rupted in his endeavors for propagating the gospel by the dangers and difficulties he met with, or the troubles and oppositions that were raised against him. This will evidently appear if we take a survey of the trials and sufferings he underwent; some part whereof are thus briefly summed up by himself: "In labors abundant, in stripes above measure, in death oft; thrice beaten with rods, once stoned, thrice suffered shipwreck, a night and a day in the deep. In journeying often, in perils of water, in perils by his countrymen, in perils by the heathens, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst; in fastings often; in cold and nakedness, and besides those things that were without, which daily came upon him, the care of all the churches." (2 Cor. xi. 23, &c.) An account, though very great, yet far short of what he endured. He did not want for solicitations both from Jews and Gentiles; and might, doubtless, in some measure, have made his own terms, would he have been false to his trust, and quitted that way which was then everywhere spoken against. But alas! those things weighed little with our apostle, who "counted not his life dear unto him, so that he might finish his course with joy, and the ministry which he had received of the Lord Jesus." And therefore, when he found himself under the sentence of death, he could triumphantly say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

In the preceding chapters we have given a minute detail of the transactions of those two great apostles, Peter and Paul, as related by the evangelist St. Luke, together with an account of the persecutions and sufferings of St. Stephen, and St. James the Less, bishop of Jerusalem. We shall therefore in this chapter proceed to relate the particulars concerning their fellow-laborers in the cause of Christ; in doing which we shall begin with the Apostle

ST. ANDREW.

After the ascension of our blessed Lord into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles, to qualify them for the great business they were about to undertake, St. Andrew was appointed to preach the gospel in Scythia and the neighboring countries. Accordingly, he departed from Jerusalem, and first travelled through Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, instructing the inhabitants in the faith of Christ, and continued his journey along the Euxine sea, into the deserts of Scythia. On his arrival at a place called Amynsus, he was received with great civility by a distinguished Jew of that town; upon which he went into the synagogue, preached to them concerning Jesus, and, from the prophecies of the Old Testament, proved him to be the Messiah and Saviour of the world. During his stay here he converted many to the true faith, having done which, previous to his departure, he ordained them priests, and settled the times of their public meetings for the performance of divine worship. Leaving Amynsus, he proceeded to Trapezium, a maritime city on the Euxine sea; whence, after visiting many other places, he went to Nice, where he stayed two

years, preaching and working miracles with great success. From Nice he proceeded to Nicomedia, and thence to Chalcedon, where he took shipping, and sailing through the Propontis, passed the Euxine sea to Heraclea, and afterward to Amastris; in all which places he met with very great difficulties, but overcame them by an invincible patience and resolution.

From Amastris, Andrew went to Sinope, a city situated on the Euxine sea, and famous both for the birth and burial of King Mithridates. The inhabitants of this city were chiefly Jews, who, partly from a zeal for their religion, and partly from their barbarous manners, were exasperated against Andrew, and entered into a confederacy to burn the house in which he lodged. But being disappointed in their design, they treated him with the most savage cruelty, throwing him on the ground, stamping upon him with their feet, pulling and dragging him from place to place: some beating him with clubs, and others pelting him with stones, till at length, apprehending they had entirely deprived him of life, they cast him out into the fields. But he miraculously recovered, and returned publicly into the city; by which, and other miracles he wrought among them, he converted many from the errors of their ways, and induced them to become disciples of the blessed Jesus.

Departing from Sinope, he returned to Jerusalem, and after staying a short time in his own country, went again into the province allotted for the service of his ministry, which greatly flourished through the power of the Divine grace that attended it. He travelled over Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia, and Epirus,* preaching the gospel, propagating Christianity, and confirming the doctrine he taught with signs and miracles. At length he arrived at Patrea, a city of Achaia, where he gave his last and greatest testimony to the gospel of his Divine Master, by cheerfully sealing it with his blood.

It happened that Egenas, the pro-consul of Achaia, came at this time to Patrea, where, knowing that many of the people had abandoned the heathen religion and embraced the gospel of Christ, he had recourse to every method, both of favor and cruelty, to reduce the people to their old idolatry. The apostle, whom no difficulties or dangers could deter from performing the duties of his ministry, addressed himself to the pro-consul, calmly putting him in mind that, being only a judge of men, he ought to revere Him who was the supreme and impartial Judge of all, pay him the divine honors due to his exalted majesty, and abandon the impieties of his idolatrous worship; observing to him, that if he would renounce his idolatries, and heartily embrace the Christian faith, he might, with him and the members who had believed in the Son of God, receive eternal happiness in the Messiah's kingdom.

