so much unfounded and idle cavil, instead of lowering his character in the slightest degree, adds fresh lustre to it, and encreases our veneration for his exalted virtues.

And what is of no less importance, it presents to us instructions the most edifying, and reflections the most consolatory to the weakness of our nature.

We see, in the first place, that our Lord did not pretend to that unfeeling heroism, that total insensibility to pain and affliction, which some of the ancient philosophers affected. On the contrary, in his human nature he felt like a man; he felt the weight of his own sorrows, and dropt the tear of sympathy for those of others. To those, therefore, who are oppressed and bowed down (as the best of men sometimes are) with a load of grief, who find, as the Psalmist expresses it, "their flesh and their heart failing," and their spirits sinking within them, it must be a most reviving consideration to reflect that in this state even of extreme depression, there is no guilt; that it is no mark of God's displeasure; that even his beloved Son was no stranger to it; that he was a man of sorrows, and well acquainted with grief; that therefore he is not a hard, unfeeling, obdurate master, "who cannot be touched with our infirmities, but one who was in all things tried and afflicted as we are, yet without sin." He knows what sorrow is; he knows how hard it sometimes presses even on the firmest minds; and he will not fail to extend that relief to others, for which even he himself applied with so much fervency to the Father of all.

From his example too, on this occasion, we learn what conduct we ought to observe when distress and misery overtake us. We are not only allowed but encouraged by what he did, to put up our petitions to the Throne of grace, for help in time of need. We are permitted to pray for the removal of our calamities with earnestness and with fervour; we may implore the Almighty that the bitter cup of affliction may pass away from us; but the conclusion must always be, (what his was,) "not my will, O my Father, but thine be done." And one thing we may be assured of, that if the evils which overwhelm us are not removed, yet our supplications shall not be in vain ; we shall at the least be enabled to bear them. And though we must not expect to have an angel sent from heaven to support us, as was done to Jesus; yet we may expect, and expect with eonfidence, that a more than angelic comforter, even the Spirit of God, will shed his healing influence over our souls, and preserve us from sinking even under the severest trials.

And there is still one further lesson of no small importance, which this part of our Saviour's history may teach us.

Extreme affliction as we all but too well know, has a natural tendency, not only to depress our spirits, but to sour our tempers, and to render us fretful and irritable, and severe towards the failings of others. But how did it operate on our blessed Lord? Instead of injuring, it seems rather to improve the heavenly mildness of his disposition, and to make him more indulgent to the failings of his followers. For when in the very midst of all his anguish, they could so far forget his sorrows, and their own professions of attachment to him, as to sink into sleep, how gentle was his reproof to them for this want of sensibility and attention to him? "Could you not watch with me one hour?" And even this affectionate rebuke he immediately tempers with a kind excuse for them; "the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak."

"And while

I now proceed in the melancholy narrative. he yet spake, lo! Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he hold him fast. And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him."

"And behold one of them which were with Jesus (St. Peter) stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest, (whose name was Malchus) and smote off his ear." Here again we see the warmth and vehemence of Peter's temper, which prompted him to a wellmeant, though injudicious display of his zeal in his Master's cause. "Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be ?"

From this reproof to Peter, we are not to infer that the use of the sword in self-defence is unlawful; but that the use of it against the magistrates and the ministers of justice (which was the case in the present instance) is unlawful. It was meant also to check that propensity, which is but too strong and too apparent in a large part of mankind, to have recourse to the sword on all occasions; and more particularly to restrain private persons from avenging private injuries, which they should rather leave to the magistrate or to God; "for vengeance is

mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.' In all such cases, they who take the sword unjustly and rashly will probably, as our Saviour here forewarns them, perish with the sword; with the sword of their adversary, or of the magistrate. That denunciation might also allude to the Jews, who now seized on Jesus; and might be meant to intimate to his disciples, that it was perfectly needless for them to draw their swords on these miscreants, since they would all perish at the siege or capture of Jerusalem by the sword of the Romans.

If it had been the intention of Providence to protect Jesus and his religion by force, there is no doubt but a host of angels would have been sent to defend him, as one was actually sent to comfort him. But this would have defeated the very purpose for which he came into the world, which was, that he should "make his soul an offering for sin." The prophets foretold (more particularly Isaiah and Daniel) that he should do so. And besides this, nothing could be more abhorrent, from the spirit of his religion, than force, violence, and bloodshed. These instruments of destruction he left to fanatics and impostors. The only weapons he made use of were of a different nature; "the sword of the spirit, the shield of faith, and the armour of righteousness."

