was holy, harmless, and imdefiled, was foully slandered, who can expect to escape P " If they called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call ihem of his household P " (Matt. x. 25.) Nothing is too bad to be reported against a saint. Perfect innocence is no fence against enormous lying, calumny, and misre- presentation. The most blameless character will not secure us against false tongues. We must bear the trial patiently. It is part of the cross of Christ. We must sit still, lean back on God's promises, and believe that in the long run truth will prevail. ^'Rest in the Lord," says David, " and wait patiently for Him." — " He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judg- ment as the noonday." (Psalm xxxvii. 6, 7.)
Let us observe, for another thing, in this passage, the strange and mingkd motives which influence the hearts of unconverted great men. We are told that when our Lord was sent by Pilate to Herod, king of Galilee, " Herod was exceeding glad ; for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him ; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him."
These words are remarkable. Herod was a sensual, worldly man, — ^the murderer of John the Baptist, — a man living in foul adultery with his brother's wife. Such a man, we might have supposed, would have had no desire to see Christ. But Herod had an uneasy conscience. The blood of God's murdered saint no doubt, rose often before his eyes, and destroyed his peace. The fame of our Ijord's preaching and miracles had penetrated even into his court It was said that another witness against sin