e dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom. vii. 4).

The Son of God is not content to love us. He cannot rest till He has
all our love in return. "He looketh in at the windows" of the soul,
"and showeth Himself through the lattice." Our Beloved speaks, and
says unto us, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." And, as
our response, He waits to hear us say:

"My Beloved is mine, and I am his;
He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away,
Turn, my Beloved!"

X.

The King's Courts

(MARK VI.)

"The number of thine own complete,
Sum up and make an end;
Sift clean the chaff, and house the wheat;
And then, O Lord, descend.

"Descend, and solve by that descent
This mystery of life;
Where good and ill, together blent,
Wage an undying strife."
J. H. N.

Under Royal Surveillance--"It is not Lawful."--The Revenge of
Herodias--The Upbraidings of Conscience--Devotion to Truth--"A Sin unto
Death."

Our story brings us next to speak of the Baptist's relations with Herod
Antipas, son of the great Herod, a contemptible princeling who
inherited a fourth part of his father's dominions (hence known as the
Tetrarch), ruling over Galilee and part of Perea. For the most part he
lived at Tiberias, in great state, which he had imported from Rome,
where he had spent part of his early life. From an early age he had
been entrusted with despotic power, and, as the natural and inevitable
result, had become sensual, weak, capricious, and cruel.

It is of the collision between this man, whom our Lord compared to a
fox, and John the Baptist, that we have now to treat. We need only
notice here that every great character on the page of history has had
his vehement antagonist. Moses, Pharaoh; Elijah, Ahab; Jeremiah,
Jehoiakim; Paul, Nero; Savonarola, the Medici; Luther, the Emperor
Charles V.; John Knox, Queen Mary.

I. THE CAUSE OF THE COLLISION.--All the world had flocked to see and
hear John the Baptist. Every mouth was full of his eccentricities and
eloquence. Marvellous stories were being told of the effect which he
had produced on the lives of those who had come under his influence.
All this was well known to Herod. His spies were present in every
great gathering, and served the purpose of the newspaper of to-day; so
that he was well informed of all the topics that engaged the popular
mind.

For som