with it. As he took
the bread and broke it, it seemed to him an emblem of himself, pierced
and dying; and from the fulness of his spirit he spoke, "Take, eat, this
is my body, broken for you." As he took the cup and set it before
them, it reminded him of his blood, that must flow ere his mission
was fulfilled, and he could say, "It is finished." And then, when the
traitor rose from that table to go out and consummate the very purpose
that should lead to that event, as one who had arrayed himself in robes
of death, and was about to declare his legacy, he broke forth in that
sublime strain commencing, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God
is glorified in him;"-that strain of mingled precept, and promise, and
warning, and prayer, from which the weary and the sick-hearted of all
ages shall gather strength and consolation, and which shall be read in
dying chambers and houses of mourning until death and sorrow shall reign
no more.

Laden, then, with the thought of his death, he had gone with his
disciples into the garden of Gethsemane. There, in the darkness and
loneliness of night, the full anguish of his situation rushed upon his
spirit. He shrank from the rude scenes that opened before him,--from
the mocker's sneer and the ruler's scourge; from the glare of impatient
revenge, and the weeping eyes of helpless friendship; from the insignia
of imposture and of shame; and from the protracted, thirsty, torturing
death. He shrank from these,--he shrank from the rupture of tender
ties,--he shrank from the parting with deeply-loved friends,--his soul
was overburdened, his spirit was swollen to agony, and he rushed to his
knees, and prayed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from
me." Yet even then, in the intensity of his grief, the sentiment that
lay deep and serene below suggested the conditions, and he added,
"Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." But still the painful
thought oppressed him, and, though more subdued now, he knelt and prayed
again, "O, my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I
drink it, thy will be done." And once more, as he returned from his
weary, sleeping disciples, and found himself alone, the wish broke
forth-yet tempered by the same obedient compliance.

And here I pause to ask, if, in all that scene of agony, anything is
developed inconsistent with the character of Christ? If we would have it
otherwise? If these tears and groans of anguish are tokens of a weakness