such as, it is believed, will be found to dispel the darkness, will be seen thrown, by an article of the Mosaic law upon which article, light will be seen reciprocally reflected, by the application here recorded as having been made of it. This regards the Temple scene :an expensive ceremony spun out for days together only to produce the effect of an Oath.

On the occasion of this visit, in spite of a universal opposition on the part of all concerned-his own adherents and dependents, as well as his adversaries of all classes included,-Paul, for reasons by himself studiously concealed,—and, if brought to light at all, brought to light no otherways than by inference,will be seen making his entry into Jerusalem, as it were by force. In the hope of freeing themselves, as it should seem, of this annoyance, it is,-that the ru lers of the Christian church, insist upon his clearing himself from certain suspicions, in the harbouring of which the whole church had concurred *.

here presents itself. On a subject such as that in question, on an occasion such as that in question, for a purpose such as that in question, a speech such as either of those in question, might it not, by a person in the historian's situation-not to speak of other situations-be just as easily made without any special materials, as with any the most correct and complete stock of materials?

* Between Paul's third visit, and that which is here reckoned as his fourth, another is, by some, supposed to have taken place: on which supposition, this concluding one, which is here styled the fourth, ought to be reckoned the fifth.

But, for the support of this supposition, the grounds referred to for this purpose do not seem sufficient :-not that, if the supposition were true, any consequence material to the present purpose would follow.

For this supposition, what ground there is, consists in a passage in the Acts: Acts xviii. 20, 21, 22. 20. When

f Wells's Historical Geography of the Old and New Testament, ii. 271. Ch. 5. Of Saint Paul's Travels and Voyages into Asia. "St. Paul (says Wells very composedly)" having kept the passover at Jerusalem, went thence down, &c. -And for this the Acts are quoted as above: but the Acts, it will here be seen, say no such thing.

SECTION 8.

SELF-WRITTEN BIOGRAPHY 1TS SUPERIOR VALUE AND CLAIM TO CREDENCE.

On the occasion of this portion of history, it seems particularly material, to bring to view an observation, which, on the occasion of every portion of history, it will, it is believed, be of no small use to have in remembrance.

In comparison of self-written biography, scarcely does any other biography deserve the name.

Faint, indeterminate, uninstructive, deceptive, is the information furnished by any other hand, of whatsoever concerns the state of the mental frame, in comparison of what is furnished by a man's own. Even of those particulars which make against himself,-even

20. When they (the Jews at Ephesus) desired [him] to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

21. But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem; but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

22. And when he had landed at Cæsarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

There we have the grounds of the supposition. But, what is the support they give to it?-declaration, affirming the existence of an intention, is one thing; actually existing intention is another. Even supposing the existence of the intention in question,-intention is one thing; corresponding action, another. Jerusalem is not mentioned. Cæsarea being on the sea-coast, Jerusalem is indeed in the interior and therefore (it may be said) is a place, to which, if a man went from Cæsarea, he would " go up." but, from Cæsarea, it being on the coast, a man could not go to any place in Judæa not on the coast, without going up.

So much for place :-and now as to time. The time mentioned as the object of the intention, is the passover; but, that the time, at which, being gone up, Paul "saluted the church"-this being all which, upon this going up, he is here stated as doing-that this time was the passover, is not stated.

As to the salute here stated as given to the church,―at the con

of those motives and intentions which he would most anxiously conceal,-more clear and correct, as far as it goes, if not more complete-is the information given by him, than any which is commonly afforded, even by an impartial hand. By a man's own hand, not unfrequently is information afforded, of a sort which makes against himself, and which would not, because it could not, have been afforded by any other hand, though ever so hostile. He states the self-condemnatory mental facts, the blindness of self-partiality concealing from his eyes the condemnatory inference: or, even with his eyes open, he lays himself under the imputation: bartering merit in this or that inferior shape, for the merit of candour, or for the hope of augmenting the probative force of his own self-serving evidence, in favour of every other merit for which it is his ambition to gain credence.

clusion, and as a material part of the result, of this inquiry, it will appear plain beyond all doubt, that, if by "the church" be understood any member of it at Jerusalem, besides two, or at most three, of the Apostles,-according to this interpretation, from the time of his Conversion Visit to Damascus antecedently to his first visit to Jerusalem, down to the last visit here reckoned as his fourththere never was a day on which the church would have received his salute.

