University of Virginia Library

‘In the name of all men I arraign this Man,
Named Jesus, son of Joseph, and self-styled
The Son of God!

‘Born in the East, the child
Of Jewish parents, toiling for their bread,
He grew to manhood, following, it is said,
His father's humble trade of carpentry;
But hearing one day close to Galilee,
One John, a madman, in the desert crying
Baptising all who came and prophesying,
This Jesus also long'd to prophesy;
And lo! ere very many days went by
He left his tools, forsook his native town,
And for a season wandered up and down
On idle preaching bent. Now, as we know,
Madness and Falsehood wedded are, and grow
With what they breed; so the Accused ere long,
Finding his audience fit, his rivals strong
(For prophets in those realms were thick as bees),
Began to invent such fables as might please
The ears of ignorant wonder-seeking men,
And finding 'mong the Jewish race just then
The wild old prophecy of a Christ and King,
Destined to lead the race, still lingering,
He threw the royal raiment ready made
On his bare back, and blasphemously played
The Christ they craved for!—next, to clinch his claim,
And prove his Godhead not an empty name,
The Man wrought miracles, calling to his aid
Simple devices of the wizard's trade,
Healing the sick—nay, even, 'twas avowed,
Bidding a dead man quicken in his shroud!
Pass over that as idle—turn with me
To the completion of his infamy!
In time, when he had sown with such false seed
Rank madness broadcast like an evil weed,
Choking the wholesome fields of industry,
And setting all the fiends of folly free,
This Jesus, with great numbers following,
Rides to Jerusalem like any King,
And thronèd on an ass goes thro' the Gate.
Arrived within the City, he keeps his state
With publicans and harlots, vaunts abroad
His proud vocation as the Son of God,
And last, presuming on his pride of place,
Profanes the Holy Temple of the race.
The rest we know—they slew him, as was right,
Set him upon a Cross in all men's sight,
Then, lastly, buried him. And now 'twas thought
The Man had made amends; the ill he wrought
Died with him, since his foolish race was run.

‘Not so; the Man's black crime had scarce begun!

‘For on the Sabbath day, as scribes aver,
Three Women, watching by his Sepulchre,
Beheld the stone roll'd back, and in the gloom
Beyond, a cast-off shroud and empty tomb!
The Man had risen, and that very day
Appeared among the faithful far away,
Spake, vanish'd, and was never after seen
By those who knew him, loved him, and had been
His life-long followers.

‘Now, hear and heed—
Had this Man, like the rest of Adam's seed,
Rested within his grave, turned back to dust,
Accepted dissolution, as were just,
Well had it been for him and all man's race!

‘He rose, this Jew—but in what secret place
He for a season hid his evil head
We know not; followers of his tribe have said
He walked with bleeding feet dejectedly
The lava shores of Hell (if Hell there be!),
Pondering his plan to lead the world astray—
But after sundry years had pass'd away
Mortals began to see in divers lands
A Phantom pale with piercèd feet and hands
Who cried, “I am the Christ—believe on me—
Or lose your Souls alive eternally!”
And of those men a few believed, and cried
“Lo! Christ is God, and God we crucified!
But He shall come to judge the Quick and Dead!”

‘Now, mark the issue. Where this rumour spread,
All other gentle gods that gladden'd Man
Faded and fled away: the priests of Pan,
That singing by Arcadian rivers rear'd
Their flowery altars, wept and disappeared;
And men forgot the fields and the sweet light,
Joy, and all wonders of the day and night,
All splendours of the sense, all happy things,
Art, and the happy Muses' ministerings,
Forgot that radiant house of flesh divine
Wherein each Soul is shut as in a shrine,
Because this Phantom, like a shape in sleep,
Showing hisred wounds, murmur'd, “Pray! and weep!”
And when fair Earth, mother of things of clay,
The gladsome Mother, now grown gaunt and grey,
Cried to her children, “Children, stay with me!
I made you happy, innocent, and free!
Although this Man, my latest born, your brother,
Casts dust in the living eyes of me, his mother,
Follow him not, forsake me not, but stay!”
They too, because he beckon'd, turned away,
Or cursing her who bare them, they too shed
Dust in her eyes, dishonour on her head.

