p. 180 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 12. (3/19/1885)

Constantine.—IV.

By Editor

AND unfortunately the influence of that time and of those events is not lost upon the world and the church unto this day. As long as men praise Constantine and his works, and count the Roman Empire of the fourth century a Christian empire, so long are they guilty of putting darkness for light and evil for good; so long are they paying homage to a gross perversion and abuse of Christianity. Another eminent church historian says:—

"It were to be wished that there had been as much zeal at this time to support the doctrines, and realize the power of the cross, as there was to honor its formalities. But this was far from being the case.

"For neither in Constantine, nor in his favorite bishops, nor in the general appearance of the church, can we see much of the spirit of godliness. Pompous apparatus, augmented superstitions, an unmeaning form of piety, much show and little substance, appear. This is the impression which the account given by Eusebius has left on my mind.

"External piety flourished, monastic societies in particular places were also growing; but faith, love, heavenly-mindedness appear very rare; yet among the poor and obscure Christians I hope there was far more godliness than could be seen at courts, and among bishops and persons of eminence. The doctrine of real conversion was very much lost, or external baptism was placed in its stead, and the true doctrine of justification by faith, and the true, practical use of a crucified Saviour for troubled consciences, were scarce to be seen at this time. There was much outward religion, but this could not make men saints in heart and life. The worst part of the character of Constantine is, that as he grew older he grew more culpable, oppressive in his own family, oppressive to the Government, oppressive by Eastern superfluous magnificence; and the facts to be displayed will show how little true humility and charity were now known in the Christian world, while superstition and self-righteousness were making vigorous shoots, and the real gospel of Christ was hidden from men who professed it."—Milner, pp. 210, 211.

And thus again Dr. Hase:—

"As fast as he could wisely do so, and by all the means which an absolute monarch can bring to bear upon his favorite plans, Constantine gradually bestowed upon the church security, wealth, privileges, and everything which could make it attractive."—P. 103.

We must not lose sight of the fact that in making the church attractive Constantine was glorifying himself. While the bishops readily accepted personal favors and counted them as so much gained to the cause of Christ, they in turn seemed to think they were glorifying God by extolling the emperor, with much of the same feeling that actuates the followers of the pope to this day. Thus Neander says:—

"It flattered his vanity to be considered the favorite of God, and his destined instrument to destroy the empire of the evil spirits (the heathen deities). The Christians belonging to his court were certainly not wanting on their part to confirm him in this persuasion, having many of them come to the same conclusion themselves, dazzled by the outward splendor which surrounded the emperor; and which passed over from him to the visible church, and by looking at what the imperial power, which nothing any longer withstood, could secure for the outward interests of the church.

"Bishops in immediate attendance upon the emperor so far forgot, indeed, to what master they belonged, that at the celebration of the third decennium of his reign one of them congratulated him as constituted by God the ruler over all, in the present world, and destined to reign with the Son of God in the world to come. The feelings of Constantine himself were shocked at such a parallel!"—Neander, pp. 22, 23.

Willard, Universal History, says:—

"Surely it was not in the spirit of Christ who said, 'My kingdom is not of this world,' that Constantine made it the religion of the empire, and from henceforth we find its heavenly influence sullied by mingling with earthly things."

Whelpley, in his Compend of History, says:—

"From this period, the Christian church was loaded with honor, wealth, and power, nor did her virtue ever sustain a severer trial. The chief dignitaries of the empire could scarcely do less than imitate their master; and Christianity soon became a necessary qualification for public office. The church now no longer appeared in her ancient simplicity and purity; lords and princes were among her converts, and she was dressed in robes of state. Her ceremonies were increased; her forms of worship were loaded with pomp and splendor; her doctrines were intermingled with the senseless jargon of a philosophy equally absurd and vain, and the way seemed prepared, not only for the decay of Christian doctrine and morality, but of every science which distinguishes civilized from savage nations."—P. 206.

Guericke goes so far as to ascribe to Constantine and his unwise course the evils which befell the empire under Julian; and this not without a show of reason, as the following extract gives us to understand:—

"Julian, a nephew of Constantine the Great, who, when a child, had seen his nearest kindred fall a sacrifice to the jealousy of Constantine, and had been trained up in solitude by worthless teachers for the clerical profession, soon learned to look with a secret bitterness upon the existing state of things, while a Christianity thus forced upon him by a hated court could not take root in his heart."—Ancient Church, p. 244.

