"Those who went with him and believed in him
Were mostly dull, uneducated men,
Simple and honest, dazed by what he did,
And misconceiving every word he said.
He led them with him in a spell-bound awe,
And all his cures they called miraculous.
They followed him like sheep where'er he went,
With feelings mixed of wonder, fear and love.
Yes! I suppose they loved him, though they fled
Stricken with fear when we arrested him."

"What! all--all fled?" I asked. "Did none remain?"
"Not one," he said--"all left him to his fate,
Not one dared own he was a follower--
Not one gave witness for him of them all.
Stop! When I say not one of them, I mean
No one but Judas--Judas whom they call
The traitor--who betrayed him to his death.
He rushed into the council-hall and cried,
''Tis I have sinned--Christus is innocent.'"

And here I come to what of all I've heard
Most touched me--I for this my letter write.
Paulus, you know, had only for this man,
This Judas, words of scorn and bitter hate.
Mark now the different view that Lysias took,
When, urged by me, his story thus he told:

"Some say that Judas was a base, vile man
Who sold his master for the meanest bribe;