the innocence of Christ, both, so far as in them lay, delivered Him to death.

Something of a similar kind-the strength of mutual support in evil—is often to be seen amongst ourselves. For it would appear to be a law of human nature that the moral strength of individual conscience is lessened by the very co-operation which seems at first sight likely to increase it. There is a common proverb which, like all proverbs, condenses the experience of generations,-"A corporate body has no conscience;" and this arises from the fact that the element of goodness, the power of conscience, which, working in each separately, might lead to acts of noble integrity,-when shared in common with many, ceases to operate; and men who might by themselves have been merciful, considerate, and scrupulous, when acting in concert with others, become reckless in their wickedness and cruelty. The actors in the French Revolution were not demons, though they did the work of demons; they were merely men with ordinary passions, whose conscience was deadened by the support and influence of other men.

There is an important lesson to be learned from this the necessity of standing alone; not judging, indeed, or acting, or deciding alone, but in our daily life, and in our self-examination, standing before ourselves as we shall each one hereafter stand at the Great Judgment-seat,

beneath the Eye of our Maker.

alone,

For we must remember that the sentence which is to be passed upon us then will have no respect

to the plausible excuses of men. Pilate leaned upon Herod, and Herod satisfied his conscience by the co-operation of Pilate; but the Roman Governor was answerable as the murderer of Jesus; and the scoffing king was guilty as the mocker of One whom he believed to be superhuman. And so in like the hard judgment, the cold-hearted neglect, the weak yielding to external pressure, which each member of a society casts from himself as an individual, and lays at the door of all, are, nevertheless, his own, and he must one day answer for them.

manner

By accepting evil we make it ours; the very act of consenting to it shows that the ruling power has yielded. But good, on the contrary, may be effected without will, or even with a contrary will. What we do merely because others do it; because we are in a position which prevents our escape; out of fear of the censure of those who labour with us; is no willingly good action; it may be, so far as we are concerned, a very bad one. The amount of good effected has no necessary relation to the motive which caused it; but the amount of evil has. A murder committed by the sentence of a corporate body brings the guilt of murder to each individual,-the greatness of the crime being a call to awaken each separate conscience; but an act of mercy carried out with the approval of a corporate body is only so far the act of each individual as his will and effort have been concerned in it.

There may be a practical application of this

thought. The present age is peculiarly the age of societies,―associations for good. We are all probably more or less mixed up with them; some there are whose lives seem passed in a vortex of the occupation which they bring; they are in a state of constant exertion and anxiety; their work is never-ceasing, their plans are endless; the amount of good they effect is unquestionably very considerable. Who shall blame them? None. Especially none who sit at ease in their quiet, selfindulgent homes, shrinking from effort, and amusing themselves, as they think, innocently, because-not willingly neglecting, but only-not seeing, Lazarus lying at their door. Yet for the best and most earnest-minded of those whose existence seems thus devoted to their fellow-creatures, it must be very good, and infinitely needful, to retire at times into the wilderness-the wilderness and solitude of their own being,- and there to view it apart— alone.

Before the Tribunal of God, what place is to be found for societies and associations?-who will wear the crown of their glory?—who will bear the punishment of their sins? Well indeed will it be for us all if, before that awful Judgment shall overtake us, we face the question boldly, and answer it fully and conscientiously.

The result of such an inquiry may strip us of much that we have thought honourable; it may lead us to see a deadly evil where all seemed bright and pure; it may make us less ready to thrust our

selves into publicity, and teach us to shrink from the flattering words which once were so sweet to our ears. But if it bring us Truth, we shall have cause to accept it thankfully, even though the gift be purchased at the price of the lowest humiliation.

Voluntary associations for mutual support and joint action are in themselves earthly, and, however necessary and useful, must, as such, embody the weakness and the temptations of earth. We know of no associations in Heaven-except that by which the angels fell. The sacred Society which, we have reason to believe, may be destined hereafter to take their place, is no association,-it is a Kingdom, subject to the law of One Head, owning no authority but that of One Ruler. So far as our goodness is dependent upon association, so far it is worthless. So far as our sin is, in our own sight, excused by it, so far we are living in a state of most miserable and dangerous self-deception.

At the close of that day which witnessed the agony and the death of the Redeemer, Pilate and Herod were friends, bearing between them the burden of a crime which they had striven to lessen by participation.

At the close of that long day of Time, which is to bring woe and destruction upon the earth, they will be recognised,-bearing each the crushing weight of his own sin,—and each to hear his separate sentence either of condemnation or of pardon for Eternity.

207

PARTIAL GOODNESS.

ST. LUKE, Xxiii. 13—15.

"And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined Him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse Him: no, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto Him."

THERE is a pause in the hurried turmoil of our Saviour's trial at this time,—a moment of peace, in which, humanly speaking, He might have been. saved, and Pilate might have spared himself the heavy guilt of His innocent blood. So it is often with us all; when hurrying onwards wilfully in a course which we know to be evil, God gives us in mercy, a breathing space, an interval for thought. It may be useful to observe what use Pilate made of this mercy. The first thing which strikes us is his calmness, his dispassionate reasoning, the manner in which he collects the different points bearing on our Lord's innocence, and puts them together, so as, it would seem, to force conviction upon the minds of the people. Jesus, he reminds them, had been examined publicly, the crimes which had been urged