with the
angels of God hovering above them and on their flanks; and in the
midst, transfigured to the brightness of a star, the cross, which in
its rough reality He is bearing wearily below.

Of course these are but fancies. In the woman's anxiety that no evil
should befall the Innocent we may, with greater certainty, trace the
vestiges of the ancient Roman justice as it may have dwelt in the noble
matrons, like Volumnia and Cornelia, whose names adorn the pristine
annals of her race; while the wife's solicitude to save her husband
from a deed of sin associates her with the still nobler women of all
ages who have walked like guardian angels by the side of men immersed
in the world and liable to be coarsened by its contact, to warn them of
the higher laws and the unseen powers. We can hardly doubt that the
hand of God was in this dream, or that it was outstretched to save
Pilate from the doom to which he was hastening.

III.

Another hand, however, was now stretched out to him; and he grasped it
eagerly, thinking it was going to save him; when it suddenly pushed him
down towards the abyss. It was the hand of the mob of Jerusalem.

Up to this point the actors assembled on the stage of Christ's trial
were comparatively few. It had been the express desire of the Jewish
authorities to hurry the case through before the populace of the city
and the crowds of Passover strangers got wind of it. The proceedings
had accordingly gone forward all night; and it was still early morning.
As Jesus was led through the streets to Herod and back, accompanied by
so many of the principal citizens, no doubt a considerable number must
have gathered. But now circumstances brought a great multitude on the
scene.

It was the custom of the Roman governor, on the Passover morning, to
release a prisoner to the people. As there were generally plenty of
political prisoners on hand, rebels against the detested Roman yoke,
but, for that very reason, favourites and heroes of the Jewish
populace, this was a privilege not to be forgotten; and, while the
trial of Jesus was proceeding in the open air, the mob of the city came
pouring through the palace gates and up the avenue, shouting for their
annual gift.

For once their demand was welcome to Pilate, for he thought he saw in
it a way of escape from his own difficulty. He would offer them Jesus,
who had a few days before been the hero of a popular demonstration, and
as an aspirant to the