With worldly preferments came bitter jealousies between the bishops, and from the time of the Nicene council there was unceasing strife and war of words about doctrines and forms. The example set by Constantine of compelling conformity was followed by the several bishops to whom he had given the power of determining causes in the State as well as in the church. And while his action in that respect was for the purpose of giving uniformity of faith to the churches, it had directly the contrary effect when imitated by a number of bishops, as their creeds differed and their powers conflicted. Thus unmistakably does an evil tree bring forth evil fruit, however much men may admire it in its growth. It was in this age that the controversy between the Arians and Trinitarians raged fiercely, and the temporizing policy of Constantine, who, in the vain hope of uniting them, now favored this party and now that, served to embitter both parties, and to render them more determined and vindictive as their hopes and fears were raised alternately. We may be excused for giving at least one specimen of church literature coming to us from the age immediately succeeding that of Constantine, to show both the spirit and subject of the controversy. It is from the "orthodox," or Roman side of the question:—

"Since, then, Nestorius, that God-assaulting tongue, that second conclave of Caiaphas, that workshop of blasphemy, in whose case Christ is again made a subject of bargain and sale, by having his nature divided and torn asunder; since, then, he thrust aside and rejected the term, Mother of God, which had been already wrought by the Holy Spirit, through the instrumentality of many chosen Fathers, and substituted a spurious one of his own coining, Mother of Christ."—Evagrius' History, p. 4.

Such effusions as the above, by no means scarce in that age, are worthy of the place they occupied, standing as they did midway between the inquisition and the corrupting influence of Constantine's conformity acts, which paved the way for the inquisition.

We turn now to the consideration of the story of Constantine's vision of the cross. By those who are wont to ascribe to Constantine the qualities of a genuine Christian, and to extol his actions as of great benefit to the cause of pure religion, this vision has been dwelt upon as an event of the utmost importance, yes, as the very turning point in the struggle between paganism and Christianity.

It is to be regretted that so often idle stories will obtain general credence and pass into history for settled truth, because they are suffered to exert an influence which truth alone should be allowed to exert. There are few who have not heard the story that Alexander the Great, after conquering the world, wept because there were no more worlds for him to conquer, and the belief in this story has become so general that it is considered, in the minds of most people, a truth not to be disputed. Yet the story is utterly groundless. This will illustrate our remark. This story about Alexander, however, is entirely harmless. But not so the story of Constantine's vision of the cross. That has been used as an evidence that he was led by the Lord himself, even in his battles, and that he was the favorite of Heaven, chosen to establish the Christian religion in the Roman Empire. Yet history plainly shows that it is only an idle tale.

And here, again, we should feel called upon to apologize for the amount of evidence offered were it not that we consider the subject one of real importance. For, surely, if Constantine did see such a vision, if Heaven thus miraculously called him to set up the cross of the Prince of Peace as the standard by which he should establish his empire and slay his enemies; if the life and acts of Constantine were not only favored but directed by the Lord, as his flatterers assumed, that fact should be well attested. But, on the other hand, if it was a mere fable by means of which a superstitious people were deluded into the belief that a selfish, jealous, ambitious warrior was divinely directed in his battles; and if this fable has been, and even yet is used to give influence to systems or forms of worship invented by Constantine or adopted from paganism and forced upon the church by imperial authority, then too much pains cannot be taken to expose the cheat, and thus to rescue the minds of men from the bewildering mazes of traditional error.

We may say here with the apostle Paul, "If any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant;" that is, any man may choose ignorance if it pleases him. But there is no necessity for remaining so, for no point seems to be made more clear. Whelpley speaks of it thus:—

"There are various accounts given and various opinions formed concerning the conversion of Constantine. Whether his mind was swayed by the power of truth, or by temporal, political, and interested motives, is not easy to determine. It is related and believed by some, that his conversion was miraculous. They say that he saw in the heavens the sign of the cross with this inscription in radiant letters, touto nika, i. e., 'by this conquer;' and that, upon this, he immediately embraced Christianity. His life and conduct were by no means eminent for Christian virtue; nor was he wholly free from crimes of the deepest dye."—Compend, p. 206.

He discredits the story on the just ground that his life, neither past nor future, gave any evidence of being guided by Heaven or influenced by Christian principles.

The Bible Never Becomes Obsolete

If the Bible be an inspired volume, it is inspired for a purpose. If inspired for a purpose, it is divinely fitted for that purpose. If fitted to that purpose, it is a compendium of the truths necessary to the world through all time. Such a volume can never be obsolete. It will be as fresh to the last man as it is to us.

