Ben Ezra

“ The most striking feature of Rabbi Ben Ezra's philosophy is his estimate of age. According to him the soul is eternal, but it completes the first stage of its experience in the earthly life; and the climax of the earthly life is attained, not in the middle of it, but at its close. Age is therefore a period, not only of rest, but of fruition.
"Spiritual conflict is appropriate to youth. It is well that youth should sigh for the impossible, and, if needs be, blunder in the endeavour to improve what is. He would be a brute whose body could keep pace with his soul. ”

“ A subdued burst of laughter came from the man’s comrades; his face darkened and he rose up from the table, his hands clenched. What he would have done Ezra never knew; just then the lad caught the reflection of Jason Collyer in the mirror; he was beckoning the man away. And, with a shrug of the shoulders and a snap of his strong jaws, he obeyed.
“They aim to fasten a quarrel upon us,” breathed Ben. “Have you your pistol?”
“No,” replied Ezra. “It is in my holster.” ”

“ Ezra nodded.
“But,” continued Ben, “it all seems very queer to me. Why is such a strange person as you describe this Abdallah to be concerned in it? And why is a place, so out of the way as that one, selected as a headquarters?”
“To be out of the way, must be an advantage in a matter of their kind,” smiled Ezra.
“No doubt. But that is not just what I mean. This adventurer, Gilbert Scarlett, for example, brings a packet of papers from Cambridge. They are read upon your delivering them; and you are sent with an answer to a gentleman at a place near Charlestown. Why is that? ”

“ Ezra laughed; and there was a look of appreciation in his eyes as he slapped his friend upon the back.
“Ben,” exclaimed he, “you’re the greatest fellow I ever knew! You always think your share of the work the easiest, no matter what it is. If General Ward had an army of fellows like you before Boston, Gage would not be able to hold the town for a week.” ”

“ Revere continued to fume and mutter as they rode along toward Bristol, the housetops of which were gradually coming into view. Ben was now riding with him and Ezra had fallen back until his mount was abreast of Nat’s.
“You think, then,” said Ezra, and his tone was low, “that those men were not common thieves.”
“I do,” replied Nat. “A man’s purse would be safe with them, I feel sure. Something of greater value was in their minds, I feel sure.”
“So do I,” replied Ezra. He looked at Nat steadily for a moment and then said with a faint smile, “You’ve met those men before?” ”

“ The gods do strangely at times."
By him now stood Lysias, and he said: "O jarl of the Saxons, linger not. The Jew hath found a stone which must be lifted. He waiteth for thee."
No message had Ben Ezra sent, but he was stooping over a flat slab in the place of sacrifice. Upon it there were marks of fire and the stone was crumbling.
"Why lift it?" asked Ulric, drawing nearer. "What [Pg 178] have we to do with the secrets of the gods? Why should we anger them?"
"They are dead," said Ben Ezra, "but I think this to be a door of the priests. It is but a broken stone. Give me thy spear." ”

“ The old man had turned his eyes again to the tall, trembling figure of Ben, trying to find further proof of his identity. To Ezra Melville there could no longer be any shadow of doubt as to the truth: even that he had found the young man working in a gang of convicts could not impugn the fact that the dark-gray vivid eyes, set in the vivid face under dark, beetling brows, were unquestionably those of the boy he had seen grow to manhood's years, Ben Darby. ”

“ Here Ezra called to his companions and introduced them to the despatch bearer.
“I’m glad to make your acquaintance, young gentlemen,” said he in a bluff, sincere way. “If you’re friends of Ezra, I know you’re friends of the colonies; and I want all such to be friends of mine.” He paused a moment and surveyed them carefully. “Are you Sons of Liberty?” he inquired.
“I am,” replied Ben promptly, “and so is my father.”
“The society has not yet reached the back settlements,” smiled Nat. “So I am not yet a member. But I hope to be before long.”
“Good,” said Paul Revere, clapping him upon the back. ”

