During their stay at Jerusalem, Mark, in all probability, reconciled himself to his uncle Barnadas, and returned with him and St. Paul to Antioch, after they had succeeded in their business at Jerusalem, and obtained a decree from the synod there, that the Gentile converts should not have circumcision and other Mosaic rites imposed upon them, as they were now under the gospel dispensation.

The minds of the Gentiles were greatly quieted and comforted by this determination; nevertheless it did not prevent the bigotted Jews from keeping up a separation from them; and that with so much obstinacy, that when St. Peter some time after came to Antioch, he, for fear of offending them; contradicted his former practice, and late speech and vote in the synod of Jerusalem, by refraining from all kind of communion with the Gentiles; and Barnabas himself, though so great and good a man, was induced, by the authority of his example, to commit the same error; though doubtless, on being reproved hy St. Paul, they both took more courage, and walked according to that true liberty and freedom which the gospel imparts.

After this transaction, Paul made a proposal to Barnabas, that they should repeat their late travels amongst the Gentiles, and see how the churches they had planted increased in their numbers, and improved in the doctrines they had taught them. Barnabas very readily complied with the proposal, but desired they might take with them their reconciled nephew, John Mark. This Paul absolutely refused, because in their former voyage, Mark had not shewn the constancy of a faithful minister of CHRIST, but consulted his own ease at a dangerous juncture, departed from them without leave at Pamphylia, and returned to Jerusalem. Barnabas still insisted on taking him, and the other continuing as resolute to oppose it, a short debate arose, which terminated in a rupture; whereby these two holy men, who had for several years been companions in the ministry, and with united endeavours propagated the gospel of the Son of God, now, took different provinces. Barnabas, with bis kinsman, sailed to his own country, Cyprus; and Paul travelled to the churches of Syria and Cilicia, taking Silas with him.

The sacred writers give us no account of St. Barnabas, after his separation from St. Paul; nor are the ecclesiastical writers agreed amongts them; selves with regard to the actions of our apostle, after his sailing for Cyprus: this however seems to be certain, that he did not spend the whole remainder of his life in that island, but visited different parts of the world, preaching the glad tidings of the gospel, healing the sick, and working other miracles amongst the Gentiles; and after long and painful travels, attended with different degrees of success in different places, he returned to Cyprus, his native country, where he suffered martyrdom in the following manner: certain Jews coming from Syria to Salamis, where Bar nabas was then preaching the gospel, were highly exasperated at his extraordinary success, fell upon him as he was disputing in the synagogue, dragged him out, and after the most inhuman tortures, stoned him to death. His kinsman, John Mark, who was a spectator of this barbarous action, privately interred his body in a cave, where it remained till the time of the emperor Zeno, in the year of CHRIST 485, when it was discovered laying on his breast, with St. Matthew's gospel in Hebrew, written with his own hand.

An epistle in Greek is still extant, which bears this apostle's name: but the church has not received it into the canon of Scripture: and, for that reason, both Eusebius and St. Jerom call it apocryphal, though they do not deny it's being the work of St. Barnabas. Clemens Alexandrinus and Origen often quote it as his, and Monardus, who published the Greek with the old Latin version, sufficiently shews, that it is the same known to the ancients, because all their quotations are found in it. The style of it

resembles that of the apostolical age; but it appears to have been written some time after the destruction of Jerusalem, a period which St. Barnabas may easily be supposed to survive: the beginning of it is wanting, and the inscription, if ever it had any; but the matter of it evidently shews, that it was written to such Jews as are mentioned in the fifteenth chapter of the acts, who having embraced Christianity, still held, that the observance of the ceremonial law was necessary to salvation: but this law St. Barnabas shews to be abolished by the gospel, and that the customs of it are of no consequence to the Christians. The latter part contains excellent precepts, delivered under two different similitudes, the one of light, the other of darkness; the former under the conduct of the angels of God, the latter under the influence of the angels of Satan. The way of light is a summaTy of what the Christian is to do, that he may attain eternal happiness; and the way of darkness represents those particular sins and vices which exclude men from the kingdom of heaven. He closes the whole with pressing Christians to live in such a manner, while they sojourn in this vale of misery, that they may after they quit it, enjoy the pleasures of the heavenly Canaan, and inherit the kingdom of glory for ever and ever.

AN ACCOUNT OF ST. PHILIP, THE APOSTLE.

ST. PHILIP was a native of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. He had the honor of being first called to be a disciple of the great Messiah, which happened in the following manner. Our blessed Saviour, soon after his return from the wilderness, where he had been tempted by the devil, met with Andrew and his brother Peter, and after some discourse parted from them. The next day, as he was passing through Galilee, he found Phiip, whom he presently commanded to follow him, the constant form he made use of in calling his disciples, and those that inseparably attended him; so that the prerogative of being first called, evidently belongs to St. Philip, he being the first of our Lord's disciples; for though Andrew and St. John were the first that came and conversed with the Saviour of the world, yet they immediately returned to their occupation, and were not called till a whole year afterwards.