"In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves, for to take me; I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled; which, as I have already observed, predicted his sufferings and his death. Then all his disciples forsook him and fled." Here we have the exact completion of that prophecy, which he had just before delivered, that all his disciples should be offended because of him; that is, should desert him that very night. And that this prediction was so accomplished, is clear beyond all controversy; because it was an event which the disciples would for their own credit gladly have suppressed, if they durst. By recording this event, they recorded their own weakness, their own pusillanimity. And we may be perfectly sure that they would not invent a falsehood on purpose to perpetuate their own disgrace. We have therefore, in this incident, a demonstrative proof, both that our Lord's prophecy was actually fulfilled, and that the evangelists were men of the strictest veracity and integrity, who were determined to sacrifice every thing, even their own reputation, to the sacred cause of truth.

*Rom. xii. 19.

Isaiah, liii. 10.

Jesus being now in the possession of his enemies, they that had hold on him led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. But Peter, though he had fled with the rest, yet ashamed of his cowardice, and still really attached to his Master, summoned up for the moment resolution enough to turn back and follow the croud (but with cautious and trembling steps) to the palace of the high priest, "and went in and sate with the servants in the hall of the palace, to see the end. Now the chief priests and elders, and all the council, sought false witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, but found none : yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none." Their object was to put Jesus to death; and for this purpose they sought out for false witnesses to charge him with a capital crime. To condemn any one to death their own law required two witnesses; and it was also necessary for them to produce evidence sufficient to induce the Roman governor to ratify their sentence, without which it was of no avail. There was no difficulty in finding out and suborning false witnesses in abundance, who were perfectly well disposed to conform to their wishes; but for a long time they found none whose evidence came up to the point they aimed at; none who could prove against Jesus a capital offence. But at length "came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days." Now to speak disrespectfully, or prophecy against the temple, was considered by the Jews as blasphemy, and of course a capital offence. But the truth was that Jesus said no such thing. The expressions alluded to by the witnesses were those he spoke, when, after casting the buyers and sellers out of the temple, the Jews asked him what sign he could give them of his authority to do these things? His answer was, not as the witnesses stated it, "I am able to destroy this temple;" but it was, "destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' So St. John expressly tells us ;* and also, that by this temple he meant his own body, to which he probably pointed at the time. The high priest, sensible, perhaps, that even this evidence would not completely answer his purpose, proceeds to interrogate our Saviour, hoping that he might be drawn by artful questions to condemn himself. He arose therefore, and said unto Jesus, "Answerést thou nothing? What is it that these witness against thee?" Is it true or is it false? and what have you to say in your own defence? But Jesus held his peace.

* Chap. ii. 19.

He disdained to make any answer to such unfounded and contemptible accusations. He saw that his judges were predetermined; that every thing he could say would be of no avail; and that the only proper part for him to take, was to observe a dignified silence. The high priest perceiving this, had recourse to a measure which he knew must compel our Lord to speak; "I adjure thee, says he, by the living God, that thou tell us, whether thou be the Christ the Son of God." This calling upon a man to swear by the living God was called the oath of adjuration, and was the Jewish mode of administering an oath either to a witness or a criminal; and when so adjured, they were obliged to answer. Jesus now therefore conceived himself bound in conscience to break his silence, and said to the high priest, "Thou hast said;" that is, thou hast said what is true, I am the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God; for all these were synonomous terms among the Jews. But as our Lord's actual appearance and situation did but ill accord with a character of such high dignity, he proceeds to assure his judges, that what he affirmed was nevertheless unquestionably true; and that they themselves should in due time have the fullest proof of it. For, says he, "hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Sitting at the right hand of power means sitting at the right hand of God, to whom the Jews sometimes gave the appellation of power; and coming in the clouds of Heaven, was with the Jews a characteristic mark of the Messiah. And the whole passage relates not to the final judgment, but to the coming of Christ to execute vengeance on the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. "Then the high priest rent his clothes, (a mark of extreme horror and indignation) saying, he has spoken blasphemy, by declaring himself the Christ, the Son of God, and assuming all the marks of divine power. What further need have we of witnesses? Behold now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, he is guilty of death;" guilty of a crime that deserves death. "Then did they spit in his face, and buffetted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, saying, Prophecy unto us; who is he that smote thee?"

Such were the indignities offered to the Lord of all, by his own infatuated creatures; and although he could with one word have laid them prostrate at his feet, yet he bore all these insults without a single murmur or complaint, and never once spake unadvisedly with his lips. "Though he was reviled, he