"This is well said; but would you have me put one of your nation to death for blaspheming your God? So far as that is concerned, O priest," added Pilate, smiling contemptuously, "we Romans blaspheme him daily, for we worship him not and will have naught to do with your faith. Let the man go! I see no cause of death in him!"
He then spoke to Æmilius, and desired him to lead Jesus to the spot where he stood. Pilate regarded him with mingled pity and interest. After surveying him a moment, he turned to one of his officers and said aside: "A form divine and fit for Apollo, or any of the greater gods! His bearing is like a hero! Mehercule! The chisel of Praxiteles nor of Phidias ne'er traced the outlines of limbs and neck like these. He is the very incarnation of human symmetry and dignity!"
The courtiers nodded assent to these cool criticisms of the indolent and voluptuous Italian. Jesus, in the meanwhile, stood motionless before his judge, his eyes downcast and full of a holy sadness, and his lips compressed with immovable patience. Pilate now turned to him and said:
"Thou art, then, that Jesus of whom men talk so widely. Men say, O Jesus, that thou art wiser than ordinary men; that thou canst do works of necromancy and art skilled in the subtle mysteries of astrology. I would question thee upon these things. Wilt thou read my destiny for me in the stars? If thou answerest well I will befriend thee, and deliver thee from thy countrymen who seem to howl for thy blood."
"My lord!" cried Caiaphas, furiously, "thou must not let this man go! He is a deceiver and traitor to Cæsar. I charge him and formally accuse him, before thy tribunal, with making himself king of Judea!"
To this the whole multitude assented, in one deep voice of rage and fierce denunciation that shook the very walls of the Pretorium.
"What sayest thou?" demanded Pilate, "art thou a king? Methinks if thou wert such, these Jews have little need to fear thee." And the Roman cast a careless glance over the mean and torn apparel and half-naked limbs of the Prophet.
Before Jesus could reply, which he seemed about to do, there was heard a sudden commotion in the lower part of the court of Gabbatha, and a loud, hoarse voice was heard crying:
"Make way! Give back! He is innocent!"
All eyes turned in the direction of the archway, when a man was seen forcing his path towards the door of the Judgment Hall, in front of which Pilate was standing, with Jesus a step or two below.