Sketches from the Life of Paul (1883) — PDF Scan 255
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248 LIFE OF PAUL . defeatwas notforgotten. They wellknew that in contrastwith the calm bearingand forcible argumentsof the apostle, theirown malignant spiritand baselessaccusationswould appearin theworstpossiblelight. Again theyurged that Paul be brought to Jerusalemfor trial. But Festus answereddecidedlythat whatevertheir practicemight be,it was not the customof the Romans to sacrificeany man's lifemerely to gratifyhis accusers, but to bring the accused facetoface with his accusersbeforeimpartial witnesses,and to givehim an opportunitytodefend himself. God in hisprovidencecontrolled thedecisionof Festus,thatthelifeoftheapostle might be preserved. Finding theirpurposesdefeated, the Jewish leadersatonce organizeda powerfuldeputation to presenttheiraccusationsat thecourtof the procurator. After a stayof eightor ten days in Jerusalem, Festus returned to Cæsarea ,and the next day took his seatat the tribunalto hear thecase. The Jews,on thisoccasionbeingwithouta lawyer,preferredtheirchargesthemselves. The trialwas a sceneof passionate,unreasoning clamor on the part of the accusers,while Paul with perfectcalmnessand candorclearlyshowed the falsityof theirstatements. The Jews repeatedtheirchargesof heresy, treason, and sacrilege,but couldbring no witnessesto sustainthem . They endeavored to intimidateFestusas they had once intimidated Pilateby theirpretendedzeal for the honor of Cæsar. But Festushad too thorough an understandingof theRoman law to be deceived by theirclamor. He saw that therealquestion in disputerelatedwholly to Jewish doctrines,