a few years before. It was doubtless this unsettled state of public affairs which had tempted the Sanhedrim to take the power of life and death into their own hands, which, according to the Roman law, could only be exercised by the Roman procurators. The civil and ecclesiastical history of the years that followed is of equal interest. Whilst the death of Stephen led to the scattering of the Christian church and the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, Palestine became once more a dependent kingdom under Herod Agrippa.

Rise of Herod Agrippa.-Agrippa was the grand- 102 son of the old Herod I. and the celebrated Mariamne. His father was the unfortunate Aristobulus, who was put to death in Samaria. Herodias, the wicked wife of Herod Antipas, was his sister; and Herod, king of Chalcis, was his brother.* Agrippa was brought up in Rome, and indulged in all the luxury and licentiousness of the imperial court, and wasted his substance in riotous living. Tiberius Cæsar was then emperor, but Agrippa tried to ingratiate himself with Caligula, the presumed successor to the throne. Having expressed a wish for the speedy death of Tiberius, it reached the emperor's ears, and he was cast into prison. Tiberius died the same year that Stephen was martyred, and was succeeded by Caligula.

Death of Philip: Herod Agrippa I. king of 103 Northern Peræa.-Agrippa was now set at liberty, and as his uncle Herod Philip, the tetrarch of Northern Peræa, had died some few years before, Caligula gave him the territory, with the title of king Herod Agrippa I. The commencement of the second seven years thus saw Judea and Samaria under a Roman procurator of no note, who succeeded Pilate; Galilee and Southern Peræa under Herod Antipas the tetrarch; and Northern Peræa under Herod Agrippa the king.

Antipas deposed: Herod Agrippa I. king of 104 all Palestine.—The good fortune of Agrippa aroused

* See p. 55.

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the jealousy of his sister Herodias. Her husband Antipas possessed a larger territory, but was only a tetrarch; whilst her brother, the spendthrift and prisoner, was made a king. She therefore persuaded

Antipas to go to Rome and ask the emperor Caligula to make him a king also. The journey was inauspicious. Antipas, instead of obtaining a diadem, was deposed and banished to Gaul with his wicked wife Herodias, and all his tetrarchy of Galilee and Southern Peræa was given to Agrippa. Caligula was assassinated after a reign of four years. Agrippa was in Rome at the time. He encouraged Claudius to assume the purple, and afterwards, as a reward for his services, received the whole of Judea and Samaria in addition to his former dominions. Agrippa became thus king over all Palestine, and reigned over the same extensive territory as his grandfather Herod I. He died, as we shall presently see, after being seven years a king, and three years king of the whole country.

A. D.

CHAPTER X.

SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL.

Scattering of the church: conversion 37-44. of Saul.-To return to the ecclesiastical history. After Stephen's martyrdom a violent persecution broke out in Jerusalem. The believers dispersed throughout the country, but the apostles themselves, having apparently retired from their former trades, still remained in the capital. Saul, the young Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, was foremost in the rank of persecutors. He had countenanced the murder of Stephen, and now breathed vengeance and slaughter against the other disciples of the Lord. When very young he had been sent to Jerusalem to be educated in the celebrated schools of the capital. Gamaliel was his principal teacher, and Saul was at the present time

a Pharisee, and blameless in every righteousness connected with the law of Moses, and of tradition. Not content with procuring the imprisonment of the disciples at Jerusalem, he obtained letters from the high priest to the synagogues at Damascus, authorizing him to arrest any believers whom he could find there, and bring them bound to Jerusalem. On his way a light suddenly shone from heaven. A voice cried, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The persecutor fell to the earth and said, "Who art thou, Lord ?" The voice of the Saviour himself now replied, “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest; it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." Saul trembled, and asked what he was to do; and was directed to go into the city, and there it should be told him. On rising and opening his eyes he found that he could not see, and he was led by the hand into Damascus, where he remained three days without sight, and without food. Meantime the Lord appeared to Ananias, a disciple in the same city, and assured him that Saul was a chosen vessel, and directed him to restore his sight. Ananias accordingly went to the house, and putting his hands on him, said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared unto thee, has sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." Immediately the scales fell from his eyes, and he received sight, and was baptized, and after eating some food became strengthened. Saul now preached Christ in the synagogues to the intense astonishment of his hearers. Afterwards he retired for a few months into the neighbouring deserts of Arabia, where he probably prepared himself for his calling to the apostleship. From thence he returned to Damascus, and remained there three years; but the Jews having formed a conspiracy to kill him, the disciples let him down from the city wall in a basket, and he escaped to Jerusalem. Here the church was afraid to receive him, but Barnabas declared his call and conversion to Peter and James, and he resided fifteen days with Peter, but saw none other of the be