Our apostle was not idle after the honour he had received of being called to attend the Saviour of the world; he immediately imparted the glad-tidings of the Messiah's appearance to his brother Nathanael, and conducted him to Jesus: so ready is a good mau to conduct others in the paths that lead to happiness and peace.

We have very little recorded of St. Philip by the evangelist, after his being called to the apostleship. It was, however, to him that our Saviour proposed the 'question, where they should find bread sufficient to satisfy the hunger of so great a multitude? To which Philip answered, that it was not easy to procure so large a quantity, not considering, that it was equally easy for almighty power to feed double the number, when it pleased to exert itself. It was also to the same apostle, that the Gentile proselytes, who came up to worship at Jerusalem, applied, when they were desirous to see the Saviour of the world: and it was with him our Lord had the discourse a little before the paschal supper, when he was going

about to suffer.

While the holy compassionate Jesus was fortifying the minds of his disciples with proper considerations against his departure from them, and had told them, a place in the mansions of the heavenly Canaan : that be was "the Way, Truth' and the Life;" that "no man could come to the Father but by him," and that knowing him, they both knew and had

seen the Father." Philip not thoroughly understanding the force of his Master's reasonings begged of him that he would shew them the Father.We can hardly suppose that Philip should have such gross conceptions of the Deity, as to imagine the Father invested with a corporeal and visible nature; but CHRIST having told them that they had seen him, and knowing that of old God frequently appeared in a visible shape, he only desired that he would manifest himself to them by some such appearance. Our Lord gently reproved his ignorance, that after attending so long to his instructions, he should not know, that he was the image of his Father, the express characters of his infinite wisdom, power, & goodness, appearing in him; that he said and did nothing but by his Father's appointment, which, if they did not believe, his miracles were a sufficient evidence; that such demands were therefore unnecessary and impertinent; and that it was an indication of great weakness in him, after three years education under his discipline and instruction, to appear so ignorant with regard to these particulars.

We are told by the ancients, that in the distribution made by the apostles of the several regions of the world, the Upper Asia fell to the share of St. Philip, where he applied himself with an indefatigable diligence and industry, to turn the children of men from the paths of wickedness which lead to destruction, to ways that terminate in eternal felicity and by the constancy & power of his preaching, & the efficacy of his miracles, he gained numerous converts, whom he baptized into the Christian faith, curing at once their bodies of infirmities & distempers, & their souls of error & idolatry. He continued with them a considerable time in selling churches, and appointing them spiritu: 1 guides and ministers.

Having several years successfully exercised his apostolical office in all those parts, he came at last to Hierapolis in Phrygia, a city remarkably rich and populous, but at the same time over-run with the most enormous dolatry: amongst the many vain and trifling deities, to whom they paid religious adoration, was a serpent or dragon, of an enormous mags nitude which they worshipped with the most solemn reverence and de votion.

Being grieved to see the people so wretchedly enslaved by error and superstition, St. Philip continually offered his addresses to heaven, till by his prayers, and often calling upon the name of CHRIST, he procured the death, or, at least, vanishing of this famous and beloved serpent. Having thus demolished their deity, he demonstrated to them, how ridiculous and unjust it was for them to pay divine honours to such odious creatures, shewed them that God alone was to be worshipped as the great parent of the world, who, in the beginning made man after his glorious image, and when fallen from that innocent and happy state, sent his own Son into the world to redeem them; that, in order to perform this glorious work, he died on the cross, and rose again from the dead, and at the end of the world will come again to raise all the sons of men from the chambers of the dust, and sentence them to everlasting rewards and punishments, according to their works. This discourse roused them from their lethargy; so that great numbers were ashamed of their late idolatry, and embraced the doctrines of the gospel with earnest ness and sincerity.

The great enemy of mankind, being provoked at this success had recourse to his old methods, cruelty and persecution. The magistrates of the city seized the apostle, and having thrown him into prison, caused him to be severely scourged. When this preparatory cruelty was over, he was led to execution, and, being bound, was hanged against a pillar; or, according to others, crucified but Omnipotence did not behold this scene of cruelty without testifying his anger; for when this indefatigable apostle was expiring, the earth began suddenly to quake, and the ground whereupon

the people stood to sink under them; but, on their considering it as mark of the divine vengeance, and imploring pardon for their crime, it guddenly stopt, and returned to it's former position. The apostle being dead, his body was taken down by St. Bartholomew, his fellow labourer in the gospel, and Mariamne, St. Philip's sister, the constant companion of his travels, and decently buried; after which they confirmed the people in the faith of CHRIST, and departed from those parts.

The ancient writers unanimously agree that he was a married man; and Clemens of Alexandria, that he had daughters, whom he disposed of in marriage: but he, not carefully distinguishing between Philip the dea con, who lived at Cesarea, with his three virgin daughters, as mentioned in the acts of the apostles, has caused some confusion amongst the ancient authors: nay. some have concluded, that they were one and the same persons; though one was called to the apostleship by our Lord himself, and the other only a deacon chosen by the apostles at Jerusalem, after the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them.

