Did Satan ever hover round His path-
(By Michael kept from any act of wrath)
But free to tempt in many devious ways

Until youth past, and came young manhood's days,
Yet perfect still in deed, in word, in thought,
Tho' for slight flaw the subtle Tempter sought
And if the slightest-He had fled to God
Complain, demanding a chastising rod!
But Perfect, like a jewel without flaw,
His every hour kept sacred, holy law,
Weaving a Righteousness that all may see-
A Lily of the Valley's Purity.

And heralded by John He came, THE KING
Who would to Israel Restoration bring
Had they accepted HIM in faith, in truth,
Messiah without Cavil or dispute,

He would have put forth His Imperial Power
And Israel triumphant in that hour.

But He was meek and lowly-and they saw
Nothing in Him but breaker of their law;
Blinded by cobwebs of rabbinic lore

What was there in HIM that they could adore-
A Carpenter of Nazareth to be

The Great Messiah of all Prophecy!

A thought Ridiculous, If David's Son
The throne of David never could be won
With Galilean Fishermen for peers-

With Galilean hillsmen's vaunt and cheers-
Jerusalem the place of David's throne

The Temple, High Priest and Sanhedrim there,

Here let HIM call the Nation and declare

The Roman Power forever overthrown.

No doubt your Satan whispered to their thought-
No word, nor act of his Salvation wrought
To crush cursed Rome and end our suffering-
Jerusalem is still without her King!

"If HE the true Messiah let HIM show
His Kingly strength by striking Rome a blow
To shatter Pilate's power, slay Herod's brood-
But He comes not-but ever cries-'Be Good!'
And crieth from the mountain side: 'Be meek,'
Holy and lowly, and your foeman seek
And let him strike you on the face again,
And thank him in your heart for giving pain—
Pay tributes unto Cæsar-and divide

Your bread and meat with hungry-and provide
The Beggar's back with coat-nor say your prayers
In public places-but in room up stairs

Where no man seeth-give no open alms

Hiding your good deeds in the beggar's palms ;
Prating of righteousness in heart and soul

Not let the human passions have control.
Has He not openly before all men

Said, we were Hypocrites and full of sin

As tombs are full of bones-and slurred our name-
'Til we, the Leaders, are a stench and shame-
We, Rulers of The Nation, thus disgrace—
Shall we to Minion of this ilk give place
Shall we confess our faults to such as HE!
We Israel's Leaders, Hierarchy-be told

We are foul Livers-Greedy of the gold.
That is our right to take of in exchange;
Did HE not in His insolence derange
The manner of our selling lawful beasts
To far-off Brethren Coming to our feasts.
Does He not show by His contemptuous tone
That we who sit in Moses's high throne
Not honored for ourselves-but for the words
Read from The Law because it is the Lord's.
Hath He not opened floodgates of abuse,
Not veiled in Hyperbole nor framed abstruse,
But by plain words that populace may know,
Thus striking at our Person such a blow
As the receiver should wash out with blood-
For all His allegations understood-
We are the serpents! We the viper brood-
Must bear the lashings of His angry mood,
Because we will not change the manner of our lives.
Now it is either We-or He survives!

For He hath trailed our honor in the dust,
Hath filled the people's minds with a mistrust
Of our good acts, and alms, and pious prayers,
Our houses, clothes and daily table fares,
Be knit in people's minds as paid by gold
That we have stolen by actions manifold-
Therefore dishonored in the People's sight.

He is most wary in each public speech None can confound Him-none can over reachMark you how servile to Mosaic law He never yet has hinted of a flaw!

But to Rabbinical most sacred lore

He sneers as never sneered a Jew before!
Holds such as worthless, teach men to resist
But on the Laws in Pentateuch insist;

HE stands all hidebound to the simplest rite-
All perfect to His Gallilean sight-

He stands a menace to all liberal thought
In Grecian-Roman learning has not sought
To cull a single Glory from their mind!
The Narrowest of Jews-His mind confined
To "What is Written!" and all else despise
As Grecian subtle thoughts no more than lies!
Has God not spoken for six hundred years,
Surely all Grecian Thoughts not writ in vain-
Shall we but deem it a most foolish thing
That Aristotle should God's message bring,
That Socrates's and Plato's brilliant words
Without a single breathing of The Lord's;
That God no message for the Human Race!
To liberal Mind unthinkable disgrace-
And if as Jewish Leaders we retain

A Leadership of Nations we must let

Our minds be open-some so-called Truths forget-
But this New Knowledge we shall not discuss
We Sadducees-you Pharisees—may fuss
And so distract our force-now all stand
Before the Greatest Question in this Land!

What shall we do with Christ!

That is the thing

To bring us peace, or bring us suffering!

And HE is not a man we can despise-
For some of us have seen with human eyes
That Leper's son of Bethany decay-

And from the stench our nostrils turned away
And, lo, today within the Temple place
We've seen His smiling-yet accursed face-
And all men see that Sinner blind from birth!
Surely of other cases are no dearth-
Facts-Facts-or some Egyptian trick and fraud
The Rabble all believing now applaud.
So now as openly to common eyes

Not mincing words He hailed us to despise
With open insult-so the end has come
Either His voice, or our voice, must be dumb!
If David's Son for us He hath no use,

And one may plainly read in His abuse

'Tis Death for us should He come to the throne!
And should He dare tomorrow to disown
The Roman Power-the eventide would see
Our bodies slain by rabble butchery.
And mark you, that no coward lives in Him
Stalwart in frame, and stately in each limb-
Our spies that boasted a few days ago

He feared our wrath and fled to desert place,
Were only fools, their lying wits were slow
To read This man-not His the Coward face!
Doth He not daily in the temple teach
As free as He were leagues beyond our reach—
He coward, bah, He'd dare us even here-
Tho' worse in hate than any tiger's lair.