that he became a most serious convert. | the death of Christ; their gratuitous elecPaul, however, understanding that he was tion; their union with the Jews in one body, another man's servant, advised him to return of which Christ is the head, and the glorito his master, which he readily agreeing to, ous exaltation of that head above all creaPaul sent an epistle by him to Philemon, in tures both spiritual and temporal; together which he earnestly requests that he will with many excellent precepts, both as to the pardon him, and, notwithstanding his former general duties of religion and the duties of faults, treat him as a brother; promising their particular relations." withal, that if he had wronged or owed him any thing, he himself would not fail to repay it." This epistle may be considered as a masterpiece of eloquence in the persuasive way; for the apostle has therein had recourse to all the considerations which friendship, religion, piety, and tenderness can inspire, to reconcile an incensed master to an indiscreet servant.

The Christians of Philippi having heard of Paul's imprisonment at Rome, and not knowing to what distress he might be reduced, raised a contribution for him, and sent it by Epaphroditus their bishop. This gave great satisfaction to Paul, not so much on account of the money they had sent, but from its being a proof that they still retained Christian principles. To encourage them, therefore, to persevere in the faith of Christ, and to withstand all opposition that might be made against them by the enemies of the gospel, he returned them an epistle, "wherein he gives some account of the state of affairs at Rome; gratefully acknowledges their kindness to him; and warns them against the dangerous opinions which the Judaizing teachers might vent against them. He like wise advises them to live in continual obedience to Christ Christ; to avoid disputations, delight in prayer, be courageous under affliction, united in love, and clothed in humility, in imitation of the blessed Jesus, who so far humbled himself as to become obedient unto death, even the death of the

cross.

Paul himself had never been at Colossæ but one Epaphras, who was at that time a prisoner with him at Rome, had preached the gospel there with good success; and from him he learned that certain false teachers had endeavored to corrupt the minds of the Christians in that city. In opposition to this, and to secure the converts in their faith, he wrote his Epistle to the Colossians, wherein he beautifully sets forth the Messiah, and all the benefits that will be bestowed on such as believe in him, as being the image of his Father, the Redeemer of all mankind, the reconciler of all things to God, and the Head of the Church, which gives life and vigor to all its members. He commends the doctrine preached to them by Epaphras, and exhorts them not to be led away by the reasonings of human philosophy; and concludes with giving them a list of many chief and principal duties of a Christian life, especially such as respect the relations of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and servants.

During the time Paul was thus laudably employed at Rome, James the apostle, and bishop of Jerusalem, was dedicating his time, as much as in him lay, to the propaga tion of the gospel within his provinces. Considering within himself that it belonged to him to take care of all the converted among the twelve tribes of Israel, wherever dispersed, he wrote an epistle to them, the design of which was, "to confute and suppress a dangerous error then growing up in Paul had lived three years at Ephesus, the church, viz., that a bare naked faith ’ preaching the gospel to the numerous in- was sufficient to secure men's salvation, withhabitants of that city, and was therefore well out any attention to good works; to comfort acquainted with the state and condition of Christians under the persecutions which were the place; so that taking the opportunity of going to be raised against them by worldly Tychicus's going thither from Rome, he powers; and to awaken them out of their wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians, wherein stupidity when judgments were ready to "he endeavors to countermine the principles overtake them." To this purpose he inserts and practices both of the Jews and Gentiles; in his epistle many excellent exhortations, to confirm them in the belief and practices such as, to bear afflictions, to hear the word of the Christian doctrine; and to instruct of God, to mortify their passions, to bridle them fully in the great mysteries of the their tongues, to avoid cursing and swearing, gospel; their redemption and justification by and to adorn their Christian profession with

a good conversation, with meekness, peace- | rest, put an end to his misery by dashing ableness, and charity."

