Platonists, of whom there must have been many present, though they are not named in the narrative. The tribunal itself must have comprised these three sects, and it is probable that its collective decision is embodied in the statement: 'Others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.' The court was in fact adjourned.

There were some minds upon which Paul's address made a fully suitable impression; some souls whom the Lord allowed him to bear away as his spiritual spoil from Mars' Hill. There were several; but those particularly named are, 'Dionysius the Areopagite'—that is, one of the members of that august court before which he had pleaded,—and ‘a woman named Damaris.' His labour, therefore, was not wholly in vain; and it is probable that the persons thus converted formed the nucleus of the church which afterwards existed at Athens, though it does not appear that Paul ever again visited that city. He quitted it soon, probably firm in the conviction that it had not yet become a ripened field of labour, and that, with so many more promising fields around, it was not his duty to linger therethe less as he had not come thither with any express views of missionary work.

He had also ere this been joined by Timothy from Berea. Timothy came alone; for Silas, in the critical state of the Berean church, had not thought it advisable to come away. The intelligence which Timothy brought, and for which Paul had waited, deprived him of the hope he had cherished of being soon enabled to return to Thessalonica. He heard that the Jews there were still exasperated against him, and bent upon his destruction. Being thus prevented from going himself, and yet anxious for the spiritual safety of a flock left among wolves without a shepherd, he deprived himself of Timothy's company, and sent him to Thessalonica. He had no one else to send, Luke being at Philippi, and Silas at Berea; and although he might have desired to send one to whom years and experience would give more weight and authority, he knew that Timothy was not only faithful and true, but also wise and able beyond his years. In the epistle

written to this church soon after, he says, 'Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we sent Timothy, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellow-labourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith.' It is from this epistle that we gain the knowledge of these circumstances, which Luke has passed over in the historical narrative.

Fiftieth Week-Seventh Day.

CORINTH.-ACTS XVIII.

THE Scene of the apostle's labours now changes to Corinth. This great and prosperous city was at this time the metropolis of Achaia-the name by which all Greece was distinguished from Macedonia.

It lay at a distance of forty miles from

Athens, at the southern extremity of the isthmus which joined the Peloponnesus to the mainland, upon an elevated table-land,

at the foot, on the northern side, of the Acrocorinthus. This was a mountain nearly half a mile in perpendicular height, with an ascent of four miles to the top, where there was a fortress surrounded by a wall. The commercial advantages of the situation were incalculable; and the better to realize them, there was a port on each side the isthmus, the eastern one (Cenchrea) being nearly nine miles, and the western (Lechæum) being a mile and a half from the city. From its felicity of situation, Corinth had by this time recovered much of its ancient prosperity, although it had lain in ruins a hundred years, until restored by Julius Cæsar. The activity of commerce, the wealth which such activity produces, and the luxury which abundant wealth engenders, were the main characteristics of Corinth. The luxuriousness was shown in the ornate style of the public edifices, in the expensive mode of living, and in the general self-indulgent looseness of manners. Corinth had the reputation of being the most dissolute city in Greece; and that it deserved this reputation is shown, not only by many of the allusions in the two epistles which Paul wrote to the church in this place from Rome, but from the simple fact that the temple of Venus here boasted of the thousand sacred harlots, who screened their depravity under the cover of religious rites.

A commercial city like Corinth was certain to attract the Jews in large numbers; and at this time their number was unusually great, because many of those who had lately been banished from Rome had come to this place.

The banishment of the Jews from Rome by the Emperor Claudius, incidentally alluded to by Luke, is confirmed by Suetonius, who in his brief summary of the occurrences of the time, says, 'The Jews, who were in constant commotion, Chrestus being the leader, he banished from Rome.' It is likely that, for Chrestus, Christus is intended-this sort of error, or corruption of proper names, being not uncommon at that time. Christus, 'the anointed,' had no meaning to one who

1 Judæos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes Româ expulit.-SUET. Vit. Claud. xxv.

had never heard of the Messiah; whereas Chrestus (good) had an intelligible significance. A Roman historian might easily mistake the true state of the case; and, while the Jews were contending about Christ, he might suppose that it was under him, as a leader, that the tumults were excited. Christianity seems to have been very early introduced into Rome, probably by some of the converts on the day of Pentecost, for, 'strangers from Rome, Jews and proselytes,' are expressly mentioned among Peter's hearers on that great day; and we have repeatedly seen how prone the Jews in foreign cities were to raise commotions against Christians, to the disturbance of the public peace. It was probably on account of such disturbances, in which the name of Christus was continually heard, that the emperor issued his proclamation commanding the Jews to depart from Rome. In this the Jewish Christians were of course included; for these were in fact Jews by birth, appearance, and habit of life; and the Romans had as yet no gauge for the difference of opinion and belief between them.

Among those thus expelled from the imperial city was a tentmaker named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who, with his wife Priscilla, was going home by the ordinary maritime route across the isthmus of Corinth, when he was induced, probably by the prospect of a lucrative business in a city of so much opulence, to remain there. He accordingly took a house and workshop, and commenced his tentmaking occupation. It is not stated that he was already a convert to Christianity; but that he was such is extremely probable.

Paul arriving at Corinth, where he was unknown to any, had first to seek a lodging, and then the means of subsistence. He was happy to find both with Aquila, to whom the marks of his trade, and, when he saw him, of his nation, induced him to apply. With Aquila he remained, living in his house, and working with him at his trade—that is, in his employment— during the whole two years of his residence at Corinth. In this intercourse a Christian friendship grew up between them, which ended only with the apostle's life, during which he always evinced the highest regard for Aquila and Priscilla ;

and Aquila, on his part, found occasion to render him some essential services.

Being thus settled with these good friends, Paul soon commenced his evangelical labours. He preached Christ every Sabbath-day in the synagogues. During the other days his constant labour considerably abridged his opportunities of preaching, as it hardly even left him the evening leisure; for there was a scarcity at that time through Greece, whereby the price of everything was so much enhanced, that it was needful for him to labour night and day,' to provide for his simple wants; as at this place, during the whole of his stay, he rigidly refused all assistance from those among whom he distributed the word of life. But even his labour at his trade afforded opportunities of spiritual usefulness; for as he spent his days thus among the workmen of Aquila, he could not but speak to them continually of the great matters which filled his own mind, and that under the most advantageous circumstances. The doctrine thus received would spread like leaven among their families and connections; and as no man can be always at work, there were precious half hours in which he might visit the acquaintances thus formed, or in which he might impart the 'glad tidings' to the friends and visitors of Aquila.

Certain it is, that many among both the Jews and Greeks were converted. The earliest were the house of Stephanas,' which he calls the first-fruits of Achaia.'1 Another convert, and one of considerable note, was Crispus, 'the chief ruler of the synagogue;' and a third was Gaius, or Caius, with whom the apostle on a future occasion lodged. All these were baptized by his own hand, contrary to his usual custom; for he avoided this branch of service, lest his enemies should take occasion from it to allege that he had 'baptized in his own name,' and was establishing a sect of Paulites instead of Christians. The wisdom of the precautions taken by him to protect himself from misconstruction in both the respects indicated, must be evident to those who read the Epistles to the Corinthians. I Cor. i. 14-17.

11 Cor. xvi. 15.

2 Rom. xvi. 23.