eulated by the West, and the apocryphal books sprang from a union of the Jewish religion with Greek philosophy, manners and customs. At Alexandria, in Egypt, Judaism received a new impulse, and underwent a new and peculiar development. The Alex andrine Jews lost in Hebrew what they gained in Greek influence. Parting with their intimacy with their native language and literature, they were initiated into that of Plato and Aristotle; but as they ceased not to be Jews, and clung to the historical recollections and usages of Palestine, so they needed and created a literature conformable with their peculiar position. The Books of the Old Testament they did not renounce; but they read them in a Greek translation, and with Hellenised affections. Thus the canonical and the apocryphal writings lost the sharp and definite distinction which the idea of the inspiration of the first had originated; they came to be mingled together, and were discriminated only by such shades of difference as earthly circumstances suggested; the divine element being attenuated, the human one enlarged, 'magnified, and made honourable. In this almost indiscriminate regard, the Alexandrians were followed by those Fathers who were ignorant of Hebrew, the rather because these books were previously read in the church, and accounted fit for edification; and the Roman church, holding to its own translation, which came from the Septuagint, sanctioned this error by decrees of councils, in which these apocryphal writings were put on the same footing with the old Hebrew books, - a decision which was distinctly approved by the Council of Trent. There has, however, arisen, under the influence of recent theological science, a disposition among the more enlightened and liberal Catholic divines to recognise a difference as to authority between the canonical and the apocryphal books.

An apocryphal literature has also attached itself to the New Testament. Great intellectual movements have a period of degenerate as well as a period of genuine production. The one follows the other, as the shadow follows the substance. Accordingly, in the New Testament Apocrypha we find Gospelsthat of the Hebrews, of the Egyptians, of Thomas, Andrew, Jacob; - Acts of the Apos tles-the Acts of Paul, Andrew, John;Letters those of Paul to the Laodiceans, to Seneca, of Peter to James; Revelations -those of Peter, of Paul, of Thomas. These books, however, are somewhat different from those of the Old Testament Apocrypha, the latter being for the most part genuine, the former not at all so; and only a few of them, as the Gospel of the Hebrews, the Acts of Paul, the Revelation of Peter, acquired a certain estimation in the church, which, however, they have not maintained. The natural and genuine, though much inferior continuation of the New Testamen

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literature, may be found in the works of those who are termed Apostolical Fathers, namely Barnabas, Clemens, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp. The most ancient and renowned portions of the New Testament Apocrypha have, excepting a few fragments, perished. Among what remains may be mentioned the Protevangelium of James, the Gospel of the Infancy of Christ- ascribed to Thomas, and the Gospel of Nicodemus.

APOLLONIA (G. city of Apollo), a place in the south-eastern part of Macedonia, through which Paul passed when on his way from Amphipolis across the country to Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 1). It lay about thirtysix Roman miles from Amphipolis, and was a colony of the Corinthians and Corcyræans. The name was common to many other cities.

APOLLOS (G. descendant of Apollo), a Jew of Alexandria, – - an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, who, having been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit, came to Ephesus, and taught diligently the things of the Lord, yet knowing only the baptism of John. Proceeding to give his instructions in the synagogue there, he was heard and converted to Christianity by the wedded couple, Aquila and Priscilla. Shortly after, having preached Christ with much effect, and been provided with recommendations by the Ephesian Christians, he went into Achaia, where, at Corinth, he remained some time (Acts xviii. 24, seq.; xix. 1). Such were his gifts of learning and of eloquence, and such were certain tendencies in the Corinthian church, that he gathered around him a num. ber of persons who looked on him too much in the light of a guide, if not of a master. He does not, however, appear to have been blameable in this; for nothing gives the idea that Paul was displeased with Apollos himself: on the contrary, the latter was certainly united in friendly relations with, if he was not a dependent and disciple of Paul (1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 5; iv. 6; xvi. 12;-brother Apollos'). Luther and others have ascribed to Apollos the Epistle to the Hebrews; as it presents a view of Christianity which is, if not Paul's, yet Pauline. The Apollos mentioned in Tit. iii. 13 is probably a different person.

APOSTLE is a Greek word written in Eng. lish letters; our translators, in this instance, as in others, having merely represented the sounds of the original word by corresponding English sounds. The term denotes properly one who is sent, being derived from two Greek words which signify to delegate. Our word envoy, or ambassador, corresponds most nearly with the Greek apostle. Ambassador is used in the Scriptures in a not dissimilar sense (2 Cor. v. 20. Eph. vi. 20).