‘First, in her name, the Mother of all our race,
Whom this unfilial hand smote in the face,
Whom he defamed and shamed with cheats and lies,
And taught a thousand children to despise,
I demand justice on her Son, this Jew!—

‘Pass on. The rumour of his godhead grew;
Yea, men were conscious of a Presence sad,
Crownèd with thorns, in ragged raiment clad,
Haunting the sunless places of the Earth;
And mystic legends of his heavenly birth,
His many miracles, his piteous death,
Were whisper'd by the faithful under breath;
And wights grown sick from tearfullest despairs,
And many weary souls worn out with cares,
Sick men and witless, all who had assailed
The gleaming heights of Happiness and failed,
But chiefly women bruised and undertrod,
Believed this Man indeed the Son of God,—
Because he said, “The high shall be estranged,
The low uplifted, and the weak avenged,
And blest be those who have cast this world away
To await the dawning of my Judgment Day!”
And straightway many yielded up their lives,
Blasphemed their bodies, gash'd their flesh with knives,
In attestation that these things were true.
And I deny not that to some, a few
Poor Souls without a hope, without a friend,
The lie brought comfort and a peaceful end;
Nor (to be just to him we judge, even him,
This Jew, whose presence makes the glad World dim)
That often to the martyr in his prison
He went and whisper'd “Comfort! I am risen;”
Nor that to sickbeds sad, as Death came near,
He stole with radiant face and whisper d cheer,
And to the Crucified brought secretly
The vinegar and sponge of Charity!

‘Yet in the name of those who died for Him,
Self-slain, or by the beasts rent limb from limb,
Who in his Name with calm unbated breath
Went smiling down the dark descent of Death,
Who went because he beckon'd with bright hand
Out of the mirage of a heavenly Land,
I demand justice on their Christ, this Jew!

‘Pass on. From land to land the tidings flew
That Christ was God, and that the World was doom'd!
Then droopt the lilies of delight, then bloom'd
The martyr's rose of blood; Kings on the thrones
Cast down their crowns and crawled with piteous moans
To the baptismal font where Priests, grown bold,
Held high the crucifix wrought round with gold.
And soon (how swiftly seeds of evil spring!)
They set a Priest on High and crowned him King,
Yea, King of all earth's Kings, and next to Christ!
There reign'd he, at his will the realms were priced,
And each, grown blind to worldly gain and loss,
Paid tribute to the King and to the Cross.
Behind that King, this Phantom most forlorn
Kept watch, from morn to night, from night to morn;
And countless Temples rose into the air,
Golden and vast and marvellously fair,
And artists wrought on canvas and on stone
Strange images of Christ upon his Throne
Judging the World; and voices filled each land:
“Rejoice—the heavenly Kingdom is at hand;”
And for a space indeed, so well he feign'd,
It seem'd that Christ had conquer'd Death, and reigned.

‘The triumph passed. The poison of the Lie
Spread, as all foul things spread beneath the sky;
And presently, the time being ripe at last,
From shrine to shrine this pallid Phantom pass'd
Whispering, “My Word hath grown a wingèd fire,
Yet thousands doubt me and blaspheme the Sire—
See ye to this, O Priests! seek the abhorred
And judge them, with your Master's Flame and Sword.”