"Spared Not."

By James Smith

It is a solemn fact; but there is such a thing with God as not sparing. There is justice in God's nature, and in certain circumstances that justice must be manifested. A careful analysis will show that the manifestations of mercy and the manifestations of justice, as recorded in Scripture, are about equally balanced. Sin is a fact; and God must deal with it. He deals with it in two ways, and in two ways only—he forgives it or he punishes it; he acquits the sinner in mercy, or he spares him not in judgment. The phrase, "spared not," is a graphic way of expressing the actual infliction of suffering or judgment; and the Scriptures record several instances when God actually "spared not," or when he did let his hand smite the object of his penal justice. Taking these instances in the order of time, we find the following:—

1. Spared not the angels. Original sin is not human but angelic. The devil and his angels were sinners before Adam. The Scriptures do not wait to satisfy morbid curiosity as to how angels sinned without a tempter, or how man sinned by means of a tempter; but they record two solemn facts, namely, that angels sinned and that God spared them not. Thus the apostle Peter expresses it: "For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." 2 Peter 2:4, Rev. Ver. This was the first manifestation of penal justice, the first infliction of punishment in the universe of God so far as we know, and that too without an offer of mercy. Any solution, therefore, of punishment inflicted by God must include the question of "original" or angelic sin. How dreadful for sinners to trifle with sin with such a signal instance before them of "judgment without mercy!"

2. Spared not the old world. Again the same apostle writes: "And spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah . . . when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly." Such was God's answer to human corruption. The moment came when the lawless corruption could not be allowed to go any farther. "The end of all flesh" had come before God. The Spirit ceased to strive. The testimony of Enoch and Noah was disregarded; and so the judgment day arrived. By a desolating deluge God "took them all away," and cleansed the earth. Thus we see that God has already judged men as well as angels. And something similar to the flood-judgment will happen again, for, "As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." A startling comparison! A sad and solemn terminus to an age characterized by the free offer of remission of sins and eternal life.

3. Spared not the natural branches. That means Israel. We get this thought through Paul. In Romans 11:20 we read: "Be not highminded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee" (the Gentiles). If God gave Israel many privileges, he also gave her much correction and severe chastisement. There was rich mercy, but also unsparing judgment. He "spared not the natural branches" in the wilderness, for their carcasses fell there. He spared them not when they were carried away captive to Babylon. And he spared them not when the Roman power destroyed their place and nation, and scattered them to the ends of the earth. And now this is our day. The Jew knew not his day of visitation; do we know ours? Do the nations know that this is their day of mercy and privilege? Have the Gentiles acted more wisely with regard to God's grace than the Jews did with regard to his law? If not, the sentence has gone forth, and what happened before will happen again. He "spared not the natural branches," neither will he spare thee. "Thou also shalt be cut off." Unspeakably solemn reflection! God help the Gentiles to remember that this age is their day of favor!

4. Spared not his only Son. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8 : 32. Here is the foundation for God's action and for our faith. Once admit that Christ pledged himself to be the Mediator, the Redeemer, the Surety, the Sacrifice, and what follows? It follows that God could not spare him. Not one iota can be subtracted from the suffering for sin. When God made "his soul an offering for sin;" when the Lord "laid on him the iniquity of us all;" "poured out his soul unto death;" when he was "wounded," "bruised," "smitten," and "afflicted," not a drop could be taken from the bitter contents of that "cup." God spared him not. Such was the cost of our salvation. In Christ God "found a ransom," and now he can say: "Deliver from going down to the pit." On the ground of this "ransom for many" (Matt. 20 : 28) God will, in the day when he makes up his jewels, "spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." And on the ground of that "ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2 : 6), God will not spare, in the day of Judgment, those who reject it. These "spared nots" are given as examples of time-judgments for our warning; and in the face of these awful inflictions, it is sheer trifling to deny "eternal punishment."—Rev. James Smith.

Owe No Man.

