been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, 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. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Clement, the personal friend of Paul, in one of his epistles, thus illumines the picture: "Seven times he was in bonds; he was whipped; he was stoned; he preached both in the East and in the West, leaving behind him the glorious report of his faith; and so, having taught the whole world righteousness, and for that end travelled even unto the utmost bounds of the West, he at last suffered martyrdom by the command of the governors, and departed out of the world, and went unto his holy place, a pre-eminent pattern of patience unto all ages.' ""* Such was Paul, the father of Christian Missions; and to you, Sir, I submit, that it is not too much to affirm, that, neither among Jews nor Gentiles, whether in ancient or modern times, has any person appeared of whom the one-half of this could be affirmed with the least colouring of truth. Never has such an amount of moral and intellectual power been expended by one man in any enterprise, whether selfish or benevolent. He had no predecessor; he has had no equal. None, in his own sublime walk of philanthropy, has ever even approached him. From the day of his conversion to that of his martyrdom, he

* Clem. ad Cor. cap. v. vi.

proceeded in his glorious course, sustained by a spirit which never flagged, and impelled by a power which nothing could resist. Paul, among the other apostles, was as the eagle among feathered tribes of inferior wing. He alone performed for the Son of God an amount of service greater than that of the entire apostolic college, a fact which comes out incidentally in the following pathetic reference to his former life :"I am the least of the apostles, not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me."

Tried by the principles comprised in Cicero's definition of a truly great man,* Paul, in comparison, immeasurably transcends the whole human race; and upon those principles, considered absolutely, it is not easy to conceive of any thing necessary to impart to his character all the moral greatness attainable in the present life. I freely confess that I can hardly form an idea of a human being becoming the subject of more devout and philanthropic passion, or of more intense and continuous action. All his powers appear to have been tasked to the uttermost,-tasked to the highest point of endurance. He seems, in several respects, to have been set forth as a pattern to mankind. His wondrous case exemplifies at once the abundance of Divine mercy and the power of Divine grace. Of all transgression his had been the most heinous and atrocious; he "breathed out threatenings and slaugh

* See page 273.

ter" against the church of God; he made "havoc” of it on every hand. Yet the blood of Christ sufficed to pardon him, and the power of Christ to subdue him. Then, after his conversion, his love was as intense as his previous hatred; and he became as active in extending, as he had formerly been in destroying, the church. For this work he was endowed with gifts both natural and miraculous, so rich and various, as no man had ever exhibited or possessed. He was filled to overflowing with Divine knowledge. To him the language of every land was familiar as his mother tongue. Diseases of the most afflictive order, and of the most inveterate character, fled at his presence. Evil spirits of the most intractable class, were subject to his word. His apostolic progress through the earth was one series of conflicts and triumphs. The accusatory cry of his most malignant enemies attested his success. "Ye see and hear," said they, "that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying, That they be no gods which are made with hands." His adversaries frankly confessed that he had "turned the world upside down"--a confession of the utmost moment in confirmation of our argument.

Such, Sir, is the confession, and such are some of the recorded facts; and surely such a confession could be extorted only by facts of the most definite type, and of the greatest magnitude. The change thus wrought was of a very startling description from its original, daring, and all-comprehensive character. This moral revolution extended to every relation of life, from the galleys upwards to the palace of the Cæsars. The most violent political changes, compared to it, were trifles ;

such events had nothing moral in them. When the preceding strifes, the battles, and the carnage of the contending powers were over, the result was the simple substitution of one dynasty or despot for another, and there the matter ended. The moral habits, the social usages, the religious customs, the entire frame of society, for the most part, remained in their integrity. But when Christianity broke forth, it exerted a spiritual power which penetrated every thing, and dissolved all the ties of iniquity which had bound mankind together. It formed, first, new individual characters, and then new social combinations. With respect to the power of the gospel to renovate character, nothing can be more exquisitely beautiful than the challenge of Lactantius to the votaries of heathenism: "Give me," says the orator, "a man who is passionate, abusive in his language, headstrong, and ungovernable, with a very few of the words of God, I will render him as gentle as a lamb! Give me a greedy, insatiable, hard-handed miser, and I will presently return him to you, filled with generosity, and bestowing his money by handfuls! Give me a man of a cruel and sanguinary spirit, and straightway his ferocity shall give place to tenderness! Give me a cheat, a fool, and a malefactor, and forthwith he shall become just, wise, and virtuous!-Such is the power of the Divine wisdom, that, when diffused through the breast of man, it quickly, with a single touch, expels folly, the parent of all transgression; and, in order to -effect this transformation, there is no necessity for a fee, for books, or for laborious investigation. These benefits are conferred gratuitously, easily, expeditiously; only let the ears be opened, and let wisdom be lodged in the heart. Now the question is, Did any, or could any, of

the philosophers ever exhibit such achievements as these?"* To this, as you well know, might be added a multitude of similar testimonies; but let this suffice.

The operation of the gospel of Christ upon individual character was altogether and always such as is represented by Lactantius; and hence resulted new combinations in society, and such combinations, with their accompaniments, furnish the proper data by which we ought to determine the merits of the apostolic work, and the moral greatness of the apostolic character. The question is, To what extent did Paul directly by his own efforts, and indirectly by the agencies which he set at work, affect for good the religion and morals, the laws and governments, of the heathen world? The measure of his efficiency in this is just the measure of his moral greatness. How may this point be ascertained? In various ways: by his own testimony; by the witness of friends; and by the confession of adversaries. This is surely a case in which his own evidence is admissible, and it is one to which he has distinctly, although incidentally, spoken in divers passages of his writings. I will rest satisfied with two illustrations from one of his letters. Addressing the Colossians, he declares that the gospel was come to them as it was to "all the world:" and that it was "preached to every creature which is under heaven." If it be said that this is hyperbole; I reply, hyperbole has its bounds-bounds which, in the lips of such a man, were not likely to be transgressed. Could any thing, then, but a diffusion of the gospel the most extraordinary, warrant the use of language so glowing? But, in support of the apostle,

* Lib. ii. c. 26.