In its strict and original meaning, apostle denoted one of the twelve persons whom

Jesus chose to aid him in planting his religion in the world; who were, accordingly, regarded as the teachers of the gospel and the foundation of the church (Eph. ii. 20). Deriving their commission from Jesus, and being deputed by him to preach the gospel, they were appropriately designated apostles— a name which they received from their great Master himself (Luke vi. 13).

From the writings of Paul, we learn that 'the signs of an apostle' were, to have seen the Lord Jesus to have wrought miracles -and to have had seals to the ministry; and these signs and proofs were to be recognised by the church (1 Cor. ix. 1, 2. Rom. xv. 16-19. 1 Cor. xv. 5-7. 2 Cor. xii. 12). If these evidences were necessary to the apostolic office, so also were they of course indispensable to the apostolic authority, since the authority depended on the office. Indeed, there was nothing arbitrary either in that office or that authority: both ensued from corresponding and needful qualifications. These unquestionable facts show that the authority was limited to the men by whom it was first held. To revive or to continue Peter or Paul's authority, we must perform an impossibility, — that is, we must either perpetuate or restore their qualifications,all, not a part of, their qualifications. It is in vain, therefore, for any body of men to pretend to the power of working miracles, in order to prove that they have apostolical power: have they seen the Lord Jesus?

The word apostle has, in the New Teste ment, a wider signification - being applied to others besides the twelve, because of the similarity of their office. It is properly applied to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles' (1 Cor. ix. 2. Rom. xi. 13), whose special call, and benign influence in the spread of Christianity and the formation of the apostolic church, gave him a peculiar title to the honourable appellation. Barnabas also, the companion of Paul, bears the name (Acts xiv. 4,14). Andronicus and Junia, who were in Christ before' Paul, were also of note among the apostles' (Rom. xvi. 7). Epaphroditus may be added, who, in Phil. ii. 25, is mentioned as the apostle of the Philippians. In the English version, this honourable distinction is concealed under the term messenger. The passage may seem to intimate that each church had its apostle its chief teacher; and, if so, then it also shows how widely the word soon deviated from its original application; though doubtless Epaphroditus was a man of great activity and eminent gifts (consult Eph. iv. 11. 2 Cor. viii. 23).

The influence which the apostles exerted, and the high consideration in which they were held, may have been the cause why even the primitive church was troubled by 'false prophets, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of

Christ;' who appear, from the accounts handed down, to have been of that Judaizing party which desired to restrain the gospel within the limits, and keep its followers under the yoke, of the Mosaic institutions (2 Cor. xi. 13. Acts xv. 24).

Those who bear the name of the apostles - in the narrower sense of the word-were twelve in number, and are called emphatically the twelve' (Matt. xxvi. 14, 47. Mark ix. 35). They are as follows (Matt. x. 2; comp. with Mark iii. 16, and Luke vi. 14): Simon Peter (1) and his brother Andrew (2); James (3) and John (4), sons of Zebedee; Philip (5), Bartholomew (6), Thomas (7), Matthew (8), James, son of Alpheus (9), Lebbeus Thaddeus (10), Simon the Cananite (11), and Judas Iscariot (12). The number twelve seems to have been adopted not without some special reason; for, when it was broken in upon by the treachery and death of Judas, the remaining eleven proceeded to elect another. Joseph Justus and Matthias having been selected, the divine choice was signified by lot in favour of the latter (Acts i. 15). The words used in the twenty-first verse, to the effect that the choice lay among those persons 'who have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,' seem to show, that this election was prompted, not by any mere reverence for the number twelve, but by a worthy desire to preserve unbroken the divinely appointed instrumentality for the publication of the gospel; so that no fewer eye-witnesses of the deeds and majesty of Jesus should be sustained in the church, than its great Head himself had appointed. In the original choice of the number twelve, however, there may have been some intended reference to the number of the twelve tribes (Matt. xix. 28), not impossibly with the view to conciliate feelings, and the more easily engraft the gospel on the law; -a view which may derive confirmation from the seventy whom the Lord appointed, with special instructions, as heralds of his kingdom (Luke x. 1, 17); — a number which calls to mind the 'seventy elders of Israel,' as well as the seventy members of the Jewish Sanhedrin (Exod. xxiv. 1. Numb. xi. 16).

