Now Pallas was himself dismissed by Nero, in the second year of his reign; (Tacit. Ann. xiii. 14.) was soon after brought to trial for treason, (Ibid. c. 23.) and was put to death in the ninth year of Nero. (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 65.) It is probable that Pallas, who was intimate with Agrippina, (Tacit. Ann. xii. 25. xiv. 2.) was not restored to the favour of Nero, until after her death, in the fifth year of Nero. If, therefore, the pardon of Felix was obtained by the intercession of Pallas with Nero, his recall probably took place as early as the second year of Nero. If we assume, however, that Eusebius and Jerome were correct in assigning the second year of Nero as the date of St. Paul's first journey to Rome, his release would take place about the fifth year of Nero, probably in consequence of favours shewn to prisoners and exiles, after the murder of Agrippina. (Massutius de Vità Pauli, 1. 13. c. 1.) And he was put to death during the persecution which began in the eleventh year of Nero, and continued four years. Eusebius and Jerome say that he suffered in the fourteenth year of Nero. This computation would leave a space of about eight years for the labours of St. Paul, after his first imprisonment at Rome; an opportunity which he doubtless employed with his characteristic energy and activity. It was during these years, then, that St. Paul, according to Clement, visited "the furthest extremity of the West." Hales, in his Chronology (Vol. 111. p. 546. edit. 2.) thinks that Clement here "speaks rather rhetorically of St. Paul's travels to the western extremity of Europe." And Basnage (Exercitationes Historico-criticæ, p. 511.) conceives that he means no more than St. Paul visited Italy. "Mihi certum non Hispaniam, sed Italiam à Clemente designari.” Considering, however, that Clement wrote at Rome, we cannot but consider his words as referring to some country included under the Western provinces with respect to Rome. And the general current of ecclesiastical history plainly points to Spain, as one of the countries which he visited, in compliance with an intention which he himself expressed. (Rom. xvi. 24. 28.) The evidence in favour of St. Paul having visited Spain appears quite conclusive. Caius, the Presbyter, in the beginning of the third century, says that "writings not included in the canon of Scripture expressly mention the journey of St. Paul from Rome into Spain." Hippolytus, in the same century, says, that "St. Paul went as far as Illyricum, and Italy, and Spain, preaching the Gospel." Athanasius, in the fourth century, that St. Paul "did not hesitate to go to Rome and to Spain." Jerome, in the same century, says, that "St. Paul, after his release from his trial before Nero, preached the Gospel in the Western parts." And Theodoret, in the fifth century, that "when, in consequence of his appeal to Cæsar, he (St. Paul) was sent to Rome by Festus, and was acquitted on his defence, he went to Spain, and carried the light of the Gospel to other nations."e The expressions of Clement, however-ini Tò TépμA TÊS δύσεως ἔλθων—have been supposed to imply that the Apostle's preaching did not terminate in Spain, but extended to the British Islands. Those who entertain this opinion observe, that in the language of that period, Britain is often called the extremity of the West. Thus Plutarch, in his life of Cæsar, denominates the sea between Gaul and Britain, "the Western Ocean:" Eusebius and Nicephorus give the same name to the a Sicut et semota passionem Petri evidenter declarant, sed et profectionem Pauli ab urbe ad Spaniam proficiscentis. Caii Presbyteri fragmentum : Reliquiæ Sacræ, Vol. iv. pp. 4, 37. • Παῦλος δὲ μετ' ἐνιαυτὸν ἕνα τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναλήψεως εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἀποστολὴν, καὶ ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλήμ, προῆλθεν ἕως τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ καὶ Ἰταλίας καὶ Σπανίας κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἔτη λέ. Ἐπὶ δὲ Νέρωνος, ἐν Ῥώμῃ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθείς, θάπτεται ἐκεῖ, Hippolytus de xii Apostolis, Appendix, p. 31. Edit. Fabricii. There is some doubt whether this tract was written by Hippolytus the Martyr. At all events, it contains little more information than could be collected or conjectured from the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Romans. The same remark applies to the subsequent passage of Athanasius. • Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ σπουδῇ τῶν ἁγίων μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ κηρύττει, καὶ μὴ ὀκνεῖ, μηδὲ εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἀπελθεῖν, μηδὲ εἰς τὰς Σπανίας ἀναβῆναι. Athanas. Epist. ad Dracontium, Tom. 1. p. 956. A. Edit. Paris, 1627. d Sciendum autem in primà satisfactione, necdum Neronis imperio roborato, nec in tanta erumpente scelera, quanta de eo narrant historiæ, Paulum à Nerone dimissum, ut Evangelium Christi in Occidentis quoque partibus prædicaretur, sicut ipse scribit in secundâ Epistolâ ad Timotheum, eo tempore quo et passus est, de vinculis dictans Epistolam. (2 Tim. iv. 16.) Hieron. Catalogus Scriptor. Eccles. Num. v. Tom. IV. Par. 11. p. 105 • Ηνικα τῇ ἐφέσει χρησάμενος εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ὑπὸ τοῦ Φήστου παρεπέμφθη, ἀπολογισάμενος ὡς ἀθῶος ἀφείθη, καὶ τὰς Σπανίας κατέλαβε, καὶ εἰς ἕτερα ἔθνη δράμων, τὴν τῆς διδασκαλίας λαμπάδα προσήνεγκε, Theodoret in Epist. 11. ad Timoth. iv. 7. British Ocean: (Euseb. Vita Constant. 1. cc. 25, 41. 11. c. 28. Niceph. Hist. Lib. i. c. 1.) and Eusebius elsewhere (De Martyr. Palæstin. c. 13.) describes Britain, under the appellation of the Western parts, beyond Gaul. Theodoret also, speaking of the visitors attracted by the fame of Simeon Stylites, enumerates the inhabitants of Spain, Britain, and Gaul, which he says lies between the other two, and describes them all as dwelling in the extreme bounds of the west. In the language of Catullus, Britain is "Ultima Britannia," and "Ultima Occidentis Insula.” (Carm. xxix.) He speaks of the inhabitants as "horribilesque ultimosque Britannos; (Carm. xi.) as Horace afterwards calls them "Ultimos orbis Britannos." (Carm. i. 35.) The language of Clement might very well therefore imply that St. Paul went not only to Spain, but to the most remote of the three Western provinces, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. There is distinct evidence that the Gospel was preached in the British Islands by some of the Apostles. Thus Tertullian, in the second century, speaks of "all the extremities of Spain, and the different nations of Gaul, and parts of Britain inaccessible to the Romans, but subject to Christ." See Tertullian's Apology, c. 37. p. 430. note. The testimony of Eusebius to the same fact is peculiarly valuable. As the favourite of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor, who was born in Britain and there proclaimed Emperor, he may be supposed to have been well acquainted with the manner in which Christianity was introduced into Britain. And the remarkable passage in his Demonstratio Evangelica, in which he not only asserts the fact, that some of the Apostles preached in Britain, but argues upon the fact, may be regarded as a deliberate assertion, founded upon actual enquiry. His object is to prove that the first preachers of Christianity were not deceivers nor impostors. "Observe," he says, "this also. If they were impostors and deceivers, and also uninstructed and entirely ignorant men, nay, rather barbarians, acquainted with no other than the Syrian language, how could they ever go through the whole world? How could so bold an undertaking enter their thoughts? and by what power could they effect their purpose? For, supposing it possible for rustic men, wandering · ἀφίκοντο δὲ πολλοὶ, τὰς τῆς ἑσπέρας οἰκοῦντες ἐσχατὰς, Σπάνοι τε καὶ Βρεττανοὶ, καὶ Γαλάται, οἱ τὸ μέσον τούτων κατέχοντες. Theodoret. Religiosa Hist. c. 26. Tom. 111. p. 881. D. Edit. Paris, 1642. about in their own country, to deceive and be deceived, and not to waste their labour in vain; yet, that they should preach the name of Jesus to all mankind, and teach his miraculous works in country and city,—that some of them should visit the Roman Empire, and the imperial city itself, and others severally the nations of the Persians, and Armenians, and Parthians, and Scythians-nay, further, that some should proceed to the very extremities of the inhabited world, and reach the country of the Indians, and others again pass over the Ocean to those which are called the British Islands—all this I conceive to be beyond the power of any human being, not to say of ordinary and uninstructed men, and, still less, of deceivers and impostors.” Κ Theodoret goes further than this, asserting that St. Paul preached in islands beyond the Ocean, with respect to Spain; which can scarcely refer to any other than the British Islands. "The blessed Apostle St. Paul teaches us, in a few words, to how many nations he carried the sacred doctrines of the