"The cause of my disquiet," Balthasar began, calmly--"that which
made me a preacher in Alexandria and in the villages of the Nile;
that which drove me at last into the solitude where the Spirit found
me--was the fallen condition of men, occasioned, as I believed, by loss
of the knowledge of God. I sorrowed for the sorrows of my kind--not of
one class, but all of them. So utterly were they fallen it seemed
to me there could be no Redemption unless God himself would make
it his work; and I prayed him to come, and that I might see him.
'Thy good works have conquered. The Redemption cometh; thou shalt
see the Savior'--thus the Voice spake; and with the answer I went
up to Jerusalem rejoicing. Now, to whom is the Redemption? To all
the world. And how shall it be? Strengthen thy faith, my son! Men
say, I know, that there will be no happiness until Rome is razed
from her hills. That is to say, the ills of the time are not, as I
thought them, from ignorance of God, but from the misgovernment
of rulers. Do we need to be told that human governments are never
for the sake of religion? How many kings have you heard of who were
better than their subjects? Oh no, no! The Redemption cannot be for
a political purpose--to pull down rulers and powers, and vacate their
places merely that others may take and enjoy them. If that were all
of it, the wisdom of God would cease to be surpassing. I tell you,
though it be but the saying of blind to blind, he that comes is
to be a Savior of souls; and the Redemption means God once more
on earth, and righteousness, that his stay here may be tolerable
to himself."

Disappointment showed plainly on Ben-Hur's face--his head drooped;
and if he was not convinced, he yet felt himself incapable that
moment of disputing the opinion of the Egyptian. Not so Ilderim.

"By the splendor of God!" he cried, impulsively, "the judgment does
away with all custom. The ways of the world are fixed, and cannot
be changed. There must be a leader in every community clothed with
power, else there is no reform."

Balthasar received the burst gravely.

"Thy wisdom, good sheik, is of the world; and thou dost forget
that it is from the ways of the world we are to be redeemed.
Man as a subject is the ambition of a king; the soul of a man
for its salvation is the desire of a God."

Ilderim, though silenced, shook his head, unwilling to believe.
Ben-Hur took up the argument for him.

"Father--I call thee such by permis