C&e Hiftrarp 
 
 of t|jf 
 
 (Hmtoersitp of K3ort!) Carolina 
 
 The Sylvester Hassell Collection 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 Sylvester Hassell, D. D. 
 
 CLASS OF 62 
 
 GIVEN BY HIS CHILDREN 
 
 bNlVEF;:!fY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 School of Library 
 Science 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://archive.org/details/livesofapostlese01newy 
 
BOY'S AND GIRL'S LIBRARY, 
 
 No. I. 
 
 LIVES 
 
 OP 
 
 THE APOSTLES 
 
 AND 
 
 EARLY MARTYRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 BY THE 
 AUTHOR OF " THE TRIAL OF SKILL." 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
[It has been suggested to the publishers of the 
 " Boy's and Girl's Library," that objections may be 
 taken to the style of the present number, as being 
 somewhat elevated, and perhaps too difficult of com- 
 prehension for the capacities of very juvenile read- 
 ers. The publishers beg leave to observe to such 
 as may look upon this suggestion as well-founded, 
 that in some of the subsequent volumes particular 
 attention will be paid to the attainment of all *equi- 
 site simplicity ; and that in the course of the publi- 
 cation several volumes will be included which, as 
 regards both language and subject, will be found 
 peculiarly adapted to, as they will be intended for, 
 the understandings of children whose minds are as 
 yet in the earlier stages of intelligence. The pres- 
 ent number is more especially designed for the use 
 of such as have made some progress in the cultiva- 
 tion of their mental powers. The various works 
 which will form the series being entirely uncon- 
 nected, parents in making purchases can select such 
 as they shall consider suitable to the advancement 
 and capacity of their children.] 
 
LIVES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE APOSTLES % 
 
 AND 
 
 EARLY MARTYRS 
 
 OP 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 [DESIGNED FOR SUNDAY READING.] 
 
 BV THE 
 AUTHOR OF "THE TRIAL OF SR7LL," 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 IIARPE*R & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 
 FKANKLIN SQUARE. 
 1871. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the yeai 1834, by 
 
 Harper & Brothers, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS PREFIXES 
 TO THE "SUNDAY LIBRAR Y." 
 
 It is, perhaps, owing to the scarcity of suit- 
 able publications, that we so often meet with 
 young persons, who devote the leisure of the 
 Sabbath to the perusal of works which have a 
 necessary tendency to drive from the recollec- 
 tion every thought of seriousness and devotion. 
 Unable to keep their attention fixed for any 
 length of time on religious subjects, when pre- 
 sented to them in the usual form of sermons 
 and discourses, and yet feeling how irksome 
 it is to pass several unoccupied hours togethei 
 without having recourse to reading, they fancy, 
 no doubt, that tales and other books of enter 
 tainment are their proper, if not only, re 
 source. 
 \ Nor is it sufficient, in order to prevent this 
 
X ADDRESS. 
 
 evil habit, that children be eaily told to take 
 pleasure in the thought, that by abstaining 
 from their ordinary reading on the Sunday, 
 they honour God. 
 
 Excellent as is this lesson, and important as 
 it is to impress the mind early with the con- 
 viction that it is necessary to resign our own 
 ways for God's, and to sacrifice our own wills 
 in obedience to His commands, it seems cer- 
 tain, that something more should be added. 
 Young persons who evince a willingness to 
 conform to the rules of self-control merit 
 beyond all doubt every encouragement ; and, 
 instead of confining ourselves to assuring them 
 that they will receive hereafter the promised 
 reward of the righteous, they should, as far 
 as it is possible, be allowed a foretaste of heaven 
 even here : it should be permitted to them to 
 experience, that, as with the practice of divine 
 wisdom, so with its study, " all her ways are 
 pleasantness, and all her paths peace." « 
 
 And here the author would fain remind her 
 youngf readers, that Sabbath-breaking stands 
 
ADDRESS. XI 
 
 foremost in the list of sins which draw men 
 on to destruction, and that the due observance 
 cf the day of rest is the virtue which leads 
 to every other, and to which the highest and 
 holiest blessings are annexed. She therefore 
 earnestly presses upon their consideration, that 
 the day should, from its commencement to its 
 end, be honoured above all others, and that it 
 should consequently be respectfully and grate- 
 fully distinguished from them, both by its pur- 
 suits and pleasures. 
 
 But let them not imagine, that she has any 
 wish to inculcate the idea, that sad counte- 
 nances or forbidding austerity ought to fill up 
 the space not given to the duties of public wor- 
 ship, or to the employment of charity. They 
 will quickly perceive that this is the farthest 
 fiom her design. She is fully persuaded, that 
 the cause of religion cannot be more effec- 
 tually hindered, than by exhibiting it as the 
 bane of all joy and gladness ; but she is desir- 
 ous of preventing their joy degenerating into 
 
 frivolity and sin, and of teaching them, while 
 B 
 
Xll ADDRESS. 
 
 they rejoice, to rejoice in what is worthy of the 
 day. Delighting, in fact, in the recollection 
 of many families of her acquaintance, with 
 whom all that is holy, heavenly, and happy is 
 on that privileged day brought into union, she 
 presents to the public the present wlume, in 
 the hope that it may lead others to the imi- 
 tation of their example. 
 
 She deeply laments, that the same sweet 
 strain of piety does not flow from her pen, 
 which she has often admired in the writings 
 of others, and which she has observed to steal 
 so gently and so beneficially into* the hearts 
 of the young reader. But God gi veth to every 
 one in measure as He will ; and should she 
 be permitted to exhibit a faithful picture of 
 early faith and practice, and should grace be 
 given her to show how patiently the apostles 
 suffered to the end in vindication of the holy 
 name of Christ, how their example was fol~ 
 lowed by their immediate disciples, and how 
 it ought to be followed by ourselves, she be- 
 lieves her time will not have been misspent. 
 
GLOSSARY. 
 
 Apostolate — The office of an apostle. 
 
 Avalanche — A term applied to the sliding down of quick 
 masses of snow from the mountains of Switzerland. 
 
 Blasphemous — Words spoken against God, or against his 
 agents. 
 
 Compatriots — Persons born in the same country. 
 
 Caviller — A person fond of making objections. 
 
 Deacon — A minister, or servant. Used in the New Testa- 
 ment to denote one who ministers in the service of 
 God. — See 1 Tim. chap. hi. 8th and 12th verses. 
 
 Gladiators — Men who fought and murdered each other with 
 swords at the Roman Games, for the amusement of the 
 populace. 
 
 Glossary — A kind of Dictionary, explaining difficult words 
 or phrases. 
 
 Fdiomatic — Taken from idiom, which signifies peculiarity of 
 phrase. Expressions are called idiomatic, which con- 
 vey an idea different from the common meaning of the 
 words of which they are composed ; as, " Courir a 
 toutes jambes" — which is, literally, to run with all 
 your legs : but it is used idiomatically, and means — run 
 as fast as you possibly can. 
 
 Lictors — Petty officers, who attended on consuls, to obey 
 their orders, and to punish criminals. 
 
 Opprobrious — Reproachful or disgraceful. 
 
 Proconsul — From^ro, for; and consul, director; a Roman 
 officer, acting for the director or governor of a province. 
 
 Pythoness — A priestess of Apollo. 
 
 Respondent — One who replies. 
 
 Robbies — Rab % signifies great ; from which comes Rabbin, 
 Rabbi ; a title meaning master, doctor, or chief, one 
 who excels. 
 
 Synagogue — An assembly ; or the place where an assem- 
 bly meets. 
 
 Sanhedrim — A council of the Jews, consisting >f seventy 
 senators. 
 
 Satellites — Inferior attendants. 
 
JUVENILE LIBRARY. 
 
 DIALOGUE. 
 
 " How sorry I am that'we have not another 
 volume of these fine Bible Stories," exclaimed 
 Henry Arden, as he closed one of the little 
 books well known to the public by that name. 
 
 "Perhaps/' replied his grandmother, to whom 
 he had been reading the book aloud, "per- 
 haps the c affectionate aunt' who selected those 
 stories may yet write some others of the same 
 kind for the children of whom she seems so 
 fond." 
 
 " Oh I hope she may," said he ; "I wonder 
 she did not tell us what became of St. John, 
 and St. Peter, and St. Paul, and what happen- 
 ed to all the apostles after they had lost their 
 Master. Do you not think, grandmamma, that 
 true stories about them, and about these poor 
 persecuted Christians, whose pictures I used 
 to be so fond of looking: at in Fox's Book of 
 
16 DIALOGUE. 
 
 Martyrs, would be very entertaining ? 1 wish 
 she, or some one else, would write a history 
 of their lives, fit for me to read, until you 
 would let me have that great, full-grown his- 
 tory, which you say is too old and too fright- 
 ful for me now." 
 
 It was then requested, not only by Henry, 
 but by his sister and his two cousins who 
 were present, that if no work of the kind 
 should appear within a short time, Mrs. O. 
 should herself undertake the task ; and, yield- 
 ing to the urgent solicitation, she promised to 
 satisfy their anxiety. 
 
 A few weeks elapsed, when Henry and his 
 grandmother being alone, the following scene 
 occurred. 
 
 " Oh pray do come on quickly, dear grand- 
 mamma," said Henry, endeavouring to drag 
 his aged relation after him, as they walked 
 together down a rugged path which led from 
 their mansion to a favourite arbour at some 
 distance in the grounds. "Emily and my 
 cousins will have gone back to the house, if 
 we do not make haste. How surprised they 
 will be to hear that you have so soon begun 
 the nice new book you promised us. The 
 very last thing we were talking of together, 
 
DIALOGUE. 17 
 
 was what volume we should choose out of 
 our little library for this evening's reading; 
 and I was just running in to get the l Wars of 
 the Jews' for myself, and t The Catechist' for 
 the girls ; but we have read them both two or 
 three times already, and it will be so delight- 
 ful to hear one of your new stories instead." 
 
 Away flew the young enthusiast still faster 
 than before towards the arbour, crying out as 
 he entered, " Mary ! Agnes ! Emily ! what 
 news do you think I have got to tell you? 
 Do you know that grandmamma has really 
 begun to write The Lives q£ the Apostles ? 
 Here she comes with the first Life in her hand 
 ready for us to hear, and we are all to find 
 fault with it, she says, just as we please, and 
 if we do not like it, she will not get it printed ; 
 but if we do, she will go on with the other 
 Lives, and have them all published to put into 
 our library, which we have been longing 
 so much to get a new set of books for." 
 
 The three girls started up to meet their 
 grandmother in delight at this information, 
 declaring nothing could have suited better 
 with their present wishes. And the moment 
 Mrs. C. entered the arbour they bustled in 
 every direction to provide her with accommo- 
 b2 
 
18 DIALOGUE. 
 
 elation, entreating that she would immediately 
 be seated and begin reading her new work. 
 
 "Here, dear grandmamma," said Emily, 
 "is your nice little arm-chair." 
 
 " And the cushion for your feet," said Mary. 
 
 "And my drawing-stand for a reading-desk; 
 all quite ready for you to begin," said Agnes. 
 
 " I must beg a little time to take breath, my 
 children, after my walk from the house," said 
 the old lady, " for Henry has drawn me on 
 quite beyond my speed ; and while I rest, you 
 may tell me what you have been all about this 
 lovely-looking Sabbath evening." 
 
 " You will say we have been sad idlers, I 
 fear, grandmamma; for we have not been doing 
 any thing except looking at the beautiful pros- 
 pect before us, and chatting about it," said 
 Mary, the oldest and most reflecting of the 
 group. "This is, as you say, indeed, a lovely- 
 looking Sabbath evening. It makes one feel 
 peaceful and happy, almost without knowing 
 why." 
 
 " Why do you say Sabbath, Mary, when 
 Sunday would do just as well ? You know 
 grandmamma objects herself to it, and says it 
 sounds canting and old-fashioned, coming out 
 of the mouths of young people like us." 
 
DIALOGUE. 19 
 
 ? But at present, Henry, Sunday would not 
 do so well. It is, I grant you, always best, 
 when speaking on sacred subjects, for both 
 young and old to make use of expressions in 
 common acceptation ; and to let their light 
 shine before men by the piety of their works, 
 not by the peculiarity of their words ; but on 
 the present occasion, both Mary and I used 
 the term Sabbath, which, you know, means 
 rest, because every thing happens to look so 
 peculiarly at rest this evening." 
 
 " Yes, indeed they do," said Henry ; " even 
 the sun, though it shines so brightly, is not 
 glancing and dancing about as usual." 
 
 " No," said Agnes, " it is lying with a warm, 
 steady glow over the meadows, making them 
 look so soft and tranquil, I do not wonder the 
 cattle all around have laid themselves down to 
 sleep." 
 
 " The sun is going to set," said Henry, 
 " and I suppose that is the reason it looks so 
 quiet ; but I really think that it, too, seems as 
 if it were falling asleep." 
 
 Mary then pointed to a beautiful spot within 
 their view, where a mountain torrent rushed, 
 usually with violence, over a stupendous cliff, 
 and pursued its rapid way past the door of 
 
21) DIALOGUE. 
 
 the arbour. u Even that noisy waterfall," saie 
 she, " seems to be infected with the stillness of 
 the hour, and now steals quietly down the 
 rock, and past our retreat, as if it, too, were 
 going to rest." 
 
 " But that is only because the river is not 
 so full as usual," said Henry, fancying himself 
 a philosopher. 
 
 "Look at that beautiful mountain rising 
 behind the waterfall, with its purple base and 
 golden top," said Agnes. " Oh ! if mamma 
 were here, she would paint those lovely tints, 
 as she would call them, immediately." 
 
 " That is, if she could," interrupted little 
 malapert. 
 
 " Really, all things do seem as if they were 
 resting to-night," said Mary. " There is not 
 a breath of wind sighing, not a leaf stirring, 
 nor even the singing of a bird to disturb the 
 stillness." 
 
 " I wonder what it is that makes every 
 thing so quiet," said Henry. " But I suppose 
 it is just that we all might hear the charming 
 new book, if you girls would only hold your 
 chattering tongues, and let it be begun." Then 
 drawing his chair close beside his grand- 
 mother, he put the manuscript into her hand, 
 and she at length commenced reading. 
 
CHAPTER 1. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE FIRST CHRISTIAN 
 MARTYR. 
 
 The day of hope and prayer is past ; 
 
 The day of comfort dawns at last : 
 
 Swiftly and straight, each tongue of flame, 
 
 Through cloud and breeze, unwavering came ; 
 
 And darted to its place of rest, 
 
 On some meek brow, by Jesus bless'd. 
 
 Christian Year 
 
 " The land of Palestine, during the months 
 of our winter and spring, enjoys a climate sc 
 delicious, that the fields are ready for harvest 
 before the seeds sown in this less-favoured 
 country have cast up the first green covering 
 with which they adorn the earth. I shall be- 
 gin my history of the apostles with the com- 
 mencement of the first sweet summer season 
 which gladdened the hearts of the inhabitants 
 of that land after the Saviour of mankind 
 had ascended to his Father, and left his fol- 
 
22 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 lowers at Jerusalem in expectation of the 
 promised Comforter, who was to console them 
 for his loss. Though unacquainted with the 
 nature of this Comforter, or the manner of his 
 coming, the disciples still waited in patient 
 hope and confident reliance on his word for 
 the fulfilment of the promise ; and they were 
 not disappointed. 
 
 " The month of April arrived ; that joyful 
 day dawned known to the Jews as the day of 
 Pentecost, when the first ripe fruits of the 
 earth were to be gathered in. It rose bright 
 and lovely, and was hailed with its wonted 
 joy throughout the holy city. The inhabit- 
 ants flocked from all quarters of the town to 
 celebrate their favourite festival. The apos- 
 tles also observed the feast with fervent grati- 
 tude to the Giver of all good, and having their 
 hearts filled with the memory of their divine 
 Master, and of all that he had done and suf- 
 fered for them, they went with one accord 
 into one place to pray. Here, suddenly, there 
 came a sound from heaven as of a rushing 
 mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
 they were sitting ; and there appeared to them 
 tongues like as of fire — an image well fitted 
 to express the gift of using different languages, 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 23 
 
 and of speaking with that force and energy 
 which should, with the all-prevailing strength 
 and rapidity of fire, penetrate in every direc 
 tion, and conquer every obstacle. 
 
 " A tongue rested on each of the disciples, 
 and they were filled with the holy Spirit of 
 God, and began immediately to speak in lan- 
 guages which they never understood before ; 
 and they were • impelled to utter things new 
 and strange to themselves, as the Spirit gave 
 them utterance. Then they perceived that 
 this was' the promise of the Father, the Holy 
 Ghost or Comforter, which was to come ; and 
 they went out boldly, and taught in the tem- 
 ple, and in all places, showing forth every- 
 where the wonderful works of God. And the 
 fame of this power which God had given to 
 them was noised abroad throughout the city ; 
 so that persons of all countries who were 
 dwelling there flocked to see if the reports 
 which had reached them were true, and were 
 astounded when they heard them speaking in 
 their own several tongues the wonderful works 
 of God. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, 
 inhabitants of every different land and nation, 
 heard them deliver the clearest and wisest in- 
 structions in the languages wherein they had 
 
24 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 themselves been bora, and in wonder and 
 amazement they turned to each other, asking 
 what these strange things could mean. 
 
 " The disciples, however, although they too 
 felt awe-struck at the miracle wrought within 
 them, did not wonder. They understood how 
 this power had been given them on that par- 
 ticular day, as the first-fruits of the Spirit 
 which was to remain with <them and with 
 their children for ever, to guide them during 
 their progress through life. They felt that it 
 was now their bounden duty to go out boldly 
 to reprove the world of sin, and to instruct 
 the ignorant in the means of salvation opened 
 to them through the redemption of Christ. 
 Immediately, therefore, they began to teach 
 that whosoever would repent and forsake his 
 sins, calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 should be saved. 
 
 u These were glad tidings to all the reflect- 
 ing part of their hearers ; for all who reflected 
 knew that they had sinned ; but they knew 
 not how they should obtain forgiveness. And 
 the words being uttered with the force and 
 tenderness, energy and kindness, which God 
 had put into the hearts of the apostles towards 
 the human race, the multitude were so affected 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. SO 
 
 bf all the truths spoken to them, that great 
 numbers came forward in that same day. de- 
 claring their belief in all they had heard, and 
 entreating to be received into fellowship with 
 Christ's flock. 
 
 " I need scarcely tell you that they were 
 joyfully admitted into that blessed company ; 
 but I cannot help wondering at their con- 
 stancy, when I remember, that in despite of 
 all the scoffing and derision of their brethren, 
 and the various temptations of the world 
 around them, these new converts continued 
 steadfast in their opinions to the end. 
 
 " From this time, great fear came upon 
 every soul, and many wonders and signs were 
 ^one by the apostles ; and the disciples lived 
 together as one family, having all things in 
 common : they sold their possessions and 
 goods, and, parting them among their bre- 
 thren, as every man had need, they brake 
 bread daily from house to house, with great 
 singleness of heart, in the most perfect state 
 of friendly intercourse, praising God with re- 
 signed and grateful hearts, and having favour 
 with all the people ; and there were added to 
 he church daily such as should be saved." 
 
 " Added to the church, grandmamma!" said 
 <: 
 
26 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 Henry ; " we never heard of their having one 
 before. I should like to know what sort of 
 place it was, and which of the apostles built 
 it. I wonder if it was like any of those papa 
 has built. But I suppose it was much 
 grander." 
 
 " If you speak of a mere edifice, Henry, it 
 is of little importance what description . of 
 temple they had, or what sort of building 
 any of us have for worship, so that it be a fit 
 and proper place in which the members of 
 God's church can assemble and oifer their 
 prayers and praises to their great and good 
 Creator." 
 
 " God's church ! did you say? Is not every 
 church called God's church, or the house o^ 
 God? I do not understand you, grand- 
 mamma ; will you explain what you mean ?" 
 
 " The word church, my dear boy, originally 
 meant an assemblage of people, who met to- 
 gether for one particular object, whether of 
 religious worship or otherwise." 
 
 "An assemblage of people!" again ex 
 claimed Henry ; " I thought it meant a house 
 or temple where people went to say their 
 prayers." 
 
 " And you thought rightly, my child ; for 
 
FlRSf CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 27 
 
 custom has also given it that meaning. Per- 
 sons so seldom meet together united in one 
 common, feeling on any subject but religion, 
 that the. word church in time ceased to be ap- 
 plied to anf except religious assemblies. It 
 soon, therefore, became a name for the place 
 where such assemblies were held ; and in this 
 sense it is now most commonly used." 
 
 "But the church of God, grandmamma, 
 which you melitioned just now, that must 
 mean some particular church. Where is it ? 
 I hope it is in this country." 
 
 " There are, my boy, in this and in every 
 other country of Christendom, a number of 
 faithful worshippers who belong to the church 
 of God. That expression means the whole 
 assembly of Christians, of whatever sect or 
 denomination, who, in all the different coun- 
 tries in the world, believe in Christ as God : 
 as God reconciling the world to himself by 
 the sacrifice made for sin ; and who try with 
 sincerity and truth to love and fear and serve 
 him as they ought to do." 
 
 " And the holy catholic church, grand- 
 mamma, which we pray for every Sunday in 
 that prayer which you are so fond of," said 
 C 
 
28 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 Henry; "what is that? Does ic mean the 
 Church of Rome V * 
 
 "No, my dear; the word catholic means 
 universal : and it is but another method of 
 expressing the church of God. It comprises 
 the entire number of devout worshippers in 
 Rome, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, 
 America, and all the quarters of the earth, 
 who lift up their hearts in adoration to the one 
 common Father, Saviour, arM Sanctifier of 
 all. I am indeed, Henry, fond of the prayer 
 you mention : there cannot be a more delight 
 ful feeling than that which the heart enjoys 
 when, kneeling in the house of God, we join 
 in that brotherly supplication for all mankind 
 Then, indeed, we feel ourselves a part of that 
 mystical body, the holy catholic church, whose 
 members are in every part of the globe, and 
 who together lift up their hearts to Him who 
 sees them all in secret, but will himself re- 
 ward them openly." 
 
 " I will always join in that prayer, grand- 
 mamma," said Henry, "and try to make one of 
 God's great assembly every Sunday. But what 
 a small assembly it must have been when the 
 apostles first began to preach at Jerusalem." 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 29 
 
 * It was, my love, small indeed, compared 
 with what it now is : composed, too, of baila- 
 ble mechanics and poor fishermen, who pos- 
 sessed no earthly authority or power to influ- 
 ence mankind, excepting those of speech and 
 reason. Yet from that apparently insignificant 
 band, we now behold every quarter of the 
 world enlightened, the most remote regions 
 peopled with their followers, and benefited by 
 their teaching." 
 
 " That reminds me of a verse in one of my 
 hymns, grandmamma : 
 
 * How comes it that this little band, 
 Once so despis'd and poor, 
 Should now be found in ev'ry land, 
 Peopling the world all o'er F " 
 
 " I like to hear you apply your hymns in 
 this manner, my dear boy ; it shows that you 
 both understand and feel their meaning. The 
 great and rapid increase of Christianity comes 
 indeed from God alone, and he wills that 
 nothing shall ever stop its progress until it 
 shall at last cover the whole earth as the 
 waters cover the sea." 
 
 " Does your book tell if the Christians in- 
 c2 
 
30 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 creased rapidly from the very first?" said 
 Mary. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mrs. C, resuming her nar- 
 rative, "owing to the immediate augmentation 
 of their numbers, which took place after the 
 descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pen- 
 tecost, it became necessary to appoint persons 
 to perform the various offices required amonar 
 them. So the twelve apostles whom Christ 
 had purposely selected as heads for directing 
 all the rest called together the disciples, and 
 desired them to choose out seven of the best 
 and wisest men among them, that they 
 might keep charge of the public money, take 
 care that the widows and friendless should not 
 be neglected in the daily divisions of food, 
 and provide for the wants of all. This the 
 disciples immediately did, selecting persons 
 noted for integrity of character ; and among 
 them was a young man named Stephen, 
 whose love to God and to his fellow-creatures 
 made him dear to all the people ; who, after 
 that the apostles had blessed him, and received 
 him into office as a deacon of the church, 
 immediately set himself to fulfil his trust 
 with all the ardour and intrepidity of a pious 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 31 
 
 and faithful minister. Being rilled with 
 power by the Holy Ghost, he did many mira- 
 cles among the people, and made so many 
 converts, that the wicked and unbelieving 
 Jews began already to think that he and the 
 small company of Christians to which he be- 
 longed would draw the whole world after 
 them. They therefore disputed with him 
 wherever they could find an opportunity, but 
 were never able to prevail against him, be- 
 cause, according to God's promise, the Holy 
 Spirit had given him a mouth and wisdom, 
 which all his adversaries were unable to re- 
 sist. The word of God, therefore, went on 
 increasing, and the ^disciples multiplied ex- 
 ceedingly ; and at last, a great many even of 
 the priests became obedient to the faith. 
 Then the Jews felt still more alarmed, and 
 there arose in the principal synagogue of 
 Jerusalem men who had been trained up in 
 their academies under their most learned 
 rabbins." 
 
 "Oh stop, stop!" cried Henry; "there are 
 two hard words^ close together, synagogue 
 and rabbins, and a little while ago you said 
 the word deacon — and I do not understand 
 
32 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 any one of them ; do pray tell me what they 
 all mean, before you go on." 
 
 " I forgot to mention/' said his grand- 
 mamma, "that I have adopted one of Miss 
 Edgeworth's judicious plans, for giving in- 
 formation to youth; and instead of confining 
 my language to an over-simple style of ex- 
 pression, I have made a glossary for my book, 
 which will explain the meaning of any word 
 with which a child so young as you, Henry, 
 may be unacquainted." 
 
 " Then, grandmamma, you must put glos- 
 sary the very first, for I do not understand 
 that." 
 
 "Yery well," said Mrs. C, "it is easily 
 done : here is the paper which you can keep 
 before you, and refer to when any word oc- 
 curs which you do not understand." She 
 then, after waiting for a few seconds, gave the 
 glossary to Henry, desiring him to read what 
 she had written. 
 