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lievers. At last, having disputed in the synagogues with the foreign Jews who spoke Greek, the latter went about to slay him, and his visit being thus cut short, he proceeded to his own native town of Tarsus, from whence he was afterwards fetched by Barnabas, and taken to preach the gospel at Antioch.

Philip the deacon preaches in Samaria.Meanwhile the violent persecutions at Jerusalem had driven the gospel amongst the Gentiles. Philip the deacon preached the word in the city of Samaria, and amongst his numerous converts was Simon Magus the sorcerer. The apostolic body in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to lay their hands upon the new disciples, and impart to them the Holy Ghost, for as yet the believers had been only baptized. Simon Magus desired to purchase this power of imparting the Holy Spirit, but was severely reprimanded by Peter. The two apostles also preached the gospel throughout the Samaritan villages. After this Philip was commanded by the angel of the Lord to proceed to the desert road leading from Jerusalem to the old Philistine city of Gaza. Here he saw the treasurer of Candace, queen of the far-off country of Ethiopia. The treasurer was a proselyte to the Jewish faith, and had been to Jerusalem to worship. He was now sitting in his chariot and reading the prophecies of Isaiah. Philip, guided by the Spirit, entered the chariot of the Ethiopian, and showed him how the prophecies were fulfilled by the coming of Jesus the Messiah. The Ethiopian believed, and Philip baptized him, but was carried away by the Spirit, and saw him no more. Meanwhile the madman Caligula, not content with being emperor of Rome, desired also to be worshipped as a deity. He ordered the Jews to set up his statue in their sacred temple. The Jews declared they would lay down their lives rather than submit to this sacrilege, and the general who was sent to enforce the law, contrived to postpone its execution until it was nullified by the death of the emperor. The threat of this fearful outrage diverted

the attention of the bigots from the progress of the Christian faith. The flame of persecution began to languish; and the churches throughout all Judæa, Samaria, and Galilee, rested and were edified.

Peter converts Cornelius, and preaches to the 107 Gentiles. During this peaceful freedom from persecution, Peter left Jerusalem and proceeded towards the north of Galilee, visiting the infant churches which had already been established in various districts. At Lydda he healed Æneas, a man who had been confined to his bed by the palsy for eight years. At the neighbouring sea-port of Joppa, which now bears the name of Jaffa, he stopped many days in the house of Simon a tanner, and restored to life a pious woman named Tabitha or Dorcas. At this time he received a direct intimation that the gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles. About 35 miles to the south of Joppa lay the important city of Cæsarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean. Cæsarea was generally the head-quarters of the Roman procurator; and of the six cohorts under his command, five were stationed in this city, and one at Jerusalem.* The procurator was at this time superseded by king Agrippa, who however resided at Cæsarea, and the troops still remained at the same quarters. A centurion named Cornelius belonged to one of these cohorts, which was called the Italian band, because it chiefly consisted of Roman or Italian volunteers. Cornelius was a devout man, and a proselyte to the Jewish faith. One afternoon about three o'clock an angel appeared to him in a vision, and directed him to send messengers to Joppa, to the house of Simon the tanner, and there to call for Peter, who should tell. him what to do. Cornelius immediately sent two of his household servants to Joppa, accompanied by a pious soldier of his band. About noon the next day the messengers were approaching the city. At that

* A cohort of soldiers properly included 600 men, or six centuries of 100 men each. Ten cohorts formed a legion.