‘Look, where the culprit croucheth in his place,
Blood on his hands, and terror in his face!
Aye, glue your gaze upon him, while I tell
Of damnèd deeds and thoughts befitting Hell! . . . .
They went abroad, his Priests, like wolves that scent
Lambs in the fields, and slew the innocent;
The holy Shepherds who in places green
To Isis sang and Thammuz songs serene
They found and slaughter'd, till their red blood ran
In torrents down the streams Egyptian;
The gentle Souls who loved their mother Earth,
And wept because she had given the Monster birth,
They cast in cruel fire, and sacrificed
To appease the blood-thirst of this Jew, their Christ!
From land to land, from sea to sea, they fled,
And where they went the plains were strewn with dead.
Then, when all men knelt down and cried in pain
“Hosannah to the Lord—for Christ doth reign,”
When no man doubted, since he dared not doubt
Because of fiends that ringed him round about,
When no man breath'd in his own dwelling-house,
They paused a little time and held carouse,
With full cups pledging Christ; but mark the rest!
While they in triumph revelled east and west,
He pass'd 'mong them, his chosen, and distilled
A fatal poison in the cups they filled,
And when thro' vein and thew the poison crept,
Like wolves upon each other's throats they leapt,
Rending each other in their Master's sight.

‘Next, in the name of Love and Love's delight,
And in the name of pagans blest and blind
Who loved the old gods best for they were kind,
Of virgins who despite the fire and sword
Shrank from this Scourge and called on God the Lord,
Of haggard men who dared not draw their breath
Because they deem'd this man, not Christ, but Death;
Yea, in the name of his own Priests profaned
Because they did his bidding, and he reigned,
I demand justice on their Christ, this Jew.

‘Nay, listen yet. The dark corruption flew
Like loathsome pestilence from land to land;
From every Altar, raised at his command,
Blood dript like dew; grown mad with pride and scorn
His Priests cast off the masks that they had worn,
And 'neath the Cross, within the very shrines,
Held hideous revel with their concubines,
Flaunted before their silent Christ thorncrowned
The emblems of Priapus, and around
Danced naked, with lewd songs and signs obscene;
Then the bald monk, upon the convent green,
Rolled with the harlot; then the King of Priests
In the very Shrine did lewdness worse than beast's,
While Incest and foul Lusts without a name
Crawl'd in his temples, and he felt no shame.
For when the people murmur'd, Priests and Kings
Made answer, “Be at peace, ye underlings!
Since 'tis enough to deem that Christ is Lord,
To adore his symbols and to wield his sword,
And all our deeds, tho' black as blackest night,
Are vindicated in our Master's sight!”
Oh, God that madest Man, if God there be,
Didst make these things, didst hear this blasphemy?
No writing on the wall disturbed the feasts
Of pathic Popes and lep'rous, lech'rous Priests!
This Man with falsehoods seventy times seven
Defamed Thy world, and Thou wast dumb in Heaven!

‘Now, in the name of vestals sacrificed
To feed the lust of those same priests of Christ,
Of acolyte children tangled in the mesh
Of infamous and nameless filths of flesh,
In the name of those whom King and Priest and Pope
Cast down to dust, beyond all peace and hope,
Yea, in their names who made this Man their guide,
And curst by men, by him were justified,
I demand justice on their Christ, this Jew!

‘Pass on. With cruel pitiless hand he drew
A curtain o'er the azure Heavens above,
Hiding the happy Light, darkening the love
Which kept life clean and whole; so that in time
The very smile of Life became a crime
Against his godhead!—Brother turn'd from brother,
The father smote his child, the son his mother,
And every fire that made home warm and sweet
Was trampled into ashes 'neath his feet.
Then cried he, “Life itself is shame and sin!
Break ye all human ties, and ye shall win
My Realm beyond the grave!” and as he cried,
Mortals cast ashes on their heads and died,
The virgin deem'd that Love's own kiss defiled,
The mother's milk was poison'd for the child,
The father, worse than beasts who love their young,
Cast to the wolves the little ones who clung
Crying around his neck; the Anchorite
Turn'd from the sunshine and the starry light
And hid his head in ordures of self-prayer;
The naked Saint loomed black against the air
Upon his tower of Famine; and for the sake
Of this Man's promise, and the Lie he spake,
Nature itself became a blight and ban!
Nay, more! thro' all the world corruption ran
As from a loathsome corpse—in every clime
Disease and Pestilence did shed their slime,
Till human Life, once clean and pure and free,
Shrank 'neath the serpent-scales of Leprosy!

