HISTORY OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 51, 18 April 1874, Page 13

HISTORY OF OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.

By the Abbe J. E. Daheas. (Translated from the Frenuh for the ' New Zealand Tablet. 1 ) 23. — Hbuod's Last Will and Bttkxai,.

Salome, immediately after the death of her brother, set at liberty all the unhappy prisoners who were shut up in the Hippodrome. She hoped, by this act of clemency, to gain for herself in the future, a popularity which might serve her ambitious designs. Herod's will was read in the ampi theatre of Jericho, in presence of the soldiery and the assembled multitude. The old King " declared, in formal terms, that the provision of his will could have no force till they should have been confirmed by Augustus " (1). He bequeathed to Caesar, all the vessels of gold and silver, with the most precious objects of art in his palace, and a sum of ten millions in money j five millions were bestowed ou the Empress Livia. These liberal bequest 9 would, no doubt, aid powerfully in obtaining the imperial ratification for th<s remainder of the will, which invested Archelaus with the title of King of Jude-i ; gave to Antipas the tetmrchies of Galilee and Berea; to Philip, those of Gaulomtis, Traohonitis, and tiatanca ; and to Salome — aunt of the the three young piiuces, and sister to the deceased King — the cities of Jamniu, Ashdud, and Phasaelis (2). The people responded to this announcement with acclamations and cries of "Long live King Aiehelaus!" The luneial obsequies of the tyrant were conducted with a pomp hitherto unknown among the Hebrews. The body was carried from Jericho to lierodium, a distance of two hundred furlongs, upon a, golden bier, enriched with precious stoves, and it was covered over with purple as Well as the body itself. He had a diadeia upon his head, and above it a crown of gold ; he had also a secptre in his right hand. The royal guard, composed of Thracians, Germans, and Galatiaus 1 , opened the march. In view of our national origins, tois particular of the presence of Galatian bands in Judea, &t the beginning of the Christian Era has not been sufficiently noticed. We have already druwn attention to the fact wliicli goes back to the time of Herod's relations with the famous Cleopatra. These children of Gaul, in the pay of the Ki.ig of tho Jews ; these fellow countrymen of Vercingetoi-ix, transported to Jerusalem, heard the narrations of the Magi ; they were wiLdesscs to the agitation of the Hebrews, at the news that the star of the Messiah had appeared in the East; the heart-rending cries of the Bethlehemite mothers resounded in their ears. Perhaps, pome among them saw, later on, the miracles which were wrought by the divine c^ou of Mary. At least, the authenticity of the fact, a^ it is attested by Jo3ephus, cannot be questioned. Gaul, at the epoch of Christ's birth, was uot a name unknown to tho Jews, and reciprocally, the uunie of Jerusalem was familiar to the warriors of Gaul and \jeriiiiiny. Theso official relations existing between the two countries, prepared the way for tho evaugelisatiou of the Galatians. Be that as it mv» , t lie funeral procession marching along in magnificent array, haß«'<l after every eight furlongs. Incense was offered, aud perfumes bu -at around the royal litter, and while the mourners wept the death of the tyrant, choruses of musicians chanted his praises. It was thus, in the midst of those demonstrations of a deceitful mourning, that Herod was laid iv the tomb which he had raised for himself.