DEEP as was the grief of the brethren at the departure of the Apostle, no long time could be devoted to its indulgence. The wind blew fair1058, and the vessel was ready to depart. With sorrowing hearts, therefore, they accompanied him to the water’s edge, and there tore1059 themselves away from him and his companions. The voyage was now resumed, and running before the wind the vessel soon reached Cos1060, off the coast of Caria, and on the following day the island of Rhodes. Thence they proceeded to Patara1061 in Lycia, where the vessel in which St Paul had been hitherto sailing apparently finished its voyage, or was bound for some place further east along the coast of Asia Minor.
In the harbour, however, there lay a vessel just about to sail across the open sea to Phœnicia (Acts xxi. 2), and without a moment’s delay they went on board, and made sail. After sighting1062 Cyprus and leaving it on the left hand they made straight for the port of Tyre, and reached it probably in two days. Here their vessel was bound to unlade her cargo, and the anxiety of the Apostle as to reaching Jerusalem in time for the Pentecostal festival being removed, he resolved to remain at Tyre a few days (Acts xxi. 4).
A church had been probably founded at Tyre soon after the death of Stephen1063, and may have been already visited by St Paul during one of his missionary journeys in the region of Syria and Cilicia1064. However this may have been, the Apostle now enjoyed a week of refreshing intercourse with the Tyrian disciples, and so won their affections that on the day fixed for his departure, they all, with their wives and children, accompanied him outside the city-gate to the sea-shore. There the scene at Miletus was repeated, and after prayer and mutual embraces the travellers proceeded on board, while the brethren of Tyre returned to their homes, their hearts filled with many forebodings, for prophets amongst them had intimated that danger awaited their beloved teacher at Jerusalem (Acts xxi. 4).
Before evening the Apostle and his companions had reached Ptolemais1065. Here the sea-voyage terminated, and the little company spent a day with the disciples in the place, and then set out on foot for Cæsarea. At Cæesarea Philip1066 the Evangelist had taken up his residence, and in his house St Paul found a welcome shelter. The family of the Evangelist consisted of four virgin daughters, who all possessed the gift of prophecy. Whether they gave the Apostle any intimations of coming danger is not recorded, but he was not destined to remain at Cæsarea long without receiving even more explicit warnings than he had listened to at Tyre. At the time when news reached Jerusalem of the Apostle’s arrival at Cæsarea, the prophet Agabus1067, who had predicted the famine during the reign of Claudius, was in the city. Thereupon he straightway hastened to the coast and entering Philip’s house, took St Paul’s girdle, and binding1068 with it his own hands and feet, declared in the name of the Holy Spirit that so the Jews at Jerusalem should bind the owner of that girdle, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles (Acts xxi. 11).
This explicit intimation of coming trials made a deep impression on all present, and Luke, Trophimus, and Aristarchus, the Apostle’s companions, with the Christians of Cæsarea, burst into tears (Acts xxi. 13) and implored him not to go up to Jerusalem. Though deeply affected by their grief on his behalf, the Apostle was not to be moved from his deliberate purpose. He was ready, he declared, not only to be bound, but to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus, and finding his resolution not to be shaken, they desisted from all further intreaties, saying, The will of the Lord be done (Acts xxi. 14).
The Festival was now close at hand. The Holy City was already crowded1069 with multitudes of pilgrims, and it was an important matter to obtain a lodging. This an early convert, Mnason of Cyprus1070, whose residence was at Jerusalem, undertook to supply; and with him the Apostle, his companions, and certain of the brethren at Cæsarea, having made arrangements respecting their baggage1071, proceeded to Jerusalem.
On their arrival they were gladly welcomed by the brethren, and St Paul could not but have rejoiced in their sympathy. The day following they repaired to the abode of James, the Lord’s brother1072, and president of the church at Jerusalem, and there found all the Elders assembled to receive them (Acts xxi. 18). Mutual salutation followed, and then the Apostle recounted in a lengthened narrative all that God had wrought by his ministration among the Gentiles, and doubtless pointed with pride and joy to the contributions which the delegates from the various churches he had planted had brought for the relief of the poorer Christians at Jerusalem. The narrative made a deep impression, and in united thanksgiving his hearers glorified God (Acts xxi. 20).
