of the Holy Ghost-he was a contemporary of Saul. But more of him hereafter. Above all, in a village of no consideration, and even of evil notoriety, near Mount Tabor, there dwelt one who for thirty years trod this lovely spot, amid fig-trees, and olive-trees, and vines, and crops ofcorn, scarcely equalled throughout the length and breadth of the land of Canaan-He was a contemporary of Saul, and was first persecuted by him, and ever after dearly beloved and faithfully served. What a sacred sight it would have been to have seen all these young men of spotless purity, of prayer, piety and practical godliness, of promise and future daring, and calm submission and deep humility, of learning and religion, and of all that was interesting and amiable! These we have not seen on earth-these we shall never see in the body; but let the writer and every reader indulge the hope that, after a few short years of evil are past, we may sup with Jesus in Paradise, and sit down with these, and with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and eat of the fruit of the vine new in the kingdom of our Father.

CHAPTER III.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. STEPHEN, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL.

SAUL may have attained the age of twenty-five or thirty years when our Lord began his public ministry. But while he has left the Christian world a minute detail of the manner in which he persecuted the infant Church of Christ, and given an eloquent exposition of his conversion, there is not to be found in all his speeches in the Acts of the Apostles, or in his numerous Epistles, a single expression indicating directly, or even by fair interpretation indirectly, that he ever saw Jesus in the body, that he ever heard him preach, saw him work a miracle, far less, that he was present at his trial or crucifixion. He says (1 Cor. ix. 1), "Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" but in this he alludes to his vision on the road to Damascus. He says (2 Cor. v. 16), "Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more;" but St. Paul often uses "we" for Christians in general, without any reference to himself personally, and he may speak only of his carnal opinions concerning the Messiah. He says, "I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you" (1 Cor. xi. 23); but there seems to be nothing here to indicate that he received this bodily from Jesus in the flesh, but it may have been in a vision, or by inspiration. In the Hebrews, on the other hand, he says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;" but this would

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prove only that Saul had never been a disciple of our Lord. Benson thinks that Saul was a young student during our Lord's ministry; and Lardner thinks that the restraint imposed on such a pupil might have kept him in ignorance of what was going on at Jerusalem. But this is mere conjecture. "It is hardly conceivable," says Conybeare, "that if he had been at Jerusalem during our Lord's public ministration there, he should never allude to the fact. In this case he surely would have been among the persecutors of Jesus, and have referred to this as the ground of his remorse, instead of expressing his repentance for his opposition merely to the Saviour's followers." The just inference therefore seems to be, that Saul had never been in the bodily presence of the Lord Jesus while he was yet on earth. This inference seems to be distinctly confirmed by what he says in 1 Cor. xv. 8: "Last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time."

If Saul, then, was not at Jerusalem during these years of Christ's ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, in which the great work of man's redemption was accomplished, the question remains, Where was he? and in answer, the probability can only be conjectured, that he returned to Tarsus; and this seems to be the general opinion of those most competent to judge. Another variety of conjecture arises from the consideration where Saul became so intimately acquainted with Greek literature, with the Cilician bard Aratus, with the poet Epimenides, with the comedies of the elegant Menander, and with other popular authors of the day, many of which, besides those named, he may have quoted. It may have been that he was taught Greek in Tarsus before he went up to Jerusalem. The probability is, that under Gamaliel this taste was much improved, and also from studying the writings of Philo, and the Hellenistic Jews. And there is nothing at all improbable in the event of his having returned at this period to his native city, that he embraced the opportunity

its celebrated colleges afforded him of finishing to perfection this branch of education, so suitable to the purpose for which he was destined in converting the Gentiles.

Leaving all those suppositions, then, to the reader's own fancy, let us at once come to the point in the history of the Apostolic Church, where the young man whose name was Saul is found in the record disputing with Stephen. Of old, and to this day, a converted Jew to Christianity loses caste forthwith, and thereby sinks into poverty. The number of these multiplied so great at first in Jerusalem, that vigorous means behoved to be instantly employed for their support. Bountiful charity in the rich towards the poor was one of the distinguishing maxims of Christianity, and some of the wealthier members of the community sold their property and laid the price and all their riches at the feet of the Apostles. In these circumstances it soon became impracticable for the twelve Apostles to attend to the wants of their numerous poor, and it was found expedient to elect deacons to carry on the work of almsgiving with prudent profusion. They belonged to the lowest order of ministering servants in the Church (1 Cor. iii. 5; Col. i. 23, 25; Philip. i. 1; 1 Tim. iii.); their office originally was to serve tables, the Lord's table, the minister's table, and the poor's table. They took care of the secular affairs of the Church, received and disbursed moneys, kept the Church's accounts, and provided everything necessary for its temporal good. Thus, while the pastor attended to the souls, the deacons attended to the bodies of the people; the one to the spiritual, the other to the temporal interests of the Church. Seven deacons were accordingly selected for these important offices, and Stephen was one of the most eminent of these. He was a man who, as full of faith and of the Holy Ghost and of power, did great wonders and miracles among the people; he is also said to have been a man of great learning and eloquence. From his name and that of the others, these almoners seem to have been Greco-Syrians; and if so, the

finger of Divine Providence seems to have been in the matter, as this class of converts, being freer from Hebrew nationalities, local prejudices, and Jewish superstitions, must have had, unknown to themselves, an important influence in preparing the way for the admission of the Gentiles. These entered upon their duties with extraordinary success, and the fearless zeal with which Stephen carried the war of the Gospel into the camp of the Hellenists, soon drew upon him the hatred of the unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem. The Cilician synagogue took up the controversy against Stephen (Acts vi. 9, 10), and, in all human probability, Saul of Tarsus was one of the young champions of Pharisaism in this discussion. But even Saul, with all his zeal, talent, and tuition, was not able to resist the wisdom and spirit with which Stephen spoke. False witnesses, therefore, were suborned to impeach him of having spoken blasphemous words against the Law and the Temple, against Moses and against God.

These bigots of the ancient faith accordingly dragged Stephen as a blasphemer before the Sanhedrim. This accusation was well calculated to incite all parties in the Sanhedrim against him. Stephen saw at a glance that he was made the victim of these malignant spirits. But his serenity was unruffled. Confidence in the goodness of his cause, and in the promised support of his heavenly Master, imparted divine tranquillity to his mind. And when the council assembled in solemn state "in this holy place," the Hall of Gazith, or the Jewish stone chamber, which was partly within and partly without the Temple court, when "the people" had been stirred up, and when the president of the council was seated in the middle, the father of the council by his side, the seventy judges around, and the scribes at the extremities of the semicircle, Stephen maintained his fortitude, when thus standing confronted by such judges and accusers. When the judicial question was put, "Are these things so?" and silence