etray the Son of Man with a
kiss?' Horror filled his soul, his head began to wander, and the arch
fiend again whispered, 'It was here that David crossed the Cedron when he
fled from Absalom. Absalom put an end to his life by hanging himself.
It was of thee that David spoke when he said: "And they repaid me evil
for good; hatred for my love. May the devil stand at his right hand;
when he is judged, may he go out condemned. May his days be few, and
his bishopric let another take. May the iniquity of his father be
remembered in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother
be blotted out, because he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted
the poor man and the beggar and the broken in heart, to put him to
death. And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him. And he put on
cursing like a garment, and it went in like water into his entrails,
and like oil into his bones. May it be unto him like a garment which
covereth him; and like a girdle, with which he is girded continually."
Overcome by these terrible thoughts Judas rushed on, and reached the
foot of the mountain. It was a dreary, desolate spot filled with
rubbish and putrid remains; discordant sounds from the city
reverberated in his ears, and Satan continually repeated, 'They are now
about to put him to death; thou has sold him. Knowest thou not the
words of the law, "He who sells a soul among his brethren, and receives
the price of it, let him die the death"? Put an end to thy misery,
wretched one; put an end to thy misery.' Overcome by despair Judas tore
off his girdle, and hung himself on a tree which grew in a crevice of
the rock, and after death his body burst asunder, and his bowels were
scattered around.

CHAPTER XV.

Jesus is taken before Pilate.

The malicious enemies of our Saviour led him through the most public
part of the town to take him before Pilate. The procession wended its
way slowly down the north side of the mountain of Sion, then passed
through that section on the eastern side of the Temple, called Acre,
towards the palace and tribunal of Pilate, which were seated on the
north-west side of the Temple, facing a large square. Caiphas, Annas,
and many others of the Chief Council, walked first in festival attire;
they were followed by a multitude of scribes and many other Jews, among
whom were the false witnesses, and the wicked Pharisees who had taken
the most prominent part in accusing Jesus. Our Lord followed at a short