CHAPTER XXXI.
IT could not be supposed that souls such as those of Caiaphas and Annas, souls that Satan's poison had turned dark and foul forever, could achieve so great a triumph as the capture of the Nazarene, without tasting to the full the sweets of conquest. To taunt, to scoff, to jeer at those who are down, was ever the Jewish character; for, as no minds have greater genius than have those belonging to that race, so no hearts can conceive greater bitterness and craft, and wound so cruelly. To Annas first, then to Caiaphas, lastly, before the Sanhedrim, the Saviour would have to go. A threefold agony must surely win a threefold glory. Caiaphas had reasons of his own for not having Him brought straight to him.
"Whither take ye Him?" asked one after another of the multitude.
"To Annas first, and then to Caiaphas," replied the soldier, in a voice that forbade further questioning.
To Annas, whose link with the Pharisees lay shivered to bits; Annas, who disregarded Sanhedrim and chief priests alike, but who, through machinations and low intrigue, had gained possession of all the secrets of the Jewish world; who, in his old age, cared neither for deposition from nor accession
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