CHAEACTER OF JESUS. 223 



heads of the lowly; he hade the sorrowful be of good 

 cheer, for that the day of their deliverance and their 

 glory was at hand. 



If we regard Jesus only in his relations with those 

 whose brief and bitter lives he purified from evil, and 

 illumined with ideal joys, we might believe him to 

 have been the perfect type of a meek and suffering 

 saint. But his character had two sides, and we must 

 look at both. Such is the imperfection of human 

 nature, that extreme love is counterbalanced by ex- 

 treme hate ; every virtue has its attendant vice, which 

 is excited by the same stimulants, which is nourished 

 by the same food. Martyrs and persecutors resemble 

 one another ; their minds are composed of the same 

 materials. The man who will suffer death for his 

 religious faith, will endeavour to enforce it even unto 

 death. In fact, if Christianity were true, religious per- 

 secution would become a pious and charitable duty ; if 

 God designs to punish men for their opinions, it would 

 be an act of mercy to mankind to extinguish such 

 opinions. By burning the bodies of those who dif- 

 fuse them, many souls would be saved that would 

 otherwise be lost, and so there would be an economy of 

 torment in the long run. It is therefore not surprising 

 that enthusiasts should be intolerant. Jesus was not 

 able to display the"spirit of a persecutor in his deeds ; 

 but he displayed it in his words. Believing that it was 

 in his power to condemn his fellow-creatures to eternal 

 torture, he did so condemn by anticipation all the rich 

 and almost all the learned men among the Jews. It 

 was his belief that God reigned in heaven, but that 

 Satan reigned on earth. In a few years God would 

 invade and subdue the earth. It was therefore his 

 prayer, " Thy kingdom come ; thy will be done in 