The pro-consul told St. Andrew he would never embrace the religion he had mentioned, and that if he did not sacrifice to the gods (in order that all those whom he had seduced might, by his example, be brought back to the ancient religion they had forsaken) he would cause him to be immediately put to death. The apostle replied, hat he saw it was in vain to endeavor to persuade a person incapable of sober counsels, and hardened in his own blindness and folly, to forsake his evil ways; and that, with respect to himself, he might act as he pleased, and if he had any torment greater than another, he might inflict it upon him; as the stricter constancy he showed in his sufferings for Christ, the more acceptable he should be to his Lord and Master after his departure from this wicked world.

This so irritated Egenas, that he immediately condemned him to death. Accord ingly, after being scourged in the most unmerciful manner by seven lietors, he was led away to be crucified. As soon as he approached the cross, he knelt down and saluted it in words to this effect: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it, and adorned with his members as with so many inestimable jewels. I therefore come joyfully and triumphantly to it, that it may receive me as a disciple and follower of him who once hung upon it, and be the means of carrying me safe to my Master, being the instrument on which he redeemed me."

After offering up his prayers to the throne of grace, and exhorting the people to

Epirus was a province of Greece, lying along the coast of the Ionian sea, and having for its bounds, Albania on the north, Thessaly on the south, Achaia on the southeast, and the ocean on the west.

+ Patrea was situated on a hill near the sea, about ten miles from the mouth of the gulf Lepanto. The goddess Diana was worshipped here in the most diabolical manner, having a most beautiful young man and maid, every year, sacrificed to her, till, by the preaching of St. Andrew, one Eurypilus, a great man of the place, being converted to Christianity, occasioned that barbarous custom to be totally laid aside.

constancy and perseverance in the faith he had delivered to them, he was fastened to the cross, on which he hung two whole days, teaching and instructing the people. In the meantime, great interest was made with the pro-consul to save his life; but the apostle earnestly begged of God that he might then depart, and seal the truth of his religion with his blood. His prayers were heard, and he soon after expired on the last day of November, but in what year is not certain.

The cross on which he was fixed was made of two pieces of timber, crossing each other in the middle, in the shape of the letter X (which has ever since been known by the name of "St. Andrew's Cross"), and to this he was fastened, not with nails, but cords, to make his death more painful and lingering.

His body being taken down from the cross, was decently and honorably interred by Maximilla, a lady of great quality and estate, and whom Nicephorus tells us was wife to the pro-consul. Constantine the Great afterward removed his body to Constantinople, and buried it in the great church he had built to the honor of the apos tles. This structure being taken down some hundred years after by the emperor Justinian, in order to be rebuilt, the body of St. Andrew was found in a wooden coffin, and again deposited in the same place it had been before, which was afterward reverenced by all true professors of the Christian religion.

ST. JAMES, THE GREAT.

This apostle was surnamed the Great, to distinguish him from that James (another of the apostles) who was bishop of Jerusalem. After the ascension of the blessed Jesus he preached to the dispersed Jews; that is, to those converts who were dispersed after the death of Stephen. He first preached the gospel in several parts of Judea and Samaria, after which he visited Spain, where he planted Christianity, and appointed some select disciples to perfect what he had begun.

After this he returned to Judea, where he continued preaching in different parts for some time, with great success; till at length Herod (who was a bigot to the Jewish religion, and desirous of acquiring the favor of the Jews) began a violent persecution against the Christians, and to such a degree did his zeal animate him,” that, after a short trial, he ordered James to be put to death.

As he was led to the place of execution, the officer that guarded him to the tribunal, or rather his accuser, having been converted by that remarkable courage and constancy shown by the apostle at the time of his trial, repented of what he had done, came and fell down at the apostle's feet, and heartily begged pardon for what he had said against him. The holy man, after recovering from his surprise, tenderly embraced him. "Peace," said he, "my son, peace be to thee and the pardon of thy faults." Upon which the officer publicly declared himself a Christian, and both were beheaded at the same time.

Thus fell the great apostle St. James, taking cheerfully that cup of which he had long before told his Lord and Master he was both ready and willing to drink.

ST. JOHN, THe Evangelist.

Though this apostle was by much the youngest of the whole, yet he was admitted into as great a share of his Master's confidence as any. He was one of those to whom our Lord communicated the most private passages of his life; one of those whom he took with him when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead; one of those to whom he gave a specimen of his divinity in his transfiguration on the mount; one of those who were present at his conference with Moses and Elijah, and heard that voice which declared him "the beloved Son of God;" and one of those who were companions in his solitude, most retired devotions, and bitter agonies in the garden. These instances of particular favor our apostle endeavored in some measure to answer, by returns of particular kindness and constancy; for though he at first deserted his Master on his apprehension, yet he soon discovered the impropriety of his conduct: he therefore went back to seek his Saviour; confidently entered the highpriest's hall; followed our Lord through the several particulars of his trial; and at last waited on him at his execution, owning him, as well as being owned by him, in the midst of armed soldiers, and in the thickest crowds of his inveterate enemies. Here it was that our Great Redeemer committed to his care his sorrowful and disconsolate mother with his dying breath. And certainly our blessed Lord could not have

given a more honorable testimony of his particular kindness and respect to John, than by leaving his own mother to his trust and care, and substituting him to supply that duty he himself paid her while he resided in this vale of sorrow.

