aid, as well as the assurance of sympathy, from his beloved Philippians; we see Epaphras, who has come to consult his spiritual commander-in-chief about the heresies which were beginning to show themselves in the Churches of Colossæ, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. From Colossæ also we see a strange visitor to S. Paul, a runaway slave named Onesimus, whom S. Paul sends back to his master Philemon, bearing the most touching and graceful letter on his behalf.

The two years of enforced quiet were thus by no means years of inactivity. In fact S. Paul did more for the cause of Christ and His Church in his Roman lodging, than if he had been carrying on his labours in Ephesus or Corinth, or had been planting the Standard of the Cross in yet unvisited countries.

For besides the watchful guidance with which he directed the affairs of the Gentile Churches, besides spreading a knowledge of the truth through the Pretorian guard, to hundreds of whom he was chained in turn for hours together; we owe to this period the group of letters, which, as we shall see when we come to them, were written at this time, letters which have been the delight and comfort of the Church through eighteen centuries, and the divine treasures of which are not exhausted yet. If S. Paul had been at liberty he would doubtless have visited the Churches of Philippi, Ephesus, and Colossæ, instead of writing letters to them. They might have gained, but we should have lost unspeakably.

From allusions scattered through the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, it would appear that the two years' confinement of which S. Luke speaks, was not ended by the condemnation and martyrdom of the

Apostle; but that he was set at liberty, and continued his apostolical labours till he was again taken into custody and condemned to death.

From the letters which S. Paul wrote in his first imprisonment, it is clear that he himself expected to be released.

In the Epistle to the Philippians he says:—

Phil. ii. 19-24: I hope . . . to send Timothy shortly unto you so soon as I shall see how it will go with me; but I trust in the Lord that I myself also shall come. shortly.

Writing much about the same time to Philemon at Colossæ, he says:

Philem. 22: But withal prepare me also a lodging; for I hope that through your prayers I shall be granted unto you.

Of course, it is conceivable that S. Paul was mistaken, and that from this imprisonment he was only released by death.

But in this case we must suppose that the Pastoral Epistles, as we call them, that is, the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, if they were written by S. Paul, must refer to some period before his apprehension at Jerusalem and his voyage to Rome.

But "it is now admitted by nearly all those who are competent to decide on such a question, first, that the historical facts mentioned in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus cannot be placed in any portion of S. Paul's life before or during his first imprisonment in Rome; and, secondly, that the style in which these. Epistles are written, and the condition of the Church. described therein, forbids the supposition of such a date. Consequently we must allow that after S. Paul's first imprisonment he was travelling at liberty in Ephesus, Crete, Macedonia, Miletus, and Nicopo

lis, and that he was afterwards a second time in prison in Rome."

This is confirmed by Eusebius, the historian of the Church, who says: "After defending himself successfully, it is currently reported that the Apostle again went forth to proclaim the Gospel, and afterwards came to Rome a second time, and was martyred under Nero."

In fact, the all but unanimous testimony of the early Church points in this direction.

Several reasons conduce to the belief that S. Paul's martyrdom occurred in the last year of Nero's reign. If this be so, there remains a period of five years between A.D. 63, the end of the first imprisonment, and A.D. 68, the year of Nero's death.

But we must now go back to the point at which the history of the Acts leaves us.

The course of Roman law was not much more speedy than that of more recent times. It might be a long time before S. Paul's appeal would be heard; witnesses would have to be brought both for the prosecution and for the defence; and all this would take time.

At last the eventful day arrived. Nero heard appeals in the imperial palace. "Here at one end of a splendid hall, lined with precious marbles, sat the Emperor and his assessors, twenty in number, and men of the highest rank."

The charges brought against him were those of heresy and sacrilege against one of the recognized religions of the Empire; and, what was of far more practical importance, of conspiring to disturb the public peace. We can easily understand that the charge which was brought against him at Philippi might be repeated at Rome, that he had proclaimed "another king, one Jesus."

When both parties had been heard, and the witnesses examined and cross-examined, the judgment of the court was given. "Each of the assessors gave his opinion in writing; the Emperor, having read the opinions, gave sentence as it pleased him quite irrespective of the verdict of the assessors." We may suppose that the evidence against S. Paul broke down; at any rate, the trial resulted in his acquittal.

Immediately on his liberation it may be reasonably supposed that he carried out his intention of travelling eastward through Macedonia to visit Colossæ and other Churches of Asia Minor. The great Egnatian road by which he would travel would lead him through Philippi, where he would enjoy the society of his ever-faithful friends and disciples of that Church. But he would probably hasten on to Ephesus, and from thence to the Churches of the Valley of the Lycus. We may imagine him as the guest of Philemon, for we may be sure that this good man would provide for the Apostle no other lodging than his own house. Here he would renew his acquaintance with Onesimus, of which we shall hear when we come to read the Epistle to Philemon.

If S. Paul ever fulfilled his intention of visiting Spain, we must suppose that visit to have taken place somewhere about this time.

If this be so, S. Paul seems to have returned to Ephesus in company with Timothy.

From Ephesus S. Paul seems to have gone to Macedonia, leaving Timothy in charge of the Church at Ephesus (1 Tim. i. 3). Possibly finding that his presence would be required there longer than he expected, and feeling that Timothy would require more explicit instructions as well as more ample credentials, he wrote the First Epistle to Timothy.

His mission over in Macedonia, he would probably return to Ephesus. From Ephesus he would seem to have made a voyage to Crete, accompanied by Titus. Leaving Titus to organize the Cretan Churches, S. Paul returned to Ephesus, where he remained long enough to write the Epistle to Titus.

This last letter gives some indication of the Apostle's movements.

Titus was desired, after his work in Crete was finished, to join the Apostle at Nicopolis.

From an incidental notice in the Second Epistle to Timothy (ch. iv. 20), it appears that the route he pursued was from Ephesus to Miletus, where Trophimus was taken ill, and had to be left; thence to Corinth, where he left Erastus; and thence to Nicopolis, where he intended to spend the winter.

It is uncertain whether S. Paul was apprehended at Nicopolis, or whether, as it has been conjectured, he paid another visit to Thessalonica and Philippi, and so to Troas, perhaps on his way to Ephesus, and that at Troas he was seized. In almost the last words that he wrote, he referred to a visit to Troas: "The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring with thee; and the books, especially the parchments."

But either at Nicopolis, or Troas, or elsewhere, S. Paul was again brought before the authorities.

Times had greatly changed; S. Paul no longer found the Roman authorities ready to protect him. In the interval a great part of Rome had been burnt down, and the crime had been laid to the charge of the Christians.

If S. Paul were apprehended, as would be likely, on the charge of having with others conspired to destroy the city, he would be sent to Rome, as other