THE ARREST OF INQUIRY. 45 



clined to severity, but nothing short of the death of 

 Jesus as a blasphemer (although his chief offence 

 appears to have been his disclaimer of earthly sov- 

 ereignty) would satisfy the angry mob. Amidst their 

 taunts and jeers he was taken to a place named Cal- 

 vary, and there put to death by the torturing process 

 of crucifixion, or, the particular mode not being clear, 

 of transfixion on a stake. 



This tragic event, on which, as is still widely held, 

 hang the destinies of mankind to the end of time, 

 attracted no attention outside Judaea. In the 

 Roman eye, cold, contemptuous, and practical, it was 

 but the execution of a troublesome fanatic who had 

 embroiled himself with his fellow-countrymen, and 

 added the crime of sedition to the folly of blasphemy. 

 Pilate himself passed on, without more ado, to the 

 next duty. Tradition, anxious to prove that retri- 

 bution followed his criminal act, as it was judged in 

 after-time to be, tells how he flung himself in remorse 

 from the mountain known as Pilatus, which over- 

 looks the lake of Lucerne. With truer insight, a 

 striking modern story, L'Etui de Nacre, by Anatole 

 France, makes Pilate, on his retirement to Sicily in 

 old age, thus refer to the incident in conversation 

 with a Roman friend who had loved a Jewish maiden. 



" A few months after I had lost sight of her I heard by 

 accident that she had joined a small party of men and women 

 who were following a young Galilean miracle-worker. His 

 name was Jesus, he came from Nazareth, and he was crucified 

 for I don't know what crime. Pontius, do you remember this 

 man ? Pontius Pilate knit his brow, and put his hand to his 