 He did so ; and having discovered the 
 meaning of the words which had puzzled him 
 so much, he begged she would go on, and let 
 them hear what the men were going to do 
 who arose in the synagogue. 
 
FIRiyT CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 33 
 
 I" They were going," she replied, " to dispute 
 with Stephen, and to try once more if they 
 could not overcome him in argument. Hav- 
 ing been all brought up and carefully in- 
 structed in the most subtle arts of sophistry 
 and disputation, they fancied themselves the 
 greatest orators and best reasoners in the 
 whole world. So they argued with Stephen, 
 getting up one after the other, hoping they 
 should at last silence him. But clever as 
 they were, they could not resist the truth and 
 wisdom with which he spoke." 
 
 " I am glad they were disappointed," said 
 Henry ; " I suppose they were very much 
 ashamed, and very angry." 
 
 " Yes, Henry, they became both . alarmed 
 and angry ; so they suborned men to swear 
 that they had heard Stephen speaking bias 
 phemous words against God !" 
 
 " What !" said Agnes, " against that very 
 God whom he was trying to make them 
 love ! Could they pretend that he was speak- 
 ing blasphemous words against him ?" 
 
 " Even so, Agnes ; they boldly asserted the 
 falsehood, and stirred up the people to believe 
 their assertion ; and that fickle and giddy 
 multitude who had been before struck with 
 
§4 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 wonder at his miracles joined with the scribes 
 and elders, who, afraid that their own reputa- 
 tion for wisdom and learning would suffer, 
 rushed suddenly upon him, and carried him 
 before the sanhedrim, to be tried for his pre- 
 tended crimes." 
 
 " Sanhedrim !" interrupted Henry ; " ah, 
 that is another hard word, which I must look 
 for in the glossary." 
 
 " You will find it there, with some others 
 which you have not yet noticed," said Mrs. 
 C. ; and having made him examine the paper, 
 she continued. 
 
 " Now this sanhedrim, or council-hall, was 
 a fearful place ; all who entered it had cause 
 to tremble ; for there, through falsehood, 
 hatred, and revenge, the innocent were often 
 condemned to suffer death, while the guilty 
 were received to pardon. There were several 
 dreadful methods by which, in those days, 
 both the Jews and Romans were accustomed 
 to put to death criminals whom they con- 
 demned. For high -treason, sedition, &c. &c. 
 the punishment was crucifixion ; for theft and 
 several other crimes, it was hanging ; for 
 blasphemy and others, stoning. Stephen, 
 therefore, while standing before the assembly. 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. So 
 
 was aware of the law by which he was about 
 to lose his life, and felt that there was no 
 chance for escape : for he knew that the same 
 hearts and hands were now turned against 
 him which had nailed his blessed Master to 
 the cross, on the pretended charge of his hav- 
 ing wished to make himself a king. On 
 hearing himself accused of blasphemy, he 
 therefore knew that they meant to stone him 
 to death : yet the certainty of a fate so horri- 
 ble in no way damped his courage. He waited 
 for a favourable opportunity to address the 
 multitude, not with any hope of preserving 
 his life, or of prolonging that existence which 
 he esteemed of little value, bat with the firm 
 resolution to use every moment that should 
 be left him in proving the truth of the doc- 
 trines he taught, and in trying to open the 
 eyes of his accusers to their own sin and 
 danger. Then the false witnesses spake out, 
 and said, 'This man ceaseth not to speak 
 blasphemous words against this holy place, 
 and against the law. We have heard him 
 say that Jesus of Nazareth vshall destroy this 
 place, and shall change the customs which 
 Moses delivered to us.' 
 u Then all who sat in the council looked 
 
36 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 steadfastly on Stephen, to observe the effect 
 which this accusation might have on him ; 
 but instead of seeing guilt or dismay pictured 
 in his countenance, they saw with astonish- 
 ment his face, as it had been the face of an 
 angel, beaming with more than wonted bright- 
 ness and serenity. 
 
 " The high-priest then, anxious to hear from 
 his own lips either a denial or an acknow- 
 ledgment of the charge laid against him, 
 said to him, c Are these things so V 
 
 " Stephen, animated with the desire of con- 
 verting his deluded adversaries, and of making 
 them acknowledge him whom they had cru- 
 cified as their only Saviour, Lord, and Master, 
 immediately opened his mouth, and besought 
 them all, as men who were dear to him as 
 brethren or fathers, to hearken to him. 
 
 " He then explained to them several parts 
 in the Jewish history which he knew they did 
 not thoroughly understand ; proving to them 
 that they, as the peculiar servants of the Most 
 High, had received a law from God which 
 they had never kept, and that although they 
 pretended to be learned persons, strict, wise. 
 and righteous, and teachers of other men, yet 
 they were even at that very moment keeping 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 3? 
 
 themselves in ignorance, blinding their eyes 
 to the truth, and wilfully resisting the Holy 
 Spirit of God. As their fathers had killed 
 the prophets who foretold the coming of Jesus 
 Christ, so they, Stephen told them, even more 
 wicked than their fathers, had murdered that 
 just and holy One when actually present with 
 them, for which crime They must undoubtedly 
 suffer, unless they should repent. 
 
 " Stephen, it appears, would have gone on 
 to prove that Christ was risen again, and that 
 he was still ready to pardon their sins and 
 receive them to salvation, if they would only 
 ask forgiveness ; but they did not give him 
 time to proceed. Cut to the heart by the 
 truths he had uttered, they gnashed upon 
 him with their teeth, and eagerly called out 
 for the moment of his execution. Though 
 now hopeless of their conversion, Stephen 
 was still undaunted, his mind being filled, 
 through the influence of the Holy Ghost 
 with the most perfect meekness and resigna- 
 tion. He looked steadfastly up to heaven, 
 and there saw the glory of God, and Jesus his 
 beloved Master, standing at the right-hand of 
 the Majesty on high ; and finding himself fur- 
 ther animated by that glorious sight, which 
 
 D 
 
38 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 was, no doubt, revealed to him for the wisest 
 purposes, and becoming still more anxious 
 that the whole world should know how true 
 and real was that heaven which Christ had 
 opened to all, he proclaimed aloud what it 
 was at which they saw him gaze with such 
 delight. £ Behold !' cried he, ' behold ! I see 
 the heavens -opened, and the Son of maa 
 standing on the right-hand of God!' 
 
 " Pretending to be shocked by these words, 
 the Jews stopped their ears, and crying out 
 with a loud voice, ran suddenly upon him 
 with one accord, and dragged him away from 
 the council. And then, because it was con- 
 trary to their law to put any man to death 
 within the walls of the city, they carried him 
 out of Jerusalem, hurrying him furiously 
 along, that they might immediately stone him. 
 
 " Now death by stoning I can easily ima- 
 gine to be among the most dreadful that can 
 be conceived. It was originally decreed to 
 the lowest and most hateful offences, and was 
 mercifully intended to deter men from the 
 practice of such crimes. But where is the 
 law, however good or wise, that will not in 
 time be misused by human power and wicked- 
 ness ; and where is the human heart in 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 39 
 
 which the seeds of every vice may not early 
 be discovered? I have often seen boys ; 
 Henry, in the thoughtlessness of their young 
 hearts, throw stones at a poor little bird, until 
 they have deprived it of life. I have seen 
 them, even while it lay convulsed before 
 them, leap with delight at their own adroit- 
 ness, and, forgetful of the pain they were in- 
 flicting, rejoice as each stone hit the harmless 
 creature. You will be surprised, perhaps, if 
 I tell you that the spirit which made these 
 thoughtless boys enjoy killing the innocent 
 bird, was the same which probably lived in 
 the hearts of many of the wicked Jews who 
 now surrounded Stephen. Some, no doubt, 
 were actuated only by a misguided zeal for 
 religion. Instructed on false principles, and 
 grown up in the persuasion of mistaken no- 
 tions, they thought they were doing God ser- 
 vice. But, as in every multitude of this kind, 
 others we may suppose there were who joined 
 in the execution from the love of cruelty, 
 who had not been taught, when children, to 
 know that it was a wretched and a wicked 
 spirit which can delight in others' sufferings ; 
 and so they had let it grow with their growth, 
 and strengthen with their strength, until they 
 
40 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 were now able to stand around their fellow 
 creature, even the mild, benevolent, kind 
 hearted Stephen, eager to display theii 
 strength in aiming against his body the 
 stones which each, with ferocious grasp, held 
 ready for his destruction. 
 
 " This method of execution was in general 
 managed with as much regularity as any 
 other manner of putting criminals to death. 
 The witnesses against the prisoner were 
 always" appointed by law to throw the first 
 stone, and their doing so was the signal for 
 the whole multitude to begin the assault. 
 Scarcely, however, in the present instance, 
 could the people be restrained from the attack, 
 or persuaded to wait for the usual forms. 
 
 " Stephen was dragged to a spot in front of 
 his cruel enemies : the perjured witnesses, 
 that they might be free to take the better aim, 
 hastily took off their clothes, and threw them 
 at the feet of a young man named Saul, 
 whose office was to keep them in. charge ; 
 and having given the appointed signal, the 
 multitude, with furious eagerness, and shouts 
 of savage joy, instantly sent fortli a shower 
 of stones against their defenceless victim. 
 Stunned and lacerated, bruised and exhaust- 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 41 
 
 ed, but not yet deprived of life, he kneeled 
 down and called upon his still beloved Re- 
 deemer, crying, £ Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit V But his relentless foes pursued their 
 savage work, and with cruel hearts and hands 
 continued to hurl their missiles against him. 
 Nothing could, however, subdue his patience ; 
 though his agony was great, and he again 
 cried out with a loud voice, yet what was his 
 cry 7 Was it a prayer in his own behalf, or 
 was it a supplication against his enemies? 
 No : ' Lord, lay not this sin to their charge,' 
 were the words he uttered ; and when he had 
 said this he fell asleep. Nature could not 
 endure more, and he sank into a state of in- 
 sensibility, from which no torments could 
 awake him. Still his foes, resolute to com- 
 plete their purpose, continued their attack; 
 but the stones which they now flung against 
 his person occasioned no more pain ; the 
 wickedness and cruelty of his enemies no 
 longer inflicted sorrow. His spirit was with 
 the God who gave it birth, received already 
 into realms of everlasting bliss." 
 
 "Yes, grandmamma, I'm sure Stephen's 
 spirit must have gone into happiness, for he 
 spoke almost the same words that the Saviour 
 d2 
 
42 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 did when the wicked Jews put him to death : 
 1 Father, forgive them, for they know not 
 what they do.' This showed that he was like 
 Christ ; and papa says that all that are like 
 Christ, Christ will have to be with him." 
 
 " True, my child ; and from two such 
 bright examples of forgiveness, learn that 
 when you come to die you must not harbour 
 the least degree of malice towards one of your 
 fellow-creatures, whatever wrongs or injuries 
 you may have received at their hands. 
 
 "At length the ferocious multitude, per- 
 ceiving he was dead, grew weary of their 
 employment, and quitted the lifeless clay, 
 leaving it to be gazed at by the populace, and 
 afterward to be devoured by dogs. But some 
 of the disciples, more attached and devoted to 
 Stephen than the rest, resolved to brave every 
 danger, and to rescue the remains of their be- 
 loved brother from such disgrace. They 
 therefore, when the multitude had dispersed, 
 carried his body to its burial, making great 
 lamentation over him. Time at length en- 
 abled them to bear this new affliction as they 
 ought, and taught them to rejoice that he was 
 removed from a world of misery and trial, in 
 which they were themselves still suffering, tc 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 43 
 
 one of rest and endless happiness. They 
 then endeavoured to sooth each other's sor 
 row, and comforted themselves with the hope 
 that ere long they all should see him again 
 where death could never enter." 
 
 " I wonder they could ever bear to think of 
 him again," said Agnes ; " I am sure, if I had 
 been in their place, and had seen him so bar- 
 barously killed, I never could." 
 
 " You can scarcely compare your own. feel- 
 ings with those of the apostles, my dear girl," 
 said Mrs. 0. ; " for they were endued with pe- 
 culiar strength for their peculiar sufferings; 
 They were therefore enabled to view the 
 subject of death and separation from their 
 friends with the resignation and firmness 
 which those trials should ever inspire, but 
 which we find it very difficult to put in prac- 
 tice ; yet God endows us with strength suffi- 
 cient to our day, when we rely on hj^ assist- 
 ance. He has, indeed, in mercy to the human 
 race, ordained. that even the greatest sufferers, 
 those who mourn the loss of all they ever 
 loved, should find their misery gradually as- 
 suaged by the imperceptible effects produced 
 by time ; and that we should be made to feel 
 that the disquietude of sorrow must pass away 
 
44 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 from the heart, as surely as the foaming of its 
 waters disappears from the mountain torrent. 
 Observe the peaceful stream before us. It 
 now steals quietly along — does it not, my 
 children ? looking as if no power had ever 
 disturbed its course." 
 
 " Yes," said Agnes, gazing at it in admira- 
 tion ; " it appears just like a huge unbroken 
 mirror leaning against the face of the cliff." 
 
 " And yet, perhaps, Agnes, some rude shock 
 of nature first made that flood burst from the 
 source ; it tore up the settled earth, and rooted 
 out each blooming plant and flower that lay 
 within its reach. Its deep bed, however, was 
 at last formed, and confined within the proper 
 limits, it became a calm and useful river. 
 Fresh flowers and plants, still fairer than the 
 first, sprang from its source, and nourished by 
 its purifying waters, their fruits shall live so 
 long as Jhe world endures." 
 
 " I like that, grandmamma," said Henry, 
 kicking his feet together, as was his custom 
 when any thing pleased him ; for, with all his 
 impatience and thoughtlessness of character, 
 he had some share of sentiment about him. 
 " I don't know why I like it, but I do like it j 
 so pray go on." 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 45 
 
 "I like it," said Emily, her young heart 
 overflowing at her eyes ; " I like it, because it 
 seems to describe exactly what I have myself 
 felt. When mamma was taken away from 
 us, my heart for the first few months felt per- 
 petually swelling and bursting with sorrow, 
 beating with the fruitless wish that she were 
 still alive and with me, and I believed I never, 
 never should be able to think, of her or 
 speak of her again with calmness. But now 
 I wonder why I was at first so much alarmed 
 and agitated, so disturbed and miserable. I 
 can think of her at present with a feeling 
 something like joy. It is so happy to remem- 
 ber that she is happy, and so pleasant to feel 
 that I can love her now almost as well as 
 ever !" 
 
 " Yes, my beloved child, the misery of our 
 sorrow for your sainted mother's loss is nearly 
 worn away ; the benefit, however, j remains, 
 and will ever remain, in the calm desire and 
 blessed hope of meeting her again. And here 
 we are made to understand the fall meaning 
 of that simile, the truth and beauty of which 
 cannot be surpassed : • Thou shalt forget thy 
 misery,' says the Bible, that book which can- 
 not lie; 'thou shalt forget thy misery, and 
 
46 THE DEATH OF THE 
 
 remember it as waters that pass away/ (Job 
 xi. 16.) But let us return to our book." 
 
 " Oh yes, grandmamma ! do go on with 
 your account of Stephen," said Henry, while 
 he kissed the tears from his sister's cheek. 
 
 " We have only to add to his history," con- 
 tinued Mrs. C, "one testimony of regard, 
 which his fellow Christians paid to his 
 memory. .You know, Henry, that your birth- 
 day, or, in other words, the day of your en- 
 trance into this life, is kept with joy and plea- 
 sure by all who love you : now the friends of 
 Stephen, those early Christians who admired 
 his virtues, instead of wasting time in mourn- 
 ing over his death, determined that they would 
 keep themselves in mind to imitate his char- 
 acter, by honouring the day of his martyrdom 
 as the day of his birth, or entrance into a bet- 
 ter life. On that day, therefore, the 26th of 
 December, in every year, as we learn from 
 some of the early historians of the church, 
 they agreed to assemble, and entreat their hea- 
 venly Father that, if they should be called 
 on, like Stephen, to suffer death in vindication 
 of their faith, they might be enabled, like 
 him, to draw their latest breath in testifying 
 the truth, in declaring to the surrounding 
 
FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 47 
 
 world that Jesus, the Saviour of mankind, 
 ever stands at the right-hand of God to hear 
 the prayers of all who call upon his name. 
 
 " May we, my beloved children, when called 
 on to resign our life, whether we linger on a 
 bed of down, surrounded by faithful and ten- 
 der friends, or are hurried from existence by 
 the hand of cruel and relentless foes, may we 
 too, looking up steadfastly to our Redeemer, 
 be enabled to behold his face in glory ; and, 
 asking from him the forgiveness of our sins, 
 and pardon for all mankind, may we patiently 
 await the moment of our falling asleep, sup- 
 ported by the blessed hope of awaking in the 
 
 regions of eternal peace." 
 
 ***** 
 
 While closing her manuscript, Mrs. C. ob- 
 served with satisfaction that a pleased though 
 thoughtful expression rested on the counte- 
 nance of each of her auditors : and, desiring 
 no other comment on her work, she arose, 
 and proposed that they should adjourn to the 
 house. The young people followed her, 
 anxious to express their approbation of what 
 they had heard ; but all conversation on the 
 subject was for the present prevented, by their 
 meeting on the path a large party of labour 
 
48 FIRST CHRISTIAN MARTYR. 
 
 ers and other out-door servants, who, with 
 their wives and children, were invited to at- 
 tend the family service, performed every Sun- 
 day evening in the great hall, from whence 
 the little congregation afterward retired to 
 the steward's room, and partook of a plentiful 
 repast. 
 
 In the course of the next week, Mrs. C. was 
 called on to take Mary home to her parents, 
 who resided in a distant part of the country, 
 where .the family from C Hall were en- 
 gaged to spend some time. The young peo- 
 ple therefore feared they should be kept foj 
 several Sundays without hearing a continua- 
 tion of their new book; but their grand 
 mother offered to carry the manuscript with 
 her, and reminded them that she had been 
 trained up from infancy not to let any need- 
 less ceremony or useless etiquette interrupt 
 her course of life, or interfere with the line of 
 conduct which she conceived it her duty to 
 pursue. The Sunday evening reading, there- 
 fore, continued, as will be seen in the next 
 chapter, 
 
( 49 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 
 
 The leader of this little crew 
 Seems bent some mighty deed to do, 
 
 So steadily he speeds ; 
 With lips firm clos'd, and fixed eye, 
 Like warrior when the fight is nigh, 
 
 Nor talk, nor landscape heeds. 
 
 What sudden blaze is round him pour'd, 
 As though all heav'n's refulgent hoard 
 
 In one rich glory shone 1 
 One moment, and to earth he falls ; 
 What voice his inmost heart appals ] 
 
 Voice heard by him alone ! 
 
 . Christian Year. 
 
 It is a great blessing to religious and well- 
 disposed persons when those whom they select 
 for their intimate acquaintances have the same 
 tastes and principles as themselves, and when 
 the distribution of their time and their pecu- 
 liar modes of life, instead of being opposed 
 
50 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 and hindered by the habits of the society in 
 which they chiefly live, are encouraged and 
 promoted by them. 
 
 As streams flowing in the same direction 
 unite in one common channel, and acquire an 
 accumulated strength, so minds of similar 
 tastes and temperament, flowing naturally to- 
 gether and pursuing the sam \ course, mutually 
 help and assist each other t/'ough those dan- 
 gers and temptations which might turn them 
 from the straight and narrow path they had 
 chosen. 
 
 On the first Sunday evening of Mrs. C.'s 
 visit to her best and oldest friend, she had 
 taken her two grandchildren, Emily and 
 Henry, into her own apartment, for the pur- 
 pose of continuing their accustomed course of 
 reading. Mary, however, soon after entered 
 with a petition from her mamma, that the two 
 parties should assemble in the same *oom, 
 and pursue their evening occupations together. 
 
 Besides that long habits of intercourse and 
 affection disposed these two friends to unite in 
 most of their pursuits, Mrs. T. wished much 
 to hear the new work of which her daughter 
 had just been telling her, and Mrs. C. was 
 equally anxious to have her opinion of a book 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 51 
 
 which she designed as an offering to the 
 children of her friend, no less than as a tes- 
 timony of affection for her own. 
 
 The proposal was, therefore, readily agreed 
 to. The party adjoin ned to Mrs. T.'s dressing- 
 room, and, the manuscript being put into her 
 hand, she commenced 
 
 THE LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF SAUL OF 
 TARSUS. 
 
 " On the north-east shore of the Mediter- 
 ranean stood, in former days, a beautiful 
 town, called Tarsus." 
 
 " May I see it on this globe ?" said Henry. 
 " I do not think I ever heard of that town be- 
 fore." 
 
 " It is here," said Mrs. T., pointing it out as 
 in the note ;* " and though so little known to 
 you, was once, your grandmamma's book 
 says, the wonder and admiration of the world, 
 not only for the beauty and convenience of its 
 situation, and the riches of its commerce, but 
 for the general wisdom, prudence, and learn- 
 
 * Now called Terrasso, seated on the north of the Levant. 
 E 
 
52 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 ing of its inhabitants. During the time of 
 Roman power and splendour, it was particu- 
 larly honoured by that people, chiefly because 
 it possessed a famous academy, filled with the 
 wisest men of the age, at which many of the 
 youth of Rome were educated ; and on this 
 account the senate granted to the inhabitants 
 of Tarsus all the honours and privileges of 
 free-born citizens of Rome." 
 
 " What good did that do them V muttered 
 Henry. " I do not like these proud Romans ; 
 they always appear to think so much of them- 
 selves." 
 
 " The privilege, you will however find, did 
 a great deal of good, during various parts of 
 his life, to the person whose history we are 
 relating. Among many wise sayings of the 
 prudent inhabitants of Tarsus, there was one 
 favourite proverb, l that the father who did not 
 teach his son a trade, taught him to be a thief.' 
 And no man was accounted wise who had 
 not himself been brought up in conformity to 
 it, and who did not educate his children by it 
 also, so that they might be able to obtain an 
 nonest livelihood, should any of the frequent 
 changes and chances of life reduce them to 
 poverty." 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 53 
 
 H I wish I had lived in Tarsus," said Henry ; 
 11 then I should have learned to be a carpenter; 
 but go on, if you please, Mrs. T., I like the 
 beginning of this new story very much ; pray 
 go on." 
 
 " At the far-famed academy of Tarsus was 
 educated a young man, named Saul, whose 
 parents had early taught him to be a tent 
 maker. He was a person of great talent and 
 cleverness, and his learning and ability had, 
 even while he was a. youth, brought him into 
 great repute among his friends, and in his 
 native city. In a short time, he became per- 
 fectly instructed in every branch of know- 
 ledge ; and had so far outstripped the best and 
 wisest of his young companions in the schools, 
 that his reputation spread rapidly over all the 
 surrounding country. He was well acquainted 
 with both ancient and modern literature ; 
 equally familiar with all authors of note, 
 whether Jewish or heathen ; but, like too 
 many young persons of the present day, he 
 was proud of his learning, vain of his talents, 
 and blinded by an idea that the opinions he 
 had formed, whatever they might be, were 
 wiser and better than those adopted by other 
 people." 
 
54 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " How- much I should have disliked him !" 
 said Henry; "yet I suppose I ought to Jike 
 everybody I read of in the Bible." 
 
 Mrs. T. smiled. "He was violent in his 
 temper, fiery and impetuous in whatever he 
 undertook." 
 
 "Oh, then I am sure I should not have 
 liked him," said again the warm and kind- 
 hearted Henry. 
 
 "He was, besides all this, the Scriptures 
 say, ' a Hebrew of the Hebrews ;' which 
 means that he was in the fullest sense of the 
 word a Jew ; being educated a Hebrew, as 
 well as born of Hebrew parents. Of his birth 
 he was particularly proud, as he was called 
 after the first Jewish king ; and could trace 
 his ancestors back, Henry, to your little friend 
 Benjamin. He therefore fancied that he 
 ought to be the champion of the Jewish peo- 
 ple ; and imagined he could never do enough 
 in support of their ancient faith. 
 
 " Having been, as was before said, brought 
 up from his youth after the strictest customs 
 of his religion, he was zealous beyond mea- 
 sure for its honour ; and persecuted as its 
 enemies, even to death, all who bore the 
 Christian name. It was he who, as I have 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 55 
 
 before observed, kept the clothes of the wit- 
 nesses when the cruel execution of Stephen 
 commenced ; and if he did not himself throw 
 the first stone, he at least stood by, consenting 
 to the murder. 
 
 " Far from being softened by the mild faith 
 and patient fortitude of the martyr, the fiery 
 Saul felt only incensed by his immoveable 
 constancy, and not less so by that of all the 
 other disciples, with whose conduct he became 
 acquainted. He therefore made sad havoc 
 among them, entering into every house, seiz- 
 ing both men and women, and causing them, 
 wherever he was able, to be put to death. 
 
 " Hearing that a ^number of these poor, per- 
 secuted Christians had escaped from Jerusa- 
 lem,- and that they were spreading the new 
 faith in Damascus, Saul, yet more enraged, 
 procured a commission from the high-priest 
 to pursue them, and to bring them back in 
 chains to be slain. It was a tedious journey, 
 in a hot climate, under a burning sky ; but 
 nothing could overcome his eagerness to de- 
 stroy the helpless objects of his hatred. 
 
 " He set out upon his merciless expedition, 
 and pursuing his way, at length drew near to 
 the city of Damascus ; when suddenly a light 
 
56 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 from heaven, exceeding even the brightness 
 of the summer's sun, shone round about him, 
 and a voice — so awful that he knew it to be 
 the voice of the Almighty — spoke to him from 
 the light, and said, l Saul, Saul, why perse- 
 cutest thou me V And when he was able to 
 speak, he answered to the voice, and said, 
 1 Who art thou, Lord V And the voice replied, 
 in words of gentle reprehension, 1 1 am Jesus, 
 whom thou persecutest.' 
 