It was not long after James had written this epistle, before a period was put to all his labors. The governing part of the Jews, being highly enraged at the disappointment they had met with in Paul's appealing to Cæsar, were now resolved to revenge it upon James; accordingly, taking the opportunity of the death of Festus (before the arrival of Albinus his successor) Ananias the highpriest summoned James, and some others, before the Sanhedrim, who required them to renounce their Christian faith. Their desire more especially was, that James should make his renunciation in the most public manner, and therefore they carried him up to the battlements of the temple, and threatened to throw him down thence in case he refused complying with their request. But James, instead of gratifying their desires, began himself to confess, and to exhort others to confess, the faith of Christ, in the presence of those who came to hear his recantation; upon which the members of the Sanhedrim were so incensed that they ordered him to be thrown down headlong from the place where he stood. By this fall he was greatly bruised, but not quite killed; and therefore having recovered himself so far as to be able to rise on his knees, he prayed fervently to Heaven for his persecutors, in the manner of the proto-martyr Stephen. But malice is too diabolical to be pacified with kindness, or satisfied with cruelty. Accordingly, his enemies, vexed that they had not fully accomplished their work, poured a shower of stones upon him while he was imploring their forgiveness at the throne of grace, and one of them, more cruel and inveterate than the

out his brains with a fuller's club *

Thus did this great and good man finish his course in the 96th year of his age, and about twenty-four years after our blessed Saviour's ascension into heaven. His remains were deposited in a tomb which he had caused to be made on the Mount of Olives; and his brother Simon was, by the general voice of the Christians, appointed his successor in the bishopric of Jerusalem.

The apostle James was a man of exemplary piety and devotion. Prayer was his daily business and delight: so constant was he at his devotions that his knees became hard and callous; and so prevalent in his petitions to Heaven, that, in a time of great drought, he prayed for rain and obtained it. Nor was his charity to his fellow-creatures less than his piety toward God; he did good to all, watched over the souls of men, and made their eternal welfare his constant study. He was of a remarkably meek and humble temper, honoring what was excellent in others, but concealing what was valuable in himself. The dignity of the place he so worthily filled, could not induce him to entertain lofty thoughts of himself above his brethren: on the contrary, he strove to conceal whatever might place him in a higher rank than the other disciples of the Lord of Glory. He was the delight of all good men, and so much in the favor and estimation of the people, that they used to flock after him, and strive who should touch even but the hem of his garment. In short, he was a man of so amiable a temper, as to be the wonder of the age in which he lived; and from the reputation of his holy and religious life, was styled James the Just.

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laid against him, or being informed that what | Hebrews, that is, to the converted Jews who they alleged was no violation of any Roman dwelt in Jerusalem and its neighborhood. law, durst not implead him before the His main design in this epistle is emperor; and therefore, of course, he was permitted to go at large.*

magnify Christ and the religion of the gospel above Moses and the Jewish economy, Paul, having obtained his liberty, left that, by this means, he may the better estabRome, and travelled into various parts of lish the converted Jews in the belief and Italy, preaching the gospel with different profession of Christianity. To this purpose success. In some places he made many he represents our Saviour, in his divine naconverts, but in others he met with great ture, far superior to all angels, and all created opposition. Before he left Italy, he wrote beings; and in his mediatorial capacity, his famous and most elaborate epistle to the a greater lawgiver than Moses, a greater

priest than Aaron, and a greater king and priest than Melchisedec. He informs them, remonstrated against it, both to their king Agrippa, and to the Roman governor Albinus; insomuch that the high-priest by whose authority it was committed was, in a few months after, degraded, and another placed in his stead.

* In consequence of Paul's appeal unto Cæsar, he was conveyed to Rome, there to await his trial. On his arrival, A. D. 61, he was delivered to the prætorian prefect, whose official business was to keep in custody all accused persons who were to be tried before the emperor. By special indulgence he was permitted to remain in "his own hired house," instead of being confined

that the ceremonies, the sacrifices, and the observances of the law, could have no virtue within the walls of the prætorian barracks. Still he was a prisoner under military custodychained by the arm, both night and day, to one of the imperial body-guard—and subjected to the caprice of Roman soldiery. He was, however, permitted to receive all who came to him, and, without hinderance, to preach boldly the gospel of Christ.

For reasons unknown to us his trial was delayed at least two years. During this time he enjoyed free intercourse with his friends, and was allowed to occupy a house large enough to accommodate the congregation which came together to hear his

in themselves, but only as they were types | any certain account.

year

of

It is, however, gener of Jesus Christ; and being now accomplished ally agreed, that about the second in his person, and by his ministry, were the emperor Claudius, he went to Rome, and finally and totally abolished. He insists there continued for some time, till at length upon the necessity of faith, and, by the examples of the patriarchs and prophets, proves that justification is to be had no other way than by the merits of a dying Saviour. And lastly, he lays before them many excellent precepts for the regulation of their lives; exhortations to trust and confidence in Christ, in all their sufferings; and strict cautions against apostasy from his religion, even in the hottest persecutions.'

