ave it; the later goodness, the miracle of Palm-Sunday; and with
these recollections, the thought of his present powerlessness to
give back help for help or make return in kind stung him keenly,
and he accused himself. He had not done all he might; he could
have watched with the Galileans, and kept them true and ready;
and this--ah! this was the moment to strike! A blow well given
now would not merely disperse the mob and set the Nazarene
free; it would be a trumpet-call to Israel, and precipitate
the long-dreamt-of war for freedom. The opportunity was going;
the minutes were bearing it away; and if lost! God of Abraham!
Was there nothing to be done--nothing?

That instant a party of Galileans caught his eye. He rushed through
the press and overtook them.

"Follow me," he said. "I would have speech with you."

The men obeyed him, and when they were under shelter of the house,
he spoke again:

"You are of those who took my swords, and agreed with me to strike
for freedom and the King who was coming. You have the swords now,
and now is the time to strike with them. Go, look everywhere,
and find our brethren, and tell them to meet me at the tree of
the cross making ready for the Nazarene. Haste all of you! Nay,
stand not so! The Nazarene is the King, and freedom dies with him."

They looked at him respectfully, but did not move.

"Hear you?" he asked.

Then one of them replied,

"Son of Judah"--by that name they knew him--"son of Judah, it is
you who are deceived, not we or our brethren who have your
swords. The Nazarene is not the King; neither has he the spirit
of a king. We were with him when he came into Jerusalem; we saw
him in the Temple; he failed himself, and us, and Israel; at the
Gate Beautiful he turned his back upon God and refused the throne
of David. He is not King, and Galilee is not with him. He shall
die the death. But hear you, son of Judah. We have your swords,
and we are ready now to draw them and strike for freedom; and so
is Galilee. Be it for freedom, O son of Judah, for freedom! and
we will meet you at the tree of the cross."

The sovereign moment of his life was upon Ben-Hur. Could he have
taken the offer and said the word, history might have been other
than it is; but then it would have been history ordered by men,
not God--something that never was, and never will be. A confusion
fell upon him; he knew not how, though afterwards he attributed
it to the Nazarene; for when the Nazarene