The life and work of St. Paul

284 THE LIFE AND WORK OP ST. PAUL.
the prison precincts. Not till then did they think of food or rest. Leading
them upstairs into hia house, he set a table before them, and in that high
hour of visitation from the Living God, though he had but heard words and
been told of a hope to come, he and his whole house felt that flow of elevated
joy which sprang naturally from a new and inspiring faith. 1
Day dawned, and the duumvirs were troubled. Whether they had felt
the earthquake, 2 and been alarmed lest these " slaves of the Most High God "
should be something more than the poor Jewish wanderers that they seemed
to bo, or whether the startling events of the night had reached their ears-
they had at any rate become heartily ashamed of their tumultuary injustice.
They felt it incumbent on them to hush up the whole matter, and get rid as
quickly as possible of these awkward prisoners. Accordingly, they sent their
lictors, no longer to use their rods in outrageous violation of justice, but to
"
set those people free." The jailer hurried to Paul with the message of
peaceful liberation, which no doubt he thought would be heartily welcomed.
But Paul felt that at least some reparation must be offered for an intolerable
wrong, and that, for the sake of others if not for his own, these provincial
justices must bo taught a lesson not to be so ready to prostitute their autho-
rity at the howling of a mob. Sending for the lictors themselves, he sternly
said, in a sentence of which every word was telling, " After beating us
pxiblicly un condemned, Romans though we are by right, they flung us into
prison ; and now they are for casting us out secretly. No such thing. Let
them come in person, and conduct us out." 3 The lictors took back the
message to the " Praetors," and it filled them with no small alarm. They
had been hurried by ignorance, prejudice, and pride of office into glaring
had condemned two Roman citizens
offences against the Roman law. 4 They
without giving them their chartered right to a fair trial 6
; and, on condemning
them, had further outraged the birthright and privilege of citizenship by
and they had thus violated the Porcian
having them bound and scourged ;
law 6 in the presence of the entire mob of the forum, and in sight of some at
least who would be perfectly able to take the matter up and report their conduct
in high quarters. Their worships had simply flagellated in public the law
"Quis credat in tot familiis nullum fuisse infantem?" is not decisive, the rest of his
observation, " Et Judaeos circumcidendis, Gentiles lustnuidis illis nssuetos, non etium
obtnlisse illos baptismo? " has much weight.
1 Acts xvi. 34, tjyoAAtaro, impf. C, D various versions, &c. K