A short time after Paul had written this epistle to the Hebrews, he left Italy, and, accompanied by Timothy, prosecuted his long-intended journey into Spain; and, according to the testimony of several writers, crossed the sea, and preached the gospel in Britain.* What success he had in these western parts is not known; however, after going from one place to another for the space of eight or nine months, he returned again eastward, visited Sicily, Greece, and Crete (at the latter of which places he constituted Titus bishop of the island), and then went into Judæa, where we shall for the present leave him, in order to take some notice of Peter, his fellow-laborer in the cause of Christ.

In what manner Peter employed his time after his escape out of prison, we have not teaching. Nor were his labors fruitless; for many were converted to the faith through his earnest ministrations. At the same time he wrote several of his epistles. At length his appeal came on for hearing before the emperor, Nero, and the trial resulted in his acquittal. He was pronounced guiltless of the charges brought against him, and set at liberty.

that emperor, taking advantage of some seditions and tumults raised by the Jews, published an edict for banishing all the Jews from that city; in consequence of which Peter returned to Jerusalem. After staying some time in the capital of Judæa, he visited the several churches which he had planted in the East, and carried the glad tidings of the gospel into Africa, Sicily, Italy, and even as far as Britain, in all which places he brought over great numbers to the Christian faith.

Having thus propagated the gospel in the western, as well as the eastern parts of the world, Peter, toward the latter end of the reign of Nero, returned to Rome, the Jews, after the death of Claudius, being permitted to reside in that city with the same freedom as before that emperor issued his edict for their banishment. On Peter's arrival at Rome, he met with his fellow-laborer Paul, who had just returned thither from Judæa. The two apostles found the minds of the people strangely bewitched, and hardened against the doctrines of the gospel, by the subtleties and magical arts of Simon Magus, whom Peter had severely chastised for his wickedness at Samaria. This monster of impiety not only opposed the preaching of in the Mamertine prison, one of the most revolting prisons of Rome. It seems more probable, as we learn from 2 Tim. i. 16, that he was again under military custody, though of a severer nature than that of his former imprisonment.

It was not long probably before his trial came on. He made his defence unassisted by friends. He says: "When I was first heard in my defence, no man stood by me, but all forsook me." He anticipated that the issue of his trial would be his condemnation to death. Being a Roman citizen, he was exempted from the ignominious death inflicted on his martyred brethren, being executed by decapitation by the sword on the road to Ostia, the port of Rome, in May or June, A. D. 68. — A. B.

Being again at liberty to prosecute his missionary labors, he immediately left Rome, first visiting the churches in Asia Minor, and then extended his labors to other fields. It was not long before the first imperial persecution of Christianity broke out with cruel violence, in consequence of the great fire which burnt down almost half of the city. Nero, who was accused of causing this fire, in order to avert the rage of the populace from * Clements, in his famous epistle to the Cohimself, charged the crime on the hated Chris-rinthians, expressly tells us, that being a preacher tians, who had become numerous. both to the east and west, he taught righteousness to the whole world, and went to the utmost bounds of the west; and Theodoret and others inform us, that he preached not only in Spain, but went to other nations, and brought the gospel into the isles of the sea, by which he undoubtedly means Britain, and therefore he elsewhere reckons the Gauls and Britons among the people whom the apostles, and particularly Paul, persuaded to embrace the doctrine of Christ.

But a few years passed before Paul was again arrested at Nicopolis, as a leader of the despised

sect.

It is not known what charges were made against him. He was hurried to Rome in the winter season, and suffered an imprisonment far more severe than was his first, four or five years before. He was now not only chained, but treated as a felon. According to the legends of the medieval Church, Paul was imprisoned

the apostles, but likewise did all in his faith. From Ephesus he went into Macedopower to render them and their doctrine nia, but previous to his departure, enjoined odious to the emperor. Peter, foreseeing that the calumnies of Simon and his adherents would be injurious to the cause of his great Master, thought himself obliged to oppose him with all his might.