The next place the guide took US to in the holy church was an altar dedicated to the Roman soldier who was of the military guard that
attended at the crucifixion to keep order，and who--when the vail of the
Temple was rent in the awful darkness that followed；when the rock of
Golgotha was split asunder by an earthquake；when the artillery of heaven
thundered，and in the baleful glare of the lightnings the shrouded dead
flitted about the streets of Jerusalem--shook with fear and said．“Surely
this was the Son of God!”Where this altar stands now．that Roman
soldier stood then．in full view of the crucified SaviOur—in full sight
and hearing of all the marvels that were transpiring far and wide about
the circumference of the Hill of Calvary．And in this self-same spot the
priests of the Temple beheaded him for those blasphemous words he had
spoken．