When the apostles made a division of the provinces among them after our Saviour's ascension into heaven, in order to circulate the doctrine of their Lord and Master, that of Asia fell to the share of St. John, though he did not immediately enter upon his charge, but continued at Jerusalem till the death of the blessed Virgin, which happened about fifteen years after our Lord's ascension.

After being thus released from the trust committed to his care by his dying Master, he went into Asia, and industriously applied himself to the propagation of Chris tianity, preaching where the gospel had not then been known, and confirming it where it was already planted. Many churches of note and eminence were founded by him, particularly those of Smyrna,* Philadelphia, Laodicea, and others; but his chief place of residence was at Ephesus, where St. Paul had founded a church, and constituted Timothy its pastor.

After John had spent several years at Ephesus, an accusation was laid against him before the emperor Domitian (who had then begun a persecution against the Christians) as being an asserter of false doctrine and impiety, and a public subverter of the religion of the empire. In consequence of this, and in conformity to the orders of Domitian, the pro-consul of Ephesus sent him bound to Rome, where he met with that treatment which might have been expected from so barbarous a prince, being thrown into a caldron of boiling oil. But the Almighty, who reserved him for farther service in the vineyard of his Son, restrained the heat, as he did in the fiery furnace of old, and delivered him from this seemingly unavoidable destruction. And surely one would have thought that so miraculous a deliverance might have been sufficient to have persuaded any rational man that the religion he taught was from God, and that he was protected from danger by the hand of Omnipotence. But miracles themselves were not sufficient to convince this cruel emperor, or abate his fury. He ordered St. John to be transported to a disconsolate island in the archipelago, called Patmos, where he continued several years, instructing the poor inhabitants in the knowledge of the Christian faith; and here, about the end of Domitian's reign, he wrote his book of Revelation, exhibiting, by visions and prophetical representations, the state and condition of Christianity that would take place in the future periods and ages of the church.

On the death of Domitian, and the succession of Narva (who repealed all the odious acts of his predecessors, and by public edicts recalled those whom the fury of Domitian had banished), St. John returned to Asia, and again fixed his residence at Ephesus, on account of Timothy, their pastor, having some time before been put to death by the people of that city. Here, with the assistance of seven other bishops or pastors, he took upon himself the large diocess of Asia Minor, spending his time in an indefatigable execution of his charge, travelling from one part to another, and

*A city of Asia Minor, about forty miles south of Ephesus, famous for its having been thought the birthplace of Homer, but more so as having contained one of the seven churches of Asia specially addressed by Jesus Christ. (Rev. i. 11; ii. 8.) Polycarp is supposed by some to have been the angel or bishop of this Christian congregation addressed by John, as he sustained that office some years afterward, and was martyred here, A. D. 160, at the age of ninety-five. Smyrna is now the principal emporium of trade in the Levant; it is called by the Turks Ismir, and the population is estimated to include 70,000 Turks, 30,000 Greeks, 15,000 Armenians, 10.000 Jews, 5,000 Franks, &c.

This is a small island in the Icarian sea, about thirty miles from the nearest point on the western coast of Asia Minor, being the Posidium promontory in Caria. The island does not exceed fifteen miles in circumference, and is nothing but a continued rock, very mountainous, and very barren. The only spot in it which has now any cultivation, or is indeed worth any, is a small valley on the west, where the richer inhabitants have a few gardens. Its coast is high, and consists of a collection of capes, which form so many ports, some of which are excellent. The only one in use, however, is a deep gulf on the northeast of the island, sheltered by high mountains on every side but one, where it is protected by a projecting cape. The island produces almost nothing, being furnished from abroad with nearly every article of subsistence. The town is situated upon a high rocky mountain, rising immediately from the sea. It contains about four hundred houses, which, with fifty more at the Scala, form all the habitations in the island. In the middle of the town, near the top of the mountain, is the large and strong monastery of St. John the Evangelist, built by Alexius Commenes. About half-way down the mountain from the town to the Scala, there is a natural grotto in the rock, in which it is believed by the natives that St. John abode and wrote the Apocalypse. They have built a small church over it, decked out in the usual tawdry style of the Greek churches.

The island is now called the Patino. On account of its stern and desolate character, the Roman emper ors thought it a suitable spot to which criminals might be confined. To this island, accordingly, the apostle John was banished by the emperor Domitian, toward the end of his reign, or about the year 95 or 96. It is usually stated, after Tertullian, that his banishment took place after the apostle had been miraculously delivered, unhurt, from a vessel of flaming oil, into which he had been cast.