Page:Lazarus, a tale of the world's great miracle.djvu/240

228 fool, and who art thou to think thou canst inform thy Lord of aught? All that thou hast but now perceived hath been known to Him since Time began—aye, before Time was. 'Then, sick at heart at the sight of all this treachery, I turned me to the Spirit of Truth and said: 'Canst thou not show me some pure hearts to raise my drooping spirits? Are there no good upon the earth?' And Truth answered: 'There are few; none are wholly good, but some have trust.'

"Then he took me through palaces of the Jews and of the Romans and into the houses of great merchants; but nowhere saw I one heart that thirsted for knowledge of the Christ. The women were content to deck themselves with jewels and to scold their serving-maids, and each spake ill of another's beauty or her virtue. Here and there I saw little children who looked to heaven and asked their parents: 'Who liveth beyond the clouds?' But their parents only answered: 'Torment me not with questionings'; or, 'When thou art a grown man thou wilt know.' And therewith the child must needs be satisfied. It is thus that ignorance and darkness are continued from one generation to another.

"Then the Spirit took me into the houses of the rulers of the Synagogue, the governors of the people and the lawyers, and, looking into their hearts, I saw that there was but little knowledge in them, only such as was required to cozen other men. They cared not for their country's good, nor for the glory of the Lord. In their hearts was only love of money and great power, and they craved