ng that he might not be seen, for like Cain he sought
to hide himself from human eyes, and despair was beginning to take
possession of his soul. The place in which he took refuge happened to
be the very spot where the workmen had been preparing the wood for
making the cross of our Lord; all was in readiness, and the men were
asleep by its side. Judas was filled with horror at the sight: he
shuddered and fled when he beheld the instrument of that cruel death to
which for a paltry sum of money he had delivered up his Lord and
Master; he ran to and fro in perfect agonies of remorse, and finally
hid himself in an adjoining cave, where he determined to await the
trial which was to take place in the morning.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Morning Trial.

Caiphas, Annas, the ancients, and the scribes assembled in the
morning in the great hall of the tribunal, to have a legal trial, as
meetings at night were not lawful, and could only be looked upon in the
light of preparatory audiences. The majority of the members had slept
in the house of Caiphas, where beds had been prepared for them, but
some, and among them Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, had gone home,
and returned at the dawn of day. The meeting was crowded, and the
members commenced their operations in the most hurried manner possible.
They wished to condemn Jesus to death at once, but Nicodemus, Joseph,
and some others opposed their wishes and demanded that the decision
should be deferred until after the festival, for fear of causing an
insurrection among the people, maintaining likewise that no criminal
could be justly condemned upon charges which were not proved, and that
in the case now before them all the witnesses contradicted one another.
The High Priests and their adherents became very angry, and told Joseph
and Nicodemus, in plain terms, that they were not surprised at their
expressing displeasure at what had been done, because they were
themselves partisans of the Galilean and his doctrines, and were
fearful of being convicted. The High Priest even went so far as to
endeavour to exclude from the Council all those members who were in the
lightest degree favourable to Jesus. These members protested that they
washed their hands of all the future proceedings of the Council, and
leaving the room went to the Temple, and from this day never again took
their seats in the Council. Caiphas then ordered the guards to bring
Jesus once more into his presence, and to pre