What will also be rendered manifest is-that it was an object with the author of the Acts, to induce a belief, that Paul, before the conclusion of his first visit, was upon good terms with the church, and so continued to the last: and that, to this end, a purposed misrepresentation was employed by the historian.

'Not that, in regard to the visit here in question, to the purpose of the argument-it makes any sort of difference, whether it had place or had not. If it had place, neither the conclusion, nor any part of the argument, will be seen to require any variation in consequence.

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CHAPTER IV.

Paul disbelieved continued.-First of his four Visits to Jerusalem after his Conversion; say Jerusalem Visit I. or Reconciliation Visit.-Barnabas introducing him from Antioch to the Apostles.

SECTION 1.

PAUL'S PROCEEDINGS BETWEEN HIS CONVERSION AND THIS VISIT.CONTRADICTION. PER PAUL, IT WAS NOT TILL AFTER THREE YEARS SPENT IN ARABIA; PER ACTS, IMMEDIATELY.

ALREADY on another occasion, and for a different purpose, have the two accounts, between which this self-contradiction manifests itself, been brought to view: viz. on the occasion of the accounts, given or supposed to be given, by Paul, of the cause and manner of his conversion:-accounts given in the first place, in writing, and consequently, with all requisite time for deliberation, in his Epistle to the Galatians : -given, or supposed to be given, in the next place, by a speech spoken, namely, that which, in the Acts is reported as spoken by him, on the occasion of his trial, to Festus and Agrippa:-Festus, the Roman Proconsul, Agrippa, the Jewish King.

In the whole account of this matter, as given by Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians, how much of truth there probably was, and how much of falsehood or misrepresentation,-has been seen already in some measure, (ch. II. i. 5.) and will be seen more fully as we advance.

As to his motive for this visit, he has endeavoured to keep it to himself: but, by the result, according to the account he himself gives of it, it is betrayed. It was to effect the so much needed reconciliation :

his reconciliation with the Apostles :-the Apostles, in relation to whom his disregard is professed, the need he had of them, no otherwise than virtually, nor yet the less effectually, confessed. Without an interval of considerable length between his conversion and this visit, all such reconciliation would have been plainly hopeless. From this circumstance, the length, as alledged by him, of his abode in Arabia, receives obvious and highly probative confirmation. The confirmation is, indeed, reciprocal. The nature of his situation, proves the need he had, of an interval of considerable length, before any hope of reconciliation could be fulfilled, or, naturally speaking, so much as conceived: by this circumstance, his abode in some other country is rendered probable to us: and this other country may, for aught we know, as well have been the country mentioned by him—to wit, Arabia, as any other: and, thus it is, that this assertion, of his having been three years in Arabia, between the time of his departure from Jerusalem to Damascus, and his return to Jerusalem to see Peter, is confirmed: -confirmed, by the natural length, of the interval, requisite to the affording any, the least chance, that Peter could be induced to meet upon terms of amity and intercourse a man, in whom he beheld the murderer of a countless multitude of human beings, linked to him by the closest bonds of self-regarding interest, as well as sympathy and brotherly love.

As to contradiction, contradiction cannot easily be much more pointed, than it will be seen to be, between the account in respect of time, as given in this instance by Paul, and the account given of it by his historiographer in the Acts. On a double ground, it is Paul's account that claims the precedence. Of his account, such as it is, the rank, in the scale of trustworthiness, is that of immediate evidence; that of his historiographer, no higher than

I