fired, he thought of nothing but his immediate gratification. But passion cannot be lasting, and the most rash, reckless actions are always succeeded by moments of calmness and reflection. To him that moment arrived, and it came laden with terrors! Unable to bear himself, he spoke as we have seen, and meeting with no sympathy, he did all that remained; he took the pieces of silver which he held in his hand, and "cast them down in the Temple." The language is true to nature, and remarkably affecting. The act and the manner of its performance were in harmony with the tempest that raged within. If he could not disburden himself of the guilt, he could at least divest himself of the price of blood, and even that seemed a consolation, however mitigated, and insufficient to meet the case.

Amongst all this terror there seems to have been no tendernessno melting before the remembered compassion and mercy of his Lord. The case of Judas differs materially from that of Peter: "he went out and wept bitterly." His penitence was clearly of a spiritual and evangelical character. While he thought of his own guilt, he remembered his Lord's mercy, and clearly confided in that compassion which never failed those that trusted in it. Not so Judas. He thought only of his Master's innocence, and his own wickedness; of his Master's justice, and his own deserts; and, as if in anticipation of Divine punishment, he went out and laid violent hands upon himself! Self-murder is terrible, however alleviated by circumstances. When the object is most indisputably bereft of reason, before the perpetration of the dreadful deed, it considerably softens the horrors of the spectacle; but when a man in perfect soundness, as was the case with Judas, is driven by a sense of his guilt, and an inability longer to endure the sight or the society of his fellow-creatures, to terminate his own existence, it acquires a character which must go without a name. Language has nothing adequately to describe it! The circumstances attending this act of self-destruction added exceedingly to its horrors. He would seem to have suspended himself from a place of considerable elevation, and the rope with which the deed was done, although it sufficed to effect his destruction, yet gave way when that was accomplished, as if in obedience to a higher command, that a further indignity might be added to the body of the malefactor! It broke, in consequence of which he was dashed to the earth, and an event of a character unprecedented took place-his body burst asunder! There is something in this inconceivably awful, and which was calculated to add ten-fold to

the terrific aspect of the spectacle. It is obvious that the death of the traitor preceded that of his Lord; so quickly did Divine wrath overtake this unparalleled transgression !

The conduct of Judas forms an element of some value in the testimony to the character of Christ. No one better knew-for none had superior means of knowing-what that character really was; and here a man who had every inducement to fix upon stains, if stains there had been, to reveal hypocrisy, if such had existed, voluntarily, and without an accent of extenuation, or an approach to insinuation, at once exclaims with anguish,

66 I HAVE BETRAYED THE INNOCENT BLOOD!"

Reader! You have shuddered as your mind came into contact with the foregoing facts. The very name of Judas fills you with horror! This is unavoidable, and very well. The emotions with which the subject is meditated are a test of the state of the mind that does it. He whom the record of the deed does not move could have witnessed the deed itself without emotion, and have joined with the men who exclaimed, "What is that to us? see thou to that!" But it is proper now to inquire into the personal bearing of this awful theme; and this must be determined by the relation in which the reader stands to the Saviour.

1. Are you a true professor of faith in his blood? Do you love him with your whole heart, and are you living to his praise? Are you uniformly so labouring, that, whether present or absent, you may be accepted of him, and obtain at last, from his own lips, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord"? Then you are to take the utmost heed that you neither by word nor by deed betray him. You will often find it the path to worldly advantage; it will sometimes bring praise and favour, at other times profit and promotion, from all of which a verbal or a practical confession—a confession virtual or absolute—will infallibly debar you. A voice will sound in your innermost ear, "Surrender, and prosper: do not sacrifice yourself to a pitiful precision." Under such circumstances the danger is great, and unless you watch and pray, you will, in all probability, fall into the temptation to

BETRAY THE INNOCENT BLOOD!

2. Are you a mere professor-a man with the form of godliness, but without the power? Even you are deeply concerned in this matter. Your position is such as to furnish fearful facility to the perpetration of this dreadful deed. Passing for a true Christian, you may, with the same mischievous effects, imitate all the incon

sistencies of one. You may mightily contribute to make the truth evil spoken of, and the enemies of God to blaspheme. You may weaken the cause of God, and strengthen the hands of his enemies. By so doing you may sometimes greatly promote your worldly inThe same bribes that are held out to the true followers of the Lamb will be held out to you, and of you the world will exact the same penalties for pursuing the course of apparent piety and rigorous virtue, although in hypocrisy.

terests.

Such is your fearful predicament! You are in a situation by which you may mournfully augment and aggravate the guilt of your impenitence, unbelief, and rebellion against the Son of God. Your guilt is that of the rebellious soldier, who enlists in the royal ranks only to reveal the secrets of its commanders, to unbar gates, and thus to betray citadels into the hands of the enemy! Such and so dreadful is the condition of the man who calls Jesus Lord, but refuses to do the thing that he says! What, then, is incumbent on you forthwith to do? To repent of your past transgressions-to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God—to ask forgiveness of your sins, the imputation of his righteousness, the Spirit of his grace, and the sprinkling of his blood!

July 2, 1851.

PASTOR FIDUS.

PONTIUS PILATE.

THIS man is mentioned in the Scriptures twenty times,-namely, sixteen times in the Gospels, thrice in the book of Acts, and once in the first epistle to Timothy. His name is also found in that ancient symbol commonly called the Apostles' Creed. There is an unusual degree of interest connected with him, from the fact that he was the judge at the trial of Christ. Let these things be noted concerning him:

1. His name, Pontius, was his family name, or, as we say, his surname. Pilate was his given name, and was intended to distinguish him from other members of the family of Pontius.

2. His country. He was by birth a Roman. His ancestors were among

the old Romans, and were distinguished. He was not a Jew.

3. His office. He is called in our English Bible, by Matthew, "the governor,' ," and by Luke, "the governor of Judea." The Latin writers, following Tacitus, generally call him procurator. It is not so clear what the office of procurator was, but all agree that he was the highest officer resident in the country where he exercised his office. Pilate was in fact governor of more than Judea, for that country had been added to Syria and made one province, commonly called Syria. Pilate was successor to Valerius Gracchus, and held his office under the Emperor Tiberius.

4. His character. He was a man of

death than to inflict death on the himself, clothed in another garment, innocent.