as the bowstring twangs, he cries, "The arrow of the Lord's deliverance." Faithful preaching is never in vain ; and the history of Cornelius sends me away to-night with a new interpretation of the poet's lyric:

No sermon preached for Christ misses its mark. Let the ministers among us take comfort at the thought, and labor We shall meet the fruits of our discourses in the better

on.

land.

salem with surprise, and on his return to the Holy City the apostle was put on his defense for going in to men that were uncircumcised and eating with them. In reply he gave a simple narrative of all that had occurred, and called upon the six brethren who had accompanied him to Cesarea to confirm his statements; and the result was that his adversaries "held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

Shortly after this, tidings were brought to the members of the mother Church that certain of those who had left Jerusalem in consequence of the persecution in which Stephen suffered had gone to Antioch, and preached the Gospel to the Gentiles there; and Barnabas was sent as a special commissioner to examine into the matter and report. He found that a great number had believed and turned unto the Lord, and the sight of their decision and earnestness filled his heart with joy; while at the same time the success of the preachers among them gave him such an impression. regarding the hopefulness of the field in their city, that he went at once to Tarsus, and brought Paul thence to labor with him in Antioch.

Here for a whole year these noble men continued their ministry, isolated in a great degree from the brethren in Ju

dea, yet so interested in their welfare that at a time of famine they carried to the saints in Jerusalem a liberal contribution for their relief. But they did not remain long in the city which was so dear to them both, for just then a fresh persecution, organized and prosecuted by Herod the king, broke out against the Christians there.

This monarch was distinguished by the unscrupulous cruelty which characterized all the members of the family to which he belonged; and after a checkered career, remarkable for intrigue, cunning, and sycophancy, he was now upon the throne of Judea. He was the grandson of that Herod the Great who caused the murder of the infants at Bethlehem; the brother of that Herodius who instigated the execution of John the Baptist; and the father of that Agrippa before whom Paul afterward made his noble defense at Cesarea. He is commonly known in history as Herod Agrippa I.; and a brief epitome of his life up to this closing incident of his career may help to give you some idea of his personal character, as well as of the lawlessness and corruption of the age in which he lived.

Fleeing from Palestine to escape the rage of his grandfather, he spent the greater part of his youth in Rome; but by a course of reckless extravagance, he reduced himself to such poverty that he was obliged, in the year 23, to return to Judea. After living there in great penury for three years, he revisited Rome, and through the influence of his mother, Bernice, he was kindly received by the Emperor Tiberius, and became the friend of Caius Caligula, the heirapparent, and afterward the occupant, of the imperial throne. Happening, in conversation, to express a wish that his friend were emperor, one who overheard his words repeated them to Tiberius, who threw him into prison and kept him there in chains; but when Caligula reached the throne, he was set at liberty and loaded with honors. The new emperor

gave him a golden chain equal in weight to the iron one by which he had been bound, and conferred upon him, with the title of king, the two tetrarchies of Palestine, which happened at that time to be vacant. By his prudent management, he prevailed upon the emperor not to insist upon his impious demand to have his statue set up in the Temple of Jerusalem; and, true to his policy of worshiping the rising sun, after the murder of Caligula, in the plotting of which some suppose he had a share, he secured the favor of his successor Claudius, who confirmed the grants of the former emperor, and added to them the sovereignty of Judea and Samaria, thereby making him ruler of the whole territory over which his grandfather had held sway.

At the date of the events in this chapter he was in the fifty-fourth year of his age; and though he had offended the stricter Jews by his introduction of Roman customs, yet by his success in procuring the revocation of the odious edict of Caligula, and by seeking in every way to propitiate the favor of the people, he was very popular among his subjects. Josephus has thus described him: "This king was by nature very beneficent and liberal in his gifts; and being very ambitious to oblige people with such large donations, he made himself very illustrious by the many expensive presents which he bestowed. He took delight in giving, and rejoiced in living with good reputation..... Accordingly, he loved to live continually at Jerusalem, and was exactly careful in the observance of the laws of his country. He therefore kept himself entirely pure; nor did any day pass over his head without its appointed sacrifice."

The sacred and profane historians are thus in perfect accord regarding this man. The master passion of his soul, in the view of both, was to please the people. His ruling

"Antiquities," 19, 7, I.

principle was love of display, for the purpose of obtaining the admiration and the good opinion.of the multitude. This made him, among Jews, an exact and even scrupulous Jew; and it was only natural that his pious zeal should show itself in seeking to extirpate the Christians; while again, seeing how grateful this was to the feelings of those with whom he came into contact, he was thereby encouraged to prosecute the work of intolerance with increasing energy. How mixed the motives which operate in the human heart! and in how many is an apparent zeal for some religious cause only the outcome of personal vanity and the desire to secure the favor of the multitude! Not such assistance nor such defenders does the truth require; for he who is its Lord has said to all his followers, "Put up the sword into its scabbard."

The principal victim of Herod's persecution was the Apostle James. We know nothing more of this early martyr than what has been told us in the sacred narrative. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and the brother of John. He was one of the three most favored disciples, and was present at the raising of Jairus's daughter, and on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was, besides, one of those who were taken farthest with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane. Along with John, he was so distinguished for zeal and energy in the Master's cause, that he called them Boanerges ("sons of thunder"). And as it is the loftiest towers that are first struck by the lightning, and the tallest trees that feel most the fury of the blast, it is probable that by eminence, ability, and success he stood so prominently forward among the Christians as to attract the attention and provoke the enmity of their opponents. For him and John his mother had asked from the Redeemer the highest posts of honor in his kingdom; and though he said that she knew not what she asked, he promised that they should drink of his cup, and be baptized with his baptism.