d. Jesus or Barabbas, which will ye
choose?"

All the more fiercely the mob cries, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

[Illustration: "Ecce Homo!"]

Pilate is puzzled. "I cannot understand these people," he said. "But
a few days ago, ye followed this man with rejoicing through the streets
of Jerusalem." The High Priest threatens to appeal to Rome. Pilate
fears to face such an appeal. He has little confidence in the favor or
the justice of the Caesar whom he serves. At last he consents to what
he calls "a great wrong in order to avert a greater evil." He calls
for water, and washes his hands in ostentatious innocence. Finally, as
he signs the verdict of condemnation in wrath and disgust, he breaks
his staff of office, and flings the fragments upon the stairs, at the
feet of the priests.

Next we behold in the foreground of the stage, John and Mary the mother
of Jesus, and with them a little group of followers. A tumult is
heard, and, in the midst of a great throng of people, we see three
crosses borne by prisoners. Jesus beholds his mother. Suddenly he
faints, under the weight of the cross. The rough soldiers urge him on.
Simon of Cyrene, a sturdy passer-by, who is carrying home provisions
from the market, is seized by the soldiers and forced to give aid. At
first he refuses. "I will not do it," he says; "I am a free man, and
no criminal." But his indignant protests turn to pity, when he beholds
the Holy Man of Nazareth. "For the love of thee," he says, "will I
bear thy cross. Oh, could I make myself thus worthy in thy sight!"

The closing scenes of the Passion Play, associated as they are with all
that has been held sacred by our race for nearly two thousand years,
are thrilling beyond comparison. No one can witness them unmoved. No
one can forget the impression made by the living pictures. In
simplicity and reverence, the work is undertaken, and it awakens in the
beholder only corresponding feelings. Every heart, for the time at
least, is stirred to its depths.

When the curtain rises, two crosses are seen, each in its place. The
central cross is not yet raised. The Roman soldiers take their time
for it. "Come, now," says one of them, "we must put this Jewish king
upon his throne." So the heavy cross, with its burden, is raised in
its place. We see the bloody nails in his hands and feet; and so
realistic is the representation, that the nearest spectator cannot see
that he is not actually nai