It was

the Peloponnesus to the Grecian continent. said to have been founded by Sisyphus, the father of Ulysses, who named it Ephyre; but Corinthus, the son of Pelops, having greatly enlarged and beautified it, gave it his own name. By its two ports, Lecheum, on the gulf of Corinth, (now Lepanto,) and Cenchrea, on the gulf of Ægina, it commanded the merchandise of Italy and Sicily, on the west, and Asia, on the east, and, in consequence, became one of the richest and most prosperous cities of Greece. The Isthmian games also called together a great concourse from all parts. Corinth was celebrated for the magnificence of its public buildings, and to it architecture is indebted for one of the five Grecian orders of capitals. Prosperity, however, had as baneful an influence on the Corinthians, as on the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon. They became noted for their effeminate luxuriousness, and vicious indulgences. Fornication, encouraged by the worship of Venus, was so frequent as to obtain a name from the town; and St. Paul found it necessary, from the lax views on these subjects, even amongst real Christians, to dwell much upon the true character of sin. (1 Cor. vi. 7.)

"In the second century before Christ, Corinth was pillaged and burnt by the Romans, under Mummius, when, such was the fierceness of the conflagration, that gold, silver, and brass, melted by the heat, flowed in the streets, and formed a mixed metal, which afterwards obtained notoriety, under the term-Corinthian brass. Having been rebuilt by Julius Cæsar, the city became the residence of the proconsul of Achaia, regained much of its ancient splendour, and was famous as a seat of learning.-The city has sustained many reverses, and is now in the possession of the Greeks. Even under Turkish despotism, it was chiefly inhabited by Christians of the Greek church. There are but few remains of antiquity. Eleven fluted Doric columns,

supporting an architrave, but wanting in height nearly half the common proportion to the diameter, form a prominent object south-west of the city. They are stone, not marble, and appear brown, probably from a crust formed on the outside. There are also remains of a temple of Neptune, a theatre, a stadium, and detached fragments visible among the ruins of modern houses and mosques.

"The Acrocorinthus, the citadel or acropolis of Corinth, is built on a mountain that rises two thousand feet above the city, and is accessible only by one narrow and difficult approach. It is impossible to conceive a more magnificent view than bursts upon the eye from the summit of this eminence. Within the range of this ample prospect, are embraced the provinces of Thebes, Attica, Achaia, Argolis, and Arcadia, the Acropolis of Athens, Mounts Helicon and Parnassus, containing the birth-places of the principal sages, warriors, sculptors, architects, and painters, renowned in Grecian history. Independent of all these associations, had the country around never been inhabited by man, it would still be thought to stand almost without a rival in the clearness of its atmosphere, the soft azure of its sky, the majesty of its hills, and the many sinuosities of the many waters that encompass its islands, and roll upon its shores.'

The

"The present city is described as in a wretched condition-a few Bavarian soldiers, with nothing to guard but ruins a market without articles for sale-inhabitants without apparent means of subsistence. present king purposes, it is said, when his minority expires, to make Corinth the capital of his dominions, its situation being more favourable than Athens for commerce. The insalubrity of its climate, however, during the summer and autumn, may present an insuperable obstacle.

"It is an interesting consideration, that amid all the

changes to which Corinth has been subjected since St. Paul's sojourn there, it has ever retained a profession of the faith of Christ; and although the church of God which is at Corinth is at present of smaller extent than it has been at any previous period of its history, the thought is at least gratifying, that the only place of worship now attended by its inhabitants, is dedicated to the service of the same Lord, who appeared by night unto the apostle and said: I have much people in this city."*

From Corinth Paul went to CENCHREA-the port or road for ships belonging to Corinth, on the eastern bay. —Taking ship here, he sailed across the Archipelago to Ephesus. Sailing thence, he landed at Cæsarea in Palestine, whence he went up to Jerusalem, and, after saluting the brethren there, he went down to Antioch -thus completing his second apostolic journey. (xviii. 18-22.)

The only one of these places remaining to be described is Ephesus; but as it will be more naturally placed among the localities of the apocalyptic churches, we defer our notice of it till we arrive at them.-With the completion of Paul's second apostolic journey, therefore, we conclude our present lecture.

* La Trobe's Scripture Illustrations.

LECTURE XXI.

COUNTRIES TRAVERSED BY THE APOSTLES
AND FIRST PREACHERS.

TRAVELS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL-THIRD APOSTOLIC JOURNEY.

HAVING spent some time at Antioch, Paul set out on his third apostolic journey. He first traversed all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in the order in which he before went over it, and then came again to Ephesus. (xviii. 23, 24.) After remaining here upwards of two years, he departed into Macedonia, over the several parts of which he probably at this time went, thereby preaching the gospel round about from Jerusalem to Illyricum. (xix. 10; xx.) For Illyricum is a province lying to the north, and north-west of Macedonia, along the eastern coast of the Adriatic sea, or Gulf of Venice. It is divided into two parts: Liburnia, to the north, which is at present called Croatia, and Dalmatia to the south, still retaining the same name, and being the country to which Paul informs Timothy, (2 Tim. iv. 10,) that Titus had gone.

From Macedonia he went into GREECE, a country which, in the New-Testament acceptation of the term, included Greece, properly so called, and the Pelopon

nesus.

After a residence of three months in this country,

he returned through Macedonia to Philippi, whence he sailed to Troas; and thence he departed by land to Assos, a sea-port town at the south-west point of the province of Troas.

From Assos he sailed to MITYLENE, (xx. 14,) one of the principal cities of the island Lesbos, and which in time became so considerable, as to give its name to the whole island. This island is about seven miles from the main land of Troas, and is one of the largest in the Archipelago. It is celebrated for having given birth to Sappho, a Grecian poetess, and the inventress of the verse called Sapphic,- Alcæus, a famous tragic poet,― Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece,Theophrastus, a famous physician and philosopher,and Arion, the famous musician. From its size and situation, it was deemed by the Turks worthy of a fortress. Mitylene stands on the east side of the island, in a peninsula, having on each side of it a commodious harbour.

Sailing from Mitylene, he came over against CHIOS, (xx. 15,) another island in the Archipelago, and, for size and situation, next in rank to Lesbos. This island, also, was deemed by the Turks worthy of a fortress. Its chief town bears the name of the island, which at

present is Scio. Here Christians enjoyed as much religious liberty as in any part of the Turkish dominions. It contended with other places for the honour of giving birth to Homer. It has been celebrated for its wines and figs, as also for its marble and white earth. During the late revolutionary wars, it suffered the most horrible and unprovoked cruelties from the Turks that have perhaps been heard of in modern times.

From Chios, he arrived at SAMOS, (xx. 15,) another island of the Archipelago, on the south-east of Chios, and about five miles from the Asiatic continent. This island was exceedingly fruitful, and its wines were good, though, for want of trade, it produced little more