 " And Saul, struck with astonishment, fell 
 to the earth ; and for the first time his Jewish 
 prejudices and long-cherished obstinacy gave 
 way. He had hitherto refused to believe in 
 Christ, fancying that by , confessing him he 
 should deny his own religion ; and feeling 
 secure in his first opinions, he had never 
 thoroughly considered the claims which the 
 religion of Jesus might have to his belief. 
 
 " Surrounded by opportunities of the clear- 
 est knowledge, he had shut his eyes to the 
 light of truth, and remained obstinately blind. 
 How beautiful and effectual were the means 
 which his Saviour now emploved to make 
 liim feel his error ! He caused, as we have 
 already said, a miraculous light, far exceeding 
 the splendid radiance of the sun, to fall around 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS.* 57 
 
 the dark-benighted traveller, making it felt 
 and seen by those who journeyed with him, 
 though they remained uninjured by its bright- 
 ness. This light the Almighty ordained 
 should strike the persecutor blind, as an em- 
 blem of the darkness in which he had hitherto 
 wrapped his understanding. When thus ar- 
 rested, humbled, and dismayed, he fell to the 
 earth, and the Lord called to him from out of 
 heaven, the voice in which he spake being 
 heard by his companions as well as by him- 
 self, although the full strength of it, as was 
 the case also with the light, struck only the 
 senses of him who was the object of the mi- 
 racle. They indeed saw the light and heard 
 the voice, but could not tell whence either 
 came : Saul alone was permitted to feel the 
 power of the one, and to understand the 
 meaning of the other. To him the words 
 were made intelligible ; and his heart was in- 
 stantly touched, and opened to a conviction 
 of the truth. 
 
 "Trembling and astonished, the self-con- 
 demned delinquent lay upon the ground, not 
 daring to look up, not knowing what to do, 
 or whither to go, when suddenly, the film fall- 
 ing from his understanding, he perceived that 
 
58 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 the great Being who had thus so powerfully, 
 yet so mercifully, dealt with him, was alone 
 able to instruct his ignorance, and direct his 
 path. Immediately the expression of his full 
 and perfect belief in that Divine power burst 
 from his lips in those emphatic words, which 
 ought to issue from the heart of all who seek 
 direction in the way of life : ' Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do V And his Lord, answer- 
 ing, bade him ' Arise, and go into 'the city ; 
 and that it should there be told him what he 
 must do/ 
 
 " Nor shall we, if we turn to God in the 
 same spirit, and seek for his guidance with 
 equal faith, be left without our answer. To 
 each of us r if prostrate at our Saviour's feet, 
 he would also kindly reply, c Arise, rely upon 
 my help, and proceed fearlessly in the straight 
 and forward path in the which I have called 
 you to walk ; but sensible of your own blind- 
 ness, search diligently in my word for direc- 
 tion and instruction, and wait in full as- 
 surance that it shall be told thee what thou 
 must do.' 
 
 " I fear," said Mrs. T., for a moment laying 
 down the manuscript, "I fear that such an 
 answer would not touch our hearts as quickly 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 59 
 
 as it did that of the haughty Saul. With the 
 docility of an infant, and the subdued and 
 humbled spirit of a sincere penitent, he arose 
 from the earth to obey his Lorcfe command. 
 He opened his eyes and tried to look abroad, 
 but his sight was gone : he could not see 
 which way to turn, and his companions were 
 oblige^ to lead him, a helpless wanderer, into 
 that city to which he had been going for the 
 purpose of depriving his fellow-creatures of 
 the light of life. 
 
 "He was soon lodged in the house of a 
 friend, where he remained three days in dark- 
 ness, and without food, his mind wholly occu- 
 pied by the desire of knowing what he ought 
 to do ; and the time, doubtless, spent for the 
 most part in fervent prayer to Almighty God. 
 Then ao;am his blessed Saviour conferred 
 with him by a miraculous revelation, making 
 known to him all that the other apostles had 
 been previously taught during their inter- 
 course with Himself on earth ; and thus he 
 was enabled to go like them and preach the 
 gospel to all mankind." 
 
 " Saul had disbelieved Stephen's assertion, 
 that he saw Jesus standing in the heavens,' ; 
 said Mary; "but now that he had himself 
 
60 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 seen our Saviour standing there, he must have 
 understood that the martyr had only spoken 
 truth." 
 
 " Yes, Maty ; when he had seen the same 
 glorious apparition, he probably thought of 
 Stephen with sorrow and contrition ; for his 
 whole heart, it appears, was turned from its 
 former hardness and unbelief. And perhaps 
 it may appear, among the disclosures of the 
 last day, that Stephen's prayer, ' Lord, lay not 
 this sin to their charge,' was answered, and 
 more than answered, in the conversion of this 
 infuriated persecutor. He continued to pray 
 fervently for direction ; and as he prayed in 
 penitence and faith, the same kind Saviour 
 who, as I have just observed, will hear your 
 petitions and mine, when we supplicate with 
 equal self-abasement, heard this contrite sin- 
 ner, and mercifully interceded with the Father 
 to grant him the request of his heart. 
 
 " In the town of Damascus there lived a 
 man named Ananias, one of those poor perse- 
 cuted disciples whom Saul had come to bind 
 and kill. This person was at that very mo- 
 ment in apprehension of the* arrival of the 
 persecutor, having heard that he was coming 
 to Damascus for the express purpose of de- 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 61 
 
 sSroying all the Christians who were there. 
 To him, however, our Saviour made known 
 the present situation of their enemy, announc- 
 ing that he had appointed Saul to be hence- 
 forward one of the most useful ministers in 
 the service of the church. Now Ananias was 
 a sincere follower of Christ, and we know that 
 no jealous feeling or bitter recollection of past 
 injuries can rankle in the Christian heart. 
 He, therefore, forgetting all Saul's cruelty, 
 came straightway into his presence, and put- 
 ting his arms about him, called him his bro- 
 ther, and told him that their common Master, 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, had sent him to be his 
 comforter, and to say that now, since he was 
 sincerely penitent, the blindness with which 
 he had been afflicted was removed both from 
 his sight and from his understanding : and 
 immediately Saul received sight, and arose, 
 and had himself baptized. 
 
 " After this he remained in Damascus for a 
 time, preaching in the synagogues ; proving 
 that this Jesus, whom he had formerly denied, 
 was indeed the very Christ, the Messias who 
 was expected to come, and who should change 
 the laws of Moses, and one day rule over the 
 
62 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 whole world with the spirit of peace, and 
 righteousness, and love. 
 
 "His brethren at Damascus were amazed 
 and confounded to find that he, a Jew, the 
 very man who had come there to deny Christ, 
 and to destroy his followers, was himself anx- 
 iously teaching and preaching the doctrines 
 of Christianity ; but they let him alone, prob- 
 ably believing that he only feigned this new 
 character, that it was but a trick devised to 
 entrap the Christians, or that, at the worst, it 
 was only some fit of enthusiasm which would 
 soon wear away. 
 
 " Their forbearance, though but for the 
 present, was favourable to Saul. Not being 
 permitted by his heavenly Father to return 
 into Jerusalem, lest it might afterward be said 
 that he had conferred with the apostles, or 
 learned from them that gospel which had been 
 delivered to him from above by means so 
 miraculous, he went into Arabia, and there 
 tausrht as he had received of the Lord, con- 
 verting numbers to the faith. 
 
 "After three years, he again returned to 
 Damascus ; and, pitying the blindness of his 
 brethren who were still in ignorance and 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 63 
 
 hard-hearted unbelief, he tried to enlighten 
 their understanding, and to instruct them in 
 the truth." 
 
 " How angry they must all have been to 
 find their most zealous and able champion 
 still against them ! I wonder what they did 
 when thoroughly assured of the fact," said 
 Agnes. 
 
 " They immediately took counsel together 
 how they might put him to death. They 
 watched day and night, lying in wait and lurk- 
 ing about the gates and corners of the city, to 
 seize him, rejoicing in their belief that he 
 could not escape from their hands ; but their 
 lying in wait was known to the disciples, and 
 they resolved, if God permitted, that they 
 would save him, or die in the attempt." 
 
 " I wonder, grandmamma, that God did not 
 take him away by some great miracle." 
 
 " It is true, my child, that God could have 
 led him out of Damascus by a miracle equal 
 to that which he employed in bringing him 
 into that place ; but our heavenly Father in 
 wisdom avoids the use of supernatural power 
 whenever simple and natural means are sum 
 cient. He therefore rather chose to let the 
 disciples show their forgiving spirit towards 
 
64 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 one who had dealt so hardly with them, by 
 permitting them to become the instruments 
 of his deliverance ; they too could watch and 
 lie in wait, and show their zeal and courage 
 in a worthy cause. So they guarded Saul by 
 night and day, and at last contrived to get 
 him secretly into one of their houses ; and 
 while the Jews were lurking about and look- 
 ing for him in the streets, they put him into a 
 basket, to which they had fastened strong 
 ropes, and slung him down through a window 
 from the back of the house to the ground, and 
 thus he escaped from his persecutors. Then 
 some of the disciples met him outside the 
 town, and accompanied him on his journey 
 to Jerusalem. His enemies were still tor- 
 menting themselves, watching and waiting to 
 catch him, while he was quietly travelling to- 
 wards the holy city, where he soon arrived in 
 perfect safety. Here he wished to make him- 
 self known to the apostles, whom he had for- 
 merly persecuted, and to tell them how sorry 
 he now was for all the wrongs he had done to 
 them and to their brethren. He longed to 
 solicit their forgiveness, and to show them 
 that he was now become a fellow Christian 
 and fellow-sufferer with themselves." 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 65 
 
 " I suppose the apostles at Jerusalem had 
 long since heard of his conversion," said 
 Emily. 
 
 " The intercourse between that place and 
 Damascus was not great ; the means of com- 
 munication in those times very tedious ; and 
 if some slight rumour of the circumstance did 
 reach the city, it is probable it was not be- 
 lieved, since the apostles had not received any 
 information from Saul upon the subject." 
 
 £ f It seems extraordinary," said Mary, " that 
 Saul should not immediately have written to 
 tell them what had happened to him." 
 
 " It does ; but you will find from your Bible, 
 that the revelation he had received from on 
 high forbade for a time his having any inter- 
 course with the disciples in that place." 
 
 " And why was their intercourse forbidden, 
 mamma V 
 
 " The study of the book I have just men- 
 tioned, my dear girl, would discover to you 
 the reason. The Almighty willed, our manu- 
 script goes on to say, that he should have no 
 communication with the apostles until he had 
 first planted a Christian church at a distance 
 from them, and without their counsel or assist- 
 ance. He was therefore sent to quite a differ - 
 p2 
 
66 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 ent part of the world, and there made to teach 
 what had been immediately and miraculously- 
 revealed to him by Jesus Christ from heaven. 
 The apostles, meantime, without any know 
 ledge of what he was about, taught in those 
 countries where they were appointed to labour, 
 all that had been revealed to them by their 
 blessed Master while he was with them on 
 earth. Then afterward, when the followers 
 of these separate teachers met, and when the 
 churches of each were compared, it was found 
 that they had all been instructed in the same 
 doctrines and the same faith, without even a 
 shade of variation." 
 
 " Oh !" said Mary, " what a clear proof that 
 seems to me of the truth of our religion ! I 
 wonder it never struck me before while I was 
 reading the Bible." 
 
 " Probably because you never read it with 
 sufficient attention to make the discovery. It 
 is the fault of youth, and often too of age, to 
 read the sacred volume with inattention, by 
 which means we lose much pleasure as well 
 as much profit." 
 
 " I have heard you say, mamma, that faults 
 always bring their own punishment, and this 
 is one proof that you are right." 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 67 
 
 u They always do, my love. Besides die 
 punishment due to them hereafter, it has been 
 wisely ordered that they should also be at- 
 tended with some evil consequence in this 
 life. Even Saul experienced the truth of this 
 assertion, when, on coming to Jerusalem, he 
 found himself universally shunned by the 
 persons whose friendship he was now most 
 anxious to obtain. Though he addressed 
 himself to the Christians as their friend and 
 brother, no one could rely on him. They 
 had known his former temper and principles, 
 but they knew nothing of his present feelings 
 and persuasion, and were therefore afraid to 
 admit him into their society, thinking it very 
 likely that he might be one of those wolves in 
 sheep's clothing against whom their blessed 
 Lord had so often warned them. At length 
 Barnabas, being convinced of his sincerity, 
 brought him to Peter, who received him 
 kindly, and they led him to James, who was 
 then exercising his apostolical office at Jerusa- 
 lem, who also welcomed him, and listened 
 with attention to his account of the manner 
 in which he had been converted. Having 
 heard his statement, they all felt increased 
 gratitude to their heavenly Father, who had 
 F 
 
68 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 thus so wonderfully changed their bitterest 
 enemy into their most useful and zealous 
 friend. 
 
 " Saul was able to stay at Jerusalem only 
 fifteen days, for God warned him in a vision 
 that the Jews were again at work to entrap 
 him, and that as his brethren in that place had 
 other teachers, and would not from prejudice 
 and ill-will attend to his instructions, it was 
 better he should go again and preach among 
 the gentiles, who had no unfavourable pre- 
 possessions against him, and to whom he 
 could, therefore, be of more use. He accord- 
 ingly set out, accompanied by some of the 
 brethren; and coming to Cesarea, from thence 
 took his way back to his native city, from 
 which he had been so long absent, and where 
 he was now able to instruct those who had 
 formerly instructed him. After a short stay 
 in that place, he went with Barnabas to An- 
 tioch, where he remained an entire year (a 
 long season of rest for him), propagating the 
 faith with such success that he was able to 
 establish a church there also. It was here, 
 and at this time, that the followers of Jesus 
 Christ were first called Christians ; but it is 
 not clearly known whether they assumed that 
 
OF SAUL OP TARSUS. 09 
 
 name themselves, or whether it was given 
 them as a term of reproach by their enemies. 
 Be that as it may, it is now a title of honour 
 and distinction, in which all who hold it must 
 glory; a name which is to prosper and in- 
 crease until it shall spread through every land, 
 and cover all the regions of the earth. 
 
 " It would be tedious to tell you the many 
 countries into which Saul travelled, north, 
 south, east, and west, for the purpose of spread- 
 ing the gospel. But when you are all older, 
 it will interest you much to trace his various 
 wanderings, and to observe the strange igno- 
 rance, fickleness, and folly that reigned in the 
 different places where he taught. In some, 
 they would listen to him to-day and laugh at 
 him to-morrow; in others, unmoved by all 
 his preaching, and heedless of all his miracles, 
 they beat, stoned, scourged, and persecuted 
 him at one time, and immediately after fell 
 down before him, offered him sacrifice, and 
 attempted to worship him as a god." 
 
 " What fools they must have been !" cried 
 Henry ; " I suppose Saul did not found any 
 churches among them." 
 
 " You mistake, Henry ; though many peo- 
 ple rejected both him and his gospel, yet he 
 
70 life and martyrdom 
 
 was enabled to make some converts. He sue 
 ceeded, indeed, in establishing churches even 
 in places the least favourable to his design 
 It is surprising, indeed, that lie did not grow 
 weary of his labours ; for through them all, 
 the malice of the Jews pursued him with un- 
 relenting hatred. They defamed him every- 
 where, and still more strongly testified their 
 dislike as he more clearly displayed his char- 
 ityffcmd showed the sincerity of his wishes for 
 their conversion. In one place they stoned 
 him, not quitting their attack until they sup- 
 posed him dead ; and in many others he was 
 scourged a second time with the greatest bar- 
 barity, and was constantly driven with vio- 
 lence and ignominy from those cities where, 
 as a Roman, the people dared not to touch his 
 person or endanger his life. But when they 
 persecuted him in one place, he only fled to 
 another, trying with more anxious zeal to 
 spread the mild and peaceful doctrines of the 
 Christian faith. In the course of these exer- 
 tions, he proved by signs and wonders, and 
 mighty deeds, — an account of which you can 
 read in the Bible much better than I can tell 
 it here, — that he had indeed been gifted with 
 power from on high, and that the gospel 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 71 
 
 which he preached was that which he had 
 received from the Lord." 
 
 "Was he able to work miracles?" asked 
 Henry. 
 
 " Yes, my dear : God thought proper to be- 
 stow on Saul the power of working- miracles, 
 that he might at once be able to convince his 
 hearers of his right to teach, and of the truth 
 of what he taught." 
 
 " It was, I suppose, for the same reason 
 that he gave the other apostles equal power," 
 said Agnes ; " and I am only surprised that 
 he does not continue it to his ministers at the 
 present day." 
 
 " No, my love ; now that the religion of 
 his Son Jesus is sufficiently established to be 
 sure of increasing by ordinary means," said 
 Mrs. C, " God sees it no longer needful to 
 give this power to any of his creatures ; but 
 in the first days of the church, when such 
 proof of its divine origin was absolutely re 
 quisite, it was not withheld. Besides endow- 
 ing the apostles with a capacity to work mira- 
 cles with their own hands, God also frequently- 
 performed great wonders in their behalf by 
 his own arm, or what is called his immediate 
 agency." 
 
72 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " How do you mean, grandmamma ? I do 
 not understand that," said Henry, who was 
 beginning to get a little inattentive. 
 
 "You probably may understand it better 
 when you have heard an instance now to be 
 related of God's having displayed his power 
 and goodness towards Saul in the manner to 
 which I have just alluded. You may,* how- 
 ever, find the same story much better told in 
 the Acts of the Apostles, xvi. 2G. In the 
 mean time, let me ask if you have ever heard 
 of a place called Philippi ?" 
 
 " Philippi, oh yes ; and I do wonder if 
 Bucephalus had a long cocked tail, wavering 
 about like my pony's !" 
 
 The reader, if not well skilled, in such 
 wanderings of an eight-years-old imagination, 
 will probably be at no little loss to follow the 
 train of ideas by which this strange answer 
 was suggested. It appeared that Henry, 
 while listening to the manuscript, Had been 
 busily engaged in taking a likeness (a mos\ 
 striking one in his eyes) of Midge, his little 
 pony, and Mrs. C. thought it best to let him 
 put the last touch to the cocking of its tail, 
 before she again asked him to carry back his 
 ideas to Philippi. Seeing the paper at length 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 73 
 
 held up at proper distance, and laid down 
 again with an air of satisfaction, she ventured 
 to repeat her question. 
 
 " You have not then forgotten that there is 
 such a place as Philippi, Henry ?" 
 
 " No, grandmamma ; I remember learning 
 in my geography that it is a chief town in 
 Macedon. I recollect it because it was called 
 after Philip of Macedon; and I remember 
 him because he was the father of Alexander." 
 
 "And why has Alexander made you re- 
 member them both so well ?" 
 
 " Oh, because you know he is my friend 
 and favourite of all heroes : but the first 
 thing that ever made me like him was his 
 being so clever about taming and managing 
 Bucephalus." 
 
 " Bucephalus has, indeed, been a captivating 
 .steed to you, and, I believe, many other boys 
 before you, as well as to Alexander the Great. 
 He has, at all events, proved an excellent re- 
 membrancer at present. And as he brought 
 you so cleverly to Philippi, I hope you will 
 not let him run away with you from that 
 place until we shall be ready to travel together 
 into some other." 
 
LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 Henry, now satisfied with his work, turned 
 the paper downward on the table, and pre- 
 pared to listen with more attention, while 
 Mrs. T. began a new chapter. 
 
OF SAUL OP TARSUS. 75 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SAUL IN PRISON AT PHILIPPI ] AND IN 
 THE AREOPAGUS AT ATHENS. 
 
 11 Our history must now accompany the 
 apostle to Philippi. He went thither, not as 
 he was once, an angry avenger, borne perhaps 
 on a fiery steed with much parade of strength 
 and power, to strike terror into the minds of 
 the timid, but he appeared as a meek and 
 humble teacher, clad only in the armour of 
 righteousness, and bent on no other warfare 
 than that against sin and Satan. He went to 
 make known the gospel of peace, and to con- 
 vevt sinners to salvation, and his endeavours 
 were attended with even more than his usual 
 success. 
 
 " His first proselyte in this place was Lydia 
 of Thyatira, a person who, from hearing him 
 preach, had grown desirous of becoming a 
 Christian. In a short time both she and hex 
 
76 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 whole family were baptized ; and she uevei 
 afterward allowed her instructer to quit her 
 house while he remained at Philippi. 
 
 "A little way out of this town, close by the 
 river's bank, there was a proseucha, or open 
 place for prayer ; and hither Saul frequently 
 led this good and happy family for the exer- 
 cise of their religious duties. Now, it hap- 
 pened that on their way there, they were often 
 followed by a girl who pretended to great 
 wisdom, and who made the people of Philippi 
 believe that she could foretel any future event. 
 She was servant-maid to an inhabitant of the 
 city, who called her a Pythoness ; and she 
 brought her master great gains by the strange 
 and seemingly wise things she said. 
 
 " You remember, Henry, no doubt, the cop- 
 per-coloured gipsy who used to frighten you 
 so much when we were in England." 
 
 Henry. — " Oh yes, grandmamma, quite 
 well." 
 
 Grandmamma. — " Well, just as she got 
 money for telling the poor people of that 
 country their fortunes, we may imagine this 
 girl at Philippi did." ■ 
 
 Henry. — " Yes, yes, just in that manner, I 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 77 
 
 dare say. Emily, let us always call that 
 nasty, wicked-looking gipsy the Pythoness 
 of Westonbirt." 
 
 " The Pythoness of Philippi, however," re- 
 sumed Mrs. T., " was much more successful 
 and more cunning than your poor ragged 
 friend in England. 
 
 .' Knowing that she should probably be 
 driven away, or compelled to keep silence, if 
 she said or did any thing strikingly improper 
 towards a set of people who were quietly as- 
 sembling to perform the duty of prayer, this 
 wicked girl endeavoured to disturb them by 
 repeatedly crying out aloud, that they were 
 the servants of the true God, who had come 
 to show the way of salvation to the world. 
 
 " Saul, aware that she was moved to say 
 this by the spirit of malice and wickedness, 
 and not by the spirit of truth, ordered her to 
 cease speaking, and commanded the evil spirit 
 o depart from her, when she instantly became 
 dumb, and could no longer play her part, or 
 pretend to prophecy, as she had formerly done. 
 Her master, finding himself thus deprived of 
 such a gainful trade, fell into great wrath and 
 immediately resolved to have revenge. He 
 accordingly, with many of his companions, 
 
78 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 laid hold of Saul and dragged him, as well 
 as Silas, before the council-seat, telling the 
 governors that they were wicked and trouble- 
 some Jews, who were changing the customs 
 and breaking the laws of the Roman empire. 
 
 " Both magistrates and people were ready 
 enough to take up the cause ; so the former 
 quickly gave sentence against the two apos- 
 tles, and the people joyfully prepared to put it 
 in force. 
 
 "They were both stripped, tied, and bar- 
 barously scourged; after which they were 
 thrown into prison to be brought out next day 
 for execution ; and the keeper of the prison 
 was ordered to watch them with all possible 
 care and strictness, lest any attempt should 
 be made by their friends to set them free. 
 The jailer j to make sure of his charge, thrust 
 them into an inner dungeon, and made their 
 feet fast in the stocks. 
 
 " Secure that no possibility of escape re- 
 mained, he withdrew to his repose in a place 
 apart, leaving them in certain expectation of 
 the fate which awaited them next day." 
 
 " Oh how terrified they must have been !" 
 said Emily ; u I wonder how they passed the 
 night." 
 
OF SAUL OF TARStfS. 79 
 
 " I wonder how you or I should have passed 
 it," said Mary. 
 
 " In great misery and terror, I am certain." 
 " That question," said Mrs. C, " no person 
 here can answer. We probably all think that 
 we should have been overwhelmed with terror, 
 that we should have mourned and lamented 
 the whole night long ; but in such situations 
 there is always One at hand who can uphold 
 the weakest : he would have been assuredly 
 near. Yes, my children, he would have been 
 near even to us, unworthy as we are, and he 
 might have turned our mourning into joy. 
 But although we cannot be certain of our own 
 conduct," said Mrs. T., " of this we are well 
 informed, that Saul and Silas felt neither sor- 
 row nor terror. They waited for the coming 
 morn as for the dawning of a happy day, 
 which they knew would either set them free 
 or light them into life eternal. They prayed 
 to their heavenly Father in their Saviour's 
 name; he heard their petition, and all the 
 bitterness of death was made to pass from 
 their minds. At midnight their fellow-pris- 
 oners, instead of groans and lamentations, 
 heard them singing sweet hymns of praise 
 and thanksgiving to God." 
 
80 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " Oh how good and how courageous they 
 must have been !" cried Henry. 
 
 u In the midst of those sweet tones, how- 
 ever, the ears of the prisoners were assailed 
 by other sounds, less strange indeed than 
 these, but much more awful and appalling ; 
 the soft songs of praise to which they had 
 been listening were quickly silenced; loud 
 peals of thunder, and dreadful hissings, as of 
 a tempest, broke in upon the stillness of the 
 night, and lightnings flashed around the 
 cells. 
 
 "Suddenly the ground rocked beneath 
 them, and a fearful earthquake shook the 
 foundations of the prison. 
 
 " The doors flew open ! the chains fell from 
 the prisoners' feet, and all stood free ! 
 
 " The jailer was the last person awakened 
 by the noise; and when he saw the door 
 standing wide open, he started from his couch 
 in terror, supposing the apostles and all the 
 other prisoners had fled. In case they were 
 gone, he was aware that his own life would 
 be taken in a public and disgraceful manner ; 
 and not knowing that there was any crime in 
 the act, he drew his sword, and would have 
 killed himself on the spot ; but Saul called out 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 81 
 
 aloud, beseeching him to stop, declaring that 
 they were all still safe in the prison, and that 
 neither he nor his companion had any inten- 
 tion of escaping. Then calling for a light, 
 the jailer sprang in and fell down before them, 
 expressing both his sorrow for the treatment 
 they had received, and his belief in the mira- 
 cle which he perceived had been just wrought 
 in their behalf. He brought them out from 
 the inner dungeon, and with much anxiety 
 asked them to explain the doctrines of their 
 faith. He heard, and was convinced. Unable 
 to resist the force and loveliness of all they 
 taught, his heart turned to the living God, 
 and he cried out with fervour, 'Sirs, what 
 must I do to be saved V " 
 
 Here Mrs. T. laid down the MS., being 
 called away for a few moments ; and the old 
 lady, drawing Henry to her side, said to him, 
 u You too, Henry, will, I trust, one day make 
 the same inquiry which fell from the lips of 
 the good jailer at Philippi. May you, my be- 
 loved child, make it with equal sincerity and 
 humility of heart !" 
 
