Part 271 (1/2)

And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the new faith.

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

RUINS OF GREAT GREEK THEATER AT MILETUS.

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

Miletus once was one of the leading centers of Greek civilization, which began to decay in Paul's day.

”Even in Homer, the 'Carian Miletus' appears as a place of renown.

Eighty colonies went forth from the banks of the Maeander, and some of them were spread even to the eastern sh.o.r.es of the Black Sea and beyond the Pillars of Hercules to the west. It received its first blow in the Persian war, when its inhabitants, like the Jews, had experience of a Babylonian captivity. It suffered once more in Alexander's great campaign; and after his time it gradually began to sink towards its present condition of ruin and decay, from the influence, as it would seem, of mere natural causes,--the increase of alluvial soil in the delta having the effect of removing the city gradually farther and farther from the sea. Even in the Apostle's time, there was between the city and the sh.o.r.e a considerable s.p.a.ce of level ground, through which the ancient river meandered in new windings, like the Forth at Stirling. Few events connect the history of Miletus with the transactions of the Roman Empire. When St. Paul was there, it was simply one of the second-rate seaports on this populous coast, ranking, perhaps, with Adramyttium or Patara, but hardly with Ephesus or Smyrna.”

[End ill.u.s.tration]

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whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, ”Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no G.o.ds, which are made with hands: and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great G.o.ddess Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence, whom all Asia and the world wors.h.i.+peth.”

And when they heard this, they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying,

”GREAT IS DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS!”

And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel. And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. And certain also of the chief officers of Asia, being his friends, sent unto him, and besought him not to venture into the theater. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the a.s.sembly was in confusion; and the larger part knew not wherefore they were come together.

And they brought Alexander out of the mult.i.tude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defense unto the people. But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the s.p.a.ce of two hours cried out,--

”GREAT IS DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS!”

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And when the town clerk had quieted the mult.i.tude, he saith, ”Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our G.o.ddess. If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, the courts are open, and here are judges: let them accuse one another. But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular a.s.sembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning this day's riot, there being no cause for it: and we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.”

And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the a.s.sembly.

III

FAREWELLS TO THE CHURCHES.

_Paul Starts on a Fateful Journey_.

And after the uproar was ceased, Paul having sent for the disciples and exhorted them, took leave of them, and departed to go into Macedonia.

And when he had gone through those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece. And when he had spent three months there, and a plot was laid against him by the Jews, as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

HARBOR OF a.s.sOS Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

”Of the city of a.s.sos itself, we must conclude, if we compare the description of the ancients with present appearances, that its aspect as seen from the sea was sumptuous and grand. A terrace with a long portico was raised by a wall of rock above the water line. Above this was a magnificent gate, approached by a flight of steps. Higher still was the theater, which commanded a glorious view of Lesbos and the sea, and those various buildings which are now a wilderness of broken columns, triglyphs, and friezes. The whole was crowned by a citadel of Greek masonry on a cliff of granite. Such was the view which gradually faded into indistinctness as the vessel retired from the sh.o.r.e, and the summits of Ida rose in the evening sky.”