‘Now in the name of Life defiled and scorn'd,
Of hearts that broke because this Phantom warn'd,
Of weary mothers desolately dying
For sons whose hearts were hardened to their crying,
Of wives made husbandless and left unblest,
Of little children starving for the breast,
Of homes made desolate from sea to sea
Because he said “Leave all, and follow me,”
I demand justice on their Christ, this Jew!

‘He reign'd where Peace had reign'd!—and no man knew
The World wherein he dwelt, nor sought to guess
The holy laws of Light and Happiness;
Yea, from our sight the beauteous Heavens were veil'd
And the Earth under them, while yet Man trail'd
His self-wrought chain across the fruitless lands
And tore his own pure flesh with impious hands.
Then from the depths of sorrow pale men came,
Who climb'd the heights and lit thereon the flame
Which scatter'd darkness and illumed the skies,
And on the stars they fixed their starry eyes
And measured their progressions, crying aloud
“This Phantom of the Christ is but a cloud
Veiling the glory of the Infinite!”
What then? His creatures found them in the night
And smote them down, and with a fouler fire
Made for their martyred bones a funeral pyre
That did proclaim his glory and their despair!
Even thus the Martyr, Man, once the glad heir
Of Earth and Heaven, made with eyes to see
And sense to comprehend his Destiny,
Was bound and render'd blind, until he fell
To Darkness dimly lit by lights of Hell,
And there, bereft and desolate of all
That made him free, he felt his dungeon wall
And wail'd on God; and lo, at this man's nod,
His Priests and Kings appear'd, instead of God,
Saying “Bow down, thou Slave, and cease thy strife,
Confessing on thy knees that Death is Life,
And Darkness, Light!”—and to his mouth they thrust
Their cruel Cross, defiled with blood and dust;
And when he had testified in all men's sight
That Death was Life and Darknessheavenly Light,
Forth to the fire the shuddering wretch was brought,
And slaughter'd to the Lie themselves had taught.

‘Now, in their names, the Souls of priceless worth,
Who glorified the lights of Heaven and Earth,
Who fathom'd Nature's secret star-sown ways
And read the law of Life with fearless gaze,
Yet, for reward, with fire were shrivell'd up,
Or poison'd by the fatal hemlock-cup,
I demand doom and justice on this Jew!

‘Pass o'er the rest—the countless swarmshe slew
To appease his lust for life in every land;
The happy Nations stricken by his hand
With Famine or with Pestilence;—the horde
Of butchering Tyrants and of Priests abhorred
Who fatten'd on the flesh and blood of men,
Because this Jew had died and risen again!
Come to the issue. Hear it, Jew, and know
Nature hath gather'd strength to lay thee low!
Humanity itself shall testify
Thy Kingdom is a Dream, thy Word a Lie,
Thyself a living canker and a curse
Upon the Body of the Universe!
For lo, at last, thy Judge, the Spirit of Man
And I, his Acolyte since Time began,
Have taught thy brethren, things of clay like thee,
That all thy prontise was a mockery;
That Fatherhood and Godhead there is none,
No Father in Heaven and in Earth no Son,
That Darkness never can be Light, that still
Death shall be Death, despite thy wish or will,
That Death alone can comfort souls bereaven
And shed on Earth the eternal sleep of Heaven.
Yet not until the weary world is free
Of all thy ghostly godhead, and of thee,
Shall he who stills all tumult and all pain
Unveil the happy Heavens once more and reign!’

He ceased, and Jesus heard, but made no sign.

Then, gazing sadly on that Man Divine,
He added, ‘Peace, and hearken yet, O Jew!
For what we come to judge, we pity too!
The blessèd sleep Death sheds from sea to sea,
Shared by thy brethren, may be shared by thee,
If he who sits in Judgment deems it well!’

While on those silent hosts his dark eyes fell,
And thro' the Waves of Life that darkly roll'd
Around him, ran a tremor deathly cold,
He cried, ‘Awake, awake, for 'tis the time!
Appear, ye Witnesses of this Man's crime!’