[Footnote 11: Inscription of Berenice, in the _Corpus Inscr. Graec._,
No. 5361; inscription of Kasyoun, in the _Mission de Phenicie_, book
iv. [in the press.]]

[Footnote 12: Matt. v. 25, x. 17, xxiii. 34; Mark xiii. 9; Luke xx.
11, xxi. 12; _Acts_ xxii. 19, xxvi. 11; 2 _Cor._ xi. 24; Mishnah,
_Maccoth_, iii. 12; Talmud of Babylon, _Megilla_, 7 _b;_ Epiph., _Adv.
Haer._, xxx. 11.]

With the extreme activity of mind which has always characterized the
Jews, such an institution, notwithstanding the arbitrary rigors it
tolerated, could not fail to give rise to very animated discussions.
Thanks to the synagogues, Judaism has been able to sustain intact
eighteen centuries of persecution. They were like so many little
separate worlds, in which the national spirit was preserved, and which
offered a ready field for intestine struggles. A large amount of
passion was expended there. The quarrels for precedence were of
constant occurrence. To have a seat of honor in the first rank was the
reward of great piety, or the most envied privilege of wealth.[1] On
the other hand, the liberty, accorded to every one, of instituting
himself reader and commentator of the sacred text, afforded marvelous
facilities for the propagation of new ideas. This was one of the
great instruments of power wielded by Jesus, and the most habitual
means he employed to propound his doctrinal instruction.[2] He entered
the synagogue, and stood up to read; the _hazzan_ offered him the
book, he unrolled it, and reading the _parasha_ or the _haphtara_ of
the day, he drew from this reading a lesson in conformity with his own
ideas.[3] As there were few Pharisees in Galilee, the discussion did
not assume that degree of vivacity, and that tone of acrimony against
him, which at Jerusalem would have arrested him at the outset. These
good Galileans had never heard discourses so adapted to their cheerful
imaginations.[4] They admired him, they encouraged him, they found
that he spoke well, and that his reasons were convincing. He answered
the most difficult objections with confidence; the charm of his speech
and his person captivated the people, whose simple minds had not yet
been cramped by the pedantry of the doctors.

[Footnote 1: Matt. xxiii. 6; Epist. James ii. 3; Talmud of Bab.,
_Sukka_, 51 _b_.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. iv. 23, ix. 35; Mark i. 21, 39, vi. 2; Luke iv. 15,
16, 31, 44, xiii. 10; John xviii. 20.]

[Footnote 3: Luke iv. 16, and following. Comp. Mishna