows?

21 My son, thou hast deceived me. Thy hand hath broken my gods.

22 Then said Abram unto Tharah, May it please thee, my father, to consider what manner of thing this is that thou sayest. Behold, I am but a little child, and yet thou sayest unto me, that the thing which the god thou worshippest cannot do, that I, even I, thy son, can do easily with these hands.

23 And Tharah wondered, but he wist not what to

answer.

24 ¶ And not many days thereafter God shewed himself unto Abram, and called him out of the land of the Chaldeans.

II.

THE VINE TREE.

1 And when Noah had made an end of planting the vine, he departed to his dwelling, and left no one to watch over the tree.

2 And Satan beheld Noah, and knew what manner of tree it was that he had planted; and he said within himself, Shall man, which is made of the dust of the earth, drink wine, which is the liquor of the sons of heaven?

3 And Satan cast his eyes round about, and he saw in the valley a lamb, and a lion, and a swine.

4 And he seized them, and brought them unto the place where the vine had been planted; and he drew near to the vine, saying, Behold, O vine, thou art more precious in my sight than all the other trees of the forest: therefore with rich manure will I this day fatten all thy roots.

5 And Satan slew the lamb, and shed the blood thereof upon the roots of the vine; and in like manner did he pour thereon the blood of the lion and of the swine.

6 And the blood of the beasts entered into the roots of the tree, and in the fruits thereof it speaketh even unto this day.

7 For he that drinketh one pottle of wine is mild and gentle like unto a lamb, and his heart is merry within him, without wrath and without envy, and he is well-pleasing unto all men.

8 But he that drinketh two pottles is made like unto a lion, full of vain-gloriousness, and all manner of boasting, and exceeding cruelty, vaunting himself mightily, and thirsting for the blood of men.

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