CHAPTER XII. ON THE TRACK OF ST. PAUL. Sacred associations-Apostolic authority of St. Paul-His characterValue of geograpical observations in confirming the truthfulness of Scriptural incident-Conybeare and Howson's "St. Paul"Voyage from Malta to Sicily-Castor and Pollux-The Euroclydon in Adria-Drifting of the vessel-St. Paul's behaviour during the storm-Ship's course from Corinth to Ephesus-Ayasaluk-SyraPriscilla and Aquila-The shorn head-Troubles in the Corinthian Church-Alexandria Troas - The journey thither - Voyage to Philippi-Scenery-Sunrise - St. Luke-Second visit to TroasThird visit to Troas-Affection for the Philippians - Preaching at Troas, and accident to Eutychus - Walk to Assos, and voyage down the coast-Fourth visit to Troas-Arrest and martyrdom. To all studious Christian people, everything confirming the truth, and, by illustration, tending to elucidate the meaning of Scriptural incident, must be of great value. The association especially of Palestine with the history of the Jews, who were chosen, in the wisdom of God, to become the communicating channels of Divine revelation to the rest of mankind, and with the life of Jesus Christ, in whom Jewish history culminated and Divine revelation became complete, invest that country, its hills and dales, its lakes and rivers, its towns and villages, the manners and customs of its peoplealmost unchanged in the eighteen centuries which have gone by since the Saviour walked the earth and even its flowers and fruits and animal life, with a charm such as no other country possesses, and will never fail to draw toward it the desiring eyes of all holy men and women. The Crusades are for ever past. They simply exist as a memory of mediæval times, when warfare was supposed to be worship, and when the highest spiritual service was thought to be comprised in fighting to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the infidel. But the deeper and truer meaning of that historical period remains, and will remain so long as the Christian religion sways the hearts of men. While Palestine is pre-eminently a Bible land, it is not the only Bible land. The history of the Jews is also associated with Egypt, and Babylonia, and Persia, and they have their charm; but the chief charm, next to that of Palestine itself, must be acknowledged to belong to those countries through which the great Apostle Paul passed, and to those seas over which he sailed, in his matchless efforts to convey the glorious gospel to every part of the known world. The most conspicuous figure in the New Testament, after that of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the figure of the ardent, learned Jew, who sat first at the feet of Gamaliel, and who sat afterwards at the feet of the crucified Nazarene. His visit to Arabia-some quiet desert place, whatever Arabia he referred to-immediately after his conversion, must have been a time of instruction, a time for the gathering together of spiritual power, a time of equipment for the work to which he had been so remarkably called. He, who had never walked the fields of Galilee, the shores of Gennesaret, the mount of Olives, the streets of Jerusalem in company with the Saviour, and who had not been present at that parting Paschal Feast, upon which the Saviour grafted the new Sacramental Supper wherein dwelt the germ of the future Church, and who, therefore, might have his Apostolic authority called in question, as it actually was, by worldly minded and contentious men, was nevertheless to have his authority established beyond all question, by special revelation and communion, in some retired and solitary place-some New Testament Horeb-that he might be not "I certify "a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." you, brethren," he wrote, "that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." No man has so extensively influenced the world for good as this man. No man has lived a more active, more heroic, more utterly self-forgetful, more patiently determined in the face of every kind of difficulty and danger, more deeply spiritual in the midst of busy worldly scenes, more loving and lovable life than this man. His many-sided character, and every side noble, lifts him high even among the servants of the Lord. Like a serene, snow-clad mountain, rising above all the smaller hills into the sky, and attracting the eyes from them to it, and yet directing the eyes still upward to their next higher resting place, heaven itself, so the great apostle rises from the midst of his brethren; and when we look above him we look at the sapphire pavement, and the burning throne, where sits, in infinite splendour, the perfect Man, our Lord Jesus Christ. Very much can be done to authenticate St. Luke's record of the travels of St. Paul, and to unravel the meaning of certain parts of St. Paul's Epistles, by careful geographical observation. A flood of light may be thrown thereby upon a large portion of the Scriptures, which, while confirming the truthfulness of the narrative beyond all controversy, and is this way impregnably entrenching one important Christian position, gives the Scriptures a fuller and clearer, as well as a more exact, message to all open, believing hearts. This was felt, confessedly felt, in the Introduction to their scholarly work, by the Rev. W. J. Conybeare, M.A., and the Very Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D., Dean of Chester, when they commenced writing their "Life and Epistles of St. Paul." This Life is far away the best that has yet issued from the press, and its value is greatly enhanced by the I 2 Cor. xi. 5, xii. 11'; Gal. ii. 6-8. * Gal. i. 11, 12. elaborate geographical details, and all the minutiæ of travel with which the book abounds. No labour has been spared to obtain particulars. The countries have been visited and faithfully described; the seas have been sounded, and their currents ascertained; the prevailing winds during the changing seasons of the year have been determined, and even the shape and rig of the ancient vessels, and their sailing capabilities thoroughly gone into: so that we have a picture of the apostle's life in correct perspective, with its lights and shadows, and its variable surroundings, such as no one else has given, and leaving very little to be desired. My acquaintance with this book increased my interest in the voyage whenever we came across, or upon, the track of St. Paul. The first time we crossed his track was between Sicily and Malta. After the three months' welcome sojourn in Malta, where the healing of the father of Publius, and other sick people of the island, increased Paul's influence, and ensured kindly and even honourable treatment for him (prisoner though he was) and his fellows, "we departed," says St. Luke, "in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days." It was a short voyage from Malta to Syracuse, in N.N.E. direction, and we must have cut the track almost diagonally of that large Alexandrian vessel, dedicated to the Dioscuri, the twin gods favourable to sailors, in which St. Paul reached Puteoli, by way of Syracuse and Rhegium-Puteoli, a beautiful little town at the northern end of the Bay of Naples, whence he walked to Rome. Castor and Pollux would be a favourite sign, or name, for vessels trading with Rome, and, indeed, with almost every city at that time. Above Syracuse stood a marble temple dedicated to the honour and worship of the twin gods. Wherever the influence of Grecian literature had been felt (and where had it not been felt in the civilized portions of the old heathen worldi), Castor and Pollux would be held in deep veneration. The famous mythical account of their appearance at the battle of Lake Regillus secured for them the profound respect of the mighty city of Rome. And sailors would be ready to name their vessels after these gods, and thereby implore their protection, when they believed that "Safe comes the ship to haven, Through billows and through gales, We are not told what was the sign of the wrecked vessel, but she also was a ship of Alexandria, and, to accommodate two hundred and seventy-six souls, besides a cargo of corn, must, like the Castor and Pollux, have been a vessel of large size. These two Alexandrian corn vessels, both bound for Rome, were only two among a vast multitude passing backwards and forwards between the central city of the world and its various provinces; and advantage was taken of these merchantmen by those wishing to pass from one province to another, or from distant realms to the seat of Imperial government and authority, as in the case of the centurion, Julius, who had charge of St. Paul and the rest of the prisoners. Upon leaving Cape Passaro we came into that expanse of water called in St. Luke's narrative Adria. Through this sea the Alexandrian vessel drifted for fourteen days, weathering the fearful gale, the Euroclydon, in which she was caught when the fair havens in Crete were left, against St. Paul's advice, but with the concurrent judgment of the master and owner of the vessel. The Euroclydon, the stormy east wind upon the waves, swept down suddenly from the high lands of Crete, and beat so violently against the ship that she could not keep her course. They let her drive, and in two hours came under the lee of the small island of Claudia, where they found a temporary shelter, where they were |