occasion, mentioned: from the manner in which it is mentioned, the negative seems not improbable; if so, then to find the time which the prophecy had for finding its accomplishment to the definite term of thirteen years, we must add another, and that an indefinite one.

According to the situation, of the individuals by whom the word is employed,-worlds vary in their sizes. Of the dearth in question, the whole world, "all the world," is, by the author of the Acts, stated as having been the afflicted theatre: "great dearth "throughout all the world." Acts xi. 28. As to the rest of the world, we may leave it to itself. For the purpose then and now in question, it was and is sufficient-that two cities, Jerusalem and Antioch, were included in it. The calamity being thus universal,— no reason of the ordinary kind is given, or seems discoverable-why, of any such contribution as should come to be raised, the course should be-from Antioch to Jerusalem, rather than from Jerusalem to Antioch. Inquired for, however, on religious ground,-a reason presents itself, without much difficulty. What Rome became afterwards, Jerusalem was then-the capital of that world, which now, for the first time, received the name of Christian. According to one of the sayings of Jesus-if Paul, his self-appointed Apostle, is to be trusted to-of them it was pronounced more blessed to give than to receive*:" but in the eyes of the successors of St. Peter at all times,-and

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* Acts xx. 35. It is in the parting scene-when about to break from his dissuading disciples, and enter upon his invasion project -that Paul is represented as saying to them: "Remember the "words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give "than to receive." Whence this self-appointed and posthumous Apostle of Jesus got these words of Jesus-if such they weremust be left to conjecture. In the works of the four received biographers of Jesus, with Cruden and his Concordance for guides, all search for them has been fruitless.

at this time, as it should seem, in his own-it was more blessed to receive than give.

SECTION 2.

BARNABAS AND PAUL DISPATCHED WITH THE MONEY TO JERUSALEM.

Of the amount of the eleemosynary harvest, no intimation is to be found. As to the consequence of it, Barnabas, we see, is the man stated as having, with obvious propriety, been chosen for the important trust: Barnabas-of whose opulence, trustworthiness, steadiness, and zeal, such ample proofs (not to speak of those subsequent ones, which will be seen in their place,) had already manifested themselves. In consequence of the information, already received by the Mother Church in Jerusalem, of the prosperity of the Daughter Church (Acts xi. 20, 21), planted, as above, in the capital of Syria,—this most active of all Christian citizens had been sent to give increase to it. (Acts xi. 22.)

But, of the talents and activity of Paul, his indefatigable supporter and powerful patron had had full occasion to be apprized. Accordingly, without the aid of this his not less indefatigable helper, still was the strength of the rising church, in the eyes of the patron, incomplete. "A prophet" (says a not ill-grounded proverb) "has no honour in his own country." In his native city, among the witnesses of his youth, Paul had indeed found safety: but (as the nature of the case manifests) in a circle, from which respect stood excluded by familiarity, safety had not been accompanied with influence: and, in eyes such as those of Paul, safety without influence was valueless. Under these circumstances,-the patron, going to Tarsus in person in quest of his protegé, could not naturally find much difficulty in regaining possession of him,

and bringing with him the so highly-valued prize, on his return to Antioch. "Then" (says the Acts, xi. 25, 26,)" departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek "Saul: 26. And when he had found him, he brought "him unto Antioch."

At this place, with their united powers, they had been carrying on their operations for the space of a twelvemonth, when the petition for pecuniary assistance was received there.

As for Paul,-from the moment of his conversion, notwithstanding the ill success of his first attempt,— the prime object of his ambition-the situation of President of the Christian Commonwealth-had never quitted its hold on his concupiscence. Occasions, for renewing the enterprise, were still watched for with unabated anxiety :-a more favourable one than the one here in question, could not have presented itself to his fondest wishes. The entire produce, of the filial bounty of the Daughter Church, was now to be poured into the bosom of the necessitous Mother. For the self-destined head of that rising Church, two more acceptable occupations, than those which one and the same occasion brought to him, could not have been found:-First, the collection of the contributions;and then the conveying of them, to the place of their destination. Of the labours of such agents, in such circumstances, the success (we are told) they found, was a natural result. "Then" (says the Acts xi. 29, 30.) "Then the disciples, every one according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren " which dwelt in Judea :-30. Which also they did; and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas "and Saul." Thus much as to the public purpose. Very different was the lot of Paul's personal project. What the elders could not have any objection to the receipt of, was the money. But, what they had an insuperable objection to, was-the receipt of the yoke of

this their outwardly-converted, but once already rejected, persecutor. This second enterprise,-though still under the same powerful leader, and produced by such flattering prospects, -succeeded no better than the first. Five-and-twenty verses after, we are told of the termination of this their second Jerusalem visit; and this is all we hear of it: "And Barnabas and Saul" (says the Acts xii. 25.) “returned from Jerusalem, "when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with "them John, whose surname was Mark." This same John Mark they got by their expedition: and this, for any thing that appears, was all they got by it.

Between the mention of their arrival at Jerusalem, and the mention of their departure from thence,comes the episode about Peter:-his incarceration and liberation under Herod; and the extraordinary death of the royal prosecutor, of which, in its place. As to the interval,-what the length of it was, and in what manner, by Paul, under the wing of the Son of Consolation, it was occupied, are points, on which we are left altogether in the dark as also, whether the time of these adventures of Peter, the mention of which stands inserted between the mention of the two occurrences in the history of Paul, was comprised in that same interval.

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CHAPTER VI.

Paul disbelieved continued.-His third Jerusalem Visit.-Paul and Barnabas delegated by Antioch Saints, to confer on the Necessity of Jewish Rites to Heathen Converts to the Religion of Jesus.

SECTION 1.

OCCASION OF THIS VISIT.

WE come now to the transaction, on the occasion of which, the grand object of Paul's ambition received, in part, its accomplishment: namely, that, by which, -though without any such popular election as, in the instance of Matthias, had been necessary to constitute a man an associate to the Apostles,-he was, in some sort, taken by them into fellowship, and admitted, with their consent, into a participation of their labours.

This occasion was-the dispute, which, in the Syrian Antioch, took place, according to the author of the Acts, on the question-whether, under the religion of Jesus, circumcision was necessary to salvation: a question, in which,-whether explicitly or no,-was implicitly (it should seem) and perhaps inextricably, understood to be involved, the so much wider question -whether, under that same new religion, the old ceremonial law should, in any part of it, be regarded

as necessary.

On this same occasion, two important subjects present themselves to view at the same time: the one, a question of doctrine relative to circumcision, as above; the other, a question about jurisdiction, as between Paul on the one part, and Peter, with or without the rest of the Apostles.