In recounting, however, the progress of the churches in Galatia and Achaia it would be scarcely possible for St Paul to fail touching on subjects which would excite painful feelings, and rouse bitter prejudice in many of his hearers1073, and the peculiar dangers he was liable to encounter in the Holy City soon became apparent. The assembly, which had just glorified God for his success in heathen lands, began to call his attention to the strength of the Judaizing faction in the city1074. They told him it was generally reported and believed in Jerusalem, among the thousands of converted Jews who still remained zealous for the Law, that he forbade their brethren in foreign lands to circumcise their children or observe the Mosaic customs (Acts xxi. 20, 21). This being so, it was advisable to do something that might correct these erroneous ideas. It was impossible that the arrival of one so well known could be concealed, and his public appearance might lead to scenes of violence. They suggested, therefore, that he should adopt the following course.
There were four disciples, who had taken a Nazarite vow, of which seven days remained unexpired, who would at the close of this period present the usual offerings1075 in the Temple. Let the Apostle, then, join himself to them, and defray the necessary expenses of the whole party. This would prove in the most public manner his observance of Mosaic ceremonies, and contradict the calumnies of his enemies (Acts xxi. 21–25). This advice, in which James the Just apparently acquiesced, the Apostle wishing, if possible, to conciliate the church of Palestine, was not unwilling to adopt. Accordingly on the following day, after first performing the necessary purifications, he proceeded with the Christian Nazarites to the Temple, and announced to the priests in the name of his friends, their intention of fulfilling their time, and awaiting the moment of the proper offering.
But the Apostle’s object was frustrated by circumstances that took place on the very eve of the completion of the period of their vow. Amongst the thousands present in Jerusalem were many Jews from proconsular Asia, who recognised the able disputant, whom they had so often been unable to confute in their synagogues, walking in the streets with Trophimus the Ephesian (Acts xxi. 29). On one occasion they saw him in the Temple-courts, and rushing to the conclusion that he had taken his companion also thither, instantly sprang upon him, shouting, Men of Israel, help. This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the People, the Law, and this place, yea, who hath also brought Gentiles into the Temple, and profaned this Holy Place (Acts xxi. 28).
Roused to fury a mob quickly rushed towards the spot, and St Paul would probably have been instantly put to death, had it not been for the unwillingness of his foes to pollute the Temple with blood. They therefore dragged him down the steps from the Court of the Women1076 into the Outer Court, and had no sooner passed, than the Levitical guard closed behind them the Corinthian gates1077 (Acts xxi. 30). Once in the Outer Court they began beating the Apostle violently, being clearly bent on putting him to death, and would have succeeded, had it not been for a providential intervention. The commotion in the Temple-courts had not failed to attract the notice of the Roman sentries in the tower1078 of Antonia, and they instantly informed Claudius Lysias, the commandant of the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar (Acts xxi. 31).
Thereupon, without a moment’s delay, Lysias rushed down attended by some centurions and a strong body of troops. The sight of the dreaded arms of the Imperial forces brought the multitude to their senses, and they left off beating Paul. The commandant then approached, and apprehending the Apostle, ordered him to be chained by each hand to a soldier1079, suspecting that he was an Egyptian pretender1080, who had lately caused a revolt, and had hitherto baffled the pursuit of the soldiers of Felix the governor (Acts xxi. 38). He then endeavoured to ascertain from the bystanders who his prisoner was and what he had done, but some cried one thing, and some another; and finding it impossible to gain any information amidst the tumult, he ordered him to be conveyed into the barracks within the fortress. Accordingly the soldiers proceeded to remove the Apostle, but so furious was the crowd pressing behind them with yells and execrations, that they had to bear him up in their arms up the staircase. Just as they reached the barracks, St Paul, addressing the commandant in Greek, enquired respectfully whether he might speak to him. Startled at being addressed in the Grecian tongue, Lysias in his turn enquired whether he was mistaken in supposing him to be the Egyptian rebel. St Paul replied that he was no Egyptian, but a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, and requested permission to address the people. On which the commandant, influenced it may be by the aspect and manner of his prisoner, at once gave his consent (Acts xxi. 40).