The twelve were men of the humbler class, destitute of the learning of the schools, natives mostly of Galilee, in part related to Jesus: some of them had been followers of John the Baptist. The rapid progress of Christianity in the world suffices to show, that, in the choice of the apostles, as well as in every other proceeding connected with the foundation of the church, the highest wisdom was employed. If the position of the twelve in social life made them of small account in the eyes of their countrymen, it only served to display the hand of God in the spread of the gospel; while such persons would be

less wedded to their prejudices, and more ready to receive new impressions, than philosopher or priest; and would at the same time serve as the least unfit channel that earth offered, for conveying to mankind pure and unpolluted the doctrines and the spirit of their divine Master. Nor were they, though poor, unobservant of the signs of the times, nor indisposed to follow the best lights which the age afforded, as the adherence of some of them to the Baptist proves. They were, to all appearance, men who were looking and waiting with more than ordinary earnestness and intelligence for the consolation of Israel' (Luke ii. 25).

The apostles were a band of brothers, having no head and no superior but one, Christ: they were not free from ambition, but its claims were discouraged; and though some have taught that a preference or rather presidency was given to Peter, plainly misapprehending Christ's words, this had for its reason nothing else than the fine personal qualities which made his influence so beneficial, while all superiority of name or rank was disallowed and rebuked by the Founder and Lawgiver of the church (Matt. xvi. 18; xviii. 18; xx. 20, seq.). At an early period the apostles were made acquainted by their Lord with the momentous importance of their perilous undertaking (Matt. x. 16, seq. Luke xiv. 26, seq.); and though they did not by any means fully comprehend his instructions, nor seize the spirit of his mission, yet have we, in the fact that they were not favoured with any special and peculiar communications, an assurance that Jesus divulged not to the favoured few an esoteric (inner or secret) doctrine, while the uninitiated many were left with mere exoteric (outer, public) superficialities; and in consequence that Jesus, while thus favourably distinguished from most heathen philosophers, studied simplicity, made his religion an essentially popular system, gave no countenance to the secret mysteries affected in corrupt periods of his church, nor laid any foundation for a peculiar order of exclusively privileged expounders of gospel truth. At the same time, the apostles had every needful opportunity for hearing the doctrines and seeing the deeds of Christ, so that they might have sufficient knowledge to make them trustworthy preachers of the word of life. They were, indeed, the constant companions of their Master in his missionary tours, in his visits to the festivals at Jerusalem, when he addressed the multitude, when he discoursed with the learned of the land, or when he withdrew into privacy: the whole course of his teaching, his entire manner of life, were open and known to them, so that they could not be mistaken as to the first, nor deceived as to the second. They had the most ample opportunities for knowing of his doctrine whether it were of God, as well as what manner of person Jesus himself was (Matt. v. 1; xii. 2;

xiii. 1, 10; xxii. 15. Luke vi. 17; viii. 9; xii. 41; xvii. 5. Acts i. 21). Personal peculiarities seem to have recommended to his special regard three out of the twelve, Peter, John, and James the elder (Matt. xvii. 1); while all the apostolic body indiscriminately received from Jesus the fullest instruction, the readiest attention to their questions and spiritual state, and the kindest sympathies in relation to the bereavement and sorrow in which his death would leave them; nor is it difficult to learn in the Gospels how much veneration and love our Lord conciliated from them towards himself personally. Even in his own lifetime they were employed by their Master in preaching the kingdom of God, having been especially equipped by him for this important work (Luke ix. 1).

The chief and proper ground of their at tachment to Christ lay in their recognition of him as the Messiah, though the full import of that term their Jewish preconceptions prevented them from comprehending, even during a period of direct instructions from the lips of Jesus, which lasted for a long period; nor did the clouds pass away from their minds till the death, the resur rection, and the ascension of Jesus, as well as the fulfilment of his promise in the gift of the Holy Spirit-until these facts shed light around them, in which they might read and understand the history and purposes of their Teacher and Lord (Matt. xvi. 21, 22; xvii. 17; xx. 20, seq. Luke ix. 54, seq.; xii. 41, seq.; xvii. 5, seq.; xxiv. 21. John xvi. 12, seq.; Acts i. 6, seq.; ii. 17, seq.; iii. 18). Unaware of the real nature of Christ's office as the Saviour of the world, and expecting that he would in his lifetime, sooner or later, rise triumphant over his enemies, and assume a constantly widening temporal dominion, the apostles were overwhelmed with sorrow and struck with dismay at his death, which seemed to put a period to their hopes: they accordingly all forsook him and fled, leaving the care of their living Lord to a few faithful women, and the care of his corpse to Joseph of Arimathea. Well-guaranteed assurances, however, of his having risen from the dead, brought the apostles gradually together again: and we shortly after find them taking steps to fill up the vacancy in their body which the death of Judas had occasioned, thus preparing for that great work on which they soon entered, and in the prosecution of which they sacrificed their all, not regarding even life dear for the sake of Christ. Such a series of events as that of which we have now given the barest outline, is unparalleled in the annals of the world, and is from first to last full of evidence to sustain and illustrate the truth of Christianity, as well as of suggestion, admonition, example, and impulse, for the edification of the believer.