"Owe no man anything, but to love one another." That is, as Macknight paraphrases it, "Pay your debts, and owe no man anything, unless mutual love; because that debt can never be fully paid." This important admonition of the apostle is very much neglected by many persons. Many members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, carelessly run in debt, and as carelessly neglect to pay the debts which they have voluntarily contracted. This is dishonest, and in direct violation of the injunction of the apostle. No man professing to be a Christian can in this way disregard his obligation without bringing reproach upon himself, and dishonor upon the religion of Christ which he professes. A man may be honest without being a Christian, but he cannot be a Christian without being honest. It is bad enough when members of the church run in debt and refuse or neglect to pay; but it is far worse, and productive of greater injury to the cause of Christ, when ministers of the gospel do so. While they preach honesty to others, they should be strictly honest themselves, and set an example for the imitation of others. We venture that Paul did not receive money from any of the brethren for which he did not render a strict and proper account, and that he did not leave unpaid bills on every circuit or mission where he labored. He did not run in debt; and he exhorts us to imitate his example, and "owe no man anything." A minister of the gospel who will not pay his honest debts, should voluntarily retire from the work of the ministry, and if he refuses to do so, he should be involuntarily retired. No man, it matters not what his talents may be, can be useful who will not pay his honest debts. If Paul deemed it necessary to admonish his brethren in this connection, it will not be deemed improper for us to do so. We do not know what Paul's observations were upon this subject, but we know that great reproach has been brought upon the cause of Christ by professed Christians, and even Christian ministers, neglecting to pay their debts. It is true, cases of this kind are not very numerous, but they should not exist at all. A man should not contract a debt which he knows he has not the ability to pay. If the apostle's injunction were obeyed, a great reproach would be removed from the church.—Methodist Recorder.

Not a Doubt of It.

By Charles Haddon Spurgeon

PROFESSIONAL preaching, ex-officio creed-repeating, is the devil's most effectual method of propagating falsehood and, defeating truth. Full assurance of the certainty of what we preach in the name of the most high God is absolutely necessary to making full proof of our ministry; in fact, it is questionable whether it is ministry for God at all if it is not the ministry of faith. If whatsoever is not of faith is sin, and men are forbidden to do that about which they have any scruple, much more in sacred things must a preaching that is not of faith be sin; and how can sin promote the righteousness of God? If Jesus the Son of God be not really and truly God to any man, if that man should dare assert the doctrine of the Redeemer's deity, he will but do the truth dishonor. We may not forbid his preaching, but if the Master were here he would as surely silence him as he did the devils when they loudly attested that he was the Son of God. If the Bible be not believed to be a supernatural book, infallibly teaching the things which make for our eternal salvation, he who, with deliberate falsehood of unbelief, yet uses it as his text book, and refers to it as his authority, is a trifler with truth and a mocker of sacred things. If a man believes that there is no such thing as regeneration, or that men do not need it, his attempt to preach concerning the new birth will only scatter among the multitudes doubts as to its reality. Whatever is held forth in the palsied hand of unbelief is itself made to quiver. Skepticism is a smoking lamp, which, while it gives no light, loads the atmosphere with a thick darkness, if not with a stench. If we are ever to see men brought down under the power of the law to a condition of true repentance, if we are ever to see them converted by the Holy Ghost through the gospel of Christ Jesus, if we are ever to see the converted ones sanctified and marching forth to the Master's battles as an army with banners, we must preach the truth boldly, as we ought to preach it, and we must say of every jot and tittle of it, "Not a doubt of it! Not a doubt of it!"—Spurgeon.

Church Amusements.

THE church has gone into the amusement business largely. In the days of primitive simplicity, it was thought that the world and Satan had a monopoly in that line. This, however, is “an age of progress,” so called, and the church has entered the market, and is in competition with those great caterers. The discovery has been made that the church, in order to hold its young people to its altars, must provide for the natural craving for amusement. It used to be held that Jesus and his work furnished ample resources to meet the loftiest aspirations of a saved soul. It was often sung— “Thou, O Christ, art all I want, More than all in thee I find.”

This sort of sentiment is now thought to be not up to “the times.” Sad as it may appear, judging from the new order of things, Jesus is not equal to the occasion. A little amusement must be thrown in. In order to keep people from the theater and the opera, our churches must be made into semi-theaters and operas.

But this is serious business, dreadful business. It is eating out the life of the church; it is destroying our young people, and rendering them unfit for all true spiritual exercises. We must bear an open testimony against the deadly work everywhere. We counsel every real friend of Jesus resolutely to discountenance these church amusements. Be kind, but firm. Loyalty to Jesus demands it. Give your money liberally for every laudable church object, but stand aloof, positively, in the holidays, and evermore, from the unholy festivals.—Guide to Holiness.

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—APRIL 21.

Inheritance of the Saints.

What did Adam lose by his transgression?
By whom is the dominion to be restored?
State another result of Adam's transgression?

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. 4. Who has the power of death? "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14.

