of a mild and gentle disposition, and good to all men; beneficent to strangers; but especially kind to the Jews, with whom he sympathized in all their troubles." His residence, after he became king of Judea, was almost constantly at Jerusalem, where he practised the Jewish ceremonies, and did not let a day pass, without worshipping God, according to the law of Moses. 834. It may seem to be inconsistent with the character here given of Agrippa, that he should carry on a cruel persecution against the inoffensive Christians, of which Luke gives the following account. "Now about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands, to vex certain of the church; and he killed James the brother of John with the sword, and because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also." (Acts xii. 1, 2, 3.) But we have seen, that this prince was superstitiously attached to all the Jewish ceremonies, and that he made it a primary object to please the nation, in his whole administration; and as they could not be more gratified by any thing than the death of the leading teachers in the Christian church, he was induced to pursue a course, in regard to this matter, not altogether consonant with his general character. Luke, in the passage quoted, adverts to the true motive of his conduct, when he says, because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also. But his design against the life of Peter was frustrated by a miraculous interposition. An angel was sent to release him from his confinement. 835. Whatever the character of Herod Agrippa might have been in other respects, he seems to have been a very vain-glorious person. There is a remarkable coincidence between the narratives of Luke and Josephus, in regard to the circumstances of the death of this prince. Luke says, "And he went down from Judea to Cesarea and there abode. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration to them. And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god and not of a man; and immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory, and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." 836. The words of Josephus are these: "Having now reigned three whole years over Judea, he went to the city Cesarea, formerly called Straton's Tower. Here he celebrated shows, in honor of Cesar. On this occasion, there was a vast resort of persons of rank and distinction from all parts of the country. On the second day of the shows, early in the morning, he came into the theatre, dressed in a robe of silver, of most curious workmanship. The rays of the rising sun, reflected from so splendid a garb, gave him a majestic and awful appearance. In a short time they began, in several parts of the theatre, flattering acclamations, which proved pernicious to him. They called him a god, and entreated him to be propitious to them; saying, 'Hitherto we have respected you as a man, but now we acknowledge you to be more than mortal.' king neither reproved these persons, nor rejected. the impious flattery. Soon after this, casting his eyes upwards, he saw an owl, sitting on a cord over his head. He perceived it to be a messenger of evil to him, as it had been before of his prosperity, and was struck with the deepest concern. Immediately after this, he was seized with pains in his bowels, extremely violent from the first. Then turning himself to his friends, he spoke to them in this manner: 'I, your god, am required to leave this world; fate instantly refuting these The false applauses bestowed upon me. I who have been called immortal, am hurried away to death. But God's appointment must be submitted to.' While he was speaking, his pains became more violent; he was carried, therefore, with all haste to his palace. His pains continuing to increase, he expired in five days time, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, &c." 837. Agrippa left behind him one son, also named, Agrippa, about seventeen years of age, and three daughters. One of these Berenice, was married to Herod, king of Chalcis, her father's brother; the other two, Mariamne and Drusilla, were unmarried, at the time of their father's death. Of the youngest of these, Drusilla, some notice will be taken in this history hereafter, as she is particularly noticed on the Acts of the Apostles. CHAPTER XXXV. IN ΤΟ FADUS MADE PROCURATOR OF JUDEA-DEARTH A 838. AFTER the death of Agrippa, A. D. 45, Fadus was appointed procurator of Judea. Claudius would have given the kingdom to the son of his friend, but was dissuaded from it on account of his youth. contention soon arose between this officer and the Jews, respecting the pontifical vestments, which he ordered to be deposited, as formerly, in the castle of Antonia. This was by direction of the emperor. And when the Jews proved refractory, Cassius Longimus, who had been sent to Syria in the place of Marsus, came with an army to enforce the emperor's edict; but the Jews prevailed on him to wait until they could petition the emperor; who was induced by the intercession of Herod king of Chalcis, to relinquish his purpose. Claudius then appointed this Herod to preside over the temple, and select the high priests. He removed Cantharus from office, and appointed Joseph son of Camus, to succeed him. 839. In the Acts, we read, that "a prophet, named Agabus stood up, and signified by the spirit, that there should be a great dearth, throughout all the world, which, says Luke, came to pass in the days of Claudius Cesar." Now, during the reign of Claudius, there were no less than four times of famine. The one, referred to above, occurred while Fadus was procurator at Judea, and was the last of the four; for it extended to the reign of Tiberius. 840. About this time, the Jews received some proselytes to their religion, of rather an extraordinary character for rank, who proved themselves to be very sincere converts, by their munificence to the Jewish nation; especially in the time of the forementioned famine. The persons to whom I refer, were Helena, queen of Adiabene, in Mesopotamia, and her son Izates. At the time when this dearth occurred, Helena was at Jerusalem, and supplied the people with large quantities of provisions; and Izates sent them, at the same time, large sums of money. These royal personages had built, near Jerusalem, a sepulchre of magnificent workmanship, in which, after their death, they were interred. 841. While Fadus was procurator of Judea, a false Messiah made his appearance, who deluded great mul |