matters against them that are quiet in the land. Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha! Aha! our eye hath seen it.— Psalm xxxv. 11-21. See here how vividly he realises the malignity of their triumph, "Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it"-This is the spectacle which we like to contemplate! as we read in the Evangelist that, "Sitting down they watched him there." Oh, what a jubilee the devil and the world celebrated round the cross of Jesus! And yet, who were these? They Yes, they were not devils, but men ; men whom he loved and pitied, for whom he had expressed regret-" Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves"-for whom he had begged forgiveness, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And this it was which stung him to the heart. Ah! we must love as he did, before we can enter into the anguish of his soul.

were men.

4th. He was not only pursued with hatred and malice, but also with ignominy and scorn. And this was more insufferable still; even we are sensible to this; who among us would not rather be hated than be despised? But that which must have embittered his suffering in this respect, as, indeed, in all others, was its connexion with sin. Shame and contempt are a portion of "the wages of sin;" as it is written, Many of them which sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise; some to everlasting life; some to

shame and everlasting contempt.”—Dan. xii. 2. There is nothing so despicable as sin-nothing so degrading to the mind of man as the love of it; even here it is despised by all who have fellowship with God, and whose hearts are at all attuned into harmony with his; but in the world to come, where the veil which conceals the true character of things is drawn aside, and every man, and every act, and every thought, stand forth declared in the broad daylight of heaven, the merited contempt of all whose opinion is of value, will be the everlasting portion and punishment of sin. Jesus, therefore, must be treated with scorn, and oh! what accumulated contempt was heaped upon him! See him in the High Priest's palace, rebuked and buffeted-behold him again, derided and smitten, in the hall of Pilate. See him arrayed in a gorgeous robe, in mockery, by Herod and his men of war-and once more before the Roman governor, again arrayed in purple, and crowned with thorns, while they exclaim, in insult and derision, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Oh! what a paradox was here-what a spectacle was this! Jesus treated with contempt! Even the very heart of the heathen magistrate seems to have been visited with a sense of the extraordinary contrast between his claims and his treatment; and under, it would seem, some overruling influence, when he brought him forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and clothed in purple

robes, and so exhibited him to the surrounding multitudes, he could not forbear exclaiming, “Behold thE MAN!" Behold him! how worthy of your admiration! Consider his claims upon your gratitude and esteem-contemplate the mingled meekness and majesty of his demeanour; and then consider the spectacle which he presents! See him covered with shame, clothed with ridicule, reviled and spat upon, and buffeted. The very mode of his death too was ignominious-the death of a felon, and felons also his companions there, as it is written, "He was numbered with the transgressors." Hear his own description of his treatment, and the proof of how he felt it, as recorded in the twenty-second Psalm ::- "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men; and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion."—Psalm xxii. 6-13. Now com

pare with this the description of the Evangelist" And the people stood beholding: and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself."-Luke, xxiii. 35-37. "And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, also, the chief priests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves, also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth."-Matt. xxvii. 39-44.

Such is a brief outline of the history of the cross, as it was inflicted upon the Saviour at the hands of man; such was the treatment which he received from them. He was betrayed, deserted, hated and despised. What, then, is the inference which we must draw respecting man, as exhibited to us at the cross of Jesus? Let us pause for a few moments to consider. First, then, let us suppose, that the

individual so treated had been an innocent man, that no accusation could be established against him; that, notwithstanding the persevering efforts of his enemies, he was manifestly guiltless of any crime, and that this was all which we knew of him: what inference would we, in that case, draw respecting those who had so used him? We would pronounce them guilty of the most atrocious cruelty, of coldblooded murder. But let us suppose, further, that he was not only perfectly innocent of any offence against his persecutors, or any one else, but that he was their benefactor-that he had spent his life in benefiting them, in doing good" unto all-that he was, in fact, virtue personified. What, then, would be the inference? Why, that they were the enemies of virtue itself, and devils in the shape of men. But, further, let us be informed that he who experienced such treatment at the hands of men-this object of their mingled hatred and contempt was one who had not only exhibited the perfection of human character, but that he had manifested superhuman excellency; that he was "God manifested in the flesh;" that all his deeds, and words, and looks bore the impress of Deity itself, and were the irradiation of the Godhead; so that whoever had seen him, "had seen the Father." What, then, would we infer? Why that they were the haters of God-that, as far as their wishes went, inas