to the rules of Aristotelian logic, was very weak. But when the
unequaled charm of his mind could be displayed, he was triumphant. One
day it was intended to embarrass him by presenting to him an
adulteress and asking him what was to be done to her. We know the
admirable answer of Jesus.[7] The fine raillery of a man of the
world, tempered by a divine goodness, could not be expressed in a more
exquisite manner. But the wit which is allied to moral grandeur is
that which fools forgive the least. In pronouncing this sentence of so
just and pure a taste: "He that is without sin among you, let him
first cast a stone at her," Jesus pierced hypocrisy to the heart, and
with the same stroke sealed his own death-warrant.

[Footnote 1: John viii. 13, and following.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xxi. 23-37.]

[Footnote 3: Matt. xxii. 23, and following.]

[Footnote 4: Matt. xxii. 42, and following.]

[Footnote 5: Matt. xxii. 36, and following, 46.]

[Footnote 6: See especially the discussions reported by John, chapter
viii., for example; it is true that the authenticity of such passages
is only relative.]

[Footnote 7: John viii. 3, and following. This passage did not at
first form part of the Gospel of St. John; it is wanting in the more
ancient manuscripts, and the text is rather unsettled. Nevertheless,
it is from the primitive Gospel traditions, as is proved by the
singular peculiarities of verses 6 and 8, which are not in the style
of Luke, and compilers at second hand, who admitted nothing that does
not explain itself. This history is found, as it seems, in the Gospel
according to the Hebrews. (Papias, quoted by Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._,
iii. 39.)]

It is probable, in fact, that but for the exasperation caused by so
many bitter shafts, Jesus might long have remained unnoticed, and have
been lost in the dreadful storm which was soon about to overwhelm the
whole Jewish nation. The high priesthood and the Sadducees had rather
disdained than hated him. The great sacerdotal families, the
_Boethusim_, the family of Hanan, were only fanatical in their
conservatism. The Sadducees, like Jesus, rejected the "traditions" of
the Pharisees.[1] By a very strange singularity, it was these
unbelievers who, denying the resurrection, the oral Law, and the
existence of angels, were the true Jews. Or rather, as the old Law in
its simplicity no longer satisfied the religious wants of the time,
those who strictly adhered to it, and rejected moder