The general operation of the apostles has been noticed in the account given of the Book

of Acts, and their individual history and character appear under the names which they severally bear: here it will suffice to make one or two additional remarks of a general character.

To the twelve,' in conjunction with the apostle Paul, the world is indebted (under divine Providence) for the possession of the pearl of great price. They entered on their work, and achieved a success which made the universal prevalence of the gospel a mere question of time. Doubtless they occupied different spheres; but this was done most probably according as a door was opened to them each. Here historical details fail us, and we are not at liberty to indulge in conjecture. The opinion, that they made amongst themselves a formal division of the civilised world, rests on no foundation. We cannot but regret that our knowledge is very limited: in regard to the greater number of them, we know little of the precise circle in which they were led to work; and amid the claims of vanity and the inventions of weakness on this point, it behoves the student to be cautious and discriminating, for it is more easy here to be burdened with error than to find the truth. The working and the influence, however, of some of the apostles, are preserved under the most trust-worthy guarantees; and in the history of Paul, Peter, James, and John, we have full and minute particulars to enable us to trace the first planting of Christianity, and so to learn that the foundation is solid on which our faith and hope are built. In a very special manner must it be allowed that mankind is under obligations to the apostle Paul, not only for the singular energy of his character, his patience under sufferings, and his unwearying zeal; not only for the ample success which, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, he reaped in his missionary labours; but also, and chiefly, because his was the mind which first seized the real spirit of the gospel, as a boon, not to the Jews, but to the world; and, working out the consequences of that great idea in his own soul, he gave all his noble powers to an attempt in which he never wearied, to convey first to his fellow-believers, then to his own countrymen and to the world, the truths, the duties, the hopes, the charities, which hence ensued. And amid the wonderful things of the primitive church, none perhaps surpasses the fact that the spirit of Jesus, as the Son of God and the Saviour of mankind, was first and best comprehended, as well as effectually set forth, by a converted Pharisee.

APOTHECARY (G. one who keeps a shop or repository) is a word which represents a Hebrew term, signifying to compound or put together drugs and spices; an art which the Israelites had full opportunity of learning in Egypt, where it was carried to a great height, in connection with embalming the dead. Accordingly, as early as Exod. xxx. 35, we find

the apothecary' mentioned as one of a wellknown class of men, having particular functions. Their business was to compound ointment' according to the established rules of their art (Exod. xxx. 33, 35; xxxvii. 29. Eccl. x. 1). It was for religious purposes, namely, for anointing and incense, that the confection after the art of the apothecary' was made. The 'principal spices,' 'pure myrrh,' 'sweet cinnamon,' 'sweet calamus,' 'cassia,' were employed in making the oil of holy ointment,' wherewith the furniture and vessels of the tabernacle were anointed, and which no one might imitate (Exod. xxx 22, seq.). The making of the ointments and incense for the public worship, was in the hands of the priests (1 Chron. ix. 30); and probably they also made the 'sweet odours and divers kinds of spices,' burnt and employed in embalming on the death of men of rank (2 Chron. xvi. 14. Ezek. xxiv. 10). The business could not have been confined to the sacred order, as in 1 Sam. viii. 13 we read of a class of women employed as 'confectionaries.' One part of the art was to make perfumes for the person (Isa. lvii. 9), and to spice wine for drinking (Cant. viii. 2).

Apothecaries, as connected with the art of healing, have always been held in high estimation. Their business too, involving, as it does to the untutored, no small degree of mystery, served to conciliate towards them a large degree of respect. It was not, however, exclusively in drugs and medicine that they dealt. Their business united that of the modern grocer with that of our druggist. The apothecary still has his station in the Eastern bazaar. In Damascus the shops of the apothecaries present the most whimsical spectacle, so heterogenous is the stock of articles which they offer for sale. Our cut shows a modern

APOTHECARY OF DAMASCUS,

tribunal to another, with a view to obtain justice. Thus Paul, when standing before the tribunal of Festus, in danger of his life, said, 'I appeal unto Cæsar' (Acts xxv. 11; xxviii. 19). And though the appeal was from monotheists to an idolater, from men of his own nation to the monster Nero, Paul and his cause were benefited by the step. The Roman law provided, that, if any magistrate wished to scourge or put to death a Roman citizen, the accused party might refer his cause to the Roman people; which course should protect him from punishment, until the people had come to a determination in his case. On the establishment of the imperial throne, the appellant power of the people passed into the hands of the emperors. Hence was it that Pliny sent to Rome those Christians of Asia Minor, who, in his legal proceedings against the disciples, proved to be Roman citizens. Hence also Paul's appeal.

