Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/117

Rh should it be forgotten that long before Dædalus appeared in Attica and with his wooden statues so transformed sculpture as to make possible the schools of Corinth and Ægina, and their ultimate triumphs the Pœcile and Capitolium—long before the age of Dædalus, I say, two Israelites, Bezaleel and Aholiab, the master-builders of the first tabernacle, said to have been skilled in all manner of workmanship, wrought the cherubim of the mercy-seat above the ark. Of gold beaten, not chiselled, were they; and they were statues in form both human and divine. ’And they shall stretch forth their wings on high, .... and their faces shall look one to another.’ Who will say they were not beautiful? or that they were not the first statues?&quot;

&quot;Oh, I see now why the Greek outstripped us,&quot; said Judah, intensely interested. &quot;And the ark; accursed be the Babylonians who destroyed it!&quot;

&quot;Nay, Judah, be of faith. It was not destroyed, only lost, hidden away too safely in some cavern of the mountains. One day—Hillel and Shammai both say so—one day, in the Lord’s good time, it will be found and brought forth, and Israel dance before it, singing as of old. And they who look upon the faces of the cherubim then, though they have seen the face of the ivory Minerva, will be ready to kiss the hand of the Jew from love of his genius, asleep through all the thousands of years.&quot;

The mother, in her eagerness, had risen into something like the rapidity and vehemence of a speech-maker; but now, to recover herself, or to pick up the thread of her thought, she rested awhile.

&quot;You are so good, my mother,&quot; he said, in a grateful way. &quot;And I will never be done saying so. Shammai could not have talked better, nor Hillel. I am a true son of Israel again.&quot;

&quot;Flatterer!&quot; she said. &quot;You do not know that I am but repeating what I heard Hillel say in an argument he had one day in my presence with a sophist from Rome.&quot; &quot;Well, the hearty words are yours.&quot;

Directly all her earnestness returned.

&quot;Where was I? Oh yes, I was claiming for our Hebrew