Then what did Adam receive from Satan as the price of his dominion?
What, then, was the curse which Adam's sin brought on the human race?

"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. 7. Besides recovering the lost dominion, what else does Christ do for man? "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10. 8. By what means does Christ destroy death? "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. 9. Who alone are freed from the curse? "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36. 10. In consequence of Adam's sin, what was pronounced upon the earth? "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." Gen. 3:17. 11. What was this curse? "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." Gen. 3:18.

In order to redeem man from his curse, what was it necessary for Christ to undergo?
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Gal. 3:13.
Then if Christ redeems the earth from its curse, what must he bear?
How and when did Christ bear the curse of the earth?

"And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head." Matt. 27:29, 30.

IN the beginning, as we have seen, the dominion over the whole earth was given to Adam. The earth was then "very good." It was as good as it could be. There was upon it no taint of sin. So the dominion which God gave to Adam was not over the earth merely, but over the sinless earth, i. e., the earth unstained by sin. Then as soon as sin was introduced, that dominion was necessarily lost. Satan was the one who induced man to sin, and therefore he usurped the dominion, and obtained the title of "god of this world." The "first dominion," however, is to be restored. Micah 4:8. Evidently the one who overthrows the usurper, will be the one to restore the dominion. Now Christ was manifested that he might destroy the devil and his works. Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:14. Therefore Christ is the one who is to restore the lost dominion over the earth. That Christ is to possess the earth is plainly stated in Ps. 2:7, 8.

By his sin, Adam not only lost the dominion for himself, but he made it impossible for any of his posterity to possess it. For since it was forfeited through sin, his descendants could not possess it, because they were born sinful. Moreover his whole posterity were, with himself, doomed to death. Satan has the power of death (Heb. 2:14), and since he induced our first parents to sin, that he might get the dominion, it follows that they gave it up in exchange for death. Death was the price that they received for the earth. This was the curse which came upon man, and from which Christ came to redeem us. Through death he abolishes death, and brings life and immortality to light. Heb. 2:14; 2 Tim. 1:10. All who have Christ (John 3:36) have life, and thus become free from the curse. Christ is our life. Col. 3:4.

BUT it was not man alone that Christ came to redeem. He came "to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10. But the earth, as well as man, was lost. Because of Adam's sin, the curse passed upon the earth. This curse was that it should bring forth thorns and thistles. Gen. 3:17, 18. In order to redeem man from the curse, Christ was made a curse. He suffered death, that he might redeem man from the power of death. In like manner, if he would redeem the earth, he must bear the curse under which it groaned, and which was taking its life. So when he was about to die, his tormentors placed upon his brow a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:29, 30), and he thus bore at the same time the curse of the earth and the curse of man. By this he gained the right to redeem both.

NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.

APRIL 5—ACTS 27:1, 2, 14-26.

Paul's Voyage.

At the earliest opportunity which offered, St. Paul, and such other prisoners as were waiting the result of an appeal, were dispatched to Italy under the charge of Julius, a centurion of an Augustan cohort. Since Festus had arrived in Palestine towards the end of June, it must now have been late in August, and the time was rapidly drawing on in which ancient navigation was closed for the year. Every day made the weather more uncertain and the voyage more perilous, and since time was pressing, Julius, to whom the commission was intrusted, embarked his prisoners on board a coasting merchantman of the Mysian town of Adramyttium.

St. Paul was spared one at least of the circumstances which would have weighed most heavily on his spirits—he was not alone. Luke and Aristarchus accompanied him, and, whether such had been their original intention or not, both were at any rate driven by stress of circumstances to remain with him during a great part of his Roman imprisonment. They, no doubt, were passengers, not prisoners, and they must either have paid their own expenses, or have been provided with money for that purpose by Christians, who knew how necessary was some attendance for one so stricken with personal infirmities as their illustrious apostle.

The voyage began happily and prosperously, the leading westerly wind was so far favorable that the day after they started they had accomplished the sixty-seven miles which lay between them and the harbor of Sidon. There they touched, and Julius was so indulgently disposed towards Paul that he gave him leave to land and see his friends, who formed the little Christian community of that place. The expression used by St. Luke that Julius allowed him to go to his friends and "be cared for," seems to imply that even during that one day's voyage he had suffered either from sea-sickness or from general infirmity. The day at Sidon was the one happy interlude which was to prepare him for many anxious, miserable, and storm-tossed weeks. For from that day forward the entire voyage became a succession of delays and accidents, which, after two months of storm and danger, culminated in hopeless shipwreck.