APPEASE (L. to bring to peace).—The Greek signifies to set down, to tranquillise, Thus, in Acts xix. 35, 'When the town-clerk had appeased the people;' in the next verse the same word is used-'Ye ought to be quiet.'

APPII FORUM (L. the Market-place of Appius). A place named after the Roman Appius Claudius Cæcus, the constructor of the celebrated Via Appia, or Appian road, that led from Rome in a south-easterly direction; on which, about three miles from the eity, lay Appii Forum, having Tres Taberna, 'the Three Taverns,' somewhat higher up towards the city, on the same high road. To these spots came members of the church at Rome, to meet the apostle Paul, as he proceeded towards that city, to take his trial before Cæsar. When the apostle saw the brethren, finding that he should not be without sympathy and support in the great centre of heathen darkness, superstition, cruelty, and vice, he thanked God, and took courage' (Acts xxviii. 15). The more common opinion is that Appii Forum was a market town, some forty-three miles from Rome on the Appian Way, and that the Tres Taberna, or Three Taverns, was another town on the same road, some dozen miles or so nearer Rome. Some of the brethren came to meet Paul as far as the Three Taverns; others came all the length of Appii Forum.

APPLE-TREE (H. Tappuah). — That the apple-tree and its fruit were known in Palestine from an early period, appears certain. A sufficient evidence is afforded by the fact, that places took their names from being spots where apple-trees grew (Josh. xii. 17; IT. 31). In Joel i. 12, the apple-tree' is mentioned with other fruit-trees as being withered in the general drought. In Sol. Song, ii. 3, we read-As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons.' Here it is an image

of beauty, and consequently the apple-trees of Palestine were distinguished for that quality. The aromatic odour of the apple is alluded to in Sol. Song, vii. 8; see also viii. 5, where the tree affords a shade. Prov. xxv. 11, offers a striking image-'apples of gold in curiously wrought silver baskets,' - the golden colour of the apple being well set off and heightened by the sheen of the silver, especially as seen through the open work of the basket.

Some commentators have, without suffcient reason, thought the citron to be the fruit meant in these passages.

The apple-tree still grows in Palestine. The fruit of the Syrian apple is described as having a very agreeable odour. In the Talmud, frequent reference is made to the cultivation of the apple tree.

Josephus, after speaking of the conflagration of the plain of Sodom, remarks that apples still grow there, which resemble edible fruits in colour, but, in being plucked with the hands, are dissolved into smoke and ashes. Near that bituminous lake where Sodom stood, Dr. Robinson found, at Ain Jidy, a tree, called by the Arabs ösher, that grows only in these parts, the fruit of which greatly resembles a large smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters three or four together, of a yellow colour when ripe; delicious to the eye, soft to the touch. On being pressed or struck, the apparent apple explodes with a puff, like a bladder, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibres. The fruit is filled chiefly with air, which gives it the round form. In the centre a small slender pod runs through it from the stem, and is connected by thin filaments with the rind. The pod contains a small quantity of fine silk with seeds, like the pod of the silk-weed, though much smaller. The Arabs collect the silk, and twist it into matches for their guns, preferring it to the common match because it is combustible without sulphur. The trunks of these trees are six or eight inches in diameter; the whole height from ten to fifteen feet. The tree has a grayish cork-like bark, with long oval leaves; and, in its general appearance, it might be taken for a gigantic perennial species of the milk-weed or silk-weed, found in the northern parts of the American states. If a branch is broken off, it discharges milky fluid. With some allowance for the marvellous, the fruit of the ösher strikingly corresponds with the account given by Josephus.

AQUILA (L. an eagle).—A Jew, born in Pontus, in Asia Minor, whence he removed to Rome, where probably he embraced Christianity. From this place he, with his wife Priscilla, and their fellow-believers, were driven about the year A. D. 49, by the Emperor Claudius, under the name of Jews, and under the pretext that, Chrest (a different pronun