"Yes; he is going to speak."
"How delightful! Shall we hear him? Good! How glad I am that I came! He
is facing this way! Oh, yes; those are his own people with the banners!
Baron, the Holy Father has gone on to St. Peter's, and David Rossi is
going to speak."
"Hush!"
A quivering, vibrating voice came up from below, and in a moment there
was a dead silence.
VII
"Brothers, when Christ Himself was on the earth going up to Jerusalem,
He rode on the colt of an ass, and the blind and the lame and the sick
came to Him, and He healed them. Humanity is sick and blind and lame
to-day, brothers, but the Vicar of Christ goes on."
At the words an audible murmur came from the crowd, such as goes before
the clapping of hands in a Roman theatre, a great upheaval of the heart
of the audience to the actor who has touched and stirred it.
"Brothers, in a little Eastern village a long time ago, there arose
among the poor and lowly a great Teacher, and the only prayer He taught
His followers was the prayer 'Our Father who art in Heaven.' It was the
expression of man's utmost need, the expression of man's utmost hope.
And not only did the Teacher teach that prayer--He lived according to
the light of it. All men were His brothers, all women His sisters; He
was poor, He had no home, no purse, and no second coat; when He was
smitten He did not smite back, and when He was unjustly accused He did
not defend Himself. Nineteen hundred years have passed since then,
brothers, and the Teacher who arose among the poor and lowly is now a
great Prophet. All the world knows and honours Him, and civilised
nations have built themselves upon the religion He founded. A great
Church calls itself by His name, and a mighty kingdom, known as
Christendom, owes allegiance to His faith. But what of His teaching? He
said: 'Resist not evil,' yet all Christian nations maintain standing
armies. He said: 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,' yet
the wealthiest men are Christian men, and the richest organisation in
the world is the Christian Church. He said: 'Our Father who art in
Heaven,' yet men who ought to be brothers are divided into states, and
hate each other as enemies. He said: 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as it is done in Heaven,' yet he who believes it ever will come
is called a fanatic and a fool."