Josephus also informs us, that Herodias had a daughter by her first husband, whose name was Salome. Josephus, moreover, represents Herodias to have been a woman of great ambition, and one who had much influence over Herod; for by her persuasions he was induced to go to Rome to solicit his brother's crown. The defeat which Herod met with in his war with Aretas, the father of his former wife, is represented by Josephus as a judgment of God upon him for what he had done to John, called the Baptist; for, says he, "Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both towards one and another and towards God, and so to come to baptism." Josephus, indeed, while he states the fact, seems not to have been informed of the true cause of John's death, but supposes that it was owing to Herod's jealousy of John's popularity, and influence with the people, which might put it in his power to excite them to revolt.

The only mention which the Jewish historian makes of Jesus Christ, is in the following remarkable passage. "Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him, both many of the Jews and of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again, the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and many other things, concerning him. And the sect of Christians, so named from him, is not extinct at this day." Most modern critics, it is true, have pronounced this passage an interpolation, and contend that it was never written by Josephus; but no convincing arguments have been adduced to prove that it is spurious.

Jesus Christ having spent about three years and a half in his public ministry, during which time he performed innumerable miracles, was apprehended by the malice of his enemies; and after being subjected to much injustice, reproach, and cruel treatment, was condemned to be crucified; which painful punishment, he accordingly endured, in circumstances of great ignominy. At his death, many prodigies occurred, a particular account of which is given in the Gospels. On the third day he arose again, and appeared unto his disciples; and for forty days conversed frequently with them, and permitted them, by their sense of feeling, as well as of sight and hearing, to be fully satisfied of the reality of his resurrection. Having finished giving his disciples those instructions which he deemed it necessary to communicate in person, he ascended to heaven, in their sight, from Mount Olivet, while in the act of blessing

them. Before he left them, he promised to send the HOLY GHOST, or PARACLETE, to teach and comfort them; which promise was fulfilled at the feast of Pentecost, about ten days after his ascension; when this divine Instructor came upon them, and furnished them with all the wisdom, strength, and miraculous endowment, necessary for the accomplishment of the great and arduous work for which they were commissioned.

Pilate sent to the emperor, according to the usage in such cases, an account of the character and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, which was extant and appealed to in the second century. But this document is now lost.

Vitellius being now governor of Syria, the Samaritans, who had been treated with severity by Pilate on account of an imposter who arose among them, sent an embassy to the governor complaining of his tyrannical conduct. The consequence was, that Vitellius removed him from his office, and ordered him to Rome to answer for his conduct, appointing Marcellus to be procurator in his place. This was about the year A. D. 37. In the following year, A. D. 38, Tiberius died, and was succeeded in the government by Caius Caligula, before whom the cause of Pilate came; and who banished him to Vienne in Gaul, where it is said he put an end to his life.

SECTION XII.

TREACHING OF THE APOSTLES-MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN AND ENSUING PERSECUTION -CONVERSION OF PAUL-CAIAPHAS REMOVED FROM THE HIGH-PRIESTHOOD BY VITELLIUS, AND ANANAS SUBSTITUTED-AGRIPPA ACQUIRES THE SUPREME POWER OF JUDEA-HEROD ANTIPAS BANISHED TO GAUL-EMBASSY FROM ALEXANDRIA TO ROME -PHILO JUDEUS-CAIUS SUCCEEDED BY CLAUDIUS-THEOPHILUS REMOVED FROM THE PRIESTHOOD AND SIMON PUT IN HIS PLACE-PETRONIUS, GOVERNOR OF SYRIA, SUCCEEDED BY MARSUS-AGRIPPA ZEALOUS FOR THE JEWISH RELIGION, BUT SEVERE TOWARDS THE CHRISTIANS-REMARKABLE DEATH OF AGRIPPA-HIS CHARACTER AND SUCCESSORS.

AFTER the apostles of Jesus began to preach his resurrection, an attempt was made to suppress them by force, but this proved ineffectual. A violent persecution, however, was carried on against the disciples, in which Stephen was condemned to death by the Sanhedrim, and stoned. It would seem, from this fact, that when this event occurred there was no Roman governor or procurator at Jerusalem; or the Sanhedrim would not, in contempt of his authority, have dared to inflict capital punishment on any one. It is probable, therefore, that the martyrdom of Stephen took place after Pilate was removed, and before another had succeeded him.

The persecution after the death of Stephen, became very hot, chiefly through the zeal of a young Pharisee, whose name

was Saul. He was one of the Sanhedrim who gave his vote for the death of the proto-martyr, and superintended his execution. Being determined to extirpate the rising sect, he went from place to place apprehending men and women and committing them to prison. But finding that many fled, and that Damascus was a place of refuge for them, he obtained a commission from the high-priest, and a guard to proceed to that place, to bring bound to Jerusalem all that he should find who were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. But before he reached the place, while journeying, about noon, he was overwhelmed with a blaze of light, surpassing the light of mid-day, and by terror, or some irresistible power, being struck to the ground, he heard a person speaking to him, and in the midst of the light saw near to him the very Jesus whom he was persecuting. The young man when he arose was blind, and was led into Damascus, where he remained blind, neither eating nor drinking for three days; when a disciple, being divinely directed, came to him and instructed him in the doctrines of Christ, and then baptized him. From this time to the close of life, Saul, afterwards called Paul, was a most zealous, able, and successful propagator of the faith of Jesus.