STANDING then on the stairs, and beckoning to the crowd with his chained hands to invite their attention, the Apostle began to address them in the Hebrew language. Charmed by the accents of their own beloved tongue, the multitude listened with the deepest silence while he tried to dispel their prejudices against himself. Beginning with the well-known circumstances of his birth and education at Tarsus and Jerusalem, he declared that he was a Jew like themselves, that he had been brought up according to the strictest requirements of the Law, and had hated, persecuted, and endeavoured to extinguish the sect of the Christians (Acts xxii. 3–5). He then proceeded to recount the wonderful circumstances of his conversion on the way to Damascus1081, of his blindness, cure, and baptism (Acts xxii. 6–16), and how on his return to Jerusalem, as he was praying in the Temple, he fell into a trance1082, saw that Saviour who had appeared to him on his memorable journey, and was commanded by Him to leave Jerusalem, and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts xxii. 17–21).
Up to this point the multitude listened to the Apostle with the deepest attention, but no sooner had he spoken of his mission to the Gentiles, than they broke out into such furious cries of rage and indignation that the previous clamour appeared as nothing in comparison. The thought of uncircumcised heathen being placed on an equality with the children of Abraham was unbearable. Away, they cried, with such a fellow from the earth, it is not fit that he should live, and while some flung dust into the air, others cast off their clothes, as if they would stone him on the spot (comp. Acts vii. 58). This fresh outbreak of frantic violence filled the commandant with still greater perplexity. Unable to understand the language in which the Apostle spake, he could only infer from the results it produced that his prisoner had been guilty of some enormous offence. He therefore gave orders that he should be conveyed into the castle, and, since other means had failed, that the secret of his guilt should be ascertained by torture. As in the case of the Saviour’s crucifixion1083, a centurion was deputed to superintend the scourging, and like a common malefactor the Apostle was on the point of being stretched or fastened to the post to receive the lashes, when he turned to the centurion and enquired whether it was lawful to scourge one who was a Roman citizen and uncondemned (Acts xxii. 25)? Astonished at such a question, the centurion ordered the scourging to be suspended, and hurrying to the commandant, bade him take heed what he was doing, for the prisoner was a Roman citizen. Upon this Lysias himself hastened to the spot and enquired whether the news was true, and on his replying in the affirmative, remarked that he had purchased this privilege for a large sum, on which St Paul informed him that he was free-born (Acts xxii. 28). Thus assured of the true position of his prisoner, the commandant ordered the instruments of torture to be instantly removed, and was in no little alarm at the turn affairs had taken.
For the present, indeed, he was obliged to keep him in the Tower, but on the morrow he determined to make a second effort to ascertain the nature of his prisoner’s offence, and therefore summoned a meeting of the Sanhedrin, and bringing down the Apostle from the Tower to the hall Gazith1084 placed him before them. Casting a steadfast and scrutinizing glance (Acts xxiii. 1) on the faces of those assembled, many of whom must have been familiar to him, St Paul began by proving that he had lived a conscientious1085 life before God up to that very day. This assertion so offended the high-priest that he commanded those standing near to strike him on the mouth, whereupon the Apostle, filled with indignation at so brutal an insult, replied, God shall smite thee1086, thou whited wall1087. For sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? To this the bystanders rejoined, Revilest thou God’s high-priest? and St Paul, recovering himself, answered that he did not know or consider that Ananias was high-priest, otherwise he would not so have spoken, for it was written in the Law, Thou shalt not revile the ruler of thy people (Ex. xxii. 28).
By this time, however, the Apostle had seen only too clearly that there was little prospect of his obtaining an equitable decision from his judges. Knowing, therefore, that there were both Pharisees and Sadducees among them, and that however much they might be united in persecuting him, they were sundered from one another by a deep gulf on one important article of faith, he exclaimed, as indeed he could say with truth, that he was brought to trial, because he had testified of the hope of Israel, and of the resurrection of the dead (Acts xxiii. 6). He had scarcely pronounced these words, when there was an instant division in the Council. The Pharisees present were united in his favour, and a hot debate ensued between them and the Sadducaic faction, who denied any Resurrection and the existence alike of angels and spirits1088. While the latter party were furious against him, the former declared they could find no fault in him, and if, as he had said in his speech on the stairs, an angel or a spirit had indeed spoken to him1089, they would not criminate him on this account.
A scene of great confusion now ensued (Acts xxiii. 10), in the midst of which Claudius Lysias being afraid lest the Roman citizen should be torn in pieces by them, ordered a detachment to go down instantly, and bring him into the barracks. Thus the Apostle was delivered from the most imminent danger, and in the evening his anxieties were relieved by the appearance of his Divine Master in a vision of the night, bidding him be of good cheer, and declaring that, as he had testified unto Him in Jerusalem, so he must testify also at Rome (Acts xxiii. 11).
