e has ceased, to record the
communicated truth. Place in his hands the thunderbolt, and at his feet
the eagle, and the same form would serve for Jupiter the Thunderer,
except only that to the countenance of the Jewish prophet there has been
imparted a rapt and inspired look, wholly beyond any that even Phidias
could have fixed upon the face of Jove. He who wrought this head must
have believed in the sublimities of the religion whose chief minister he
has made so to speak them forth, in the countenance and in the form; and
yet who has ever heard of a Jew sculptor?

The statue of Christ is of a very different character; as different as
the Christian faith is from that of the Jewish, notwithstanding they are
still by many confounded. I cannot pretend to describe to you the holy
beauty that as it were constitutes this perfect work of art. If you ask
what authority tradition has invested it with, I can only say that I do
not know. All I can affirm with certainty, is this, that it once stood
in the palace of Alexander Severus, in company with the images of other
deified men and gods, whom he chiefly reverenced. When that excellent
prince had fallen under the blows of assassins, his successor and
murderer, Maximin, having little knowledge or taste for what was found
in the palace of Alexander, those treasures were sold, and the statue of
Christ came into the hands of a distinguished and wealthy Christian of
that day, who, perishing in the persecution of Decius, his descendants
became impoverished, and were compelled to part with even this sacred
relic of their former greatness. From them I purchased it; and often are
they to be seen, whenever for such an object they can steal away from
necessary cares, standing before it and renewing, as it would seem,
their vows of obedience, in the presence of the founder of their faith.
The room is free to their approach, whenever they are thus impelled.

The expression of this statue, I have said, is wholly different from
that of the Hebrew. His is one of authority and of sternness; this of
gentleness and love. Christ is represented, like the Moses, in a sitting
posture, with a countenance, not like his raised to Heaven, but bent
with looks somewhat sad and yet full of benevolence, as if upon persons
standing before him. Fraternity, I think, is the idea you associate with
it most readily. I should never suppose him to be a judge or censor, or
arbitrary master, but rather an elder brother;