 " But the jailer was not a Christian, grand- 
 mamma; people who are born Christians • I 
 suppose, need not ask that question." 
 
82 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 "Were you bora a Christian, Henry V 1 
 
 "Yes, surely," said he, laughing; "you 
 know I was, grandmamma." 
 
 "How do I know it, my child?" 
 
 "Oh! you know I was born — born — that 
 is, I was bom — ■" 
 
 " I know certainly that you were born," 
 said Mrs. C, smiling in her turn; "nay, I 
 know still further, that you were born in a 
 Christian land — but what you mean by being 
 born a Christian is more, Henry, than I un- 
 derstand." 
 
 " Oh ! indeed, grandmamma, I think you 
 know quite well what I mean." 
 
 " Then try, my child, if you can yourself 
 explain your meaning." 
 
 "Why, papa is a Christian, and you are 
 a Christian, and all my friends are Chris- 
 tians." 
 
 " And does that make you a Christian ?" 
 
 " I believe so." 
 
 " Try again, my child ; with a little reflec- 
 tion you will be able to explain yourself bet- 
 ter, and perhaps to answer also the jailer's 
 question ! Tell me, then, what must you do 
 to be saved ?" 
 
 A long silence ensued. 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. S3 
 
 " I cannot answer the question now, grand- 
 mamma; but when I am old, I am sure I 
 shall be able to answer it." 
 
 " Merely growing old will never make you 
 able to give it a reply, Henry ; but I will hope, 
 before that time arrrffcs, that by the blessing 
 of Him who is the only sufficient teacher, you 
 may be instructed how to answer it. 
 
 " The tongue which now speaks to you 
 will, most probably, be then no longer able to 
 repeat the question : the aching limbs whose 
 pains you now so often try to alleviate will by 
 that time lie at rest ; and the heart which at 
 present beats with so much interest both for 
 your temporal and eternal happiness will then 
 be still. Yes, Henry, provided it shall have 
 continued steadfast and faithful according- to 
 the answer to the jailer's demand, it may then 
 be at peace for ever in the mansions of eternal 
 rest ! Will you, then, my beloved boy — will 
 you for the sake of one who has so tenderly 
 loved you, and whom you have so tenderly 
 loved in return— will you promise to ask your 
 own heart when grown to manhood, if you 
 can give a reply to the simple question 
 (and may divine grace, my child, enable you 
 
84 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 to recall and effectually to fulfil the engage. 
 mcnt)j ' Lord, what must I do to be saved V " 
 The volatile, but deeply feeling and affec- 
 tionate boy replied, by turning towards her 
 his eyes filled with tears, and tenderly kissing 
 her pallid cheek. • * 
 
 " I will not repeat the apostle's answer here, 
 because I wish you to seek it for yourself at 
 the fountain head ; and if you receive it into 
 an humble and good heart, not only will it be 
 the means of saving your own soul, but it will 
 induce you to train up your children and de- 
 pendants safe from the wickedness of the 
 world, and make you an instrument of salva- 
 tion to them and to your whole house." 
 
 " I will go to the Bible and look for the an- 
 swer the moment we have done reading-, if 
 you do not forbid me," said Henry. 
 
 His grandmamma made no objection ; and 
 Mrs. T., just then entering, continued her nar- 
 rative : " On hearing Saul's answer, the jailer 
 resolved unhesitatingly to embrace the Chris- 
 tian faith. He instantly set about dressing 
 the wounds which had been inflicted on the 
 two disciples the day before, took them into 
 that part of the prison which was caljed his 
 
OF SAUL OP TARSUS. 85 
 
 own house, and sent such a message to the 
 town magistrates as induced them to order 
 that the two Christians should be allowed to 
 escape." 
 
 " I suppose," said Henry, " they got away as 
 fast as ever they could, for fear the magistrates 
 should change their minds." 
 
 " Not so, Henry ; Saul, who knew that it 
 was contrary to the laws of every nation, but 
 more especially to those of the Romans, to 
 beat or imprison any one without just cause, 
 determined to remain until his own and his 
 friend's innocence should be acknowledged. 
 He knew, that as the scourging and confine- 
 ment inflicted on them had probably brought 
 the Christian name into disgrace, so their pub- 
 lic acquittal would bring it again to honour, 
 and might help still further to spread the 
 knowledge of the faith. He therefore refused 
 to depart in secret. ' They have beaten us 
 openly, and cast us into prison uncondemned, 
 although we are Romans,' said he to the ser- 
 geants who had been sent to him by the ma- 
 gistrates ; 'and would they now thrust us out 
 privately ? No ! let them publicly declare 
 our innocence, and come themselves to bring 
 us out.' 
 
86 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM . 
 
 "The magistrates, on hearing they were 
 Romans, were thrown into great alarm, and 
 immediately went to the prison to set them at 
 liberty, beseeching them to overlook the treat- 
 ment they had received, and to quit the city 
 without making any complaint. 
 
 "With this request, Saul charitably com- 
 plied, only waiting so long as was necessary 
 to show himself once more to the kind-hearted 
 Lydia, and his other friends at Philippi, to 
 comfort and encourage them, before he set for- 
 ward on a mission to other towns. 
 
 " In these, he met with treatment as various 
 as that he had before received, being some- 
 times befriended and sometimes buffeted, in 
 some places revered and in others reviled, ac- 
 cording to the character of the people among 
 whom he chanced to mingle : but nothing 
 turned him aside from his duty. 
 
 " Among other places, he came to Berea, 
 where, after he had been for some time 
 preaching with great success, maldng many 
 converts, his enemies from a distant quartei 
 came and stirred up the people against him, 
 insomuch that the disciples were obliged to 
 force him away from the town, in crder to 
 preserve his life. While some of his friends 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 87 
 
 feigned to send him off by sea, others got him 
 privately out of the place, Silas and Timo- 
 theus remaining behind to bear the anger of 
 the people, and to prevent the discovery of his 
 flight. His conductors, who would not Quit 
 him until they had brought him in safety to 
 Athens, received there his warmest thanks, 
 and also an urgent entreaty to return with 
 speed unto Berea, for the purpose of assisting 
 his two beloved companions in escaping 
 thence, and coming after him to his present 
 abode. 
 
 ■" While waiting in much anxiety for their 
 arrival, he occupied himself by going about 
 the city, — then one of the most renowned in 
 the whole world for its antiquity, as well as 
 for its arts, sciences, and every other species 
 of human knowledge, — remarking whatever 
 might be useful to his purpose in the manners, 
 customs, and practices of its inhabitants. 
 
 " In passing by one of the most public and 
 beautiful squares of the town, he was shocked 
 and astonished to see a number of persons 
 worshipping before an altar, on which was 
 written this inscription : i To the unknown 
 God: 
 
 " He had indeed known before that the peo» 
 
bo LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 pie were idolaters, worshipping a host of crea« 
 tares of their own fanciful creation ; but he 
 had now to learn, that, not satisfied with the 
 multitude of their idols, and afraid lest any 
 god should have been omitted, who, on ac- 
 count of such neglect, might bring a plague 
 upon their city, the superstitious Athenians 
 had also erected this altar to the unknown and 
 dreaded being, whom they daily implored 
 with an anxiety and fervour which might put 
 to blush the lukewarm professors of our better 
 faith. 
 
 " Inspired with pity for their ignorance, and 
 believing that they really wished to be reli- 
 gious if they knew but how, Saul addressed 
 those who were kneeling at the altar, and 
 spake to them with such gentle and persuasive 
 eloquence that he speedily won their atten- 
 tion. He therefore continued there for some 
 time, frequently reasoning in the synagogue 
 with the Jews and devout persons, and daily 
 ift the market with them that met him, until 
 at last certain philosophers, who, instead of 
 worshipping a variety of gods, doubted the 
 existence of even one, sought him out, and 
 desired to know what # this new doctrme, 
 whereof he spake, might be. 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 89 
 
 u There was at Athens a hill called Areop- 
 agus, and on it was erected a public building 
 or court of justice, known by the same name, 
 where all questions of high importance were 
 debated, particularly matters belonging to re- 
 ligion. To this place, therefore, they brought 
 Saul, as an assertor of doctrines which had 
 never before been heard of, saying that he 
 seemed to be a setter forth of strange gods, 
 because he preached Jesus and the resurrec- 
 tion. 
 
 " What a spacious field was now laid open 
 for sowing the good seed ! Here, before an 
 immense assembly eager to hear him — for the 
 Athenians and strangers who were there spent 
 their time, say *he Scriptures, in nothing else 
 but in hearing or telling some new thing — be- 
 fore people of every different rank, sect, and 
 opinion, citizens, strangers, philosophers, was 
 our apostle publicly called on to explain this 
 new and, to them, extraordinary faith. 
 
 " Saul could not but rejoice at the glorious 
 opportunity which was thus afforded him for 
 the manifestation of the truth. He arose, 
 therefore, and stood forth in the midst of the 
 Areopagus, and, with admirable skill adapting 
 his discourse to meet and obviate some error 
 
90 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 or prejudice in each party present, he at once 
 frankly commenced his explanation, by refer- 
 ring to their superstitious worship of an un- 
 known God ; declaring to them at the same 
 time, that He whom they thus ignorantly 
 worshipped, the only God with whom they 
 seemed really unacquainted, was he who 
 made the world and all things therein ; ' in 
 whom they all lived, and moved, and had 
 their being,' and through whom they might 
 yet be raised from death to life eternal. For 
 a particular account of his discourse, I refer 
 you to the short but comprehensive sketch 
 given of it in the 17th chapter of the Acts, 
 with which you are all, no doubt, already well 
 acquainted. •- 
 
 " He was listened to with profound atten- 
 tion ; but on hearing of the resurrection, some 
 mocked, and others went away undecided, 
 saying they would hear him again upon the 
 subject; but many clave unto him, and be- 
 lieved ; among whom were Dionysius, one of 
 the cleverest and most learned senators of the 
 court, and a female of rank, named Damaris. 
 Now both these persons were great favourites 
 with the emperor, whose name was Nero, and 
 who was one of the most wicked and cruel 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 91 
 
 sovereigns that ever appeared ill the world. 
 He either had made or wished to make Da- 
 maris his wife, although he had many other 
 wives besides : and he was greatly enraged 
 when he found she was become a Christian, 
 and had learned that the followers of Christ 
 were bound to marry but one person, to whom 
 they were required to be kind and faithful. 
 
 " Nero, supposing that Damaris would im- 
 mediately forget the new opinions she had 
 formed if her instructer were removed, caused 
 Saul to be driven from Athens. But nothing 
 could change her resolution ; she remained 
 steadfast in the faith : and the emperor never 
 forgave the man whom he considered his 
 enemy on the occasion, but persecuted him 
 with unrelenting hatred, even to the last mo- 
 ment of his existence." 
 
 " I wonder he did not immediately put him 
 to death," said Henry. 
 
 ? He could not do that, my love, one mo- 
 ment before the appointed time. Cruel and 
 powerful as he was, he could exercise no 
 power at all over 'Saul until it were given 
 him from on high ; and for this the hour was 
 not yet arrived. 
 
 " In spite of all the difficulties, opposition, 
 H 
 
92 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 and persecution by which the apostle was 
 surrounded, his life was always preserved, and 
 he still went on teaching the way of salvation 
 to mankind, reasoning and proving that Jesus 
 was the true Messiah, and that men should 
 everywhere repent, and turn to him for par- 
 don and salvation. The Jews, finding that 
 they were not able to destroy or silence him, 
 or even to overcome him in argument, had 
 now, on all occasions, recourse to noise and 
 clamour, mingled with blasphemy, in order to 
 prevent his being heard. He therefore, at 
 different times, thought it expedient to remain 
 quiet for a long season, rather than exasperate 
 his enemies ; for it was his anxious wish to 
 win all persons over to faith in Christ by 
 kindness and the force of truth, rather than 
 by disputes and violence. 
 
 " In such seasons he did not, however, re- 
 main idle, but was constantly employed, with 
 the assistance of God's holy Spirit, in writing 
 those admonitions and directions to the 
 churches he had planted, which are found in 
 our Bible under the title of Paul's Epistles." 
 
 Henry. — " Paul, grandmamma ! Is he the 
 same as Saul ?" 
 
 -Mrs. T. — " Yes, my dear. Upon becoming 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 93 
 
 a Christian, it appears that he changed his 
 name to Paul ; but by either of these names 
 he was equally well known both to the Jews 
 and Christians. His fame, indeed, spread far 
 and near ; yet the more his virtue and wisdom 
 became the subject of public remark and ob- 
 servation, the more was he persecuted" by his 
 wicked and envious brethren. But in propor- 
 tion to his necessities was the assistance given 
 to him by God : the Almighty was pleased to 
 confirm the truth of every thing he taught, 
 by giving him great power to work wonders, 
 enabling him to heal diseases even by a touch, 
 and to do many other miraculous things, the 
 sight of which at length convinced the peo- 
 ple that he had indeed help from on high." 
 
94 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 PAUL AT EPHESUS. 
 
 u After a^ng course of labours in differ 
 ent places j the apostle came at last to Ephesus, 
 and remained there, teaching both in public 
 and private, until he had gained such a pro- 
 digious number of followers that even his 
 enemies began to think it was vain to oppose 
 him any longer. Suddenly, however, an ac- 
 cident happened — " 
 
 " Oh !" said Henry, nestling himself, as 
 was his favourite manner, close to the reader's 
 elbow, after having been for some minutes 
 fidgeting about with an air that told he was 
 beginning to get tired, " I am so glad you are 
 coming to an accident; I always like acci- 
 dents, and sentences too, that begin with 
 1 Suddenly, hoitever? " 
 
 "I fear, Henry," said Mrs. T., "we must 
 wait a little longer for our account of this ad 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 95 
 
 venture, and return at present to the drawing- 
 room before we proceed further, as we have 
 already O'Jtstaid our usual time here." 
 
 Henry untreated for a few minutes' delay ; 
 but the footman just then appearing to an- 
 nounce that tea was ready, he could not be 
 indulged. He was compelled, therefore, to 
 exercise his patience until trie repast was 
 ended ; when Mrs. T., at the request of her 
 husband, as well as of her little friend, re- 
 sumed the narrative at his favourite sentence : 
 " Suddenly an accident happened which threw 
 Saul into great difficulty and danger. Ephe- 
 sus was renowned above all the cities of the 
 East for a very famous temple, one of the 
 stateliest and most splendid, perhaps, in the 
 whole, world. In this temple was to be found 
 all that was rich, and costly, and beautiful ; 
 but the most esteemed of its possessions was 
 a very magnificent statue, representing a 
 lovely female, from which the building took 
 its name. This image the priests had caused 
 to be made by the most skilful artists ; and 
 when finished, they killed or banished to a 
 great distance all who had been in any way 
 employed about the work. Then, when it 
 was supposed that the cheat could not be dis- 
 
96 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 covered, they shut up the figure within the 
 temple, and pretending to be greatly astonished 
 at rinding it there, persuaded the people it had 
 dropped to them down from heaven. This 
 statue they called the great goddess Diana, and 
 said that it must be worshipped with religious 
 honour. The poor and ignorant of every 
 land readily believe whatever their priests tell 
 them ; the Ephesians, therefore, immediately 
 fell down before the statue, lifting up their 
 hands to it in prayer ; and in a short time, 
 the fame both of its power and beauty spread 
 around the country far and wide. People 
 flocked from all quarters, not only to see but 
 to adore it ; and it at length became a favourite 
 object of worship even in distant regions. 
 
 " The priests then, wishing to turn it still 
 more to their profit, resolved to shut it up, 
 and would not let any person look upon it 
 without paying them large sums of money. 
 To keep alive the curiosity of the people, and 
 to make them still anxious to behold it, small 
 gold and silver models of the statue, placed 
 in beautiful little chambers called shrines, 
 were set in different parts of the temple, which 
 might be seen for a trifle ; and to these the 
 poor people, who could not afford to pay for 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 97 
 
 seeing the great statue, knelt down in prayer, 
 just as they had done to the large figure." 
 
 "I suppose, Mrs. T., they were something 
 like the little Burmese god, made of gold, that 
 you have on the top of your cabinet." 
 
 " Perhaps so, my dear ; at all events, they 
 were not more valuable, although the workers 
 in gold and silver, from whom they were pur- 
 chased in great numbers, gained immense 
 wealth by making them. These persons, and 
 the priests who employed them, were therefore 
 sadly distressed when a new religion sprang 
 up in their town, which taught that they 
 should not make any image, or likeness of 
 any thing that is in heaven above, or in the 
 earth beneath, or in the waters under the 
 earth ; that, at least, they must not make it 
 with the intent of bowing down to it, or wor- 
 shipping it." 
 
 " Foreseeing that if the Christian religion 
 gained ground, this profitable trade must be 
 destroyed, they concerted with Demetrius, 
 who was the greatest silversmith in the town, 
 and a leading man among them, to. stir up the 
 people against the Christians, and drive them 
 from the place, first making sure to kill Paul. 
 
 u Demetrius was a great orator ; therefore, 
 
98 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 as all persons have who express themselves 
 fluently, he had great power over other men. 
 He mounted a forum in the midst of the peo- 
 ple, and told them that the chief traffic of their 
 city was about to be destroyed; that they 
 would soon see their wives and children re- 
 duced to want and misery ; for that the Chris- 
 tians, with one Paul at their head, had per- 
 verted both town and country, persuading the 
 multitude that the images in the temple were 
 not real gods ; and that they ought not to be 
 worshipped. If this were believed, he said, 
 both their trade and the credit and glory of 
 the great goddess Diana, who was worshipped, 
 not only by themselves, but by the whole 
 world, must fall to the ground, 
 
 " On hearing this address, the whole city 
 was presently in an uproar ; the inhabitants 
 ran about the streets in quest of the Chris- 
 tians, crying out that l Great was Diana of 
 the Ephesians •' and in their search for Paul, 
 they seized on two of his companions, and 
 dragged them away to the theatre, thinking 
 one of them must certainly be he. In this 
 theatre were performed all the games and 
 cruel sports with which these thoughtless peo- 
 ple were fond of amusing themselves. Here 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 99 
 
 were trained those gladiators who tore each 
 other to pieces like ferocious animals until 
 one fell down dead ; and here too were kept a 
 number of wild beasts, lions, tigers, hyenas, 
 and bears, ready to devour, for the diversion 
 of the people, any wretched criminal who was 
 condemned to die. 
 
 " For two whole hours the populace crowded 
 the theatre, loudly extolling their goddess, and 
 demanding permission to throw the prisoners 
 to the wild beasts. 
 
 " Paul, hearing of the danger to which his 
 friends were exposed, would have flown to the 
 theatre to address the populace in their beha?f: 
 but the disciples seized him, and would not 
 surfer him to go, well knowing that the people 
 were resolved on putting him to death the 
 first moment they could find him. 
 
 " Happily for the prisoners, there were some 
 even among the managers of these cruel sports 
 who thought it wrong to deliver up innocent 
 people to such a dreadful death ; they there- 
 fore called together the chief men of the city ; 
 one of whom, knowing the fickle character of 
 the multitude, and how easily they were led 
 either to one side or the other by any pub- 
 lic speaker who had ability to take a laad 
 
100 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 among them, mounted the foium where the 
 silversmith had a short time before stood, and 
 with a calm and intrepid courage reasoned 
 with them on the impropriety of their conduct. 
 It was foolish, he said, to risk their lives and 
 subject themselves to punishment, by making 
 such an uproar at the bidding of Demetrius, 
 or any other man, since the laws were open 
 to them, and all who had any real matter of 
 complaint might appeal to them. He re- 
 minded them, likewise, of the heavy penalties 
 which must be inflicted on them by the ma- 
 gistrates if the riot continued, and advised 
 them all to go quietly home, lest such punish- 
 ment should overtake them : and so they stole 
 away at the bidding of this good man, leaving 
 the prisoners to be set at liberty, and the 
 craftsmen to fight their own battles." 
 
 " I never knew before how much good or 
 how much harm might be done just by speak- 
 ing a few words," said Henry. 
 
 " But these men were orators, Henry ; they 
 spoke distinctly, not mumbling their words 
 like some people of my acquaintance, and they 
 reasoned clearly on the subject of which they 
 were speaking. Those who do so will always 
 have power to lead their fellow-creatures, be 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 101 
 
 it from the pulpit, the forum, the field of bat- 
 tle, or the throne ; and those who do not will 
 occupy even the last of those high stations un- 
 heeded and unhonoured." 
 
 " 1 will try to be an orator, grandmamma ; 
 but tell me if the prisoners escaped." 
 
 " Yes ; the magistrates, finding they were in- 
 nocent of all blame, immediately let them go." 
 
 " And what became of Paul ?" 
 
 "Perceiving that the Christians, now grown 
 into a large band, would be less liable to mo- 
 lestation if he were absent, Paul organized 
 them into a regular church, and having fur- 
 nished it with proper officers, at the head of 
 whom he for the present placed Timothy, a 
 man whose piety and virtue had rendered 
 him distinguished from his youth, he prepared 
 to take his departure. Having been himself 
 the instrument of Timothy's conversion, and 
 looking upon him as his own son, he confi- 
 dently resigned the flock into his hands ; and 
 taking leave of him and all his other friends, 
 went into Macedonia, through every part of 
 which he preached the gospel with unwearied 
 diligence. Thence he travelled over Greece, 
 and through the isles of the Mediterranean. 
 He then resolved to pass into Syria, that ho 
 
102 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 might himself carry a charitable contribution, 
 which was offered by the churches of Corinth 
 and Macedon, to the suffering Christians at 
 Jerusalem, who were at this time in dreadful 
 distress both from poverty and persecution. 
 At Tyre, however, Paul received information 
 hat the Jews had heard he was coming to 
 Jerusalem charged with money for the Chris- 
 tians, and that they had laid a plot to waylay 
 him on the road for the purpose of killing 
 him and carrying off the booty. 
 
 " He therefore thought it prudent to post- 
 pone his journey for a few weeks, until the 
 expectation which the Jews had of meeting 
 him might die away ; but as he knew there 
 was no other means of conveying relief to the 
 Christians, he would not delay his journey 
 beyond that time. He accordingly took bis 
 departure from Tyre, and was followed to the 
 shore by a multitude of friends, all entreating 
 that he would not go, and predicting that if 
 he did he would assuredly be killed at Jeru- 
 salem. But Paul was not to be moved from 
 what he knew to be his duty : so when they 
 saw that they could not make him change his 
 determination, the whole company knelt down 
 on the shore, and put up supplications for his 
 
OF SAUL ( F TARSUS. 103 
 
 safety to Him who was alone able to protect 
 him : and Paul, having tenderly embraced 
 them one by one, took his leave and went on 
 board a ship that was waiting, which soon 
 brought him to Cesarea. 
 
 "Here again he was surrounded by the 
 Christians, who all passionately besought him 
 to turn his steps from Jerusalem, foretelling 
 that if he persisted in going, some dreadful 
 evil would befall him ; and among the rest, 
 Agabus, an old Christian prophet, announced 
 to him, that if he went he would unquestion- 
 ably be thrown into prison, be held long in 
 bonds, and finally be put to death." 
 
 " And did he still persist in going ?" asked 
 Emily. 
 
 " Yes, my love : their entreaties could not 
 alter his sense of duty. He knew that neither 
 good nor evil could befall him without the 
 will of his heavenly Father ; therefore he be- 
 sought his friends not to add to his soitow by 
 trying to dissuade him from his purpose. He 
 declared to them that he had no apprehension, 
 and that he was willing to be imprisoned at 
 Jerusalem ; or, if need were, to die in any part 
 of the world for the sake of Christ, and of his 
 religion. 
 
104 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " His friends then, seeing his resolution un- 
 alterably fixed, importuned him no further,, 
 but, like himself, expressed their willingness 
 to leave the event to Divine "Wisdom. Many 
 of them resolved to be the companions of his 
 journey ; and when every thing was ready, 
 they all set forward on their way together, 
 and, contrary to their expectations, God 
 brought them through every danger in safety 
 to Jerusalem, where they were kindly and 
 joyfully received by the Christians.^ 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 105 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 PAUL ARRAIGNED AT JERUSALEM APPEALS 
 
 TO CESAR AT ROME VOYAGE THITHER. 
 
 " Then the Jews did not waylay Saul, and 
 rob him," said Henry. 
 
 " No ; they had, I suppose, become tired of 
 waiting for him ; but within a few days after 
 his arrival, when he was in the temple, where, 
 by the advice of James and all the Christian 
 elders of Jerusalem, he had immediately shown 
 himself, and conformed to the laws of puri- 
 fication, that it might be seen that he was not 
 a despiser of their customs, and a subverter 
 of order, the Jews laid hold of him ; and had 
 not the commander of the garrison humanely 
 rescued him out of their hands, they would 
 have immediately put him to death. The 
 officer, to preserve his life, shut him up in a 
 strong place called the castle of Antonia, 
 where, however, he was loaded with chains 
 until it should be known what cause of com- 
 
106 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 plaint the people had against him, and what 
 offence they laid to his charge. 
 
 " Against this treatment Paul expostulated, 
 as contrary to the rights and privileges of a 
 Roman : and the governor, being informed 
 that he was a free-born citizen of Tarsus, 
 ordered his chains to be struck off, and com- 
 manded that he should be immediately ex- 
 amined on the various accusations brought 
 against him by the high-priests. 
 
