Evening journal., 1911-03-10

tai trials could not be had at night
Dupin. one Of the greatset French com.
mentators on Hebrew law. says that
this rule applied to the entire proceed
ings, from the arrest 10 the execution
The employment Of Judas, a discipl,
and companion Of the Saviour, by th'
Sanhedrin constitutes the second Gle
ment Of illeeality in the arrest Thl
ancient Hebrews forbade the use o
accomplice testimony, as is clearl.
shown in Mendelssohn's great work
The Criminal Jurisprudence Of m
Ancient Hebrews and other authori
ties Tho Hebrew law, unlike th
modern American, distinctly held tha
a court must not use q wicked instru
ment.
The third element OF illerality con
sisted In the arrest Of Jesus by ,
court whose intention was not to con
duct a legal trial. This arrest" say'
Rosadi. effected In the night. was the
result Of an Illegal and factious reso-
luton Of the Sanhedrin."
POINT 1.-THE private eramins-
tion Of Jesus before Annas (or Gaia
phas) was illegal.
The evangelists all agree that after
His arrest, Jesus was led away to be
examined before a leading priest. They
leave some doubt whether this person
was Caiaphas, who was actually High
Priest, or Annas. who had held the
Office, but probably It was the former
But this is immaterial from legal
point Of view, as the proceedings would
be illegal in either case. For whether
Il wns one or the other. neither had
the right to sit alone as Judge; neither
had the right TO conduct sny judicial
proceeding AZ night; neither had tbs
right 10 institute a secret preliminary
examination by day or night. "B'
not a sole judge. for there Is no sole
Judge, but One" is one Of the hesi
known sphorisms Of the Pirke Aboth
and is borne ont by every commentary
on Hebrew law.
The private examination was mark
ed by an act Of brutality. for "one o
the officers which stood by struck Jesu.
with his PALM proving the gross pref
udice Of the court against Him.
POINT IIL-The Indictment sgains
Jesus was IN form illegal.
The accusation at the trial wa'
two-fold. vague and indefinite, which
the Mosaic law forbade, and 1t was
made in part by Caiaphas, the High
Priest, who was one Of the judges NJ
Jesus. while Hebrew law forbade anl
but leading witnesses to present any
charges.
The accusation consisted Of two
distinct charges. that Of sedition, based
upon threat 70 assault existing 10
stitutions by destroying the Temple
and that Of blasphemy. founded upor
the claim Of equality with God.
Caiaphas. the High Priest. injected
the charge Of blasphemy when he said
"I adjure thee that thou tell us wheth
or thou be the Christ, the Son Of God.
and later he said, "He hath spoker
blasphemy. What further need have
we of witnessesT' The High Pries
thereby broke the plain letter Of thu
Hebrew law twice, by confusing The
indictment and acting as an accuser.
POINT Iv.-The proceedings in th'
sanhedrin against Jesus were illega
because they we're conducted at night
After his preliminary examination
Jesus was brought before the San
hedrin, which had been hastily con
vened in the Palace Of Caiaphas. i
the arrest in the Garden Of Gethsem
ane took place between twelve and one
IL IS remarkable to suppose that Hi
occupied about two hours
and that His trial before the San
hedrin begun about half past three II
the morning. We know from the Cos
pels that the trial took place imme
diately after the examination. Thi
night proceeding was absolutely illega