It does not appear that St. Philip left any writings behind him, fully employed in ministries more immediately useful to the happiness of mankind as an apostle.

ST, SIMON, the APOSTLE, surnamed the ZEALOT.

THIS apostle was, as some think, one of the four brothers of the Sa viour, sons of Joseph by his former marriage; though the only proof of it is, that one of these was called Simon, two weak an arguiment to found any on, except a bare conjecture. In the catalogue of the apostles, he is styled "Simon the Canaanite," whence some conjecture he was born in Cana of Galilee, and others will have him to have been the bridegroom mentioned by St. John, at whose marriage our blessed Saviour turned the water into wine: but this word has no relation to his country, or the place of his nativity, being derived from the Hebrew word knah, which signifies zeal; and denotes a warm and sprightly temper. What some of the evangelists, therefore, call Canaanite, others, rendering the Hebrew by the Greek word, styled Zealot: not from his great zeal, his ardent affection to his Master, and a desire of advancing his religion in the world, but from his warm active temper, and zealous fowardness in some particular sect of religion, before our Saviour called him to be a disciple.

That we may understand this the better it will be necessary to observe, that as there were several sects and parties amongst the Jews, so there was one, either a distinct sect, or, at least, a branch of the Pharisees, called the Sect of the Zealots: these were remarkable assertors of the honour of the law, and of the strictness and purity of religion, assuming a liberty to themselves of questioning notorious offenders, without staying for the ordinary formalities of the law; nay, they did not scruple, when they thought it necessary, to inflict capital punishments upon them: thus, when a blasphemer cursed God by the name of an idol, the Zealot who first met him had the liberty of killing him, without carrying him before the Sanhedrim. They considered themselves as the successors of Phineas, who in defence of the honour of God, inflicted death on Zimri and Cosbi: an act which was "counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for ever more ;" and God was so well pleased with it, that he made him and his seed after him the covenent of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for Israel."

Whatever St. Simon was before, we can have no reason to suspect, but that after his conversion he was very zealous for the honour of his master, and considered all those who were enemies to CHRIST, as enemies to him

self, bow near soever they might be to him in any natural relation: and he was very exact in all the practical duties of the Christian religion, so he shewed a very serious and pious indignation towards those who professed religion, and a faith in CHRIST, with their mouths, but dishonoured their sacred profession, by their irregular and vicious lives, as many of the first Christans really did, and became heretics and apostates.

We are told by Theodoret, that St. Simon the Zealot was of the tribe of Zebulon or Naphtali, and that by this particular he was distinguished from St. Simon, a relation of our blessed Saviour, and after St. James, bishop of Jerusalem, who was of the tribe of Judah; but there are stronger reasons to prove this difference, the authority of Eusebius, who never calls Simon bishop of Jerusalem an apostle, but says expressly that the apostolic age, ended with his death, who died before Simon bishop of Jerusalem.

It appears, that St. Simon continued in communion with the rest of the apostles and disciples at Jerusalem; and at the feast of Pentecost, receiv-, ed the same miraculous gift of the Holy Ghost: so that he was qualified with the rest of his brethren for the apostolic office, in propagating the gospel of the Son of God; & we cannot doubt of his exercising his gifts with the same zeal and fidelity, though in what part of the world, is uncertain, some said he went into Egypt, Cyrene, and Africa, preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of those remote and barbarous countries and others add, that after he had just passed through these burning wastes, he took ship. and visited the frozen regions of the North, preaching the gospel to the inhabitants of the westren parts, and even in Britain itself, where having converted great multitudes, and sustained the greatest hardships and persecu tions, he was at length crucified, and buried in some part of Great Britian, but the particular spot cannot be ascertained.

ཋརིནཨ*རིག*ཀྱི་ས

AN ACCOUNT OF ST. MATTHIAS, THE APOSTLE.

ST. MATTHIAS not being an apostle of the first election, imme diately called and chosen by the Son of God himself, it cannot be expected that any account of him can be found in the evangelical history. He was one of our Lord's disciples, probably one of the seventy, that had attended on him the whole time of his public ministry, and after his death was elected into the apostolate, to supply the place of Judas, who, after betraying his great Lord and Master, laid violent hands upon himself.

As the defection of Judas had made a vacancy in the apostolic college, the first thing the disciples did, after their return from Mount Olivet, when their great Master ascended to the throne of glory, was to fill up this vacancy with a proper person. Accordingly, Peter acquainted them, that Judas, according to the prophetical prediction, being fallen from his ministry, it was necessary that another should be substituted in his room, and at the same time requisite, that the person elected should have been a constant attendant on the blessed JESUS, that he might be the better qualified for bearing witness to his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and intercession.

St. Peter having thus addressed the assembly, two persons were proposed, namely, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias, both of whom were duly qualified for that important office. The method of election was by lots, a way common both amongst the Jews and Gentiles for determining doubtful and difficult cases, especially in choosing judges or magistrates; and this course seems to have been taken by the apostles, because the Holy Ghost was not yet given, by whose immediate dictates and inspirations they were afterwards chiefly guided.