And firmly to believe herself his child,--
Say, reverend father, what should then be done?

PATRIARCH.

I shudder at the thought! But, worthy Sir,
Say, is this fact, or mere hypothesis?
That is, if your own head has framed the case,
Or has it happened--does it still exist?

TEMPLAR.

That's unimportant, and could not assist
Your reverence to pronounce upon the point.

PATRIARCH.

What! unimportant! See, Sir Knight, how apt
Proud reason is to err in sacred things.
'Tis of deep import; though, 'tis true, the case
May be the offspring of your sportive wit,
When we should straight dismiss it from our thoughts,
And I should then refer you to the stage
Where _pros_ and _cons_ like these are oft discussed
With loud applause. But if the object be,
By something better than a sleight of hand,
To sound my judgment, if the thing be fact,
And may have happened in our diocese,
Here in our dear Jerusalem itself,
Why then----

TEMPLAR.

What then?

PATRIARCH.

Then were it well, Sir Knight,
To execute at once upon the Jew
The penalty provided for the case,
By Papal and Imperial laws, against
So foul a crime, such dire iniquity.

TEMPLAR.

Indeed!

PATRIARCH.

The laws I mention have decreed
That if a Jew shall to apostasy
Seduce a Christian, he shall die by fire.

TEMPLAR.

Indeed!

PATRIARCH.

How much more when a Jew by force
Tears from baptismal bonds a Christian child?
For all that's done to children is by force,
Save what the Church shall order and perform.

TEMPLAR.

What if the child were steeped in misery,
And must have died, but for this bounteous Jew?

PATRIARCH.

It matters not: the Jew should still be burnt.
'Twere better to expire in misery,
Than live to suffer never-ending pains.
The Jew moreover should not have forestalled
The hand of God, whom had He willed to save,
Could save without him.

TEMPLAR.