 " The next day he was accordingly called 
 before his accusers ; but a great dissension 
 arising among them, and a conspiracy being 
 discovered against his life, he was removed 
 to Cesarea, and thence after two years to 
 Rome. During this interval he had been ex- 
 amined, first before the governor Felix, and 
 then before Festus, who succeeded him, and 
 also before king Agrippa, and had been pro- 
 nounced innocent ; but as he had himself ap- 
 pealed to Cesar, Festus was obliged to send 
 him. 
 
 " He was placed under the safe-conduct of 
 a certain Julius, a Roman commander, who 
 had charge of several other prisoners besides : 
 and the evangelist Luke, who now never left 
 him, and some others of his Christian com- 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 107 
 
 panions, determined to accompany him on the 
 voyage ; and all, having immediately em- 
 barked in a vessel then starting for Sidon, 
 were quickly brought into that port. 
 
 " So much had the piety, the mild behaviour, 
 and honourable principles of our apostle won 
 on Julius during the voyage, that he- granted 
 him permission to go on shore, and remain 
 with some friends who resided in the town 
 while the ship lay in harbour." 
 
 " Julius must have felt quite sure that he 
 would have come back," said Henry. 
 
 "Yes, Henry; one happy effect produced 
 by honourable conduct and the strict principle 
 of truth is, that none are ever afraid to trust 
 those in whom they are found. 
 
 " Paul returned at the moment appointed, 
 and the ship being again victualled, they con- 
 tinued their course to a place called the Fair 
 Havens, near Myra, a city of Syria ;" ' which, 
 by-the-by, it would be well if we looked for on 
 the map,' said Mrs. T. 
 
 "Oh do let me look for it, Emily," said 
 Henry ; " I love to find out places on the map, 
 and it is so pleasant, too, to feel that one can 
 do it." 
 
 " Yery pleasant, my boy, and very useful 
 I 
 
108 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 too, to be able to use a map," said Mrs. C; 
 " but you should never deprive other people 
 of a pleasure, merely because you wish for it 
 yourself." 
 
 "But, grandmamma, it is no pleasure to 
 Emily now, because she is very old, and can 
 always put down her forefinger on whatever 
 place she wishes to find on any map, just the 
 minute she is asked." 
 
 "Well," said Emily, laughing, "when. you 
 are very old, Henry, you will have an advan- 
 tage over me; for, as a man, you will probably 
 be able to put your feet where I am only able 
 to put my forefinger." 
 
 " And 1 shall like that very much," he re- 
 plied ; " but in the mean time help me to find 
 ' Pair Havens,' for I cannot see it anywhere." 
 
 " Here it is, in the ancient map of the Medi- 
 terranean, just close to Myra, where grand- 
 mamma said it was," said his sister. 
 
 " I suppose it was a very pretty place by its 
 being called l Fair Havens.' " 
 
 " It was called so because it was less dan- 
 gerous than any of the other ports around ; 
 but less dangerous as it was, it was such an 
 inconvenient harbour that the master of the 
 ship felt anxious to get away. It was, how 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 109 
 
 ever, necessary to stop in some port until the 
 short winter of that climate should be over | 
 and as it was fast approaching, Paul advised 
 him, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of 
 the harbour, to remain where he was, rather 
 than brave the stormy seas through which 
 they must pass to reach a safer. But the 
 master persisted, and even Julius, forgetful of 
 Paul's wisdom, and of his acquaintance with 
 the navigation of that coast, preferred the less 
 prudent course, and advised that they should 
 try to reach Phcenice, a port of the island of 
 Crete, before the stormy season quite set in. 
 You will see by the map that they had not 
 any great distance to sail ; but Paul, who un- 
 derstood both the sea and the seasons better 
 than any of them, still tried to dissuade them 
 from the voyage ; they would not, however, 
 listen to his advice, and being deceived by a 
 calm southerly breeze which gently filled their 
 sails, they got out of the port, and bore down 
 towards Phcenice. 
 
 " You have heard me, my children, describe 
 the tempests which I have frequently wit- 
 nessed in the Mediterranean; but in these 
 parts, towards the eastern extremity of that 
 sea, especially all through the Euxine and the 
 
J 10 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 Archipelago, the storms are dark and terrific 
 
 • in the extreme. The sky seems to descend in 
 one heavy mass of black impenetrable cloud, 
 lying close down on the bosom of the deep ; 
 and the vexed waters, as if disturbed and en- 
 cumbered by its weight, begin immediately to 
 swell and raise themselves in angry billows 
 against its pressure. In the midst of this thick 
 darkness, the only objects which can be dis- 
 cerned are the white heads of the foaming 
 billows making themselves apparent at distant 
 intervals through the gloom ; and the only 
 sound which meets the ear is the distant groan- 
 ing of the deep unfathomable tide, whose fear- 
 ful roaring is a certain and awful indication 
 of the coming tempest. In a short time forked 
 lightnings flash across the atmosphere, cutting 
 it now here now there, as if only desirous to 
 make its density and extent more apparent. 
 Thunders then begin to peal, sounding as if 
 Alps on Alps, in one vast avalanche, were 
 tumbling overhead. Then follows rain, not 
 in drops and showers as you have seen it in 
 
 • this our native country, but in one continued 
 torrent, falling so close, so heavy, that it seems 
 as if new seas were pouring from the skies to 
 form another ocean upon earth. 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 uf This rain continues sometimes for many 
 days, and gradually, as it increases, the massive 
 darkness of the atmosphere breaks into separate 
 openings, through each of which a tempestuous 
 wind, called the euroclydon, finds a ready pas- 
 sage. It sweeps in hurricanes round every 
 cloud, at every turning encountering itself, and 
 with irresistible violence hurls to destruction 
 whatever is within the circle of its furious 
 course." 
 
 "In what a fearful state the unfortunate 
 passengers in any ship must be during such a 
 storm," said Mary. 
 
 " So fearful that all good navigators endeav- 
 oured, by calculating the usual signs and sea- 
 sons of their approach, to avoid exposure to 
 such danger : but Julius and the captain of 
 Paul's ship refused to listen to the voice of 
 reason and experience ; and they soon suffered 
 for their temerity. 
 
 " The ship had nearly gained the wished-for 
 harbour, when the soft south breeze which 
 had hitherto favoured them sank into still- 
 ness ; the darkness fell, the flood lifted up its 
 waves, and in a shorter time than usual, a 
 ptorm arose which bore down all before it 
 
112 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 The vessel was caught up, as it were, between 
 the elements, and could not continue any di- 
 rect course, being tossed and driven in every 
 direction at the mercy of the wind and tide. 
 Sails or helm were now of no avail, and on 
 the third day the passengers were forced to 
 lighten the vessel, by throwing overboard all 
 the tackling and lading they could spare, and 
 so drive before the wind. During this time, 
 and for many days after, neither sun, nor moon, 
 nor stars appeared, and the tempest lay upon 
 them with such tremendous violence, that 
 every hope was taken away from the stoutest 
 seamen on board." 
 
 " Was not Paul terribly frightened by such 
 a tempest ?" said Henry. 
 
 " No, my dear ; Paul, who had before en- 
 countered perils both by sea and land, was not 
 appalled, but was able calmly to resign him- 
 self to the will of his almighty Father. He 
 knew, however, the extremity of their danger, 
 and he prayed with fervent devotion for the 
 preservation of the whole ship's company. 
 His petition was not only heard, but graciously 
 answered. After long abstinence he stood 
 forth among the crew, and exhorted them all 
 
OF SAUL. OF TARSUS. 113 
 
 to be of good cheer, assuring them that ' there 
 should be no loss of any man's life, but only 
 of the ship. For,' said he, l there stood by me 
 this night the angel of Gcd, wjjose I am and 
 whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou 
 must be brought before Csesar ; and, lo, God 
 hath given thee all them that sail with thee. 
 Wherefore, sirs,' he added, ' be of good cheer, 
 for I believe that it shall be even as it was 
 told me — every one of you shall be preserved.' 
 He, however, announced to them that they 
 should have to suffer much, and that they 
 should be driven on an island, where the ship 
 would be destroyed. 
 
 " Fourteen days and nights did the storm 
 continue, while each hour they were driven 
 about more furiously than before. At length, 
 at midnight on the fourteenth day, the sailors 
 perceived that they approached some country; 
 and fearing to be driven among rocks, they 
 cast four anchors from the stern for the pur- 
 pose of holding the vessel fast, and waited in 
 terror for the coming day. But doubting all 
 Paul's assurances, and expecting each instant 
 to be overwhelmed, in their despair they con- 
 certed a plot to save themselves, meaning, if 
 possible, to escape in one of their boats, and 
 
114 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 to leave the soldiers, the prisoners, and strati 
 gers to their fate in the vessel. 
 
 " Under the pretence of casting out anothei 
 anchor they let down a boat into the sea, and 
 were about to get into it, when "Paul discovered 
 their intention, and warned Julius that unless 
 the people all staid by the ship, they could not 
 be saved. 
 
 " Then the soldiers, seeing that they migk* 
 confide in Paul, cut the ropes by which the 
 boats were fastened and let it fall off, and so 
 stopped the men who were on the point of de- 
 scending into it. 
 
 " They were of course greatly disappointed 
 and very angry, but Paul found means to ap- 
 pease them, and to maintain his influence 
 over the whole crew." 
 
 " I wonder how many persons there were 
 on board," said Emily. 
 
 " There were two hundred and seventy-six 
 souls, all strangers and enemies to Paul, ex- 
 cept the few Christians by whom he was ac- 
 companied; yet God enabled him to obtain 
 ascendency over them all. 
 
 "Seeing the whole ship's company now 
 almost deprived of reason from exhaustion, 
 terror, and fatigue, he besought them to take 
 
OP SA'JL OP TARSUS. 115 
 
 comfort and to fear nothing, again "assuring 
 them of their safety, and that not even a hair 
 should fall from the head of any of them. 
 
 " He then entreated them to take some food, 
 called for meat, and, reminding them that they 
 had been fourteen days without sufficient nour- 
 ishment, began himself to eat before them, 
 which gave them so much encouragement, 
 that they followed his advice, and soon re- 
 gained, in some degree, their strength and 
 cheerfulness." 
 
116 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE STORM CONTINUED- 
 STRIKING ILLUSTRATION OF AN IMPORT- 
 ANT DOCTRINE. 
 
 " When all had satisfied their hunger, so 
 confident was Paul in the promises of his Sa- 
 viour, that he made the men still further 
 lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat 
 that remained." 
 
 "Oh was not that very foolish, grand- 
 mamma ?" said Henry. " The people might 
 have wanted food again, you know, and then 
 what would he have done V 
 
 " The ship had been laden with wheat, my 
 child, which made it very heavy ; and Paul * 
 probably permitted them to keep enough for 
 their present wants ; but however that may be, 
 he knew that they were close to shore, and, as 
 I have just said, he confided fully in his Sa 
 viours promise. He was aware, also, of what 
 perhaps you do not know, that the less heavily 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 117 
 
 a ship is laden, the more unlikely it will be to 
 sink, or to become locked among the rocks of 
 a dangerous coast. 
 
 " The day was beginning to dawn, and the 
 crew now plainly discovered some unknown 
 land, and after a time perceived a certain creek 
 with a little strand around it, into which they 
 resolved, if possible, to work the ship, although 
 the sea ran mountains high between them 
 and the shore." 
 
 " Grandmamma," said Henry, " if Paul 
 really believed that God would preserve them, 
 I think he was very foolish to let them take so 
 much trouble about the working the ship, or 
 trying to take care of themselves. God, he 
 said, had sent to tell him that he would save 
 all that were in the ship. Now, I do not like 
 Paul as well as I did at first, for he declared 
 that he believed what the angel told him, and 
 yet it is plain that he did not believe it." 
 
 Mrs. T. laid down the manuscript until this 
 remark should be answered. 
 
 The two girls stared at each other in admi- 
 ration of the acuteness of the observation, and 
 each looked at her parent in a sort of bewil- 
 dered surprise as if some error had been dis- 
 
118 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 covered, which greatly lessened the authority 
 of the Bible in their eyes. 
 
 An undefined hope rushed into Mary's heart, 
 that some share of discredit would now be at- 
 tached to that book, which she had often fan- 
 cied had commanded her to keep a very unne- 
 cessary, or, at least, a very disagreeable watch 
 over herself, and her youthful cheek suddenly 
 became flushed with the brightest hue, as she 
 exclaimed — 
 
 "Really, Henry has made a very sensible 
 observation for a little boy like him ; I wonder 
 it never struck any of us until now." 
 
 " I am surprised that no one ever thought 
 of it before," said her companion. 
 
 " It has been thought of and said a hun- 
 dred times before, but always by the unthink- 
 ing, the ignorant, or the childish," said Mrs. T. 
 
 Henry's countenance fell ; for the commend- 
 ation he had received made him fancy he had 
 said something very shrewd and clever. 
 
 " I am, however, pleased with your remark, 
 my boy," said Mrs. C, kissing his cheek ; "it 
 shows as much attention and reflection as 
 could be expected from your age. But let us 
 rest a little ; we have been reading some time, 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 119 
 
 and I should not dislike a little stroll in the 
 garden ; and you, children, if Mrs. T. will 
 allow it, will not object, I dare say, to amuse 
 yourselves for half an hour in the strawberry- 
 beds. We may then, if we are all so inclined, 
 finish the history of Paul after tea." 
 
 " Oh thank you, grandmamma ! that will 
 be so nice ; but will you really let us go into 
 the garden ? You know the gardener has put 
 grass-snakes* all about it to keep away the 
 thieves. I think you .forget, that both you 
 and Mrs. T. wished us not to venture in until 
 Alice had got the fruit she wanted for preserv- 
 ing, and until the snakes were taken away." 
 
 " I did forget it, my love ; but since I have 
 said I would take you, I must keep my word, 
 and I will engage to preserve you from any 
 injury." 
 
 " Thank you, dear grandmamma ; you 
 always keep your word, let what will happen. 
 Paul might have been very certain of all your 
 promises ; I am sure I always feel quite certain 
 of them." 
 
 As* Henry spoke, he tied the strings of his 
 shoes tighter, declaring they were such a fine 
 
 * A kind of trap, designed to keep intruders out of gar 
 dens, orchards, and pleasure-grounds. 
 
120 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 strong pair, that a snake could never get 
 through the sole, even if he should tread quite 
 hard on one. He then took down his hat, and 
 hastened out of the summer-house. 
 
 " Why do you run off in such haste, my 
 love ; had you not better sit down quietly 
 where you are ?" said Mrs. C. 
 
 " Why, grandmamma/"' said Henry, stopping 
 short in surprise, "are you not going to take 
 us to the garden ?" 
 
 " Yes ; but if you are so sure of my taking 
 you, why do you take the trouble of running 
 there yourself. I promised to take you there, 
 did I not ? Now, I do not like little Henry so 
 well as I did before, for he said he believed 
 my promise, and yet it appears he does not 
 believe it." 
 
 " Oh, grandmamma ! you said you would 
 take me to the garden, but I know you meant 
 that I should walk there ; you did not promise 
 to carry me," continued he, laughing ; " you 
 would not let anybody carry me where I can 
 go myself." 
 
 " Then you are quite sure that you can go 
 to the garden by yourself, Henry ?" 
 
 " Yes, grandmamma, quite sure." 
 
 " And why are you now able to go ? You 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 121 
 
 would not, I think, have said so half an hour 
 ago." 
 
 " No, grandmamma, I should not, because 1 
 had no key, and you had not then given me 
 leave. But now Mrs. T. is bringing the key, 
 and has promised to open the gate and let 
 me in ; so I have nothing to do but to keep 
 my steps clear from the snakes, and to run 
 away." 
 
 " Suppose I had not the key, might you not 
 climb over the wall ?" said Mrs. T. 
 
 " No, I tried that twenty times when I was 
 here before ; not to get the fruit, grandmamma ; 
 it was in winter, grandmamma, when the 
 gates were open, and the fruit was all gone ; 
 but I never could manage it, the wall is so 
 straight and high. Yet I can climb and leap 
 pretty well," added Henry, " the gardener told 
 me so :" and as he spoke, he swung his arms, 
 preparing for a leap. His intention was to 
 jump off the grass on something which he 
 took to be a stone at the other side of a sunk 
 fence that lay along the path, by which they 
 were walking to the garden. 
 
 His grandmother cast her eye on the spot, 
 and had just time, as he rose in the leap, to 
 seize the skirt of his coat, and give him a sud- 
 
122 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 den jerk, which made him tumble head fore* 
 most into the fence. 
 
 He scrambled up as he best could, covered 
 over with mud. one hand very much hurt, and 
 his good-humoured face trying to keep back 
 a look of pain and mortification, while he cast 
 an inquiring glance at his aged relative, to 
 know why she had played him such a trick. 
 
 " You had nearly made my promise useless 
 to you, my darling boy," said she, kissing his 
 ruddy cheek, while her own grew pale with 
 terror. " Had I not been in the habit of watch- 
 ing and trying to guard you from dangers 
 which you do not yourself see, you would 
 have leaped upon that man-trap, which you 
 called a stone, and might have been either 
 killed or disabled from ever walking again." 
 
 Mrs. T. and the girls shuddered at the 
 thought of Henry's danger, and they all pur- 
 sued their way to the garden, forgetful for the 
 present of the strawberries and of every thing 
 else, but their anxiety to have the gardener 
 chid for having such a shocking implement of 
 destruction in the grounds without permission. 
 
 The man was called, the snakes all care- 
 fully removed, and the fallen hero's clothes 
 well scraped from the mud which covered 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 123 
 
 them : but the accident had thrown the whole 
 party into a reflecting humour, and even 
 Henry, "Madcap Henry," as he was called, 
 commenced his attack upon the strawberries 
 in silence. At length, as they approached the 
 garden wall, he exclaimed, "Now, girls, look 
 at that tremendous wall, so smooth, so high — 
 nobody in the world, I think, could climb it." 
 
 " Not without a ladder and great assistance," 
 said Mrs. C. ; " and no seaman in the world, 
 Henry, could have got a ship through that 
 tremendous storm of which we have been 
 reading, without some powerful means of 
 help, some mighty hand and stretched-out 
 arm to lead them on. A watchful Provi- 
 dence must have been their guide, guarding 
 them past the rocks, and carrying them over 
 shoals which they had not power, themselves, 
 to perceive or avoid." 
 
 "Just as you guarded me from the man- 
 trap, which I did not perceive," interrupted 
 Henry. " But why, grandmamma, did you 
 bid me sit down, and not come with you to the 
 garden ? I know you had some meaning in 
 that, but I do not quite understand you ; and 
 I have been puzzling to find it out this long 
 
 time." 
 
 K 
 
124 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " I wished to make you perceive that Paul 
 understood the meaning of God's promise to 
 him, and relied upon it just in the same way 
 that you relied upon my promise to you, when 
 I said I would take you to the garden. You 
 fully understood that I was not to carry you ; 
 I was only to give you leave to open the door, 
 and to make a way for you to enter : you were 
 still to walk there ; and had you sat down and 
 refused to go, my promise would have been 
 rendered useless to you, but it would not have 
 been broken. Its meaning was, I will take 
 you where you cannot go without my help : 
 to me will be due all the merit of your entrance; 
 but unless you do your part and walk, yor 
 cannot benefit by my help. In this manner 
 God said that he had given Paul the lives of 
 all those who sailed with him, and that not a 
 hair should fall from the head of any of them. 
 Yet the apostle knew that while his heavenly 
 Father watched over them, and guarded them 
 past those countless dangers from which they 
 could not preserve themselves, he only meant 
 to guide them in the way, to open a door of 
 escape, and give them leave to enter ; to pre- 
 pare a haven of safety, to which they were to 
 work their own passage. Had they refused to 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 125 
 
 manage the ship according to the principles of 
 reason ; had they stopped its course, or madly 
 thrown themselves into the foaming deep, as 
 some of them were near to do, they would 
 have made the promise useless to themselves, 
 but no tittle of it on the part of the Almighty 
 would have been broken. The plain and un- 
 derstood condition was, Except you abide in 
 the ship, doing your duty in it and by it, you 
 cannot be saved." 
 
 Mary had spoken but little since the conver- 
 sation on this subject arose ; she now, how- 
 ever, stole to her mother's side, rejoicing that 
 the authenticity of that book in which she 
 sincerely delighted was again made clear to 
 her understanding. " There was no error in 
 the Bible then, and Paul was right after all !" 
 she whispered; her countenance the While 
 abashed and subdued from a recollection of her 
 late hasty decision and censurable feelings. 
 
 " There never was, my love, and never will 
 be error discovered in that holy book ; the 
 circumstance which has struck you all in that 
 light was related probably for the express 
 purpose of teaching us all how to understand 
 another of its divine promises." 
 
 < k What is that, mamma V 
 
126 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 thou shalt be saved.' How do you understand 
 this promise, Agnes ?" 
 
 Agnes hesitated. 
 
 " Can you explain it, Emily V 
 
 Silence ensued. 
 
 " Try, Mary," said Mrs. C. ; "I think you 
 comprehend its meaning." 
 
 " I suppose," said Mary, " we ought to un- 
 derstand it just as Paul understood the promise 
 to the ship's crew." 
 
 " Oh yes !" said Emily ; " and now I recol- 
 lect there was a fine explanation of it in papa 7 s 
 sermon last Sunday. He said it meant that 
 though Christ is our guide to heaven, and has 
 paid the price of our entrance there ; though 
 to him belongs the entire merit of our permis- 
 sion to enter, yet must we fulfil our duty, and 
 still relying on his grace, go forward in a 
 straight course of obedience to his laws ; 
 otherwise we shall not profit by that right of 
 entrance which he has purchased for us by his 
 blood." 
 
 " Quite right, my love ; though our merci- 
 ful Redeemer guards us by night and day from 
 ills we know not how to see or shun ; though 
 ne purchased with his own blood the leave for 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 127 
 
 our admission into heaven ; and though with 
 anxious love he holds the door wide open for 
 our entrance, yet still he requires us to keep 
 alive within our hearts the wish to enter 
 which he has kindled, and calls upon us to 
 arise and walk ; to use the power of entering 
 which he has given, lest we fail short of his 
 salvation." 
 
 " Yes !" said Mrs. T. ; "he still requires us 
 to work our passage through life, even with 
 fear and trembling ; but he encourages all by 
 the assurance that he will work in them to 
 will and to do of his good pleasure : he still 
 says to us as he said to the mariners, ' Except 
 you abide in the ship (that is, unless you con- 
 tinue in my laws, adhere to my directions, and 
 hold fast your confidence in my strength), you 
 cannot be saved.' " 
 
 * c Were we to sit down idly, Henry, expect- 
 ing to be carried into heaven," said Mrs. C, 
 " and to refuse to walk through the open door : 
 or did we madly leap into the traps which 
 Satan lays open in the path of all, though 
 duly warned against their danger, then the 
 promise of salvation would, through our own 
 folly, become useless to us ; but no part of it 
 would be broken." 
 
128 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " Dear Mrs. C," said Mary, " your book has 
 lielped to make this a delightful Sunday even- 
 ing ; and has caused all this pleasant conver- 
 sation, which I am so happy to have heard : 
 it has made some things quite plain to me 
 which I never understood before." 
 
 " Would to God that all my young friends 
 were equally anxious to have the truth made 
 plain to them !" said Mrs. C, heavily sighing. 
 " But he will grant me that prayer in his own 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 129 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE SHIPWRECK CONTINUED 
 
 PAUL LANDS AT MALTA OCCURRENCES ON 
 
 THAT ISLAND. 
 
 The party having returned to the garden, 
 and tea being ended, the young people begged 
 that the account of Paul's shipwreck might 
 be continued; and Mrs. C. now returned to 
 the manuscript. 
 
 " You had just brought them within sight 
 of a little creek, with a sandy shore all round 
 it : were they able to work the ship in V said 
 Henry. " That must have been a nice place 
 for them." 
 
 " They did, indeed, succeed in working 
 themselves in : but it was over a sea where 
 two tides met ; and so great was the fury of 
 the waves, -that the stern of the vessel was 
 torn away, and the fore part driven fast into 
 the sand.' ; 
 
 " If she had been still heavily laden, I sup- 
 
130 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 pose she would have sunk between the tides." 
 said Mary; "or else have come with such force 
 against the shore, that she would have been 
 knocked entirely to pieces." 
 
 " Then must the crew, who now held by 
 her masts and rigging for safety, have been 
 swallowed up in the deep," said Mrs. C. " But 
 while clinging there, they were now able to 
 consult together as to the most practicable 
 method of getting to the shore." 
 
 " Oh !" said Henry, " how much obliged 
 they must have felt to Paul !" 
 
 " Some of them had not virtue enough to 
 think of being obliged either to him or to the 
 God who had so graciously preserved them," 
 continued Mrs. C. " The very first thing the 
 Roman soldiers proposed was to kill Paul and 
 all the other prisoners, lest they should be able 
 to swim first to land, and so make their 
 escape." 
 
 "O the wicked creatures," cried Henry, 
 starting up with indignation. " Now, was ] 
 not right to say I hated the Romans ?" 
 
 " You need not be angry with them all, my 
 boy, because some have merited your disap- 
 probation ; and there is no occasion for hatred 
 at all. You may at least, I am sure, feel satis- 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 131 
 
 lied with the conduct of one person on the 
 present occasion. Julius, the captain of the 
 Roman legion, would not consent to this bar- 
 barous proposal ; but ordered that the soldiers, 
 who were good swimmers, should go to shore 
 first ; that they should remain there ready to 
 fulfil their duty, and meet the prisoners as 
 they landed. And when this command was 
 obeyed, then Julius and the rest of the crew — 
 some swimming and some- on boards, or rafts, 
 or broken pieces of the ship — threw them- 
 selves into the water, and thus all got safe to 
 land." 
 
 " Well, certainly God did keep his promise 
 faithfully," said Mary. "Now, let us hear 
 what became of these poor shipwrecked mari- 
 ners, now they were safe on shore." 
 
 It was, however, resolved to keep that part 
 of the history for another occasion : and when 
 the same party were assembled the next Sun- 
 day evening, the manuscript was again pro- 
 duced. 
 