The following morning however had hardly dawned, before a fresh danger revealed itself. Disappointed on the previous day in their malicious designs, more than forty of the Jews bound themselves by a solemn vow that they would neither eat nor drink till they had put the Apostle to death. Accordingly they went to the chief members of the Sanhedrin, and proposed that they should present themselves before the commandant and request him to allow St Paul to be brought down and placed a second time before them, in order that they might resume the enquiry so tumultuously interrupted, and they, on their part, undertook that he should not reach the council-chamber alive, for they would murder him on his way down from the fortress.
But their design in some way reached the ears of the Apostle’s nephew1090, who was now present in Jerusalem, and he no sooner heard of the danger which threatened his uncle, than he obtained admittance into the barracks, and imparted to him the intelligence. Thereupon St Paul called one of the centurions, and requested him to take the young man to Claudius Lysias, for he had something to tell him. The officer complied, and conducting him to the commandant told him of St Paul’s message. Claudius Lysias received the young man kindly, and leading him cautiously aside enquired what he wished to say. The other thereupon acquainted him with the plot that had been laid, and was dismissed with strict injunctions not to divulge the fact that he had given this information.
Thus assured of the danger that threatened his prisoner, and knowing that he was responsible for his safety as a Roman citizen, Lysias resolved to send him away that very night under a strong escort to Cæsarea, and there leave him in the hands of the governor Felix. Summoning therefore two of the centurions, he gave orders that 200 of the legionary soldiers, with 70 cavalry and 200 spearmen1091, should be in readiness to proceed thither by nine1092 in the evening. In the meantime he wrote to the governor a dispatch, giving a fair and clear account of the case, save in the statement that he had rescued St Paul in the first instance because he had discovered he was a Roman citizen, and in the suppression of all allusion to his intention to scourge him (Acts xxiii. 26–30).
At the time appointed the escort was ready, and mounted on horseback1093 between the two Roman soldiers, to whom he was chained, the Apostle was conducted from Jerusalem to Antipatris1094. Here the soldiers halted after their long night-march, and while the cavalry proceeded to Cæsarea, the legionary troops, no longer necessary to the Apostle’s safety1095, returned to the fortress of Antonia. It was probably during the afternoon of the day succeeding1096 their departure that the cavalry reached Cæsarea, and the officer in charge immediately delivered up his prisoner to the governor, with the dispatch from Claudius Lysias. Felix1097 read it, and enquired to what province the prisoner belonged1098, and having ascertained that he was a native of Cilicia, replied that he would hear and decide his case as soon as his accusers had arrived, and ordered that for the present he should be kept in Herod’s prætorium1099 (Acts xxiii. 35).
FIVE days after the Apostle’s arrival at Cæsarea his accusers made their appearance, headed by the high-priest Ananias, certain of the elders, and an orator named Tertullus1100, whose services had been engaged for this occasion. Accordingly, Felix took his seat on the tribunal1101, and Paul having been sent for, Tertullus formally opened the case. After paying an adroit compliment to the procurator on the comparative quiet which the land enjoyed owing to his vigilance and energy1102, he brought three charges against the prisoner: First, that he was a pestilent mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, which amounted to a charge of treason1103 against the emperor; secondly, that he was a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes; and thirdly, that he had made an attempt to profane the Temple at Jerusalem. On these charges he declared the Jews had been about to judge him before their own tribunal, when Lysias forcibly took him away, and referred his accusers to the judgment-seat of Felix.
To these allegations the Jews present expressed their consent, hoping doubtless that the procurator would hand over the prisoner to their courts, where his fate would be soon decided. But Felix made a sign to the Apostle to proceed with his defence, and he, after expressing his satisfaction in pleading before one who had been so long familiar with the nation, commenced replying to the charges that had been brought against him. A disturber of the nation, he said, he was not, for on his recent visit to the Holy City but twelve days before, he had neither caused a disturbance, or even disputed in the temple, the synagogue, or the streets. As to his being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, he had never swerved from his belief in the Law and the Prophets; like his accusers, he believed the doctrine of a resurrection, and strove to keep a conscience void of offence towards God and man. As to profaning the Temple, he had lately visited it as the bearer of offerings for his nation, and to observe some of the strictest ceremonies of the Law, not to gather together a multitude or cause a tumult. Certain Jews of Asia, indeed, had brought an accusation against him, but they ought now to have been present as witnesses, ready to bring forward a specific charge, if they had any (Acts xxiv. 10–21).