“ And all the time they have it in their hearts to send one to the gallows. They should be dealt with hardly!”
“They are a poisonous tribe,” said Jason Collyer. He darted a covert look at Ezra as he said this, and the boy noted a smile of satisfaction upon his thin lips. Like an inspiration, the other’s intention flashed upon the boy.
“He’s sounded the landlord upon this subject with one thought in his mind,” Ezra told himself. “He’ll tell him that Ben and I are Tories; and so these friends of his will be left to work their wills with us.” ”

“ We cannot see the meaning of the wheel and the touches of the potter’s hand and instrument; we know this, and this only,—our times are in His hand who has planned a perfect cup.—I am indebted to Mr. A. J. Campbell for the following notes, the result of his researches in endeavouring to trace the real Rabbi Ibn Ezra in the poem Rabbi Ben Ezra. His fellow-religionists say of the Rabbi that he was “a man of strongly marked individuality and independence of thought, keen in controversy, yet genial withal ”

“ Myra looked after him fearfully.
The trouble between her child's father and her brother had come upon her so suddenly that she had given Ezra another hold upon the man she loved, by telling him her secret.
That afternoon she followed Letts a short distance along the shore toward his cabin. When out of sight of her own home, she ran forward.
"Ben! Ben!" she called.
The fisherman turned impatiently.
"What air ye wantin', Myry?"
"Be you and Ezy hatin' each other?"
"He ain't nothin' but a brat," replied Ben scornfully. "Let him keep out of my way, or I fixes him." ”

“ Ben Sira indeed in his list of worthies mentions Zerubbabel, Joshua and Nehemiah; but Zerubbabel and Joshua he must have known from the books of Haggai and Zechariah, and he may well have been acquainted with that document relating to Nehemiah which the Chronicler incorporated with his book. Ben Sira’s omission of the name of Ezra rather militates against the supposition that he had the Chronicler’s book before him when he wrote. The conflict between Saduceeism and the sopherim was hardly so intense in his days as to warrant the supposition that he omitted the name of Ezra intentionally. ”

“ Affectionately he patted the shoulder of the broken-hearted Ezra. “Come, brace up now; brace up!”
“Cap’n Briggs, sir,” choked Ezra, distraught with grief, “you ain’t goin’ to believe what Master Hal said, be you? He accused himself o’ stealin’ that there money, to pertect me. It was really me as done it, sir, not him!”
“We won’t discuss that any more, Ezra,” the captain [293] answered, with a smile of deep affection. “It doesn’t much signify. There’s so much more to all this than just one particular case of theft. You don’t understand, Ezra. Come now, sir; pull yourself together! ”

“ It takes people that way sometimes—running up against Death and barely slamming the door in his face—but don’t imagine the close shave will change Ezra any more than his bath will. He’ll be as mean and as dirty as ever in a few weeks. We’ve done our damnedest for him to-night, but we’re the ones benefited by it. Life’s a doubtful blessing to Ezra. ”

“ Together captain and doctor descended the path to the front gate. In a few minutes Ezra, bony hands on hips, watched the two men slowly drive from sight round the turn by the smithy. Grimly the old fellow shook his head and gripped his pipe in some remnants of teeth.
“I don’t like Pills,” grumbled he. “He’s a tightwad; never even slipped me a cigar. He’s one o’ them fellers that stop the clock, nights, to save the works. S’pose I’d oughta respect old age, but old age ain’t always to be looked up to, as, fer instance, in the case of eggs. He’s been ratin’ Master Hal down, I reckon. ”

“ Ever the stars and the moon, remembered of old, yielded him a peace and happiness beyond his power to tell. And his gratitude to Ezram grew apace.
Besides self-confidence and the constant, slow unraveling of his memory problems, each day yielded rich gifts: no less than added trust in each other. Always they found each other steadfast, utterly to be relied upon. Ezram never regretted for a moment his offer to Ben. The young man had seemingly developed under his eye and was a real aid to him in all the problems of the journey. ”

“ He told me that an angel of the Lord had appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Arise and take [Pg 122] the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I tell thee: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.'
"He spoke no more," Ezra went on, "but I said unto him, 'My little brother, think you there is danger for him?' He nodded in reply, and then I asked, 'Start you at once?' He nodded again and stepped back into the shadow.
"At the gateway old Nathan, glad to see his cloak again, let me through, and I hastened home to tell the tale to thee." ”

