On the fourth day after his arrival, Paul called the chief of the Jews together, and explained to them the circumstances of his case; the treatment he had received in his own country; how he had been delivered at Jerusalem a prisoner into the hands of the Romans, who after investigating his affair, would have liberated him, had not the clamour of the Jews prevented it; and, in short, that it was "for the hope of Israel" he was bound with the chain which they then saw. It seems Paul's accusers had not yet arrived from Judea. The Jews whom he had called together, therefore, confessed that they had not received any letters from that quarter, nor any informa tion concerning him through any other medium; they were desirous, nevertheless, of knowing his opinion of the Christian sect, which was every where spoken against. A day was therefore appointed, on which many came to his lodgings, to whom, from morning till evening, he narrated fully the history of Jesus, testifying concerning the nature of the kingdom of God, and persuading them both from the law of Moses and from the writings of the prophets. The result was, that some believed the things that were spoken, and others believed not. Thus the apostle having discharged his duty in first making known the glad tidings of salvation to his own brethren according to the flesh, took his leave of them, and thenceforward associated with the Gentiles, who had been previously formed into a church in this city, and to whom he had already addressed his important and invaluable epistle. "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, unmolested by any one." And with this information the inspired historian closes his narrative of the great apostle of the Gentiles.

During the two years that Paul was detained, on this occasion, a prisoner at Rome, he wrote several of those epistles to the churches which now enrich the scriptures, and constitute so important a part of divine revelation. Amongst these are enumerated, that to the Ephesiansto the Philippians--to the Colossians-and the short letter to Philemon; and, it is thought, that immediatety on his release he wrote the epistle to the Hebrews. From these letters we may collect, that during his imprisonment at Rome, he was attended by many of the disciples and friends, who either accompanied him from Judea, or followed him to Italy. Of this number was Tychicus, by whom he sent his epistle to the Colossians, ch. iv. 7, and Onesimus, ver. 9, and Mark, ver. 10, and also Jesus, who was called Justus, all of the circumcision, ver. 11, except Onesimus. Demas too was with him, ver. 14. and Timothy, Phil. i. 1.; and Aristarchus, who was imprisoned for his zeal in preaching the gospel, Col. iv. 10.; and Luke, the beloved physician and evangelist, ver. 14. He also enumerates Epaphras, who seems to have been one of the pastors of the Colossian church, ver. 12.; and Epaphroditus, a member of the church at Philippi, Phil. ii. 25. All these christian brethren, residents of very remote countries, appear to have been with the apostle during his first confinement at Rome.

Of the circumstances attending his trial and release, we have no authentic particulars; but that he was liberated after a period of two years, seems deducible from the words with which the sacred historian closes the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Nor have we any certain information concerning his travels and preaching from this time till his death. Intimations, indeed, are given in the epistles which he wrote from Rome, of his purposes, from which some writers have undertaken to sketch the transactions of the latter period of his life,

and there is at least a probability that it was to the following effect.

After being released, in the spring of the year 62, he embarked with Titus, and probably with Timothy also, at some of the ports of Italy, and touched at the island of Crete, where he preached in many cities, and collected the disciples into societies; but finding it requisite to quit Crete, he left Titus there, to set in order the things that were wanting, and to ordain elders in every city.* From thence he proceeded to Judea, to fulfil the promise which he had made, in his epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xiii. 23, of visiting the church at Jerusalem, and the other churches in that country. After spending some time among them, accompanied by Timothy, he left Judea to visit the churches of the Lesser Asia, taking Antioch in his way, and travelling through Cilicia into Galatia, from whence he went to Colosse, where he had desired Philemon to provide him a lodging, † as he had intended to spend some time in that city.

While at Colosse he wrote his epistle to Titus in Crete, and from thence proceeded to Ephesus, where he left Timothy to direct the affairs of that numerous church.‡ From Ephesus Paul went into Macedonia, calling at Troas in his way, where, lodging with Carpus, he left behind him the cloak (which some suppose his father had received as a badge of his Roman citizenship), and likewise some parchments (probably the autographs or origiBal copies of his epistles to the churches). These he afterwards requested Timothy to bring with him, when he came to visit him at Rome, during his second impriSorment. § In Macedonia he visited the church at Philippi, agreeably to the intimation he had given them in his letter, and from thence proceeded to Epirus, * Titus i. 5. + Philemon, ver. £2. § 2 Tim. iv. 13.

[Phil. i. 25, 26.

1 Tim. i. S.

where he spent the winter at the city of Nicopolis, * and where he had desired Titus to come from Crete and give him the meeting. Here also, or at Philippi, he wrote his first epistle to Timothy, instructing him how to conduct himself in the house of God, fearing it would not be in his power to return to Ephesus at the time he proposed. Accordingly, Titus having brought him such a report of the state of the churches in Crete, as made it necessary for the apostle to visit them, he set out early in the spring from Nicopolis for that island, accompanied by Titus, Trophimus, and Erastus, and, taking Corinth in his way, Erastus, who was a native of that city, chose to abide there. When they arrived at Crete, Trophimus fell sick, and was left in Miletum, a city of that island.

But while Paul was thus employed in conveying the glad tidings of mercy to guilty men, or confirming the churches in the truths they had already learned, a dreadful storm was gathering at Rome, which burst upon the church there with tenfold fury. Nero, who had swayed the imperial sceptre about ten years, and who had arrived at such a pitch of wickedness as to prepare the minds of his subjects for the belief of any act of tyranny, cruelty, or vileness which was reported of him, is said to have set fire to the city of Rome, on the 10th of July, A. D. 64, in consequence of which a great part of it was laid in ashes. Mischief and the misery of others were his delight; and he is said to have expressed great pleasure at the spectacle, indulging himself in singing the burning of Troy while his own city was in flames. He, however, very soon became the suspected incendiary, and consequently the object of popular hatred. To clear himself from the odious charge, he endeavoured to fix the crime on the Christians; and, having thus falsely and tyranni† 1 Tim, iii. 14, 15. + 2 Tim. iv. 20.

* Titus iii. 12.

cally imputed the guilt to them, he put them to death by various methods of exquisite cruelty. The account

which is given us by Tacitus, a heathen historian, is too remarkable to be omitted. Speaking of Nero, and the conflagration of Rome, he thus proceeds. "To divert suspicion from himself, he substituted fictitious criminals, and with that view inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those men, who, under the vulgar appellation of Christians, were already branded with deserved infamy. The confessions of those who were seized, discovered a great multitude of their accomplices, and they were all convicted, not so much for the crime of setting fire to the city, as for their hatred of human kind. They died in torments; and these were embittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on crosses, others sewed up in the skins of wild beasts, and exposed to the fury of dogs,-others again were smeared over with combustible materials, and used as torches to illumine the darkness of the night. The gardens of Nero were destined for the melancholy spectacle, which was accompanied by a horse race, and honoured with the presence of the emperor, who mingled with the populace in the dress and attitude of a charioteer. The guilt of the Christians deserved indeed the most exemplary punishment; but the public abhorrence was changed into commiseration, from the opinion that these unhappy wretches were sacrificed, not so much to the rigour of justice, as to the cruelty of the jealous tyrant." †

“Ingens multitudo," is the expression of Tacitus, the literal transla tion of which is," a very great multitude." It is impossible for us, in the present day, to ascertain the exact import of this phrase: Gibbon, who evinces no solicitude to overrate the number of Christians, has ingeniously compared these words of Tacitus with the import of the same words as used by Livy on another occasion; a careful inquiry into the meaning of which had furnished the result to be seven thousand. Decline and Fall, Tacit. Annal. b. 15. c. 44.

vol. 2. ch. 15.