Felix, who had listened attentively to the Apostle’s address, was well acquainted with the character of the Christian religion, which had not only penetrated into Cæsarea, but also numbered disciples even among the troops1104. He was, therefore, in a position fully to appreciate the weakness of the allegations against the prisoner, and the misrepresentations of his accusers, and must have felt that the only proper course was to pronounce his acquittal and set him free. But this he could not make up his mind to do, and chose to reserve his final1105 decision till Lysias should arrive, and in the meantime committed the Apostle to the charge of the centurion1106 who had brought him to Cæsarea, with instructions to keep him safely, but at the same time to allow his friends1107 to have free access to his apartments.
A few days afterwards Felix entered the audience chamber with his wife Drusilla1108, daughter of the late king Herod Agrippa. Her beauty is spoken of as something marvellous, and she had been induced by the procurator to leave her first husband, Azizus king of Emessa, to become his paramour. The two now sent for St Paul, and desired to have the Christian doctrines explained to them. Accordingly before the Roman libertine and the profligate Jewish princess, the Apostle preached with his wonted faithfulness, and while he discoursed concerning righteousness, and temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled. But though he trembled, the profligate governor would not release his prisoner from confinement. Go thy way, said he, for this time; when I have a convenient season I will send for thee. He knew that the Apostle’s relatives moved in a respectable sphere, and he had heard him speak of sums of money1109 intrusted to his care, and he wished it to be understood that his liberation was not hopeless, if bought with a suitable sum1110. Hence he frequently sent for the Apostle, and conversed with him. But St Paul was not one to stoop to such dishonourable means. He preferred to remain in confinement rather than purchase his freedom with a bribe, and at Cæsarea he continued upwards of two years, or from A.D. 58 to A.D. 60.
During this long period of suspense from active labour, it is not improbable that the Gospel of St Luke was composed under the Apostle’s eye, and it is possible that “many messages, and even letters, of which we know nothing, may have been sent from Cæsarea to brethren at a distance1111.” Meanwhile the government of Felix became more and more unpopular, and the disaffection of his subjects was increased by a serious quarrel between the Jewish and heathen population at Cæsarea, in which the troops sided with the latter, and committed gross acts of butchery and plunder1112. This led to the recall of Felix, A.D. 60; and anxious to conciliate the Jews, who had complained of his administration at Rome, he left Paul in bonds (Acts xxiv. 27).
His successor was Porcius Festus, who like himself had probably been a slave, and was one of the emperor’s freedmen. Three days after his landing at Cæsarea he repaired to Jerusalem, and there was introduced to the high-priest1113 and leading members of the nation. They instantly embraced the opportunity of renewing their machinations against the Apostle, and requested the new governor to allow him to be removed to Jerusalem, intending to assassinate him on the road (Acts xxv. 3). Festus replied that St Paul was in custody at Cæsarea, whither he himself was on the point of returning: the Roman Law did not allow an uncondemned person to be given up as a mere favour: he must have his accusers face to face, and be enabled to make his defence; if therefore they wished to bring any charges against him, they must come down to Cæsarea and there prefer them (Acts xxv. 4, 5, 16).
After a stay, therefore, of 8 or 10 days in Jerusalem, he returned to Cæsarea, and the accusers apparently went down the same day. No time was lost in putting the Apostle on his trial. The very next day Festus took his seat on the tribunal, and ordered St Paul to be put forward. Then the delegates from the Sanhedrin urged their accusations, which appear to have been much the same as those brought forward at the previous trial. But they were utterly unable to support their statements, and the Apostle contented himself with a brief but emphatic denial that he had done anything against the Law, the Temple, or Cæsar (Acts xxv. 8).