 " Grandmamma," said Henry, as they all 
 took their seats around her chair, " I have 
 found out from the Bible itself, that it was 
 on the island of Malta the shipwrecked mari« 
 ners, as Mary called them, were cast." 
 L 
 
132 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " I have no doubt it was, Henry ; and that 
 very little creek, with the sandy shore round 
 it, has, I believe, been often trod by one whom 
 you and I have dearly loved. 5 ' 
 
 " Oh, dear grandmamma, I suppose so in- 
 deed," said Emily, tears springing to her eyes 
 as some painful recollection seemed to cross 
 her mind. "I did not think of that before. 
 Oh, how much I wish we had been all there, to 
 have walked along that lonely beach with him, 
 and tried to give him comfort in his sorrow. 7 ' 
 
 " I can scarcely help joining in the wish," 
 said Mrs. C, struggling to keep back the sud- 
 den inroads of a grief which, still but half- 
 subdued, and springing from one of the sad- 
 dest trials of her life, was ever ready to over- 
 whelm her mind, if left for a moment without 
 the usual guard. " It was a vain wish, my 
 child," said she, after a moment's effort, and 
 with perfect composure. " There was One 
 with him who was a better comforter than 
 any here could have been : One who, in his 
 boundless mercy, took him where sorrow could 
 not reach him more, I love to recollect many 
 of the comfortable passages in his letters, 
 some of which arose out of the traces of 
 Paul's shipwreck and residence on the island ; 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. l33 
 
 I love to reflect upon the strong desiru his let- 
 ters evinced to follow in the footsteps of the 
 apostle, to emulate the example of his faith, 
 his confidence, his patience, and subdued obe- 
 dience to his heavenly Father's will. On that 
 same spot they both encountered suffering 
 and sorrow ; and now they dwell together, I 
 trust, in a land of righteousness and joy." 
 
 "But, grandmamma," said Henry, wiping 
 away a tear which filled even his young eye 
 and evidently wishing to lead his parent's 
 thoughts to other subjects, "did Paul suffer 
 any great misfortunes while he was on the 
 island?" 
 
 "We know of none," said she, resuming 
 her narrative, "but such as arose from his 
 being detained a prisoner, and regarded as a 
 criminal who was liable to be put to death. 
 The people of the island, however, treated 
 him and the whole crew with great humanity, 
 affording them every accommodation in their 
 power. At their first landing, they kindled 
 large fires for them, because of the continued 
 rain and cold ; and Paul, ever active and un- 
 wearied in showing kindness, evinced his 
 sense of their attention by assisting them tc 
 collect the fuel. He had just thrown on a 
 
134 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 handful of sticks, when a viper, roused by the 
 heat, sprang from the wood and fastened on 
 his hand. Immediately the superstitious and 
 ignorant, but well-minded people imagined 
 that he was some dreadful sinner, perhaps a 
 murderer, who, though escaped from all the 
 perils of the storm, was yet pursued by divine 
 justice, and not permitted to live. 
 
 " The most certain and speedy destroyer of 
 human life known among them was, perhaps, 
 the reptile which they saw hanging on the 
 apostle's hand. It generally does its work of 
 death in a few minutes ; and they waited in 
 solemn silence until they should see the cul- 
 prit fall down dead before them. But He 
 who had been his Saviour at Damascus, and 
 through all the perils of his life, was with him 
 still. The reptile fell harmless ; its venom 
 was prevented from entering his blood, and 
 Paul was enabled to shake it off into the fire 
 without feeling the slightest injury : thu*s 
 showing, in one strong instance, the fulfilment 
 of the promise made to the apostles, that 
 ' they should speak with new tongues, should 
 take up serpents ; and if they drank any 
 deadly thing, it should not hurt them ; that 
 they shall lay hands on the sick, and they 
 
OF SAUL OP TARSUS. 135 
 
 Bhall recover ;' every other part of which had 
 been fulfilled before. Still, however, the be- 
 holders, who knew nothing of this promise, 
 expected to see him fall ; but when at last 
 they were convinced that no harm had hap- 
 pened to him, they changed their opinion, 
 and declared that he must be a god. 
 
 " Not far from that part of the shore where 
 the ship's crew landed there lived a man of 
 great riches and authority, called Publius ; he 
 was governor of the island, and was bound to 
 see that all strangers who came there should 
 be protected. He, however, went further than 
 the mere line of duty directed; for he took 
 care of the whole company, maintaining them 
 with the utmost kindness at his own cost. 
 He was a good man, and, like all who are so, 
 was a dutiful and affectionate son ; and it 
 happened that he was at that present moment 
 in great affliction for a beloved father, who 
 lay at the point of death. Paul, having dis- 
 covered his sorrow, begged leave to see the 
 sufferer : and after having prayed to his al- 
 mighty Guide, obtained power to heal the sick 
 man simply by laying his hands upon him. 
 You can better conceive than I can tell the 
 joy of Publius at having his father's life pie- 
 
136 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 served, and seeing him restored to health. 
 He loaded Paul with honours, and the whole 
 crew with favours on his account. The in 
 habitants of more distant places in the island, 
 hearing of the miracle, brought those who 
 were sick among them to Paul, and he healed 
 them all ; insomuch that the people perceived 
 to a certainty that the Divine power rested 
 with him ; they therefore readily believed 
 whatever he taught; and although it is not 
 mentioned in the Bible, yet common history 
 relates that Paul made many converts and es- 
 tablished a church in this place, over which 
 he appointed Publius to preside. This man, 
 it is said, remained to the last so steady to the 
 faith, that he was crowned with martyrdom 
 at Athens." 
 
 "But I suppose all that cannot be true, 
 Grandmamma, or it would have been men- 
 tioned in the Bible," said Henry. 
 
 At this moment Mrs. C. took off her spec- 
 tacles, and looked from the summer-house 
 door, as if she expected some one to enter. 
 
 '•What do you see, grandmamma?" said 
 Henry eagerly. " Is papa coming V 
 
 " No, my love ; it was a female I was 3ook< 
 nig for." 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 137 
 
 " A female !" cried he. " Do you mean a 
 lady, grandmamma ? And is it any one we 
 love?" 
 
 " I thought, perhaps, that Eve might walk 
 in and drink tea with us this evening." 
 
 " Dear grandmamma," said Henry, staring 
 in the utmost astonishment, and then bursting 
 into a violent fit of laughter, "how funny 
 you are !" and he danced about the arbour, 
 almost screaming with delight at the idea of 
 seeing Eve walk in. " Oh ! I do wish she 
 would come, that we might see what kind of 
 a lady she would seem, and what kind of 
 clothes she would wear now." 
 
 Mary, half-shocked, entreated him to hold 
 his tongue. 
 
 " But what do you mean, grandmamma ?" 
 he continued, again sitting down by her side ; 
 " you do so puzzle me sometimes, I cannot find 
 out what you intend." 
 
 " Why, history says that Eve died as well 
 as Adam, but it cannot be true, for it certainly 
 is not told in the Bible ; therefore I began to 
 hope she might walk in, and let us all satisfy 
 our curiosity as to what the first woman was 
 like." 
 
 " Oh ! I see what you mean, grandmamma^ 
 
138 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 well, I really did think that every thing which 
 is true was told in the Bible." 
 
 " Just take two words out of the middle of 
 your sentence, Henry, and tack them to the 
 end of it," said Mary, " and then I think it 
 will sound much better sense." 
 
 " But I think it sounds very good sense as 
 it is. Miss Mary," said he, colouring from pre- 
 vious soreness occasioned by similar correc- 
 tions, at this amendment of his phrase. 
 
 " But would it not sound a little better," said 
 Mrs. C, "as your cousin proposes? — I really 
 did think that every thing which is told in 
 the Bible icas true. If every thing true were 
 told in Scripture, then, to use its own figura- 
 tive language, ' I suppose that even the world 
 itself could not contain the books that should 
 be written. 7 But there is nothing told, how- 
 ever true, unless it be to answer some wise 
 and necessary purpose. There is not one 
 word said to gratify idle curiosity, or to in- 
 crease mere worldly knowledge. You may 
 therefore very safely believe, that Paul's 
 preaching was not thrown away at Malta, 
 and that Publius and many of the Maltese 
 became good Christians, although the Bible 
 says not one word about the matter." 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 139 
 
 Mrs. C. was going on with her story, when 
 a preparatory hem from Emily indicated that 
 some unwilling subject was slowly finding its 
 way to her lips. 
 
 At length it came. — " Grandmamma," said 
 she, " a person once told me that the words 
 you have just repeated, — i The world itself 
 could not contain the books that should be 
 written,' &c. &c., were nonsense. Do you 
 think they are so ?" 
 
 " Before I reply, let me ask you, my child, 
 if you took the person's word for it, and be- 
 lieved that they were so ?" 
 
 " I did not exactly believe they were non- 
 sense," said Emily, blushing; "but I felt a 
 little sorry that while she was repeating them 
 they did not appear more like good sense." 
 
 "The person must have been an excellen' 
 critic, I should think, and very clever," said 
 Mrs. C. 
 
 " Yes, grandmamma, she is indeed very 
 clever." 
 
 " And very anxious to discover faults in the 
 Bible, is she not?" 
 
 " I do not know, grandmamma." 
 
 " Those who are not so, my child, would 
 never try to persuade themselves that the 
 
140 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 words you have just mentioned were non* 
 sense." 
 
 " But this person uses such beautiful lan- 
 guage herself, that the least fault would natu- 
 rally strike her." 
 
 " Her general manner of expressing herself 
 is indeed, my love, very attractive, for I sus- 
 pect who the person is : that could not, how- 
 ever, make her discover faults which do not 
 exist. Her language is richly stored with the 
 expressive idiom of her country, and therefore 
 very powerful and easy to be understood by 
 her compatriots ; and this should make her 
 more quick than others at comprehending the 
 idiomatic language of the Bible, which is so 
 admirably fitted to rouse reflection and atten- 
 tion in the thoughtless." 
 
 " Oh, indeed !" said Agnes, " her own lan- 
 guage is rousing enough ; I remember how 
 she made you start one day when you had 
 forgotten her orders in something she was 
 teaching you to draw. ' What have we here?' 
 cried she : l Oh, all ye powers of painting ! 
 behold the taste and talent displayed in colour- 
 ing the pale petals of a primrose with yellow 
 ochre ! Did any eye ever see so great a don- 
 key ? Why, child, if I had done this, I should 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 141 
 
 Have felt as if the whole world was blushing 
 for my stupidity.' " 
 
 " How cross that was !" said Henry ; c; Emily 
 is not half so great a donkey as she is herself; 
 for I know whom you mean very well, and I- 
 heard papa once say, she had not half an ounce 
 of common sense in her whole head. The 
 world may blush for her if it likes, but it will 
 never blush for any thing about my own 
 pigeon-pet sister," he added, throwing his arms 
 about her neck, and kissing her violently. 
 
 " Stop, stop, dear Henry I" cried Emily, 
 " you will certainly choke me. I do not re- 
 quire any sort of comfort ; I assure you I was 
 not in the least offended or annoyed by the 
 lady. I was accustomed to her manner of 
 speaking, and knew quite well what she meant." 
 
 " And what did she mean, my love ?" said 
 Mrs. C. 
 
 " Merely to tell me that I had done a dread- 
 fully stupid thing, and that was very true." 
 
 " There is no denying that," said her grand- 
 mother ; " but you have at present proved 
 yourself less stupid than this very clever lady." 
 
 " How ?" cried Henry : " Oh, I hope Emily 
 has proved herself more clever than the clever 
 iady ! But tell me howi' 
 
142 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " Why, she understood the lady when she 
 used a strong figure of speech, but the lady 
 could not understand St. John when, in the 
 fervour of affection for his divine Master, he 
 expressed himself after the same manner. I 
 think, Henry, even you might without much 
 difficulty understand his meaning." 
 
 " Yes, and so I think I do, grandmamma ; 
 I am sure St. John only meant to tell how 
 very, very many, what a great number of 
 things his Master had done. Am I right, 
 grandmamma ?" 
 
 " Quite right." 
 
 " Oh, joy! joy! — then, Emily, both you and 
 I are more clever than the clever lady." 
 
 "I never yet saw a caviller at the Bible 
 whose objections could not be refuted even by 
 the simple reasonings of a child. But if we 
 do not return to our poor friend Paul, we shall 
 be obliged to leave him until this day week, 
 and we have already kept him much too long 
 in Malta. We had better, therefore, proceed 
 with his history." 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 143 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAUI/S SUBSEQUENT TRAVELS, LABOURS, 
 AND DEATH. 
 
 " Having spent three months on the island, 
 the ship's crew again set sail for Italy, and 
 landing, after various stops, at Puteoli, Paul 
 and the other prisoners, escorted by Julius, 
 proceeded on their journey to Rome. The 
 Christians of that place had heard of his ap- 
 proach, and came to meet him, some thirty, 
 some fifty miles' distance from the town. 
 Their joy was great to see him ; and his at 
 meeting them was augmented by rinding that 
 they at present enjoyed so much more liberty 
 and comparative happiness than he had known 
 them to do before. They conducted him with 
 a sort of triumph into the city, where, on 
 their arrival, the other prisoners were shut up 
 in the public jail, while Paul, at the request of 
 Julius, now his steady friend, obtained leave 
 to stay in a private house, guarded only by 
 one soldier. 
 
144 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " The first act of Paul after he was settled 
 in this manner, was to summon the head3 of 
 the Jewish consistory, and acquaint them with 
 the cause and manner of his coming. lie 
 informed them, that although he had been 
 guilty of no violation either of the law or the 
 religion of his country, yet his brethren, after 
 various attempts to destroy him, had at length 
 delivered him up into the hands of the Roman 
 governors, who, rinding that he was innocent 
 of every crime, would have acquitted him at 
 once, but that, from the obstinacy of the Jews 
 in persecuting him, he was forced to appeal to 
 Cesar. 
 
 " He did not make this appeal, he said, with 
 the intention of complaining against his bre- 
 thren, but merely to get his own character 
 vindicated from the false charges brought 
 against him. He had, therefore, now sent for 
 them to declare in. their presence, that the 
 only cause why he was in bonds was his being 
 a Christian, and because he as such asserted 
 the truth of the resurrection of Christ ; •' and 
 yet,' said he, in his own simple style of rea- 
 soning, i the same is the hope of all true Is- 
 raelites. J 
 
 " His brethren then asked to be somewhat 
 
OF SAUL OP TARSUS. 145 
 
 better informed as to the faith he professed, 
 asserting that it was everywhere spoken 
 against ; and Paul, happy to have so good an 
 opportunity of declaring the truth, appointed 
 a day for complying with their request. At 
 this assembly he explained to them in full the 
 doctrines of his religion, its systematic con- 
 nexion and indissoluble union with their own ; 
 pointed out in Scripture all the promises and 
 predictions which had now been so clearly 
 fulfilled, or which were now before their own 
 eyes in the progress of fulfilment. 
 
 "Some were converted by his preaching, 
 but the greater part, to Paul's sorrow, refused 
 to believe. They always imagined that the 
 Messiah was to be an earthly prince, who 
 should bring their nation to great credit and 
 honour, and they would not give up the idea, 
 or consent to acknowledge any other ruler. 
 
 " Paul was, in consequence, obliged to ap- 
 prize them, that since they rejected the hope 
 of a better life and all the glad tidings which 
 the gospel offered them, he must henceforward 
 leave them and bestow his best attentions and 
 exertions on the Gentiles. 
 
 " Soon after this, he was called to his first 
 public examination before the emperor ; and 
 
146 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 though upon this trying occasion some friends 
 deserted him, being afraid to appear in his de- 
 fence, and though many enemies, both Jews 
 and Romans, surrounded him, all ready to ap- 
 prove of any decree of his wicked and unrea- 
 sonable judge, yet God stood his friend, and 
 by his all-sufficient strength frustrated their 
 attempts against his life ; and delivered him in 
 safety from their hands. 
 
 " After two years' confinement at Rome, 
 during which time he wrote many of his let- 
 ters to the Christian churches, his liberty was 
 restored, and he set out on new missions over 
 the world. He now travelled in every direc 
 tion, preached both in the east and in the west, 
 and spread the gospel over more than half the 
 surface of the globe. It is thought, and with 
 much appearance of reason, that the Isles of 
 the West into which he introduced the gos- 
 pel, as asserted by the most ancient writers, 
 were our own little British Isles : and every 
 British heart, I think, feels pleasure in the as- 
 sertion." I 
 
 " Oh ! how glad I am that Paul was in Ire- 
 land, as well as in that nasty little Malta. Are 
 you sure it is true, grandmamma ? I hope it 
 is quite certain." 
 
OP SAUL OF TARSUS. 147 
 
 " I cannot vouch for its certainty, Henry, as 
 there are very few written, though several oral 
 traditions on the subject. Many people, how- 
 ever, think that the wise and good person 
 who was so useful to Ireland, and who is still 
 almost worshipped by the natives under the 
 name of St. Patrick, was no other than St. 
 Paul." 
 
 " Oh how glad I am that anybody thinks 
 it !" said Henry ; " I am resolved to believe it, 
 and I shall now always like St. Patrick's day* 
 better than I ever did, and will never pass it 
 without wearing a shamrock." 
 
 " Grandmamma," said Emily, " I think our 
 little green island appears to have been pecu- 
 liarly favoured by Providence." 
 
 " Most persons, my love, think exactly the 
 same of their native country, for God is good 
 to every land. But, in truth, the British Isles 
 seem to have been favoured in some respects 
 above most others, particularly in being set 
 apart by God's peculiar providence as the 
 stronghold of Christianity in its most pure 
 and apostolic form. I wish you to be aware, 
 my children, that among all the other coun- 
 
 * The 17th of March. 
 M 
 
148 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 tries of the world no church has ever been 
 discovered so purely and entirely founded on 
 the word of God as that established here, and 
 now disseminated widely over the earth." 
 
 " And how, grandmamma, does it happen 
 to be more pure than others ?" 
 
 " Because those by whom it was first estab- 
 lished had sense enough, guided by Almighty 
 Wisdom, to cast away the errors and encroach- 
 ments of human invention, and to reject all 
 tradition, but not to discard any thing merely 
 because it had been sanctioned by the corrupt 
 church from which they separated. Looking 
 only to the written word of God for their 
 guidance ; and, where it was necessary, to 
 seek assistance as to the interpretation of any 
 of its doctrines or precepts, inquiring into 
 the practices and opinions of the earliest and 
 purest times, they built their fair and spotless 
 fabric on that foundation which never can be 
 shaken." 
 
 " How happy it seems that nothing was left 
 to tradition, and that enough was written in 
 the Bible to direct them in forming their new 
 church on the same model as those which had 
 been established by the apostles." 
 
 " Yes, Mary, that was indeed a great and 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 
 
 149 
 
 extraordinary blessing, to be attributed only to 
 God's special and particular providence. He 
 caused the servants whom he had chosen foi 
 the work, to write exactly what he saw expe- 
 dient for his purpose, neither more nor less." 
 
 " How many persons were employed in. 
 writing the New Testament, grandmamma V 
 
 " There were nine persons, Henry ; and we 
 should with gratitude reflect on the astonish- 
 ing circumstance of their all agreeing in the 
 same statement of facts and doctrines, although 
 they wrote in different places, and at different 
 times from each other. Paul had a principal 
 share in the work, and was made an instru- 
 ment of lasting and most extensive good to 
 mankind, being chosen to write fourteen 
 epistles. His visits and preaching would soon 
 have been forgotten by a thoughtless and un- 
 grateful world; the reports or traditions of 
 them might have been corrupted or lost, but 
 his written words will never fail." 
 
 " It is sad to think that even St. Paul, who 
 did so much good, should be forgotten," said 
 Mary. 
 
 " It is still more sad, my child, to think that 
 even our blessed Saviour, by whom alone we 
 may have life, might have been equally for- 
 
150 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 gotten, but for that gospel through which we 
 are enabled to look back on him, to retrace his 
 footsteps through the world, and to refresh 
 our memory as to all he did and suffered for 
 us. Here, in this blessed book, we have also 
 such strong examples of how others loved and 
 remembered him, as ought to put our feeble 
 services and fainter recollections to the blush." 
 
 " I wish we knew which of all his servants 
 remembered him best," said Henry. 
 
 " It would be a useless piece of knowledge, 
 since we are certain that they each remembered 
 him to their latest breath. It is, however, 
 known, that among them all, no one was more 
 faithfully or affectionately devoted to his ser- 
 vice than the apostle whose history we have 
 been recording, and whose life now draws 
 near to its close." 
 
 " Oh ! shall we hear nothing more about 
 his coming to Ireland ?" 
 
 " No, Henry ; I have said it is not fully as- 
 certained whether he ever came or not ; nor 
 can his footsteps be traced with any certainty 
 from the time of his quitting Rome after his 
 imprisonment, until his return there again in 
 the ninth year of Nero's reign. You may re- 
 member in Roman history, that this monster 
 
OF SAUL OF TARSUS. 151 
 
 set fire to his own metropolis, that he might 
 enjoy the sight of human suffering, and also 
 have an opportunity of charging the Christians 
 with the crime. The people, though well 
 aware that the charge was false, felt glad of 
 any pretext for persecuting a sect which they 
 abhorred : and nothing could be more dread- 
 ful than the cruelties now inflicted on their 
 victims. Paul, with many hundred fellow 
 sufferers, was thrown into prison, and only 
 taken thence to be led to execution. Baronius 
 tells us, that in the church of St. Mary, be- 
 yond the bridge in Rome, the pillars are yet 
 standing to which he was bound, where he 
 was barbarously scourged, before he was taken 
 from the town. He was marched into the 
 eountry, three miles from Rome, to a place 
 called the Aquae-Salviae : and on the way, by 
 the force of his example and preaching, he 
 made such a deep impression on the soldiers 
 by whom he was surrounded, that three of 
 them became his converts ; and a few days 
 after, on their refusing to renounce the Chris- 
 tian faith, they were also put to death, at the 
 inhuman emperor's command. 
 
 " Arrived at the place of execution, a block 
 was prepared for beheading Paul, since, as a 
 
152 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 Roman, he could not be deprived of life in 
 any more dishonourable manner ; and, after 
 a few moments of solemn preparation, he 
 stretched his exhausted frame upon the earth, 
 and cheerfully laid down his head, while the 
 practised executioner stood ready to sever it 
 from his body. The stroke fell — a single blow 
 was sufficient — his sufferings were not pro- 
 longed — his death was instantaneous : in a 
 moment his ransomed spirit mounted into 
 realms of joy, to reap a rich reward, and 
 dwell for ever in the presence of his God. 
 
 " Although we have already dwelt so long 
 upon the history of St. Paul, I think you will 
 all desire to know whatever can be learned 
 from authentic authors of his character and 
 personal appearance. He was, says Stack- 
 house, a laborious inquirer into truth, low, 
 and of slender stature ; his complexion was 
 fair, and his head small, with thick hair and 
 beard ; his countenance grave, his nose long 
 and gracefully formed, and his eyes carrying 
 great beauty and sweetness. As his make 
 was not athletic, so neither was his constitution 
 strong : of this, however, he never complained. 
 His patience under every varied kind of trial 
 was indeed remarkable. He seems to have 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 153 
 
 possessed a soul steeled with constancy and 
 resolution, whose courage was impenetrable, 
 and over which no temptation, either from the 
 hopes or fears of this life, could have the 
 slightest control. He had a clear and sound 
 judgment, a ready and retentive memory ; his 
 temperance was great, and his kindness and 
 charity were so admirable, as to make him 
 frequently toil with his own hands for the re- 
 lief of the distressed." 
 
 " How manly and courageous he seems to 
 have been," said Henry, after a little reflection : 
 "I think he was quite as clever as he was 
 good." 
 
 "And yet, Henry, when you are grown a 
 man, and have gone out into life, you will 
 hear the thoughtless and the wicked of the 
 world say, that it is only weak or silly people 
 who are followers of Christ. Do not forget, 
 then, that we have here a man of courageous 
 character, sound judgment and strong sense, 
 devoting his whole life to the service of the 
 gospel. You see him travelling from clime 
 to clime, enduring every species of fatigue, 
 mortincation, and hardship, sacrificing all the 
 early habits and long-indulged pleasures of 
 his life, and persisting in his newly-adopted 
 
154 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 course unchanged by scoffs or ridicule, unsub- 
 dued by want and suffering, undisturbed by 
 ingratitude, and undismayed by death. 
 
 " Such, through the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit, was Paul, the once cruel and implaca- 
 ble Saul of Tarsus. And, with this example 
 before him, let not any penitent sinner, blessed 
 as we all are with a promise of the same as- 
 sistance, despair of amendment, or doubt of 
 receiving pardon. 
 
 " We have now only to add, that he was 
 buried two miles from Rome, in the Via Os- 
 tiensis, and that over his grave was erected 
 by Constantine the Great a stately church, 
 adorned with a hundred columns of the most 
 beautiful workmanship, — the whole edifice 
 being ornamented in the most costly and mag- 
 nificent manner." 
 
 " But what good did that do to poor Saul 
 of Tarsus ?" said Henry. 
 
 " What good, you should rather say, would 
 it do to happy Saul ? None, my child, it is 
 true ; but it did good to others : it stood a 
 lasting monument of his conversion, and 
 seemed to say to all who entered, — ' Think of 
 the lowly tent-maker, the humbled, the con- 
 verted, and penitent Saul of Tarsus. Think 
 
OP SAUL OP TARSUS. 155 
 
 of his change of heart, his faith, his prayers, 
 his zeal, his fervent charity. Recollect his 
 constancy in suffering, his patient endurance 
 even nnto the end. O think of these things, 
 and be ye, one and all, like-minded with him.' 
 Yes, my boy, the last crumbling stone that 
 remains in that edifice should say to you and 
 to each rational creature that approaches it, — 
 ' Remember that here lies, honoured and re- 
 vered, the remains of one who, having been 
 dead in trespasses and sin, was yet raised, by 
 Christ our Lord, to life eternal. Enter, and 
 seek in prayer the same blessing. He obtained 
 it by repentance and faith. Do like him ; 
 fight the good fight of faith, run manfully the 
 race set before you, and doubt not, but earnestly 
 believe, that you shall obtain the same reward, 
 and be admitted to share with him in joys un- 
 speakable and full of glory." 
 
