460 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



most unscientific of observers. And it will be 

 found not the least characteristic and valuable 

 feature of all such studies, that they serve as 

 literal starting-points and as vantage-grounds 



whence we may shape an intellectual course, lead- 

 ing us by many and diverse radii from limited 

 perceptions and finite aims, outward and upward 

 to the Infinite itself. — Comhill Magazine. 



THE TEIAL OF JESUS CUEIST. 



By ALEXANDER TAYLOE INNES. 



MEN have too much forgotten that the cen- 

 tral event in history assumed the form of 

 a judicial trial. The prodigious influence of the 

 life and personality of Jesus of Nazareth is ad- 

 mitted by all. And his tragical death, early and 

 passionately accepted by Christianity as the sig- 

 nificant fact of his career, has become more than 

 any other incident the starting-point of modern 

 history — his tomb, as Lamartine put it, was the 

 grave of the old world and the cradle of the new. 

 But that memorable transaction was the execu- 

 tion of a capital sentence, proceeding upon a two- 

 fold criminal trial — upon one process conducted 

 according to Hebrew and one according to Roman 

 law. 



In its judicial aspect, as in some others, it is 

 peculiar — perhaps unique. There have been 

 many judicial tragedies recorded in history. Capi- 

 tal trials, like those of Socrates, of King Charles 

 of England, and of Mary of Scotland, have always 

 had a fascination for men. And this trial has 

 impressed and attracted the world more than any 

 or all of these. But I wish to point out that it 

 has in addition a purely legal interest which no 

 one of them possesses. By common consent of 

 lawyers, the most august of all jurisprudences is 

 that of ancient Rome. But perhaps the most pe- 

 culiar of all jurisprudences, and in the eyes of 

 Christendom the most venerable as well as pecul- 

 iar, is that of the Jewish commonwealth. Now, 

 when these two famous and diverse systems hap- 

 pen for one moment to meet, the investigation of 

 the transaction from a legal point of view is ne- 

 cessarily interesting. And, when the two systems 

 meet in the most striking and influential event 

 that has ever happened, its investigation becomes 

 not only interesting but important. It becomes, 

 probably, the most interesting isolated problem 

 which historical jurisprudence can present. 



The questions, for example, are at once raised : 

 "Were there two trials or only one? Was the 



second a mere review of the first, or was the 

 first a mere preliminary to the second ? Were 

 the forms, in the one case of Hebrew, in the 

 other of Roman, law, observed, or attempted to 

 be observed ? And was there in either case an 

 attempt, with or without form, to attain substan- 

 tial justice ? Again, were the charges preferred 

 before the Hebrew and Roman tribunals the 

 same ? What was the crime for which the ac- 

 cused died ? Was the decision in either case 

 right in form, and attained by steps in conform- 

 ity with the process binding or observed at the 

 time ? And was it right in substance — i. e., was 

 it in conformity with the Hebrew law, or the 

 Roman law, as those laws then stood ? 



These questions of law proceed of course 

 upon an assumed history of fact. The history is 

 abundantly familiar ; and, fortunately, there is 

 no special necessity that we should commence 

 this inquiry by an examination of the sources. 

 Men are not agreed how far back they can ex- 

 actly trace the three earlier gospels on the one 

 hand, or the later gospel of John on the other. 

 But the detail, verisimilitude, and authoritative 

 calm of these documents impress the reader with 

 a sense of the closest proximity to the life whose 

 course is narrated. And they have no competi- 

 tors. A few words in Tacitus, a disputed sen- 

 tence or two in Josephus, occasional execrations 

 scattered throughout the Talmud — these, and 

 such as these, are the outside references to a ca- 

 reer which burned itself in detail into the hearts 

 of a generation of surviving disciples, and thence 

 into the imagination of the world ; and which, 

 no doubt generally represented in these records 

 as it was originally conceived, is there represent- 

 ed with extraordinary life-likeness and passive 

 power. To some readers it will appear a singu- 

 lar advantage that in the documents on this spe- 

 cial subject there is no reference to miracle. In 

 none of the four records of the trial is there 



