Thadeu

VI. . .3
K •. H• . (ia a loud voice, and angrily :] My Brother, Adonhiram bath shown me the twenty cities in
the land of Galilee . Are they those which thou bast given me?
$ •. S. •. They are, nay Brother.
$ . H•. Then call me not brother, for they please me not, nor are they such as thou didet promise me .
Thou host not kept thy faith . My Servants did cut thee down as many trees out of Libanus as thou didst want,
and conveyed them in rafts by sea to Joppa ; cedars, and fir-trees and pine-trees from Libanus ; providing
timbers- in abundance fur the houses which thou didet desire to build ; and I sent thee IIiram, my father, a wise
and most skilful man, to devise ingeniously all the wotk• needed for thy houses, who bath lost his life in thy
service . There was peace between us, and we made a league together, notwithstanding that my Gods were
not thins, because we were brothers in the Sacred Mysteries ; and thou didst promise to give me twenty cities,
for the services to be rendered thee .
$ • . Sol.% My brother, I have even done that which I promised . Thou bast the twenty cities, in the land
of Galilee. How have I not kept my faith with thee?
& •. H. • . Solomon, God bath given thee wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of
heart as the sand that is on the sea-shore . Thy wisdom surpasses that of all the men of the Orient and of all
the Egyptians . Thou art wiser than all men : wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Iceman and Chalcol and Dorda,
the sons of Mahol ; and thy renown bath gone into all the nations round about . Thou bast spoken three
thousand parables, and thy poems are a thousand and five . Thou bast treated about trees, .from the cedar of
L ibanus, unto the hyssop that groweth out of the wall ; of beasts, of birds, of reptiles and of fishes ; and all
nations, and the kings of all nations of the Earth have heard of thy wisdom, and have come to consult thee
and bear thy wise words : and yet thou art not wise enough to know that cunning is not wisdom . lie is not wise,
because he is not honest, who doth not keep his word, in spirit, as well as in the letter . Are not all Perfect
Masters taught to let the measure of their affirmation or denial be the understanding of their contractor?
S. . Sol:. • And' how, my Brother, have I failed to keep my word to thee, in spirit, as well as in the letter?
ilow_hath the measure of - my affirmation or denial not been your understanding of my promise?
.M•. H. • . Thou didet promise me twenty cities . . I looked not to receive so many ruined and dilapidated
yTages, :surrounded by howling wildernesses ; but twenty populous and flourishing places, tinctured by
imiling:fieIds and fruitful meadows . These cities which thou bast given me are Chabul, and .shall be called so
frota_ this day henceforward ; dirty, dilapidated and worthless ; fit to entail expense, and yield no revenue :
Retain=them, therefore, and leave me with thy unperformed promise, and let the league between us cease .
dfS':S e pacified, my Brother, and bear me' patiently . It was my intention . . . .
Jr •: H. . Ah I Someone listens. Since• when are spies set at the door to note my words?
Z'. W. -. Never. None listen. Thou art deceived by thy imagination .
.(The Warden goes hastily to the door, throws it open, seizes the candidate, and drags Lim into the Lodgeroom,
and near to the Master ; and says]
X.•. H. •. So, then, none listen I Behold the eaves-dropper, taken in the very act. Who is be?
S. •. Sol.•. Alas I it is Zabud, the Son of Nathan, until now my faithful friend and servant I
K. •. H. •. Then let him suffer the punishment that his baseness merits . (The .Warden snatches a sword
from the altar, and draws back his arm as if to thrust the candidate through . The Master seizes his arm, and
safe]
S.• . Sol. •. Pause, and reflect, my Brother I Jehovah bath said, " Thou shalt not take human life . Whose
aheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed : for in the image of God made he man. At the hand
of every man's brother will I require the life of man ." [IIe raps 3 ; and all the Brethren enter] . Dishonour
not thyself, my Brother, by becoming the Executioner. Zabud shall be tried, and heard in his defence ; and
- if condemned, he shall be duly punished . His offence is no less against me than thee, if he be guilty . Bro.
Captain of the Guards, Zabud is your prisoner. Fetter him, and keep him safely until my further order .
[The candidate is band-cuffed, and taken into the preparation room, all the Brethren also retiring . The
door is left ajar ; so that he can still hear what passes .]
K. -. Sol. • . It was my intention, my Brother, to rebuild the twenty cities which I gave thee, and to settle
busbandmen in the country round about, before I gave the territory into thy possession : but thou bast come