 As the party arose at the conclusion of the 
 evening, to retire to their respective apart- 
 ments, Mary's eyes became filled with tears at 
 the recollection that she was to lose her cous- 
 ins in the morning, and that their studies, 
 which they so greatly enjoyed together, and 
 especially their Sunday reading, must now for 
 
156 SAUL OF TARSUS. 
 
 a long time be pursued by them separately. 
 The regret was indeed mutual, but each en 
 deavoured to comfort the other with a hope 
 of meeting in the spring, when Mrs. T. prom- 
 ised to take her daughter on a visit to C 
 
 Hall. Here it was expected that all their 
 accustomed enjoyments would be renewed, 
 among which was reckoned the completion 
 of Mrs. C.'s first series of lives. And each of 
 the girls agreed to try who should obtain, 
 during the period of their separation, the 
 nicest collection of books to add to their ju- 
 venile library. 
 
DIALOGUE. 157 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A HAPPY FAMILY GROUP THE WISDOM OP 
 
 GOD IN. THE INSTITUTION OF THE SAB- 
 BATH. 
 
 On the first Sunday evening after their re- 
 turn home, Mrs. C, Emily, and Henry met 
 once more in their usual haunt, the waterfall 
 arbour, to enjoy an hour's retirement within 
 its pleasant shade. The young people had just 
 returned from a long walk, having been to 
 visit a pensioner, whom, to their great delight, 
 they found recovered from a dangerous illness 
 with which she had been attacked during their 
 absence. 
 
 They came back, therefore, in high spirits, 
 describing to Mrs. C. the happiness of the 
 good old woman's family at her restoration. 
 Panting with fatigue and pleasure, they all 
 sat down, well disposed to enjoy the quiet rest 
 and refreshing cookiess which awaited them 
 in their favourite retreat. 
 
158 DIALOGUE. 
 
 " How delightful it is to rest when one is 
 really tired !" exclaimed Emily. 
 
 " How cool and comfortable you appear, 
 dear grandmamma, while we are panting for 
 breath and gasping with heat." said Henry, as 
 they threw themselves upon their seats ; " but 
 now do tell me if you have been sitting here 
 in this solitary arbour, quite alone, ever since 
 we left you V 
 
 " I have been sitting here ever since, I ac- 
 knowledge, but neither solitary nor alone. I 
 have had several pleasant visiters, Henry, 
 since you have been with me." 
 
 " O who were they, grandmamma ? I 
 wish I had staid at home to have seen them. 
 I do so like pleasant visiters !" cried he, start- 
 ing to her side, forgetful of his fatigue. 
 
 "They probably would not have pleased 
 you, my child; so much as they did me ; for 
 the visiters I speak of were my own thoughts : 
 and I believe you must wait till you are as old 
 as I am before you can expect to find such 
 companions equally pleasant." 
 
 " Grandmamma," said he, after some mo- 
 ments' reflection, " I should 'like to hear what 
 sort of thoughts they were that seemed to you 
 
DIALOGUE. 159 
 
 such pleasant companions. I wonder whether 
 I should think them pleasant too." 
 
 " Well then, my love, just as you entered I 
 was indulging pretty much the same thought 
 as that which your sister at the moment ex- 
 pressed." 
 
 " What — that it is very delightful to rest 
 when one is tired! Well, I am sure I can 
 think that too !" 
 
 "I had been watching your poor friend 
 Drudger, the miller's horse, enjoying the res- 
 pite which he is allowed on this day from his 
 labour at the wheel, and lying at rest among 
 the farmer's herd of cows. He was stretched 
 upon the mossy soji, close by the river's bank, 
 with his eyes half-closed, and was basking 
 luxuriously in the sun. Like all the cattle 
 around him, he seemed to know no want ; or, 
 I should rather say, his state of ease and com- 
 fort appeared to afford him positive happiness. 
 While regarding them, I could not help re- 
 flecting how good that God must be who has 
 made the dumb creatures of the earth with 
 the capacity to feel pleasure, and who has pro 
 vided so largely for their enjoyment. Then 
 came another thought. Since God took care 
 to form them for enjoyment, and graciously 
 
160 DIALOGUE. 
 
 provided such means of comfort even for the 
 beasts that perish, will he not also be careful 
 for us, his rational creatures, whom he has 
 made to know and serve him ? Will he not 
 still more graciously supply our wants, and 
 provide' for our happiness, both here and in 
 that future world where we can do nothing 
 for ourselves ? He has formed me, I said to 
 myself, with the capability of loving him ; has* 
 made me desire to live in his presence, and to 
 enter into his rest. Unless, then, I swerve 
 from the appointed path, and wilfully wander 
 from his way, he will assuredly lead me also 
 to refreshing pastures, beside fountains of liv- 
 ing water, in. his own eternal kingdom." 
 
 " Well, grandmamma, though you think me 
 a silly boy sometimes, yet I can enjoy that 
 thought very much, and think it a very pleas- 
 ant one too ; so pray go on, and tell me what 
 you thought next." 
 
 « Why, I happened then to turn my eyes to 
 wards our poor old shepherd's cottage. I saw 
 its owner, and you may still see him, sitting 
 beneath that spreading oak, with his poor 
 blind wife, as usual, close by his side ; while 
 six helpless grandchildren, for whose support, 
 as well as hers, he toils incessantly through- 
 
DIALOGUE. 161 
 
 out the week, sported in childish happiness 
 around them. 
 
 " Their widowed mother, still bowed down 
 by sorrow and worn with constant labour, sat 
 at the other side, resting her head upon her 
 father's shoulder. A book was in her hand, 
 which I supposed to be the Bible, and from 
 which she appeared sometimes to read aloud. 
 At intervals, however, she laid it down, as she 
 and the old man gazed upon the youthful 
 group, who at one moment sat at their feet 
 listening to its contents, or at others sported at 
 some distance, while, probably, their mother 
 read those parts to which she thought it need- 
 less to call their attention. 
 
 " Having so often observed the same party 
 at work in the neighbouring factory, the little 
 children toiling to perform their daily allotted 
 task, and the father and daughter unceasingly 
 at labour to provide a supply of bread for all 
 their wants, I could not but rejoice to see them 
 now at rest ; nor could I fail to be struck with 
 the kind and provident wisdom of Him who 
 had ordained this cessation of labour once hi 
 every week, to let tired nature recruit and reno- 
 vate in the enjoyment of leisure and repose. 
 Then, again. I felt how sure it was that He 
 
162 DIALOGUE 
 
 who thus, with fatherly compassion, watches 
 over his creatures in this their appointed state 
 of trial, will, with the same continued tender- 
 ness, preserve them, and provide for their en- 
 joyment when present with him in the realms 
 of everlasting life." 
 
 " Grandmamma, it certainly was very good 
 of God to appoint a day of rest for poor peo- 
 ple, and for beasts, and for all the world ; but 
 I wonder he did not leave everybody to choose 
 his own Sabbath ; then each person would 
 have chosen the day when he was most tired, 
 and when rest would be most pleasant and 
 convenient to him." 
 
 " If you reflect a little, Henry, I fancy you 
 will find God's way in this matter, as in all 
 other things, wiser and better than your way, 
 or that of any other being. Suppose, for a 
 moment, that he had allowed all persons to 
 choose their own weekly day of rest, what 
 kind of a world should we have had to live in? 
 Do you think it would have been very orderly ?" 
 
 " How do you mean, grandmamma ?" 
 
 " You expect Lucas to send you home your 
 new suit of clothes to-morrow, do you not, 
 preparatory to our visiting Sir Robert and 
 Lady Onslow?" 
 
DIALOGUE. 163 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 " Suppose, then, that Lucas were to choose 
 to-morrow for his day of rest, and send you 
 word you could not have the clothes ?" 
 
 " Then I would take them from him, and 
 send them off to Tom's friend Mr. Plint/who 
 happens to be a much better tailor, and never 
 disappointed anybody." 
 
 "But the day might be his Sabbath also." 
 
 " Why, then, I must only wait for them till 
 Friday." 
 
 " So far so good ! and Friday we will say 
 was our appointed rest, and we could not stir 
 from home, so that would answer very well. 
 We would now suppose the clothes come, and 
 all ready on that night ; you might therefore 
 ring the bell, and tell the coachman to prepare 
 for a long journey the next morning, and bid 
 him have the carriage at the door as early as 
 you please." 
 
 " And 't please you, sir," said Emily, pre- 
 tending to touch her hat, and speaking so like 
 Thomas, the fat coachman, that Henry at first 
 thought he was in the room. " And 't please 
 you, sir, I can't go to-morrow ; it is to be my 
 Sabbath, sir ; and being the last day of the 
 week, sir, I can't, on no account at all, sir, 
 N 
 
164 DIALOGUE. 
 
 postpone it. I assure you, sir, to be obliging 
 to one person or other, I have put it off al- 
 ready, sir, and 't please you, to the very last 
 moment." 
 
 " Indeed, then, Mr. Coachman, it would not 
 please me at all," said Henry. "But how very 
 cross it would be of them all to fix their Sab 
 bath just on the days we wanted them." 
 
 " So everybody would think, and so every- 
 body would say ; and then, Henry, we should 
 have a fine world of quarrelling, and disput- 
 ing, and fighting, instead of spending our days 
 in harmony, and peace, and preparation for 
 another world, as God intended." 
 
 " Oh ! indeed I see, grandmamma, that 
 what I said was very foolish, and I will always 
 believe again that whatever God does is wiser 
 and better than any thing I could think of." 
 
 " If you feel persuaded of that truth, Henry, 
 you will be sure to live satisfied and contented 
 to the end of your existence. The belief that 
 God cannot err, and that whatever he ordains 
 must be right, is the true secret of happiness. 
 Trust me, my boy, the volatile inhabitants of 
 foreign countries, whom you have heard de- 
 scribed as laughing and dancing through the 
 whole of Sunday, and the thoughtless lovers 
 
DIALOGUE. . 165 
 
 of pleasure in our native land, who pass 
 through every day in the same giddy manner, 
 never experience so delightful a sensation of 
 happiness as those pious Christians who, obey- 
 ing their Master's will, separate themselves 
 from the vanities of life during that hallowed 
 day, and who seek only for the pleasures which 
 may he found in the enjoyments of their own 
 family circle, in the service of their fellow- 
 creatures, and in communion with their God." 
 
 " I wish," said Agnes, with deep reflection 
 in her countenance, " I wish I had been accus- 
 tomed from my infancy to observe Sundays 
 as you all do here. If that had been the case, 
 I should not now find it so difficult to remem- 
 ber the different things from which I ought to 
 refrain throughout that day." 
 
 "No, my child, you would probably long 
 ere this have learned to love and honour the 
 day as you ought, and to feel a sort of allow- 
 able pride in knowing that you were making 
 one in that countless host united over the 
 earth, who, though the world has been in ex- 
 istence nearly six thousand years, still take 
 delight in obeying an injunction given, we 
 have the best reason to believe, at the creation, 
 and are thus joined with their forefathers now 
 
166 DIALOGUE. 
 
 in heaven, who, by obedience to the same com- 
 mand, have handed down His name to future 
 times. 
 
 " A day of rest kept holy in every quarter 
 of the globe, when all faithful hearts are raised, 
 as it were, at the same moment to heaven, and 
 this great work brought about and continued 
 since the foundation of the world merely by 
 that first simple command, appears to me one 
 of the most sublime, as well as one of the 
 most beautiful events that can be conceived," 
 said Mrs. C. 
 
 " It is certainly very beautiful in idea," said 
 Agnes ; " but — but — " 
 
 " But what, my love ?" 
 
 " But yet I very often find it in reality very 
 dull and disagreeable. My French governess 
 used to laugh immoderately at the people of 
 this country- for thinking it necessary, as she 
 said they did, to put on long grave faces once 
 every week, and to carry them about from 
 Saturday night until Monday morning. She 
 declared she hated an English Sunday more 
 than any thing in the world, and she used to 
 ridicule everybody unmercifully for being so 
 dull and stupid on that day." 
 
 " The restrictions of the Sabbath, few and 
 
DIALOGUE. 167 
 
 gentle as they are, will ever make it appear a 
 dull and stupid day to those who do not love 
 God, or wish to keep his commandments," said 
 Mrs. 0. " But whether it be dull or not, the 
 Christian must obey his Maker's will. He 
 must from its very commencement, if he' be 
 really a Christian, turn away his foot from 
 following his own pleasure on that holy day. 
 His own words, his own ways, his own plea- 
 sures are all tending to sin ; he must, there- 
 fore, restrain himself in them all, trying to 
 preserve those about him, as far as he is able, 
 from what is evil, and endeavouring to pro- 
 mote within himself and others every feeling* 
 that is pious, charitable, thankful, and con- 
 tented. If you do this, my beloved children, 
 in submission to your heavenly Father's will, 
 and despise the scoffs of the world, however 
 dull or stupid the day may at first appear, you 
 may rely on his promised reward." 
 
 " What is that, grandmamma?" said Henry. 
 
 " A blessing from above, which will in time 
 make the observance of the day delightful to 
 you, and which will lead you onward in the 
 path of virtue until you shall become, like 
 Jacob, the favoured and happy servant of 
 God" 
 
168 DIALOGUE. 
 
 "And is there such a promise in Scripture?" 
 asked Agnes. 
 
 " Can any one present tell Agnes where such 
 a promise is to be found ?" 
 
 " I can," said Emily. " It is in the 58th 
 chapter of Isaiah, and -the last two verses. I 
 taught it to Henry last Sunday." 
 
 " Then you may call on him to repeat it 
 now," said Mrs. C. 
 
 " But may I punish either of the girls who 
 cannot say it first, and put them down to the 
 bottom of the class, the way you do the naughty 
 little children at your school ?" said Henry. 
 
 " I am sure, Henry, I ought to be put down," 
 said Agnes, blushing deeply ; " since I do not 
 know even one word of any such promise." 
 
 " My dear girl, you deserve no blame in the 
 matter," said Mrs. C. " Henry could not put 
 you to the bottom of his class for not knowing 
 what you have never been taught. Those 
 who have learned it, and who pay no attention 
 to the command, are they who merit punish- 
 ment. Next Sunday evening I shall, how- 
 ever, expect that you too, my love, will be 
 able to repeat the verses, and that you will try 
 with Emily which can give Henry the best 
 explanation of them." 
 
DIALOGUE. 169 
 
 The young people then requested to know 
 which apostle's life they were to have for this 
 evening's reading; and Mrs. C, having col- 
 lected her papers, was preparing to answer the 
 question, when Henry challenged his sister 
 and cousin to guess what martyrdom she was 
 about to commence. Henry, to set them the 
 example, began immediately to name several 
 persons of whom he remembered something 
 in the Bible. The girls too were nothing loath : 
 they also tried, but failing in their attempts, 
 and Henry making them all laugh by guess- 
 ing persons who never were either apostles or 
 martyrs, the girls at length said it would be 
 wiser to let their grandmother put the matter 
 out of doubt, which she immediately did by 
 commencing 
 
170 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF ANDREW 
 THE FISHER. 
 
 " When brothers part for manhood's race, 
 What gift may not endearing prove, 
 To keep fond memory in her place, 
 And certify a brother's love ? 
 
 Whoe'er thou art wouldst grave thy name 
 
 Deeply within a brother's heart, 
 Look on this saint, and learn to frame 
 
 Thy love-charm with true Christian art. 
 
 Christian "Year. 
 
 " The land of Palestine, before the birth of 
 our blessed Saviour, was divided into three 
 district provinces, Galilee, Judea, and Sama- 
 ria. The first was highly favoured, even be- 
 yond the other two, for loveliness of country, 
 fertility of soil, and salubrity of climate. These 
 advantages, however, so far from making its 
 early inhabitants grateful and obedient to Him 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 171 
 
 who had bestowed on them so many blessings, 
 rather led to a careless forgetfulness of his 
 will. 
 
 "After various punishments designed in 
 mercy to remind them of their duty, and to 
 bring them back into the paths of virtue, they 
 were threatened with a dreadful vengeance 
 unless they should repent and turn from their 
 evil ways : and on their continued disobe- 
 dience, their land was given up to the Assy- 
 rians, who were suffered to subdue it, and to 
 treat them with such severity as their crimes 
 deserved. 
 
 " Then, when it was too late, they lamented 
 their ingratitude and mourned for their sin ; 
 they cried unto the Lord in their distress, and 
 poured out their prayer when his chastening 
 was upon them. But though he heard and 
 pitied their affliction, he knew it to be needful 
 for them. The Assyrians were suffered to be- 
 come their masters, and were made the instru- 
 ments of their punishment. 
 
 " Nevertheless, God was not forgetful of his 
 cmidren, although they had so long forgotten 
 him. He could not indeed, without changing 
 the course of events which his providence had 
 ordered, and perhaps oppressing others who 
 O 
 
172 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 were less guilty, alter the lot which they had 
 brought upon themselves ; but he felt the 
 most tender compassion for their affliction, 
 and sent the prophet Isaiah, his chosen and 
 faithful servant, to comfort them with a prom- 
 ise, that however poor or miserable their cir- 
 cumstances now might be, although they 
 walked for the present in darkness and dwelt 
 under oppression, yet they should not always 
 be forgotten : the Messiah should come to be 
 their deliverer, and by his Spirit, doctrines, 
 and teaching, should enlighten, comfort, and 
 civilize their whole country. 
 
 *" Having been the first among the nations 
 to share in the calamities brought on by the 
 invasion of the Assyrians, they should be the 
 first, Isaiah said, to enjoy the prerogative of 
 their blessed Saviour's appearance, and should 
 have cause one day to sing With hymns of joy, 
 1 Behold, the people that walked in darkness 
 have seen a great light ! they that dwell in 
 the land of the shadow of death, upon them 
 hath the light shined.' " 
 
 "Grandmamma," said Henry, hesitating 
 from the fear that he was going to say some- 
 thing wrong, " I do not think such a promise 
 would have given me much comfort ; it was 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 173 
 
 not, you know, to be fulfilled for such a long 
 time." 
 
 "Those who are at the height of happi- 
 ness, Henry, can judge very little what will 
 give comfort to the miserable,", said Mrs. C. 
 " Though you seem to despise the promise, 
 yet the Galileans, humbled and subdued by 
 their sufferings, received it with joy. Perceiv- 
 ing from it that there was kindness in reserve 
 for their children, they understood that they 
 could not themselves be utterly forsaken, and 
 believed that even for them, sinful as they had 
 been, there was still mercy reserved in a better 
 world. I, Henry, can very easily imagine the 
 comfort which the Galileans must have re- 
 ceived from the message of Isaiah. I, even 
 at this moment, experience a consolation 
 greatly resembling what they must hav<? de- 
 rived from it." 
 
 " What can that be, grandmamma ?" 
 " I live, my child, in a country, and at a 
 period, when the land I love and the faith I 
 profess are subjected to severe trials. A 
 host of the Assyrians, to punish our strange 
 forgetfulness of God, have been permitted to 
 assail our religion, threatening to lay it even 
 with the dust. But we have the sur* word 
 
174 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 of promise that it shall not fall, since it is 
 founded on the Rock of ages. 
 
 " The coming-in of various prophecies con- 
 cerning its present state of trial and the final 
 downfall of its enemies give me the most com- 
 fortable hope, that although I may probably 
 see Avars and troubles during my own short 
 day of life, yet that God has a blessing m 
 store for the days when I shall be at rest, and 
 when you, my children, will, I trust, see peace 
 and prosperity in your native land, and bro- 
 therly love and Christian fellowship among 
 your countrymen. Such, too, I should hope, 
 may have been the comfortable expectation of 
 the Galileans, whom we must now, however, 
 leave in their darkness and sorr.ow, and hasten 
 forward to that moment when their glory 
 should appear, and when the day-spring from 
 on high should visit them. 
 
 K In the province of Galilee there is an ex- 
 panse of water, called, hi the time of our Sa- 
 viour, the lake of Genesareth, which, besides 
 adorning and refreshing the country, brought 
 many blessings to the surrounding neighbour- 
 hood. It is hi length one hundred furlongs, 
 and in breadth forty. Its waters are pure and 
 clear, sweet and wholesome : it is stored with 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 175 
 
 several kinds of fish, different from those of 
 other seas, and its banks, generally speaking. 
 are no less favoured than its waters. Perhaps 
 one of the earliest settlements made upon its 
 shore was a small bethsaida or fishing-house, 
 which stood at the north-eastern extremity, 
 just where the river Jordan falls into the lake. 
 This shelter had been at first erected for the 
 convenience of those who obtained their live- 
 lihood by fishing. But from a single house it 
 had soon grown into a pleasant village, which 
 retained the same name, and in time it became 
 a famous and an honoured city, whose site will 
 be respected while the world shall last. 
 
 " As fishing was the staple trade of the 
 place, its inhabitants were of course chiefly 
 composed of fishermen ; and among them was 
 a man called Jon a, remarkable for his having 
 been blessed with two sons whom Providence 
 had destined to distinguished honours, and 
 who were highly spoken of for virtuous con- 
 duct, industry, and attachment to each other. 
 They were brought up to the same trade 
 with their father, and pursued his business 
 until well advanced in life. At last, hearing 
 a strange rumour that a person called John 
 Baptist had appeared in Galilee, urging the 
 
176 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 Jews to repentance and reformation of life, 
 and declaring that the Messiah, whose descent 
 had been so long foretold, was now really at 
 hand, and was coming to dwell among them, 
 the brothers felt desirous to learn if all that 
 report had stated of this extraordinary person 
 was true. 
 
 "Andrew, the youngest of the two, who 
 could probably be best spared from their ne- 
 cessary avocations, immediately left his busi- 
 ness and went into the adjoining wilderness, 
 where he was told the holy man resided, to 
 hear whatever could be learned on this mo- 
 mentous subject. 
 
 " He found the Baptist standing by the river 
 Jordan, clothed in sackcloth, and having a 
 leathern girdle about his loins. Careless of all 
 the comforts and conveniences^ life, he stood 
 teaching and baptizing the multitude, intent 
 only on preparing their minds to receive and 
 obey the coming Saviour, declaring to them, 
 as the prophet Isaiah had expressed it, ' the 
 acceptable year of the Lord, preparing his 
 way, and making his path straight.' 
 
 " One day, while Andrew was standing by 
 the Baptist, attending to his lectures on the 
 river's bank, a stranger of mild, dignified, and 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 177 
 
 holy appearance, drew nigh. On his approach, 
 John immediately announced that this was He 
 of whom he had been speaking, the Messiah 
 whom they all so long desired to see, c the 
 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of 
 the world.' 
 
 "On receiving this information, Andrew 
 and another of John's disciples watched the 
 stranger as he passed by, and went after him 
 at an humble distance. But he, knowing who 
 it was that followed him, turned about, and 
 mildly said to them, c What seek ye V Taken 
 by surprise, and unprepared to give a direct 
 answer, they replied to the question by asking 
 another, c Master, wh ere d wellest thou V Then 
 Jesus kindly invited them to come with him 
 and see. And they went and saw where he 
 dwelt, and abode with him the whole day, 
 conferring with him and receiving his instruc- 
 tions until their faith in his being the Messiah 
 was fully confirmed. 
 
 '•Thus persuaded, Andrew immediately 
 hastened back to tell his family the joyful 
 news ; and meeting first with his beloved 
 brother Simon, he exclaimed, ' We have found 
 the Messiah ! the Christ !' and, without loss 
 of time, brought him to the place where he 
 
178 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 had himself seen the Lord, that he also might 
 have the advantage of seeing and conversing 
 with him. Then both remained with him for 
 a short season. Jesus did* not, however, at 
 that time think fit to desire their stay: but 
 after a conference with Peter, which will be 
 more properly related in that apostle's Life, 
 he suffered the brothers to return home, where 
 they continued to pursue their humble occu- 
 pation, rejoicing that light had at last risen 
 on their country, and that the yoke of bond- 
 age, of cruelty, and oppression was now to be 
 removed. Yet they knew not exactly how 
 this was to be brought about, and probably 
 still expected, like the rest of their nation, that 
 Christ would prove himself an earthly prince, 
 a mighty warrior, who should lead them all 
 to battle, and teach them to subdue their ene- 
 mies by force of arms. 
 
 " In this uncertain state of expectation they 
 remained for upwards of a year, when one 
 day as the two brethren were casting their 
 nets into the lake, Jesus drew nigh and came 
 to them on the shore, speaking to them in 
 these impressive words : ' Come ye after me, 
 and I will make you to become fishers of 
 men.' " 
 
OP ANDREW THE FISHER. 179 
 
 " Grandmamma," said Henry, " do stop for 
 a few minutes, and let me ask you one ques- 
 tion. Why did Jesus Christ choose such very 
 poor, mean persons to be his apostles and ser- 
 vants ? I think, if I had been in his place, I 
 should have chosen the cleverest, the wisest, 
 and most learned people I could have found to 
 preach my gospel ; and you know he might 
 have chosen any person he pleased. I wonder 
 he did not do so." 
 
 "Had your or any other human wisdom 
 been employed to manage the business, Henry, 
 I am sure quite different measures would have 
 been adopted. The best educated men, the 
 greatest orators, and the most subtle arguers 
 would certainly have been selected to reason 
 with their stubborn fellow-creatures, and bring 
 them to an acknowledgment of the truth." 
 
 " Yes, indeed, grandmamma, that is exactly 
 what I should have done ; and then, you 
 know, they would immediately have silenced 
 everybody, and been able to overcome even the 
 philosophers and learned Rabbins, who were 
 so fond of disputing and arguing with them. 
 I wonder why such people were not chosen." 
 
