"rejoice with them that rejoiced," and to exult in the wider diffusion of the blessings of the Gospel. Hitherto their hearts had glowed with a kind of religious patriotism; they now embraced the world. Christ, "the glory of his people Israel," had become “a light to lighten the Gentiles" also: and their honest minds rejoiced in the prospect, opposed though it was to their former ideas; their charity was refreshed with the thought that repentance unto life was granted to the Gentiles also.

E. And have not we, Mamma, much more reason to rejoice? Was not Great Britain then one of those Gentile nations which sat in darkness and the shadow of death?

M. Indeed she was, and you are quite right in applying the subject to ourselves. For if they who were Jews by birth, by education, and by privileges, rejoiced in the extension of the kingdom of God, how much more should 66 who we, are by nature sinners of the Gentiles,” rejoice in the opening of the door o mercy to them;—we who are heirs of the inestimable blessings then conferred! In this part indeed of the Apostolic history we read the charter of our Christian privileges—the Magna Charta, as it were, of the Gentile world, freely given us by the King himself, to assure us of our admission into the kingdom of heaven. You know how every Englishman values the Magna Charta of his rights as an English subject: how much more should every Gentile Christian prize the charter of his spiritual blessings, and be careful not to forfeit its privileges, and be continually thankful for the unspeakable mercies which it secures to him! remembering those solemn words of our blessed Lord: "I tell

you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them '." Remember that to whom much is given, of them much is required.

See Acts x. 3—48. xi. 1—18.

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY EVENING.

THE CHURCH PERSECUTED BY HEROD.

E. Are we to hear any thing more of the labours of St. Peter to-night, Mamma?

M. We shall have our veneration for this great Apostle much increased, before we have finished this evening's conversation; but I must turn your attention in the first instance to other subjects. We are still in the eleventh chapter of the Acts; and, if you observe, you will see that we begin to-night at the nineteenth verse. Where does that carry our thoughts?

E. Back to the first persecution of the Church, and to the death of Stephen. Ah! I see; it is to tell us something of the other Christians who were then scattered abroad.

M. Yes, whilst those several events of deepest importance, which we have been lately dwelling upon, were taking place in various parts of Judea, others of the dispersed disciples had been carrying the Gospel beyond the confines of Palestine. Some had travelled

1 Matt. xiii. 17.

as far as Phenice, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching as they went" the Lord Jesus," though only amongst the Jews, whether Hebrew Jews as they were called, who still spoke a dialect of Hebrew, and had the Scriptures in the language in which they were originally written, or the Grecian Jews of the dispersion, who spoke Greek, and used the Greek version of the Old Testament. Among these the Gospel was spreading; a great number believed and turned unto the Lord; and when the Church at Jerusalem heard of it, they sent Barnabas to Antioch, to confirm what had been done. This holy man rejoiced in beholding the blessed proofs of the grace of God among this people, and “exhorted them, that with full purpose of heart they

would cleave unto the Lord."

E. This was the same Barnabas, I suppose, whom we have heard of before?

M. And he was, as you know, a "good man ;" which means here, perhaps, a man of a sweet and gentle disposition," full of the Holy Ghost, full of faith, full of kindness, and well calculated to nurse, if we may so speak, an infant Church with all that affection and tenderness, which the prejudices of the new converts, and the trials to which they were then exposed, plainly required. The result was a happy

one.

"Much people were added to the Lord," after the arrival of Barnabas; so much so, that Barnabas seems to have required assistance in taking care of his charge. Whose help do you think he was anxious to obtain? I will only tell you that he went to Tarsus to seek it, and that the individual selected was peculiarly fitted to assist him in his great work, being eminent for his learning, as well as for his zeal and piety.

E. It was at Tarsus that we left Saul: it must have been Saul then whom he wished for. Was Tarsus far from Antioch?

M. Not very far by water; but you can look at the map, and judge for yourself.

E. Here is Tarsus, I remember it well, in Cilicia in Asia Minor, but for which of the Antiochs must I look?

M. In Syria for the one we are now speaking of. Another Antioch, of which we shall speak soon, was in Pisidia, of which province in Asia Minor it was the capital: there were also several other cities of that name, called after Antiochus; but the chief of them all was this one in Syria, which was a very distinguished city. It was situated in the north of Syria, on the river Orontes, about twelve miles from the shores of the Mediterranean. It was called Antioch, after his father, by Seleucus Nicanor, who built it, a. c. 301. Being very centrally situated, it became the seat of the Syrian kings of the Macedonian race, and afterwards of the Roman governors of the Eastern provinces. It is very famous in the history of the early Christian Church, and was celebrated as the see of one of the chief bishoprics of the Christian world. We read, indeed, that Antioch abounded with great men and illustrious prelates; it was also admirably fortified both by nature and art, and adorned, as places of such consequence generally are, with sumptuous palaces and temples.

E. Did not Godfrey of Boulogne besiege Antioch, Mamma, when he was going to conquer the Holy Land?

M. He did, and at length obtained possession of it,

though the siege was long and bloody. No wonder that the Church should have felt so much solicitude for the success of the Gospel in so populous and influential a city, or for the safety of the disciples amidst so many temptations; or that Barnabas should have been glad of assistance there, especially such assistance as that of Saul. Particularly as the new religion had evidently acquired notice, as appears from the fact, so interesting to us to know, that the disciples had now a new name given them, and that by the supercilious Romans 1; for it was at Antioch that they were called Christians for the first time.

E. For the first time? I thought they were Christians all along.

M. They were disciples of Christ, Edward, although hitherto they had been called Jews, Nazarenes, or Galileans; and by each other" disciples," " believers," "brethren," "saints," but never Christians until now: a name given, perhaps, by their enemies in contempt, but gloried in by them, as it should be by us; for it is a name which connects us with the Son of God, which proclaims us partakers of that anointing which rests upon our High Priest for ever. For the name of Christ means "Anointed," as I dare say you have learnt from the Greek; and which even those who are unacquainted with Greek, may learn from comparing Psalm ii. 2. with Acts iv. 26.

Whilst Barnabas and Saul were at Antioch-(for it is remarkable, that Barnabas is at this time mentioned first, Saul not having yet entered upon his glorious career as the Apostle of the Gentiles,) whilst they

1 See Evans' Scripture Biography, p. 348.