“ To leave us a remnant to escape - The ten tribes are gone irrecoverably into captivity; a great part even of Judah and Benjamin had continued beyond the Euphrates: so that Ezra might well say, there was but a remnant which had escaped.
A nail in his holy place - Even so much ground as to fix our tent-poles in.
May lighten our eyes - To give us a thorough knowledge of ourselves and of our highest interest, and to enable us to re-establish his worship, is the reason why God has brought us back to this place. ”

“ I sipped myself, being invited as a bystander, and toasted father and son together.”
“But, mind thee, lad,” said Ezra, “it's scarcely to be touched upon as a laughing matter. Drollery of a sort theer is in it, to be sure; but what Sennacherib Eld says he sticks to. When he bites he holds. He was ever of that nature.”
“I know,” said Reuben; “but young Nip-and-Fasten has the breed of old Bite-and-Hold-Fast in him, and if the old man keeps his money the young one will manage to get along without it.” ”

“ Nat and Revere each seized a handle and off they set, trudging manfully. They had gone but a little distance when Nat said to Ezra:
“Now for it; I’m so full of curiosity that I can wait no longer.”
“You see,” began Ezra, “George has been brought up by our grandfather, who is a Tory. All his friends have been king’s men and he has been taught to believe in British rule. As for myself, I have always been a strong Whig like my father—so strong a one,” and he colored a little, “that I never spoke of my brother, fearing that some one would learn of his way of thought.” ”

“ Ezra, in order to speak more earnestly, halted Michmash, who gladly fell to cropping the coarse grass.
"The Messiah, Naomi," said Ezra slowly, "will do what the prophet Isaiah promised of him. Never fear. He will open the eyes of the blind and unstop the [Pg 82] ears of the deaf. He will make the lame man leap and the dumb man sing for joy. When he cometh, we shall all see the salvation of the Lord and our sins shall be forgiven us. All Israel shall rejoice. Aye, even stout Solomon also," added Ezra grimly. ”

“ Our weeping for other people's sins may perhaps set those a weeping for them themselves who otherwise would continue senseless and remorseless. See what a happy influence the good examples of great ones may have upon their inferiors. When Ezra, a scribe, a scholar, a man in authority under the king, so deeply lamented the public corruptions, they concluded that they were indeed very grievous, else he would not thus have grieved for them; and this drew tears from every eye: men, women, and children, wept very sore, when he wept thus. ”

“ Though but a little reviving, it was a great favour, considering that they deserved none and the day of small things was an earnest of greater. "Now," says Ezra, "how ungrateful are we to offend a God that has been so kind to us! how disingenuous to mingle in sin with those nations from whom we have been, in wonderful mercy, delivered! how unwise to expose ourselves to God's displeasure when we are tried with the returns of his favour and are upon our good behaviour for the continuance of it!" ”

“ Ezra, having found in the second year of his government ( [1] and 10) that many of the people had taken strange wives, contrary to the law, and that several of the priests and Levites, as well as the chief men of Judah and Benjamin, had transgressed herein, after he had in fasting and prayer deprecated God's wrath for it, caused proclamation to be made for all the people of Israel that had returned from the captivity to gather themselves together at Jerusalem, under the penalty of excommunication, and forfeiture of all their goods. ”

“ At the close of a century God revived him, and he found all as when he had died; the ass standing, and the fruit unwithered. Then Ezra saw the works that had been executed in Jerusalem, how the walls were being set up, and the breaches repaired, and he said, "God is Almighty; He can do whatsoever pleaseth Him!"
After his resurrection, he went into the holy city, and spent night and day in explaining to the people the Law, as he remembered it. But it had been forgotten by the Jews, and therefore they disregarded his instruction. ”

“ It was given to the person who had power to mend the matter, who, as a ready scribe in the law of God, could argue with them, and, as king's commissioner, could awe them. It is probable that these princes had often endeavoured to redress this grievance and could not; but now they applied to Ezra, hoping that his wisdom, authority, and interest, would prevail to do it. Those that cannot of themselves reform public abuses may yet do good service by giving information to those that can. ”