 " I will tell you why, Henry. Our Saviour 
 knew that in after-ages, when men would by 
 
180 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 degrees forget the event of his descent, and all 
 the wonderful circumstances of his residence 
 on earth, doubters and cavillers would arise, 
 who, growing tired of the restraints of religion, 
 would say that those wise and learned per- 
 sons had silenced everybody by subtlety of 
 argument, and not by force of truth, and that 
 they had taught the world a cunningly-devised 
 fable of their own invention." 
 
 " Ah !" said Agnes, " many simple and well- 
 mtentioned persons might then have been in- 
 duced to credit what they said, not knowing 
 how to contradict the assertion." 
 
 " But now," said Emily, " we could all give 
 an answer to such objectors : even I could tell 
 them that a set of poor ignorant fishermen, 
 who knew neither how to write nor read, could 
 not have invented such a wonderful and beau- 
 tiful story." 
 
 " And even if they had," said Mrs. C, " they 
 could never have persuaded the world to be- 
 lieve that it was true, when everybody around 
 them could have stood up and told them it 
 was false, and that no such transactions had 
 happened in the country." 
 
 " Oh !" said Agnes, " if the apostles had 
 only been telling falsehoods, Stephen and 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 181 
 
 Paul, whose histories show that they were 
 killed merely for insisting on the truth of what 
 they said, would soon have recalled their 
 words, and have saved their lives by acknow- 
 ledging the cheat." 
 
 u . They would, indeed, my dear Agnes : in- 
 stead of which, you will find, when you have 
 read each apostle's Life, that not one among 
 the whole company ever varied or drew back 
 in the statement of their story; but that they 
 all persevered in it without faltering, through 
 poverty, suffering, agony, and torture, even to 
 their death." 
 
 " That reminds me of some lines of Dryden, 
 which you once made me get by heart, grand- 
 mamma," said Emily ; and being asked to re- 
 peat them, she readily gave the following quo- 
 tation : — 
 
 " Whence, but from heaven, should men unskilled in arts, 
 In different ages born, in different parts, 
 Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why, 
 Should they conspire to cheat us with a lie 1 
 Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice : 
 Starving their gains, and martyrdom their price. 
 
 ' : The lines are indeed very applicable," said 
 Mrs, C, "and bring to my mind an anecdote 
 which bears on the same point. 
 
L82 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " There was once a great philosopher, called 
 Celsus, who, thinking himself very wise, like 
 you, Henry, objected that the apostles were a 
 set of mean illiterate mechanics, sorry mari- 
 ners and fishermen, who were not fit or proper 
 persons to teach the doctrines of a sublime re- 
 ligion. But Origen, a wiser man than he, 
 replied to him, l If such persons, with uncon- 
 trolled success, prevailed over the whole 
 learned world, if they obliged men to credit 
 and obey their simple word, conquering by 
 mere force of truth those who had the greatest 
 abilities and the most inveterate prejudices 
 against them, then it was a clear proof that 
 they spoke and acted by divine inspiration. I 
 confidently believe,' continued Origen, 'that 
 the holy Jesus made choice of such preachers 
 on purpose to make it clear to every under- 
 standing that there was no art or design in 
 what they said, but that they preached from 
 facts, and had the power and spirit of God 
 going along with them in all they taught.'" 
 
 " I like Origen very much," said Henry. 
 "He was a great deal wiser than Celsus, I 
 think, and I am sure he spoke out boldly and 
 courageously, just the way papa would have 
 done, if he had been there. Will you now 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 183 
 
 grandmamma, let us hear what Andrew and 
 Peter did when our Saviour desired them tc> 
 follow him ?" 
 
 " They listened to the call with humble and 
 obedient hearts,' 1 said Mrs. C. ; " and in the 
 next chapter we shall hear how they acted." 
 
184 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF ANDREW, 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 "Although the apostles could not, at the 
 moment, understand what our Saviour meant 
 by saying he would make them to become 
 fishers of men, yet they did not hesitate to 
 obey his call." 
 
 "And what did he mean, grandmamma? 
 for I cannot guess." 
 
 " He meant that the apostles should have 
 power to draw away the souls of men from 
 the darkness of error into the light of truth, 
 just as they had hitherto drawn fishes upon 
 land from the depths of the sea. But whether 
 the brothers comprehended the full meaning 
 of the words, or whether they conceived from 
 them, as some imagined, that they were now 
 to be engaged in warfare against their ene- 
 mies, they did not stop to parley on the sub- 
 ject, but immediately forsook their nets, left 
 all, and followed their Master. 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 185 
 
 " From that time Andrew continued a con- 
 stant attendant on our Saviour's person, and 
 was soon afterward called to all the offices 
 and honours of the apostolate. Like the 
 other apostles, he received power to cast out 
 unclean spirits, to heal all manner of sickness 
 and disease among the people, and was ap- 
 pointed to go forth with the rest to preach the 
 gospel to mankind. 
 
 " There is not, however, great mention 
 made of him any more than of the other dis- 
 ciples during the lifetime of his Master, and 
 it is not until after the Ascension that we 
 know any thing of his particular history ; nor 
 are the circumstances with which we are 
 made acquainted, until near the period of his 
 death, so copious or interesting as those which 
 we shall have to relate of his brother. 
 
 "It is generally affirmed by the ancients 
 that the apostles were guided by the Holy 
 Spirit to draw lots for which parts of the 
 world they should separately take as the fields 
 in which they were to labour. In this divi- 
 sion Andrew had Scythia and its neighbour- 
 ing countries allotted as his province. First, 
 he travelled into Cappadocia, Galatia, and 
 Bithynia, passing along the Euxine Sea until 
 
186 L1FR AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 he arrived at the innermost solitudes of Scy- 
 thia, where he met with many Jews and con- 
 verts. Returning, he afterward came to 
 Nice, preaching and working miracles with 
 great success." 
 
 " Ah, grandmamma," said Henry, " I wish 
 he had been at Nice when you were there. He 
 would have taught those nasty Douaniers bet- 
 ter than to let them search your carriage and 
 take away your Bible and prayer-book, for 
 fear you should use them to make converts in 
 the town." 
 
 " It was at Nice in Piedmont that this took 
 place, Henry : the Nice now spoken of was 
 in Bithynia. The religion taught by Andrew 
 must, however, have been strangely perverted 
 before such acts of bigotry could have been 
 allowed in any part of the globe : but I trust 
 the day is coming when the pure faith will 
 rise again in Piedmont, and wherever else 
 it has been perverted throughout the whole 
 world. 
 
 " It would be needless to recount the nu- 
 merous places which were visited by Andrew 
 after his departure from Nice, or the difficul- 
 ties, dangers, and discouragements he en- 
 countered in them all ; but he still went on 
 
OP ANDREW THE FISHER. 187 
 
 doing his Master's work according to his 
 will. 
 
 " At one place he met with a piece of un- 
 expected good fortune, which made him very 
 happy. Having reached the city of Sinope, 
 situated on the Euxine Sea, and famous, as 
 you, I am sure, remember, Emily, both for the 
 birth and burial of the great king Mithridates, 
 he was passing along the streets intent on the 
 business of his calling, when he was met by 
 his beloved brother Simon, whom he could 
 not have confidently reckoned upon ever again 
 beholding, and who was equally overjoyed 
 with himself at the meeting. 
 
 "Here they remained for a considerable 
 time, pursuing their great work together with 
 constancy and success. On their departure 
 the inhabitants testified their affectionate re- 
 membrance of the brothers by preserving and 
 exhibiting to a late period the two chairs, 
 made of white stone, on which they used to 
 sit while teaching the people ; but their bre- 
 thren the Jews, who were the chief inhabiters 
 of the town, became exasperated against the 
 apostles, and having chased Peter from the 
 place, plotted to burn the house where Andrew 
 resided. 
 
188 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 "Failing in this, they seized and treated 
 him with such savage cruelty as is dreadful 
 to relate or think of. They flung him on the 
 ground, stamped upon him with their feet, 
 dragged him along the earth from street to 
 street, some beating him with heavy clubs, 
 some pelting him with stones, and others, yet 
 more savage, tearing the flesh from his bones 
 with their teeth. 
 
 " Convinced that they had despatched him, 
 they cast him out of the city to be devoured 
 by dogs. Their astonishment was however 
 great, to see him a short time after walking 
 publicly about the town, fearless of further 
 violence, and performing several miracles of 
 healing among the people, which induced 
 them to suppose that he had been himself 
 miraculously restored to life : whether that 
 was really the case or not has not been ascer- 
 tained.* The belief, however, led the people 
 to a better feeling towards him, and enabled 
 him to make several converts among these 
 his bitterest enemies, before he departed from 
 their country." 
 
 " I would not have staid one instant among 
 them," said Henry, " if I had been he." 
 
 * 'Stackhouse. 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 1&9 
 
 "Then, my boy, you would have lost a 
 noble opportunity of proving that Christian 
 principles endue the soul with more strength 
 and courage, more brotherly love, and truer 
 feelings of charitable forgiveness than any 
 other principle on earth." 
 
 " His return among them," said Emily, 
 -" was indeed a strong proof of courage and 
 forgiveness ; but in going, he probably knew 
 that such conduct would have the best chance 
 of softening their hearts towards him, and 
 making them listen to the truth. But who, 
 except a Christian, would have voluntarily 
 exposed himself to such treatment again ?" 
 
 " And all," rejoined Agnes, " to do good to 
 such wicked wretches. Even pagans will, I 
 know, endanger their lives for their friends ; 
 but none except Christians would, I believe, 
 run such risks for their enemies." 
 
 " That is something like what St. Paul said 
 to the Romans," said Emily. u 'Scarcely for 
 a righteous man will one die, yet peradven-. 
 ture, for a good man, some would even dare 
 to die.' " 
 
 " But Christ," rejoined Mrs. C, " proved his 
 love towards us, in that, while we were yet 
 sinners and enemies, he died for us : and fol- 
 
190 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 lowing his example, every good Christian 
 would willingly hazard the sacrifice of his 
 own life when by so doing he could save an 
 immortal soul. Such was at least the effect 
 of his blessed example on Andrew : notwith- 
 standing all he had already endured, fearing 
 neither death nor suffering in any shape in 
 which it could present itself, he went from 
 place to place, and country to country, among 
 people the most barbarous and untractable, 
 trying to teach men how little value should 
 be set on this vain life, and endeavouring to 
 win over their faith and gratitude for that 
 atoning sacrifice which was to purchase for 
 them a life of immortality. 
 
 " The places which he visited, as well as 
 the dangers and fatigues he encountered dur- 
 ing many following years, are much too nu- 
 merous to mention : we shall only remark, 
 that he had at last the satisfaction of being 
 able to revisit Sinope, to encourage and con- 
 firm the Christians whom he had left there, 
 and whom he still found firm in the faith he 
 had taught them. 
 
 " Having more fully established their church, 
 and appointed Philologus, formerly one of St. 
 Paul's disciples bishop of the city, he took 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 191 
 
 leave of all his friends there ancTdeparted for 
 a town at some distance, where he founded 
 another very flourishing church ; and meeting 
 with Stachys, another of St. Paul's disciples, 
 whom that apostle calls his beloved Stachys, 
 he ordairied him first bishop of the place. 
 The name of the place was Byzantium." 
 
 " Byzantium, Emily ! I do not remember 
 that name in my geography, but you remem- 
 ber every place; do show it to me on the 
 map, and tell me if it was remarkable, like 
 Sin ope, for the birth and burial of a great 
 king, or for any thing else that you could tell 
 me." 
 
 " Come here," said his sister, " and I will 
 show it to you, standing on the western shore 
 of the Bosphorus, in the most lovely situation 
 possible. I wish we had a clear view of it, 
 Henry ; for it is said by all travellers to be the 
 most beautiful city in the whole world." 
 
 " Dear me, I wish we could see it !" said 
 Henry; "but now what else can you tell 
 about it ?" 
 
 " It was remarkable for several great events, 
 and has been rendered more famous by one 
 in particular, than it could ever have been by 
 the birth or burial of any king." 
 
192 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 "What was that, Emily?" 
 
 " The birth of a great eagle." 
 
 " An eagle, Emily ! O do tell me all about 
 it," said he, knocking his feet together with 
 even more than his usual eagerness. " Emily, 
 why do you stop ? Will you, grandmamma, 
 tell it to me? I love to hear remarkable 
 events, especially about great eagles, and great 
 kings, and things of that kind." 
 
 " If you loved history as much as your sis- 
 ter does, Henry, you would yourself be able 
 to tell others what you are now so anxious to 
 be told. You would have read in the history 
 of Rome, that the Emperor Constantine the 
 Great had once made choice of a place on 
 the eastern shore of the Hellespont, where he 
 intended to build a superb town, which should 
 rival all the cities of the East. He had 
 marked the spot, and stretched out the lines 
 which were to limit its dimensions, when an 
 eagle, supposed to be one from Byzantium, 
 happening to catch up, or probably getting 
 entansfled in the cords used for the measure- 
 ment, rose with them into the air, and flying 
 across the strait, dropped them on the oppo- 
 site shore in the midst of her own city. The 
 emperor, conceiving that this was an omen 
 
OF ANDREW THE FI SPIER. 
 
 193 
 
 directing him to make choice of that piace, 
 immediately resolved to fix his residence 
 there. He found that nature had furnished it 
 with all the conveniences and requisites for 
 an imperial city. It was situated on an im- 
 mense plain, which rose gently from "the 
 water's edge, commanded a view of the Hel- 
 lespont, and of the finest harbour in the 
 world, where twelve hundred ships could ride 
 with perfect ease and safety. Besides this, 
 it could hold under control the trade both 
 of the Euxine and Mediterranean seas ; and, 
 what was better still, it enjoyed all the ad- 
 vantages of a most delicious and salubrious 
 climate. 
 
 " Constantine, therefore, set about beautify- 
 ing the place with all possible speed, adorning 
 it with numberless superb edifices, churches, 
 temples, and theatres : and having rendered 
 it equal to all that his own magnificent ima- 
 gination could conceive, he called it New 
 Rome, which name he afterward changed to 
 Constantinople, in honour of himself. When 
 all was complete, he dedicated his new me- 
 tropolis, in the most solemn manner, to One 
 of whom he once knew but very little." 
 
 (l Who was that, grandmamma T 
 
194 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 " To the God of the martyrs. Constantine 
 had heard of Jesus Christ and his disciples : 
 the circumstances of whose holy lives and 
 cruel martyrdom could not, in those early 
 times, be contradicted. To this divine reli- 
 gion he became himself a convert, and claim- 
 ing the Saviour as the object of his own wor- 
 ship, he dedicated his new town to the God 
 of the martyrs, whose followers now peopled 
 the entire East, outnumbering those of every 
 other religion in those parts. By this we 
 may judge, Henry, of the influence which 
 these simple and ignorant fishermen had ob- 
 tained, through the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit, over the minds of men. 
 
 " Although the number of Christians at the 
 era of this remarkable dedication was so im- 
 mense, there had not elapsed more than two 
 hundred and fifty years between that period 
 and the time to which we must now hasten 
 back, when Andrew consecrated to God the 
 first Christian church in the same place. 
 
 " Having fully achieved that undertaking, 
 we are told by the best and most ancient au- 
 thorities that he was banished from the city 
 by the government, and obliged to fly to 
 Argyropolis, a place in the neighbourhood, 
 
OP ANDREW THE FISHER. 195 
 
 where the people gladly received him, and 
 where he remained for two years, preaching 
 the gospel with great comfort and success. 
 
 " After this, he traversed Thrace, Mace- 
 donia, Thessaly, Achaia, and Epirus, in all 
 which places he propagated the religion of 
 Christ, confirming the doctrines he taught 
 with great signs and wonders. 
 
 " At length he arrived at Patrse, a city of 
 Achaia, where iEgeas, the proconsul of that 
 province, a very wicked man, became his de- 
 cided enemy. That person having come to 
 Patrse, when making the rounds of his office, 
 observed that multitudes had turned away 
 from paganism to embrace the doctrines of 
 Christianity. Enraged at this circumstance, 
 he endeavoured by every art, both of favour 
 and of cruelty, to bring the people back to his 
 own idolatrous worship ; but he found them 
 steadfast and immoveable in the faith of 
 Christ. 
 
 " Anxious for his salvation in common with 
 that of all mankind, our apostle addressed 
 him, as he had done his other converts, mildly 
 and calmly acquainting him with that religion 
 through which he might attain everlasting 
 life. But the proconsul derided him as an 
 
196 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 impostor, a propagator of an odious supersti- 
 tion, whose Author, he reminded him, had 
 been ignominiously put to death by the Jews 
 upon a cross. To this opprobrious speech 
 JEgeas added, that if he did not immediately 
 renounce Christianity, and sacrifice to the 
 gods, he would make him suffer on the same 
 vile instrument of torture. 
 
 " When the proconsul ceased speaking, 
 Andrew mildly replied, that he did constantly 
 sacrifice to the only true and holy Being who 
 had a right to demand such offerings at his 
 hands. He duly observed that solemn sacri- 
 ficial rite which had been appointed by his 
 Saviour on the night before his death: he 
 sacrificed also to him every sinful and im- 
 proper inclination of his heart ; and he was 
 now, still further, ready to offer up his life in 
 vindication of his Master's honour, and in 
 proof that he was indeed the Saviour and 
 Redeemer of mankind. 
 
 "iEgeas listened while he spoke, but he 
 heard him unmoved. No feeling was stirred 
 within him, except that of anger ; and he 
 immediately ordered the apcstle to be hurried 
 off to prison. 
 
 " The people, to whom Andrew was now 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 197 
 
 very dear, alarmed and enraged at his seizure, 
 broke into open mutiny, and would have res- 
 cued him at every hazard ; but the apostle 
 himself persuaded them to desist, and entreated 
 them to imitate on this and every other occa- 
 sion the mild and patient conduct of their 
 meek and lowly Saviour. 
 
 " On the following morning he was brought 
 before the proconsul, who now tried a differ- 
 ent plan, endeavouring calmly to reason with 
 him, arguing that he ought not thus foolishly 
 to throw his life away to no good end, when 
 he might, by renouncing his creed, live with 
 him and enjoy the pleasures of the world the 
 remainder of his days. 
 
 " ' That could be only for a few short years 
 at best,' replied the apostle ; ' but if you will 
 renounce your idols, and heartily embrace the 
 Christian faith, you shall live with me for 
 ever and ever in the kingdom of our Father, 
 enjoying such felicity as " eye hath not seen, 
 nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the 
 heart of man to conceive." Why,' added the 
 apostle with affectionate energy, 'why will 
 you not open your heart to receive this 
 blessed religion, which I have preached with 
 so much success among your countrymen; 
 
198 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 and from which they have derived such con- 
 solation?' 
 
 " ' The reason,' replied the cold-hearted 
 JEgeas, ' why I have been hitherto so urgent 
 with you to renounce the Christian faith, and 
 to sacrifice to our gods, is, that those whom 
 you have everywhere seduced might see their 
 folly in having embraced your mode of wor- 
 ship, and so be brought back to that ancient 
 religion which you have made them forsake ; 
 but since you refuse, you shall be crucified 
 with tortures as dreadful as any that have ever 
 been invented ; and that without delay.' 
 
 "The apostle answered witji undisturbed 
 calmness, that suffering, if endured with pa- 
 tience, would only make him more precious 
 in the eyes of his compassionate Redeemer ; 
 and that he would endeavour to bear whatever 
 tortures might be heaped upon him with the 
 constancy that became one who knew that the 
 sufferings of this life could endure but for a 
 short season, whereas they would 'work for 
 him a far more exceeding and eternal weight 
 of glory' in that kingdom where they should 
 be followed, through the tender mercies of his 
 God, by joys that could never end. 
 
 "JEgeas, enraged by such unconquerable 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 199 
 
 fortitude, could restrain himself no longer, 
 and commanded that he should immediately 
 be scourged with unexampled severity. Seven 
 lictors were appointed successively to lash the 
 apostle's naked body, each being ordered to 
 take up the scourge as others, from fatigue, 
 were forced to lay it down. This punishment, 
 it was hoped, would soon exhaust the patience 
 of the sufferer ; but seeing that his invincible 
 constancy only commanded the respect oi the 
 populace, the proconsul at last ordered him to 
 be distended on a cross, made in the form of 
 the letter X, to which he should be bound 
 with cords, that so his death might be more 
 lingering and agonizing. While led to ex- 
 ecution, his manner evinced such perfect 
 resignation and composure of mind, that the 
 populace cried out with clamour at the injus- 
 tice of his sentence, declaring that he was an 
 innocent and holy man, against whom no 
 possible crime had been alleged. iEgeas, 
 however, and his satellites, forced them to re- 
 press their murmurs, and in spite of every 
 opposition, hurried their victim forward to his 
 doom. 
 
 "Having come within sight of the cross 
 erected for his crucifixion, Andrew saluted it 
 
200 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 with a kind address, and declared that he had 
 long expected the happy hour which was now 
 arrived. 
 
 " The cross, he said, had been consecrated 
 by bearing the sacred body of his Redeemer, 
 and he now came to it joyful and triumphant, 
 being thought worthy to be received as a dis- 
 ciple and follower of Him who, despising the 
 shame, had hung upon it for the salvation of 
 the human race : that as it had been the in- 
 strument on which his Saviour had redeemed 
 the world, he did not doubt that it would 
 carry him in safety to his Master. 
 
 " While they fastened him to the cross, he 
 exhorted his numerous surrounding converts 
 to patience, constancy, and perseverance in 
 that religion which he had proclaimed tc 
 them ; and during the whole of two days 
 while he remained stretched m lingering tor 
 hires on that dreadful instrument of death, 
 he continued, in the most gentle and affecting 
 language, teaching, instructing, and exhorting 
 those who stood around. 
 
 " Meantime, the most urgent importunities 
 were used by the people to induce the pro 
 consul to spare his life, and let him be taken 
 down. But Andrew, who heard their expos 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 201 
 
 tulations, earnestly prayed to God that he 
 might at this time be permitted to seal the 
 truth of his religion with his blood ; and God 
 showed that he heard and accepted his prayer, 
 for the apostle immediately expired. 
 
 " Both friends and foes stood silent and 
 awe-struck, as his soul winged its flight to 
 mansions of rest. 
 
 " 'How our hearts burn within, us at this scene. 
 Whence this brave bound o'er limits fixed to man 
 At that dark hour which gen'ral horror spreads. 
 Sweet peace, and heavenly joy, and humble hope 
 Divinely beam on his exalted soul ! 
 His God sustains him in his final hour, — ■ 
 His final hour brings glory to his God.' " 
 
 u Oh how happy he must be now !" said 
 Emily, her eyes glistening with tears of pity 
 and admiration. " How one does wonder at 
 his patience and fortitude ! It seems almost 
 incredible." 
 
 " It would indeed be quite incredible, my « 
 love, were we not assured that God supports 
 his creatures in such trying hours, and breathes 
 into their souls a spirit superior to all the suf- 
 ferings of the flesh. The mock composure 
 and boasted fortitude of those who know not 
 God have never yet been known to stand be- 
 
202 LIFE AND MARTYRDOM 
 
 fore long-protracted bodily suffering. Such 
 fortitude may last for a little hour, while pride 
 and vanity can hold their sway, and while 
 friends are near to applaud and flatter ; but it 
 has never yet been found to endure a day of 
 real unassisted trial." 
 
 " And yet, grandmamma," said Agnes, " we 
 read of the poor Indians bearing the prolonged 
 tortures inflicted on them by their enemies, 
 with constancy as wonderful as that displayed 
 by any Christian martyr." 
 
 " No, my love, not half so wonderful ; for 
 the poor Indians had been trained from their 
 earliest infancy to such feats of patient endu- 
 rance, and taught to practise them as almost 
 the only requisite virtue : and think you, my 
 beloved Agnes, that God does not behold the 
 struggles and support the weakness of the 
 suffering Indian? Or think you that our 
 heavenly Father only compassionates and as- 
 sists the Christian ? 
 
 " We are indeed his chosen servants, out still 
 he is kind and merciful to all. The savage, 
 even though he bows down to idols made of 
 wood and stone, is prompted by instincts 
 which God has given him to seek some object 
 of worship on which he may rely for safety 
 
OF ANDREW THE FISHER. 203 
 
 and protection. Though ignorant of all other 
 knowledge, he feels that constancy and firm- 
 ness of- soul must be pleasing to the Being he 
 desires to serve. Though for the present, 
 through the inscrutable decrees of Divine 
 Wisdom, he may be left in darkness, yet his 
 unseen and unknown Saviour beholds his 
 blindness, and feels for his ignorant and sinful 
 nature a measure of the same tender compas- 
 sion which he feels for us. To him is there- 
 fore given according to his necessities a full 
 proportion of that superhuman strength 
 which, in whomsoever it appears, must still be 
 recognised as the work of the Almighty." 
 
 " It is very delightful,' 7 said Mary, " to think 
 that God feels for the poor Indians just the 
 same compassion, and love, and tenderness 
 which he feels for us." 
 
 " That, my beloved child, is more than I 
 have said. Nor have we authority for sup- 
 posing that he feels just the same for them as 
 for us. The subject has indeed been left in 
 darkness, because it is one beyond our finite 
 comprehension ; but we know that in a better 
 world all that seems dark and difficult here 
 will be made plain. In the mean time, we may 
 be assured that God feels for all in measure as 
 
204 ANDREW THE FISHER. 
 
 he ought, and gives to each the aid that is 
 humbly sought. 
 
 " Of the truth of this remark we shall have 
 a strong example in the history which is to 
 follow : but before it be presented to the pub- 
 lic, we must see whether or not the generality 
 of our young readers, or rather their parents 
 and friends, will consider those now completed 
 worthy of their approbation." 
 
 As she finished spealdng, Mrs. C. had again 
 the satisfaction of perceiving from the coun- 
 tenances of her youthful auditors that they 
 had taken a lively interest in the conversation 
 and reading of the evening. 
 
 Hopes and wishes were then anxiously ex- 
 pressed for the success of this Library, and 
 the clock warning them that it was time, the 
 party adjourned, according to their custom, tc 
 the room in which they always met for family 
 service. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.