They had not long passed Cape Matala, of Crete, when a tempestuous typhoon—such as often in those latitudes succeeds a brief spell of the south wind—burst down from the Cretan Ida, and smote with terrible fury on the hapless vessel. The ancient name of this "Levanter," as it is now called, was probably Euroaquilo, a name which exactly describes its direction, since we see from St. Luke's subsequent remarks that it must have been an east-north-easter, which, indeed, continued to blow during the remainder of their voyage. From the first moment that this fatal blast rushed down from the hills and seized the wheat-ship in its grasp the condition of the vessel was practically hopeless. It was utterly impossible for her—it would have been impossible for the finest made vessel—to "look the wind in the face."

The suddenness and fury of the blow left the sailors not one moment to furl the mainsail, or to do anything but leave the ship to be driven madly forward before the gale, until, after a fearful run of twenty-three miles, they neared the little island of Clauda, and ran in under its lee. The ships of the ancients had one main-mast and one mainsail; any other masts or rigging were comparatively small and insignificant. Hence the strain upon the vessel from the leverage of the mast was terrific, and it was impossible that the Alexandrian ship, however stoutly built, should have scudded with her huge sail set in the grasp of a typhoon, without her timbers starting. It is evident that she had already sprung a serious leak. The captain therefore gave orders at once to hoist the boat on board, and so secure it from being staved in.

Then the sailors proceeded to adopt the rough and clumsy method in use among the ancients to keep a vessel together. This consisted in undergirding, or, to use the modern and technical term for a practice which is now but rarely resorted to, in "frapping" it, by passing stout hawsers several times under the prow, and tying them as tightly as possible round the middle of the vessel. They had thus met the two most pressing dangers, but a third remained. There was no place into which they could run for shelter, nor could they long avail themselves of the partial protection which they derived from the weather-shore of the little island, and they knew too well that the wind was driving them straight towards the Goodwin Sands of the Mediterranean—the dreaded bay of the Greater Syrtis.

There was only one way to save themselves, which was by rounding the prow of the vessel on the starboard tack as near to the wind as possible, to send down the topsail and cordage, lower the ponderous yard to such a height as would leave enough of the huge mainsail to steady the vessel, set the artemo, or storm-sail, and so—having made all as snug as their circumstances permitted—let her drift on, broadside to leeward, at the mercy of wind and wave. This they did, and so ended the miserable day, which had begun with such soft breezes and presumptuous hopes. All night long the storm blew, and, in spite of the undergirding, the vessel

still leaked. Next day, therefore, they kept throwing over from time to time everything that could possibly be spared to lighten the ship; but even this was insufficient. The next night brought no relief; the vessel still leaked and leaked; and all labor at the pumps was in vain.

The fate which most commonly befell ancient vessels—that of foundering at sea—was obviously imminent. A gloomy apathy began to settle more and more upon those helpless three hundred souls. There were no means of cooking; no fire could be lighted; the caboose and utensils must long ago have been washed overboard; the provisions had probably been spoiled and sodden by the waves that broke over the ship; indeed, with death staring them in the face, no one cared to eat. They were famishing wretches in a fast-sinking ship, drifting, with hopes that diminished day by day, to what they regarded as an awful and a certain death.

But in that desperate crisis one man retained his calmness and courage. It was Paul the prisoner, probably in physical health the weakest, and the greatest sufferer of them all. But it is in such moments that the courage of the noblest souls shines with the purest luster, and the soul of Paul was inwardly enlightened. As he prayed in all the peacefulness of a blameless conscience, it was revealed to him that God would fulfill the promised destiny, which was to lead him to Rome, and that, with the preservation of his own life, God would also grant to him the lives of those unhappy sufferers, for whom, all unworthy as some of them soon proved to be, his human heart yearned with pity.

While the rest were abandoning themselves to despair, Paul stood forth on the deck, and after gently reproaching them with having rejected the advice which would have saved them from all that buffeting and loss, he bade them cheer up, for though the ship should be lost, and they should be wrecked on some island, not one of them should lose his life. For they knew that he was a prisoner who had appealed to Cæsar; and that night an angel of the God, whose child and servant he was, had stood by him, and not only assured him that he should stand before Cæsar, but also that God had, as a sign of his grace, granted him the lives of all on board. He bade them, therefore, to cheer up, and to share his own conviction that the vision should come true.—Farrar's Life of Paul.

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