An event now took place, of great importance in the future history of
the religion. The persecution which had begun at Jerusalem followed the
Christians to other cities, ( Acts ix.) in which the authority of the
Jewish Sanhedrim over those of their own nation was allowed to be
exercised. A young man, who had signalized himself by his hostility to
the profession, and had procured a commission from the council at
Jerusalem to seize any converted Jews whom he might find at Damascus,
suddenly became a proselyte to the religion which he was going about to
extirpate. The new convert not only shared, on this extraordinary
change, the fate of his companions, but brought upon himself a double
measure of enmity from the party which he had left. The Jews at
Damascus, on his return to that city, watched the gates night and day,
with so much diligence, that he escaped from their hands only by being
let down in a basket by the wall. Nor did he find himself in greater
safety at Jerusalem, whither he immediately repaired. Attempts were
there also soon set on foot to destroy him; from the danger of which he
was preserved by being sent away to Cilicia, his native country.

For some reason not mentioned, perhaps not known, but probably connected
with the civil history of the Jews, or with some danger* which engrossed
the public attention, an intermission about this time took place in the
sufferings of the Christians. This happened, at the most, only seven or
eight, perhaps only three or four years after Christ's death, within
which period, and notwithstanding that the late persecution occupied
part of it, churches, or societies of believers, had been formed in all
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; for we read that the churches in these
countries "had now rest and were edified, and, walking in the fear of
the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." (Acts
ix 31.) The original preachers of the religion did not remit their