About A. D. 39, Vitellius, the governor of Syria, paid a visit to Jerusalem, and bestowed on the Jews many favours and immunities. One method which Herod had devised of governing that turbulent people, was to keep in his possession the costly robes which were worn on solemn occasions by the highpriest. They were preserved in the castle of Antonia, which he had built, and continued in the possession of his successors in power until this visit of Vitellius, at the passover, when they were given into the possession of the Jews.

Vitellius, on some complaint against Caiaphas, deprived him of his office, and made Jonathan the son of Annas, or Ananas, high-priest in his stead, and then returned home. For some time after this the Christian churches seem to have been undisturbed by persecution, and to have increased in numbers very rapidly. Soon after the events above related, we find Judea under the power of Herod Agrippa. He was the son of Aristobulus, one of the sons of Herod by Mariamne, whom his father put to death. Few men ever experienced greater vicissitudes of fortune than this Herod. Josephus gives a detailed account of his adventures, which our limits do not permit us to repeat. Suffice it to say, that after suffering innumerable disappointments and disasters, and being for two years imprisoned by Tiberius, he was not only released by Caligula, but received from him the gift of a golden chain, and a diadem. He was first made king of Lysanias, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, and Batanea.

The success of Agrippa in obtaining the title of king, so excited the envy and inflamed the ambition of Herodias, that she would not suffer Herod Antipas, her husband, to rest until he should also go to Rome to seek for himself a kingdom. But the event was very different from their wishes and expectations, for as soon as Herod Agrippa heard of their visit to Rome, he wrote to Caius Caligula, that Antipas had held secret communications with the Parthians, and had collected vast military stores. Upon this the emperor instead of making him a king, banished him to Lyons, whither Herodias went with him. His tetrarchy was now added to the dominions of Herod Agrippa.

About this time, A. D. 41, the famous embassy from Alexandria to Rome, composed both of Jews and Greeks, took place. The celebrated Philo went as the principal of the Jewish ambassadors, and one Apion, at the head of the Greeks; of all which, Philo and Josephus have given a detailed account. The dissension between them principally related to the refusal of the Jews to worship the image of the emperor.

Caligula now recalled Vitellius from the government of Syria, and appointed Petronius to succeed him. At the same time he sent express orders that the emperor's image should be set up in the temple at Jerusalem. To enforce this order, Petronius came to Ptolemais with an army, where he was met by many thousand Jews, who expressed their determination never to submit to such a profanation. But by the intercession of king Agrippa, who was then at Rome, the order was countermanded. When he heard of the resistance of the Jews, however, he was greatly enraged, and wrote an angry letter to Petronius, whom he suspected of acting in concert with the Jews. This year, A. D. 41, Caligula was assassinated.

Claudius Drusus succeeded Caius Caligula as emperor of Rome. By his advancement, Herod Agrippa was promoted to be king of Samaria and Judea, in addition to his former dominions; and, moreover, he manifested his particular friendship for him by having him appointed one of the consuls of Rome. To Herod, the brother of Agrippa, Claudius also gave the little kingdom of Chalcis.

The Jews, who had been much oppressed under the govern ment of the cruel Caligula, were greatly favoured by Claudius, who permitted them everywhere to live agreeably to their own law, and put the Jews of Alexandria in possession of their former privileges.

A. D. 42, Agrippa returned to Jerusalem to take possession of his newly acquired dominion, on which occasion he offered many sacrifices of thanksgiving, and as a memorial, suspended in the temple the golden chain which he had received from Caligula, when released from prison. At this time, Theophilus

officiated as high-priest of the Jews; but soon after, Agrippa removed him from office, and substituted in his place Simon Cantharus, the son of Simon Bocthus. The year following, however, he offered the place to Jonathan, who declined it, but recommended his brother Matthias, on whom the office was conferred. About this time, A. D. 42 or 43, Petronius was recalled from the government of Syria, and was succeeded by Marsus. He was far less favourable to the Jews than his predecessor, and when Agrippa undertook to raise and strengthen the walls around a part of the city, which had been recently built, Marsus interposed, represented the undertaking to the emperor as dangerous to the Roman empire, and obtained an edict forbidding the further progress of the work.

Agrippa was much attached to the Jewish nation, and strict in his observance of all religious ceremonies of the law. Josephus says of him, "That he was of a mild and gentle disposition, and good to all men; beneficent to strangers, but especially kind to the Jews, with whom he sympathized in all their troubles." His residence, after he became king of Judea, was almost constantly at Jerusalem, where he practised the Jewish. ceremonies, and did not let a day pass without worshipping God, according to the law of Moses.

It may seem to be inconsistent with the character here given of Agrippa, that he should carry on a cruel persecution against the inoffensive Christians, of which Luke gives the following account: "Now about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church; and he killed James the brother of John with the sword, and because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also." (Acts xii. 1, 2, 3.) But we have seen that this prince was superstitiously attached to all the Jewish ceremonies, and that he made it a primary object to please the nation in his whole administration; and as they could not be more gratified by any thing than the death of the leading teachers in the Christian church, he was induced to pursue a course in regard to this matter, not altogether consonant with his general character. Luke, in the passage quoted, adverts to the true motive of his conduct, when he says, "because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also." But his design against the life of Peter was frustrated by a miraculous interposition. An angel was sent to release him from his confinement.

Whatever the character of Herod Agrippa might have been in other respects, he seems to have been a very vainglorious person. There is a remarkable coincidence between the narratives of Luke and Josephus, in regard to the circumstances of the death of this prince. Luke says, "And he went down from Judea to Cesarea and there abode. And upon a set day,