be at the same time peculiarly interesting to those who were sojourning in the scenes where they occurred, and would tend to deepen and fix the impressions which it was his purpose to convey. They are intended as the dark back-ground of his sketch, in order to bring it out with more distinctness. In prosecuting his purpose, the author does not claim to have thrown any new light on the question of St. Paul's sojourn at Rome. He has only attempted to concentrate that light, and by its aid to look steadily at some of the details of that historical picture in which both Nero and Paul are introduced, which might easily escape a casual observation. Hence he has not felt it needful to encumber his pages with foot-notes of references to authorities. It will be sufficient to name the few authors who have furnished most of the materials which he has employed. They are the following: Tacitus; Suetonius; Les Césars par le Cte. Franz de Champagny, 3 vols., Paris, 1859; Storia degli Imperatori Romani da Augusto Sino Costantino de, Sigg Lebeau, Crevier, etc., 36 vols., Roma, 1857; Indicazione Topographica de Roma Antica in correspondenza dell' Epoca imperiale del Commendatore Luigi Canina, 1 vol., Roma, 1850; Gli Edifici di Roma Antica e sua Campagna, Luigi Canina, 6 vols. folio, Roma, 1851; the Life and Epistles of St. Paul, by the Rev. W. J. Conybeare, M. A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Rev. J. S. Howson, D. D., principal of the Collegiate Institute, Liverpool, two volumes, People's edition, London, 1863; Lectures upon the Ecclesiastical History of the first three centuries, by Edward Burton, D.D., Oxford, 1845. Baronius, Fleury, and the Papal Constitutions have been consulted in the library of the Convent of Minerva. It would not interest the reader of these discourses to know the few modifications which they have undergone in preparing them for the press. They are published in substance as they were delivered. The last Lecture, on the claims of the Church of Rome to exclusive sanctity, to infallibility, and to unity, has no immediate connection with the series upon St. Paul. It was delivered last year, after the hearing of a discourse by Monsignore Manning. I venture to publish it, because although hastily prepared, it contains a refutation of that one train of argument which is over and over again repeated, by the distinguished author, to the English and American auditors who crowd to listen to his Advent and Lenten Sermons. The author cannot conclude this preface without the expression of his gratification at the favor with which the discourses were received by the congregation, of several nationalities and many denominations, to which they were delivered. It is but justice to himself to add that it is at the instance of many clerical brethren, English, American, and Scotch, that he ventures to commit them to the press. As he pens these lines, it is with a feeling of sadness that he remembers how many loved brethren and friends, who listened to these discourses, and with whom he has taken sweet counsel in the house of God, under circumstances well calculated to deepen and enrich all Christian sympathies and affections, are now dispersed and journeying far over sea and land. May grace, mercy, and peace attend them and abide upon them forever! CONTENTS. The Papacy a gradual growth. Presumptions in favor of St. Paul's rather than St. Peter's headship of the church. St. Paul makes no allusion, in his Epistle to the Romans, to St. Peter's presence or official connection with them. authority over them as the Apostle of the Gentiles. claim is implied in the whole tenor of the Epistle. design of the Epistle was to show that man could not be saved by works, but by the faith which appropriates the finished work of Christ. Jewish misapprehension of the consequences St. Paul's salutations to the Chris- tians at Rome. The profound interest connected with recall- Origin of the Church in Rome. St. Paul's visit to Jerusalem. Paul's ad- St. Paul's Journey to Rome from Puteoli. St. Paul's entrance into the Bay of Naples. The splendor of the The position, work, prospects, and feelings of St. Paul. His sojourn at Puteoli. His journey to Rome. The meet- ing of St. Paul with the brethren at the Appii Forum and the placing tombs upon the great highways. Its reason and its significance. St. Paul's passage through the city to the head- quarters of the Prætorian prefect. Paul permitted to dwell St. Paul and the Jews in Rome. Locality of St. Paul's hired house. State of the Jews in Rome. Origin of the Jewish community at Rome. Causes of mutual animosity between the Jews and Romans. Caligula orders his statues to be worshiped. Tumults in consequence at Alex- andria. Capito erects an altar to the god Caius. Order of Caligula to have his colossal statue set up in the Temple of Jerusalem. Violent excitement of the Jews. Their petition to the proconsul Petronius. Assassination of Caligula. The Jews protected during the first years of Nero's reign. Testi- mony of St. Paul to the Jews in Rome. Its reception by the Jews. Their judicial blindness. Their persecution and dis- persion to continue so long as they reject the Gospel. Condi- tion of the Jews in Rome since the time of Paul. The triumph of Vespasian and Titus. Treatment of the Jews by the Pope. The humiliation and degradation to which they have been sub- jected. Their present wretched condition in Rome. A strik- ing fulfillment of prophecy and of St. Paul's declaration. The |