The sincerity of his bearing appears to have told favourably with the procurator, and he quickly perceived that he was involved in no political movements (Acts xxv. 18, 19), that he had done nothing worthy of death (Acts xxv. 25), and that the charges against him related only to religious questions between him and his nation. Unwilling, however, to allow a matter immediately to drop, in which the Jews evidently took so deep an interest, he proposed that he should go up to Jerusalem, and there submit to a formal trial in the presence of himself (Acts xxv. 9). But the Apostle knew full well the danger involved in such a journey. He replied, therefore, that he had done no wrong, as Festus himself knew well, and that if he was guilty he was willing to die, but that since the accusations preferred against him were really groundless, rather than go up to Jerusalem, he would avail himself of his privilege as a Roman citizen; he appealed unto Cæsar1114 (Acts xxv. 11). According to the Roman law, it was sufficient that a Roman citizen should merely utter the words I appeal, and his case was instantly removed to the supreme tribunal of the Emperor. After a brief conversation, therefore, with his assessors, Festus merely enquired whether he adhered to his determination, and then made answer, Thou hast appealed unto Cæsar; to Cæsar thou shalt go (Acts xxv. 12).
Though, however, the appeal had been allowed, Festus was in much perplexity to decide how he might describe the charge against the Apostle to the Emperor. It seemed to him a foolish thing to send a prisoner to Rome, without at the same time specifying the charges against him, but how to do this after the vague and unsatisfactory information elicited at the trial appeared extremely difficult. It happened, however, at this time that Herod Agrippa II.1115, king of Chalcis, with his sister Bernice1116, arrived on a complimentary visit1117 to the procurator, and stayed some time at Cæsarea. Agrippa had long been acquainted with all that related to Jewish customs, and had, as we have seen, been invested by the Emperor with the power of nominating the high-priest. Festus, therefore, gladly embraced this opportunity of consulting one so much better informed than himself on the points in dispute, and related all the particulars concerning the Apostle so far as he was acquainted with them (Acts xxv. 14–21), and more especially his reiterated assertion concerning one Jesus who had died and was alive again. Agrippa, who could not have heard now for the first time of the great doctrine of the Christian faith expressed a desire to see the prisoner. To this Festus readily assented, and fixed the following day for the interview.
Accordingly at the time appointed Agrippa and Bernice with much pomp entered the audience-chamber, accompanied by their suite and the chief men of Cæsarea, and at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. As soon as the Apostle appeared, Festus in a set speech detailed the circumstances under which he had become acquainted with the prisoner, his appeal to Cæsar, and his own anxiety to obtain some definite information which he might lay before his lord1118 the emperor concerning him (Acts xxv. 24–27).
Upon this Agrippa signified to the Apostle that he was permitted to speak for himself, and St Paul stretching forth his manacled hands proceeded to address his numerous and influential hearers. After expressing his satisfaction at the opportunity thus afforded him of speaking before one so well versed as Agrippa in all customs and questions amongst the Jews, he went on, much as he had done on the stairs leading up to the Castle of Antonia, to speak of his education according to the strictest requirements of the Jewish law (Acts xxvi. 4–8); of the zeal with which he formerly persecuted the believers in Christ; of the vision vouchsafed to him on the road to Damascus, and the commission he had received to preach the Gospel amongst the Gentiles (Acts xxvi. 9–18); and lastly of his unceasing endeavours to carry out this commission, which had brought upon him the enmity of the Jews, though his teaching was in strict accordance with the Jewish Scriptures, and their predictions of the coming of a Messiah who should suffer and rise from the dead (Acts xxvi. 19–23).
This address made no impression upon Festus. Regarding the idea of a resurrection as foolishness, he ascribed the zeal of the Apostle to an excited imagination, or the effect of over-study1119. Interrupting him, therefore, he cried out in a loud voice (Acts xxvi. 24), Paul, thou art mad; much learning doth make thee mad. I am not mad, most noble Festus, replied the Apostle with dignified courtesy, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness; and turning to Agrippa, who had knowledge of these matters, and before whom he could speak freely, he solemnly enquired whether he did not believe the prophets. But the persuasive appeal glanced off from the heart of the profligate prince to whom it was addressed. In playful banter or scornful sarcasm he replied, Lightly1120 thou persuadest me to become a Christian. On which the Apostle, lifting up his chained hands, made answer, I would to God that, whether lightly or with difficulty1121, not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds (Acts xxvi. 29). With these words this memorable conference ended. Agrippa had no wish to hear more. He rose up with Festus, Bernice, and their suite, and retired from the audience-chamber. The case of the prisoner was then discussed, and it was agreed that he was guilty of nothing deserving of death or even of imprisonment, and Agrippa remarked that he might have been released had he not appealed to Cæsar. But the appeal had been made, and to the imperial tribunal the Apostle must go.