all else, fear of God, and charity, piety and humility, brotherly love, peace and content in the work that the day brings to your hands and the pillow that the night brings to your head for reward for the work done.  God that knows all knew you were waiting on this margin of rock for the joyful tidings, and he sent me as a shepherd might send his servant out to call in the flock at the close of day, for in his justice he would not have it that ten just men should perish.  He sent me to you with a double purpose, methinks, for he may have designed you to come to my aid, for it would be like him that has had in his heart since all time my great mission to Italy and Spain, to have conceived this way to provide me with new feet to carry the joyful tidings to the ends of the earth; and now I stand amazed, it being clear to me that it was not for the Jews of Jericho that I was sent out from Caesarea but for you.

Paul waited for one of the Essenes to answer, and his eyes falling on Mathias’ face he read in it a web of argument preparing wherein to catch him, and he prayed that God might inspire his answers.  At last Mathias, in clear, silvery voice, broke the silence that had fallen so suddenly, and all were intent to hear the silken periods with which the Egyptian thanked Paul for the adventurous story he had related to them, who, he said, lived on a narrow margin of rock, knowing nothing of the world, and unknown to it, content to live, as it were, immersed in God.  Paul’s narrative was full of interesting things, and he regretted that Paul was leaving them, for he would have liked to have given longer time to the examination of the several points, but his story contained one thing of such great moment that he passed over many points of great interest, and would ask Paul to tell them why the resurrection of Jesus Christ should bring with it the abrogation of the law of Moses.  If the law was true once, it was true always, for the law was the mind and spirit and essence of God.  That is, he continued, the law spiritually understood; for there are those among us Essenes who have gone beyond the letter.  I, too, know something of that spiritual interpretation, Paul cried out, but I understand it of God’s providence in relation to man during a certain period; that which is truth for the heir is not truth to the lord.  Mathias acquiesced with lofty dignity, and continued his interrogation in measured phrases:  that if he understood Paul rightly, and he thought he did, his teaching was that the law only served to create sin, by multiplying the number of possible transgressions.  Thy meaning would seem to be that Jews as well as Gentiles sin by acquiring consciousness of sin, but by faith in Jesus Christ we get peace with God and access unto his grace.  Upon grace, Paul, we see thee standing as on a pedestal crying out, sin abounds but grace abounds, fear not sin.  The words of my enemies, Paul cried, interrupting; sin so that grace may abound, God forbid.  Those that are baptized in Christ