runo who preached; and on a very different topic
from any mentioned above. His clear, ringing voice was in itself a much
more interesting sound than Father Nicholas's drowsy monotone, or Father
Warner's dry staccato. He at least was interested in his subject; no
one could doubt that. As soon as the last note of the last chant had
died away, Bruno came forward to the steps of the altar. He had given
due notice of his intention beforehand, and every one (with Beatrice in
particular) was prepared to listen to him.

The text itself--to hearers unfamiliar with the letter of Scripture--was
rather a startling one.

"`O all ye that pass by the way, hearken and see if there be sorrow like
unto my sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath trodden me as in the wine-press,
in the day of the wrath of His anger.'"

Margaret looked up quickly. This seemed to her the very language of her
own heart. She at least was likely to be attentive.

Perhaps no medieval preacher except Bruno de Malpas would even have
thought of alluding to the literal and primary meaning of the words.
From the first moment of their joint existence, Jerusalem and Rome have
been enemies and rivals. Not content with, so far as in her lay,
blotting out the very name of Israel from under heaven, Rome has calmly
arrogated to herself--without even offering proof of it--that right to
the promises made to the fathers, which, Saint Paul tells us, belongs in
a higher and richer sense to the invisible Church of Christ than to the
literal and visible Israel. But Rome goes further than the Apostle: for
in her anxiety to claim the higher sense for herself, she denies the
lower altogether. No Romanist will hear with patience of any national
restoration of Israel. And whether the Anglo-Israelite theory be true
or false, it is certainly, as a theory, exceedingly unpalatable to Rome.

With respect, moreover, to this particular passage, it had become so
customary to refer it to the sufferings of Christ, that its original
application to the destruction of Jerusalem had been almost forgotten.

But here, Bruno's Jewish proclivities stood him in good stead. He
delighted Beatrice by fully stating the original reference of the
passage. But then he went on to say that it was no longer applicable to
the Babylonish captivity. Since that time, there had been another
sorrow to which the sufferings of Israel were not to be compared--to
which no affliction ever suffered by humanity could