"
And turning to Eleazar, he continued, "Do you believe in prodigies?"
"As surely as the Lord lives, as surely as Abraham's God has brought
us out of Egyptian bondage and given us Canaan, so surely will He
fulfil the promise, and restore to us land, city, and Temple!"
"May it be with you according to your belief. The Temple shall be
built up, even though it be not in three days as the Galilaean
thought."
* * * * *
The winter solstice had come, and the Feast of the Saturnalia
commenced in Lutetia. The heathen had always kept the feast in
recollection of the legendary Golden Age, which was said to have
been under the reign of the good Saturn. Then there was peace upon
earth; the lion played with the lamb, the fields brought forth
harvests without husbandry, weapons were not forged, for men were
good and righteous. This beautiful festival, which had been
discontinued by the Romans, had been revived by the Christians, who
at Christ's coming expected a new Golden Age or the Millennium. But
now Julian wished to restore to the heathen their privilege, and at
the same time to show the Nazarenes whence they had derived their
religious usages.
The heathen began to keep the festival in the old way. The shops
were closed, and the city decorated, when on the morrow a procession
was seen issuing from the Basilica to the market-place.
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