Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu/273

Rh and ander the ahow of doubt he ahatters the (ounda- tiona of ChriatiaJiitf. He begins by sajing that the apostasy of his beloved teacher to whom hia loyal Bp!rit bad foimerlj clung, has amazed him beyond measure and aroused in hitn manf serious leflectiona. He can only conceive four poaaible motives for such a aurpriaing step. Either Paulus haa been actuated by ambition, love of wealth, pomp, and the satisfac- tion of the senses, or else by doubt of the truth of Judaism upon philosophic grounds, and has re- pounced therefore the religion which afforded him so little freedom and aeourity ; or else he has foreseen through the latest cruel perseoutions of the Jews in Spain, the total extinction of the race ; or, finally, be may have become convinced of the truth of Christi- anity. The writer enters therefore into an eiamina- tion based upon bis acquaintance with the character of bis former master, as to which of these four motives ia most likely to have occasioned the act. He cannot believe that ambition and covetousness prompted it, " For I remember when you used to be aurrounded by wealth and attendants, you sighed regretfully for your previous humble station, for your retired life and communion with wisdom, and regarded your actual brilliant position as an unsatisfactory sham happiness. Neither can AUorqui admit that Paulus had been disturbed by philosophic acepticism, for to the day of his baptism he had observed all the Jew- ish customs and had only accepted that little kernel of philosophy which accords with faith, always re- jecting the pernicious outward shell. He must also discard the theory that the sanguinary persecution of the Jews could have made Paulus despair of the pos- Biblc continuation of the Jewish race, for only a small