Gospel; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, he fully preached the Gospel of Christ. He went afterwards also to Italy and Spain, and carried salvation to islands which lie in the Ocean." "h Β Ετι δὲ καὶ τούτῳ πρόσχες. Εἰ δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ πλανοὶ καὶ ἀπατεώνες ἐτύγχανον, προσθὲς δ ̓ ὅτι καὶ ἀπαίδευτοι καὶ παντελῶς ἰδιῶται, μᾶλλον δὲ ὅτι καὶ βάρβαροι, καὶ τῆς Σύρων οὐ πλέον ἐπαίοντες φωνῆς, καὶ πῶς ἐπὶ πᾶσαν προῆλθον τὴν οἰκουμένην ; ἢ ποίᾳ τοῦτο διανοίᾳ ἐφαντήσθησαν τολμῆσαι; ποίᾳ δὲ δυνάμει τὸ ἐπιχειρηθὲν κατωρθώσαν; Ἔστω γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας γῆς καλινδουμένους ἀγροίκους ἄνδρας πλανᾶν καὶ πλανᾶσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἐφ' ἡσυχίας βάλλεσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα. Κηρύττειν δ ̓ εἰς πάντας τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα, καὶ τὰς παραδόξους πράξεις αὐτοῦ κατά τε τοὺς ἀγροὺς καὶ κατὰ πόλιν διδάσκειν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν, καὶ αὐτήν τε τὴν βασιλικωτάτην πόλιν νείμασθαι, τοὺς δὲ τὴν Περσῶν, τοῦς δὲ τὴν ̓Αρμε νίων, ἑτέρους δὲ τὸ Πάρθων ἔθνος, καὶ ἂν πάλιν τὸ Σκυθῶν, τινὰς δὲ ἤδη καὶ ἐπ' αὐτὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐλθεῖν τὰ ἄκρα, ἐπί τε τὴν Ινδών φθάσαι χώραν, καὶ ἑτέρους ὑπὲρ τὸν Ὠκεανὸν παρελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς καλουμένας Βρετ τανικὰς νήσους, ταῦτα οὐκ ἔτ ̓ ἐγώ γε ἡγοῦμαι κατὰ ἄνθρωπον εἶναι, μήτιγε κατὰ εὐτελεῖς καὶ ἰδιώτας, πολλοῦ δεῖ κατὰ πλάνους καὶ γόητας. Euseb. Demonst. Evang. Lib. iii. p. 112. D. Coloniæ, 1688. * Ο δὲ μακάριος Παῦλος διδάσκει συντόμως, ὅσοις ἔθνεσι προσενήνοχε τὰ θεῖα κηρύγματα· ὥστε ἀπὸ Ἱερουσαλὴμ κύκλῳ μέχρι τοῦ Ἰλλυρικοῦ πεπληρωκέναι τὸ εὐαγγελίον τοῦ Χριστοῦ,ὕστερον μέντοι καὶ τῆς Ἰταλιάς ἐπέβη, καὶ εἰς τὰς Σπανίας ἀφίκετο, καὶ ταῖς ἐν τῷ πελαγει διακειμέναις νήσοις τὴν ὠφελείαν προσήνεγκε. He then refers to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, xv. Theodoret in Psalm cxvi. Tom. 1. pp. 870. D. 871. Α. Jerome also, besides the passage quoted above, appears to allude, though with less precision than Theodoret, to St. Paul's preaching beyond the ocean; when he says, that "St. Paul, having been in Spain, went from one ocean to another, imitating the motion and course of the Sun of righteousness, of whom it is said, His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends thereof; and that his diligence in preaching extended as far as the earth itself." i The earliest writer, however, who in express terms asserts that St. Paul visited Britain, is Venantius Fortunatus, an Italian poet of the sixth century. In the third book of his life of St. Martin, he thus describes the preaching of St. Paul: Transit et Oceanum, vel quà facit insula portum, Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque ultima Thule. This is plainly, however, a poetical expression, on which no stress whatever can be laid. And very little more weight can be attached to the testimony of Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, in the seventh century, as quoted by Godwin, asserting that St. Paul visited Britain.k Upon the whole, it seems clear, that St. Paul preached “in the West," including Spain, in the interval between the termination of his imprisonment in Rome, and his martyrdom: that the Gospel was preached in Britain by some of the Apostles; that the terms in which the field of St. Paul's preaching is described, may include the British Islands, and that there was probably time for his visiting them. But whether he actually did so, may reasonably admit of much doubt. Archbishop Usher, in his Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, and Bishop Stillingfleet, in his Origines Britannicæ, maintain the opinion that St. Paul preached in Britain. The same side of the question has lately found a learned and zealous advocate in i Paulus Apostolus -qui vocatus à Domino effusus est super faciem universæ terræ, ut prædicaret Evangelium de Jerosolymis usque ad Illyricum, et ædificaret non super alterius fundamentum, ubi jam fuerit prædicatum, sed usque ad Hispanias tenderet, et mari rubro imò ab Oceano usque ad Oceanum curreret, imitans Dominum suum et solem justitiæ, de quo legimus, A summo cœlo egressio ejus, et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus: ut antè eum terra deficeret quàm studium prædicandi. Hieron. in Amos Prophet. c. v. Tom. III. p. 1412. Edit. Benedict. k "Sophronius Patriarcha Hierosolymitanus disertis verbis asserit, Britanniam nostram eum invisisse." Godwin de Præsul. p. 8. |