highly thought of. He would stamp and strike his thigh when he was preaching, to astonish our simpler brethren. Then he took great pride in the state and pomp of his office. But come with me to Methodius, and you will see a different man."

66 Do you

know him well?" said Rutilius.

66 I pay him respect as Christ's representative in this place," said Pamphilus; "and his habits and character are altogether Christian. Beyond this there is no particular agreement between us; for he has written against my great master Origen, whom I am at this moment preparing to defend against his attacks."

As they moved towards the dwelling of Methodius, Rutilius told his companion that he was not unlikely to be a visitant in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea. A friend of his father's had been appointed deputy of the province, and at his father's desire he had offered to visit his residence. Pamphilus was pleased at the prospect of seeing his young friend again. "As to the place you propose to visit," he said, "if your mind is set on those objects, which even heathen philosophy professes to reverence, you will find little there to give you satisfaction. Even the luxury and license, which prevails in Italy, is surpassed by the excesses of wealthy Romans when they come into these eastern countries; and I have heard the place you speak of described as an example on the small scale of an emperor's court." While he spoke they reached the dwelling of Methodius.

The house was furnished like the dwelling of citizens of a superior class, though with a studied abstinence from every thing gaudy or ostentatious. The chief valuables seemed to be a considerable collection of books, together with some foreign curiosities, which the naval connexions of Tyre gave opportunity for collecting.

66

My master is engaged in hearing causes," said the domestic, who shewed them in; "but he will shortly visit you."

"You will like," said Pamphilus, "to see what is the office of a Christian judge;"—and at his desire the servant led them where Methodius was deciding between two parties, who were disputing the inheritance of a relative.1

"By what authority," asked Rutilius, "does your bishop act?"

66

"He has no authority," replied his companion, except the consent of the parties. But we Christians, instead of carrying our complaints before a heathen judge, are accustomed to submit to the arbitration of our own community. And, as I have told you before, our Emperor has his deputy here. Whatever is done in the Church is done by the bishop."

Methodius was at this moment asking the two parties whether they agreed to acquiesce in his decision. "Our Lord," he said, "replied to a person

This account of a bishop's occupation is taken from St. Augustine, De Opere Monachorum, § 29.

who was not His disciple, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?' and I claim, therefore, no civil power by virtue of that spiritual office which He has given me. For the disciple is not above his Lord. But the great Apostle taught our brethren not to carry their disputes before the heathen, asking them how they could set them to judge' who were 'least esteemed in the Church.' It has been our custom, therefore, to agree to act on the Church's decision, which I, as her officer, have to declare. I shall judge, of course, according to the best laws which wise men among the heathen have set forth, taking into account those principles of right which are given us in holy Scripture. Do you both agree to accept my determination?" Both parties promised submission; and Methodius dismissed them, with an assurance that he would inform them of his decision on the following day.

These parties being gone, Pamphilus presented Rutilius as a person anxious to become acquainted with the Christian system. "One part of my office," said Methodius, "you have seen to-day. I am sorry to say that it is an office which occupies much time, which I would gladly reserve for more sacred subjects. But in such a town as this, the questions which are brought before me are numerous; and they require constant reference to that framework of Roman law which supplies the best means of deciding common questions."

"If ever our faith should be adopted by princes,"

said Pamphilus, "and the authority which you now exercise should be publicly recognised, we may expect to see the bishop's court as regular a part in the judicial system of the state as the court of the emperor. But you speak of this as so populous a place; is not its commercial greatness considerably impaired?"

"Yes, it is," said Methodius; "and it is likely, I think, before long to be altogether lost."

Pamphilus. "On what do you build this expec

tation?"

Methodius. "As a citizen, I should say that I build it on the peculiar advantages possessed by Alexandria, which for many years has been drawing away our trade. But, as a Christian, I have weightier grounds: I see in what has passed a fulfilment of prophecy, and I anticipate its complete accomplishment.'

Rutilius listened with the more attention, because he remembered that Porphyry had noticed to him the existence of Tyre as an argument against the truth of the prophecies of Scripture, by which its desolation had been predicted.

"It is certainly true," said Pamphilus, "that the destruction of Tyre is threatened by Ezekiel ; but some have supposed that the ancient city, which stood on the continent, was intended; and undoubtedly it never recovered itself after its destruction by Alexander the Great."

"The prophet's words clearly look further," said Methodius; "and to me the circumstances are the

more interesting, as illustrating the manner in which the prophecies of Scripture are fulfilled. There is first some event of an outward and immediate nature, which stamps, as it were, a character of authenticity on the prediction, and indicates that its fulfilment is at hand. But together with this external, and, it might seem, accidental accordance with the words of Scripture, there is some secret and hidden cause, which is, in reality, more fit to support the weight of the prediction, and which makes itself felt after long years of forgetfulness. Such is the secret of Tyre's decay. The capture and sack of the city by Alexander the Great promised to be a fulfilment of Ezekiel's words. But Tyre recovered from its overthrow. The real cause of its destruction is the rival city, by which the same conqueror cut off the sources of its wealth, and prepared for its distant and irretrievable ruin. Thus it is that God's declarations have their consummation; and so the fall of the great empire of Rome, which the same Daniel predicts, though it may seem to some to be fulfilled, now that Rome has ceased, under our present emperor, to be the real capital of the world, will probably be marked by some more complete accomplishment."

This conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a man who desired to speak with Methodius.

"You see the germ of a great system,” said Pamphilus, as their host left them. "Should the Roman empire fall, as Methodius suggests, what would main