was of humble rank,
was known in the district lessened his authority too much; and it is
moreover remarkable that his family were strongly opposed to him, and
flatly declined to believe in his mission. In Capernaum he was much more
favourably received, and it became "his own city." These good Galileans
had never heard preaching so well adapted to their cheerful
imaginations. They admired him, they encouraged him, they found that he
spoke well, and that his reasons were convincing. The almost poetical
harmony of his discourses won their affections. The authority of the
young master increased day by day, and naturally the more that people
believed in him the more he believed in himself. Four or five large
villages, lying at half an hour's journey from one another, formed the
little world of Jesus at this time. Sometimes, however, he wandered
beyond his favourite region, once in the direction of Tyre and Sidon, a
country which must have been marvellously prosperous at that time. But
he returned always to his well-beloved shore of Genesareth. The
motherland of his thoughts was there; there he found faith and love.

In this earthly paradise lived a population in perfect harmony with the
land itself, active, honest, joyous, and tender of heart, and here Jesus
became the centre of a little circle which adored him. In this friendly
group he evidently had his favourites. Peter, for whom his affection was
very deep, James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, formed a sort
of privy council. Jesus owed his conquests to the infinite charm of his
personality and speech. Everyone thought that he lived in a sphere
higher than that of humanity. The aristocracy of the group was
represented by a customs-officer, and by the wife of one of Herod's
stewards. The rest were fishermen and common folk. Jesus lived with his
disciples almost always in the open air, the faithful band leading a
joyous wandering life, and gathering the inspirations of the Master in
their first bloom. His preaching was soft and gentle, inspired with a
feeling for nature and the perfume of the fields. It was above all in
parable that the Master excelled. There was nothing in Judaism to give
him a model for this delightful feature. He created it. In freeing man
from what he called "the cares of this world" Jesus might go to excess
and injure the essential conditions of human society; but he founded
that spiritual exaltation which for centuries has filled souls with jo