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The life and work of St. Paul

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ST. PA.XTL AT ATHENS. 295<br />

round the " marbled steep " <strong>of</strong> Suniuin, where the white Temple still stood<br />

entire, until his eye caught the well-known glimpse <strong>of</strong> the crest <strong>and</strong> spearhead<br />

<strong>of</strong> Athene Promaehos on tho Acropolis, 1<br />

the helm was turned, <strong>and</strong>,<br />

entering a lovely harbour, his ship dropped anchor in full sight <strong>of</strong> the Parthenon<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Propylsea.<br />

CHRISTIANITY IN ACHAIA,<br />

'A TO! \twapal KU\ i<strong>of</strong>frttjxiyoi iced. kol<strong>St</strong>uot<br />

!per/ta, xActral 'ABu.va.1, OM/J.OVIOV irro\lfOoov. Pnn>. fr. 47<br />

Totourov airots 'Apeoj eC/JouXoi' irdyov<br />

4yw ffvvri$7) %Q6viov tv&, 8s OVK t$<br />

ToioDo-5' oA^To* T j?8' Sfiov voieiv iroAei. SOPH. (Ed. Col. 947.<br />

IIoO vvv TTJJ 'EA \a5oj 6 rvtro.<br />

CHBYS. Horn. iv. in Act. iii. (Opp. ix. 38, ed. Montfaucon).<br />

CHAPTER XXVIL<br />

ST. PAUL AT ATHENS.<br />

" Immortal Greece, dear l<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> glorious lays,<br />

Lo, here the Unknown God <strong>of</strong> thine unconscious praise."<br />

KEBLE.<br />

ATHENS ! with what a thrill <strong>of</strong> delight has many a modern traveller been<br />

filled as, for the first time, he stepped upon that classic l<strong>and</strong> ! With what an<br />

eager gaze has he scanned the scenery <strong>and</strong> outline <strong>of</strong> that city<br />

-" on the .5Sgean shore,<br />

Built nobly, pure the air, <strong>and</strong> light the soil,<br />

Athens, tlie eye <strong>of</strong> Greece, mother <strong>of</strong> arts<br />

And eloquence."<br />

As he approached the Acropolis what a throng <strong>of</strong> brilliant scenes has passed<br />

across his memory; what processions <strong>of</strong> gr<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> heroic <strong>and</strong> beautiful<br />

figures have swept across the stage <strong>of</strong> his imagination ! As he treads upon<br />

Attic ground he is in " the Holy L<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Ideal; " he has reached the most<br />

sacred shrine <strong>of</strong> the " fair humanities " <strong>of</strong> Paganism. It was at Athens that<br />

the human form, sedulously trained, attained its most exquisite <strong>and</strong> winning<br />

beauty ; there that human freedom put forth its most splendid power ; there<br />

that human intellect displayed its utmost subtlety <strong>and</strong> grace ; there that Art<br />

reached to its most consummate perfection ; there that Poetry<br />

uttered alike<br />

its sweetest <strong>and</strong> its sublimest strains; there that Philosophy attuned to tho most<br />

Pausan. Attic. 1.28,2; Herod, v. 77.

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