Tales of the Chesapeake | Page 7

from the side,
where they say the soldier's spear was thrust, I have sold the costly ruby.
The nail in the feet, a sapphire, paid thy Jewish matron. The emerald in

this right hand purchased thy books. I send thee abroad with the price
of the diamonds in the crown."
"Father," said young Abraham, "the image is hallowed to me for thy
piety. It is Humanity, O my father! that has made me devoutly a Jew,
and thee, unsuspectingly, a Christian."
He sailed away upon the Eli. His parting words had affected old
Issachar so much that his mind returned along the course of years to the
Christmas night he had passed in the outcast preacher's hut, and the
curious story of Jesus he had read there in the New Testament and in
the presence of the dead.
"To-morrow is Christmas," said the Jew; "a hallowed day to me,
because it brought me a son whose obedience and piety have gratified
the exile of my old age. Although these Christians have covered him
with their despite, his excellent charity remembers it not. I will be no
less magnanimous, and I will cross the bay and attend the Methodist
worship at Snow Hill on Christmas morning, that I may communicate
its frivolity to my son."
He kept his word; and for fear thieves might discover and steal the
valuable crucifix, he hid it beneath his vesture and carried it to the
mainland. The little plank meeting-house at the edge of Snow Hill was
filled with whites on the floor, but in the end gallery, amongst the
negroes, Issachar haughtily took his seat, an object of wonder to both
races, for his face and reputation were generally recognized. Perhaps it
was for this reason that the young preacher, a gentle, graceful person,
adapted his sermon to the sweetness of the Christian story rather than
bear upon those descriptions which might antagonize his Jewish
auditor.
He told the story of the world's selfishness when Christ appeared; how
the Jews, living in the straitest of sectarian aristocracies, inviting and
receiving no accessions, had finally fallen under the dogmatism of the
uncharitable Pharisees, who esteemed themselves the only righteous
devotees and doctrinaires amongst the millions of people on the earth.
Jesus, a youth of good Jewish extraction, and honorable family, had

been bold enough to denounce Phariseeism and make its votaries
ridiculous. He was scorned by them, if for no other crime, for the cheap
offence, in a bigoted age, denominated blasphemy. Here the preacher,
looking toward the Jew, paid a tribute to the antiquity and loyalty of the
better class of Jews, and said that it was well known that one of his own
forerunners in the Christian ministry, dying in penury from the
consequences of a marital mistake, had been befriended in his death
and in his posterity by a gallant follower of the House of Israel.
The congregation, facing about to look at the Jew in the gallery,
amongst the negroes, were surprised to see tears on his gray eyelashes,
and the colored elders, who loved Issachar exceedingly, exclaimed, in
stentorian chorus:
"Praise God for dat Israelite, in whom dar is no guile! Hallelujah!"
Then, as if the Christmas frost had melted, these grateful exclamations
made warmth at once in both races, and encouraged the orator in his
extemporization. Issachar began to appreciate the possibility of the
founder of a more liberal sect of Jews, whose charitable hand should be
extended to Gentiles also, and whose heaven should comprehend all the
posterity of Adam. Perhaps his son's portrait was in his mind--that
loving son who had but just departed in the interests of the law of
Moses and the restoration of the Temple. At the end of the sermon alms
were invited for the support of the minister and the propagation of such
a gospel as he had preached. With a mixture of pride and humility old
Issachar descended the gallery stairs and walked up the aisle, and,
taking the crucifix from his breast, planted it upon the altar.
"There," he said, "if your sect asserts the sentiments of this sermon, you
are entitled to this rich image. I am repaid for its possession by a son of
Gentile parentage whose obedience has been the delight of my old
years, and for the gift God has given me in him, I tender you this
counterfeit of Jesus nailed on the Roman scaffold."
The congregation gazed a minute at the golden cross. Ireful laughter
broke forth, followed by rage.

"The pagan! The papist! The Turk! The idolater!" they exclaimed. "He
mocks the memory of our Saviour on Christmas morning! Out with
him!"
The Jew recovered the crucifix and put it beneath his mantle. He
vouchsafed no reply except a scornful "Ha! ha! ha!" and with this