times changed its mafters, it was by a long fiege finally taken c HA P. by the Turks, and ruined by them in fuch a manner, as if V. they had thought they could never take a full revenge upon it for the blood it had coft them, or fufficiently prevent fuch flaughters for the future. As to its fituation, it enjoys all poffible advantages both of fea and land. On its north and eaft fides it is compafied with a fpacious fertile plain; on the weft it is washed by the Mediterranean fea, and on the fouth by a large bay extending from the city as far as mount Carmel. But notwithstanding all these advantages, it has never been able to recover itself fince its laft fatal overthrow. For befides a large kane, in which the French factors have taken up their quarters, and a mosque, and a few poor cottages, you fee nothing here, but a vast and spacious ruin. It is fuch a ruin, however, as fufficiently demonstrates the strength of the place in former times. It appears to have been encompaffed on the land fide by a double wall, defended with towers at fmall diftances; and without the walls are ditches, ramparts, and a kind of baftions, faced with hewn ftone. In the fields without these works we saw scattered up and down the ground feveral large balls of ftone, of at least thirteen or fourteen inches diameter, which were part of the ammunition used in battering the city, guns being then unknown. Within the walls there ftill appear feveral ruins, which seem to diftinguish themselves from the general heap, by fome marks of a greater ftrength and magnificence. As firft, thofe of the cathedral church, dedicated to St. Andrew, which stands not far from the fea-fide, more high and confpicuous than the other ruins. Secondly, the church of St. John, the tutelar faint of this city. Thirdly, the convent of the knights hofpitallers, a place whole remaining walls fufficiently testify its ancient ftrength. And not far from the convent, the palace of the grand mafter of that order, the magnificence of which may be gueffed from a large ftair-cafe and part of a church ftill remaining in it. Fourthly, fome remains of a large church belonging to a nunnery, of which they tell us this memo PART memorable ftory. The Turks having oppreffed this city II. with a long and furious fiege, at last entered it by ftorm, May 19, 1291. In which great extremity, the abbess of this nunnery, fearing left fhe and thofe under her care might be forced to fubmit to fuch beftialities as are ufual in cafes of that deplorable nature, used this cruel but generous means for fecuring both her and them: fhe fummoned all her flock together, and exhorted them to cut and mangle their faces, as the only way to preserve their virgin purity; and, to shew how much she was in earnest, she immediately began before them all to make herself an example of her own counsel. The nuns were fo animated by this heroical refolution and pattern of the abbefs, that they began instantly to follow her example, cutting off their noses, and disfiguring their faces with fuch horrible gafles, as might excite horror rather than luftful defires in the beholders. The confequence of which was, that the foldiers breaking into the nunnery, and seeing, inftead of thofe beautiful ladies they expected, fuch tragical spectacles, took a revenge for their disappointed lufsts, by putting them all to the sword: thus reftoring them, as in charity we may suppose, to a new and inviolable beauty. But to go on, many other ruins here are of churches, palaces, monatteries, forts, &c. extended for more than half a mile in length; in all which you may difcern marks of so much strength, as if every building in the city had been contrived for war and defence. This is the prefent state of Ptolemais, given us by an ingenious perfon, who saw it in 1697. 15. St. Paul comes to Cæfarea, and thence to Jerufa lem. A. D. 56. From hence, having ftaid one day, St. Paul with his company departed, and came to Cæfarea, where they were entertained by Philip the Evangelift, and one of the seven deacons. Having tarried here many days, they went up thence to Jerufalem, where the brethren received them gladly. a CHAP. CHA P. VI. Of St. Paul's Travels and Voyages, from his being sent a NOT long after his return to Jerufalem, St. Paul being a I. St. Paul is apprehended prifoner to in the Temple, was laid hold of by the Jews, as a man that taught all men every where against the people of the and fent a Jews, and against the law, and that place. And fo great was Felix. their rage against the Apoftle, that they went about to kill A. D. 56. him; and had done it, had they not been prevented by the chief captain's coming with fome foldiers to quell the uproar, who took him out of their hands, and commanded him to be carried to the caftle. After fome time the chief captain, Claudius Lyfias, being informed of a confpiracy of the Jews to kill St. Paul, ordered fome foldiers to convey him to Felix, the then governor of Judea, who refided at Cæfarea. b Accordingly the foldiers took St. Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris, a place formerly called Capharfalama; but being rebuilt, or at least enlarged or beautified, by Herod, it was by him named Antipatris, in honour of his father Antipater. 2. Of Antipa tris. 3. St. Paul is brought to Cæfarea. A. D. 57. On the morrow the foot-foldiers returning to the castle at Jerufalem, left the horsemen that were fent to go with St. Paul to Cæfarea. Where St. Paul being presented to the governor, and kept in a place called Herod's Judgment-hall, and having been often heard by Felix, and afterwards by Por- A. D. 58. cius Feftus, the fucceeding governor; and at length, being obliged to make his appeal to Cæfar himfelf; it was after * Acts xxi. 27, &c. VOL. II. Acts xxiii. 12-35. fome II. PART some time determined that he should be sent into Italy. Hereupon he, with certain other prifoners, was delivered to a centurion of Auguftus's band, named Julias; and they all went Being fent aboard a ship of Adramyttium, a sea-port town in Mysia in to Italy, he the leffer Afia, lying over-against the isle Lesbos, or Metelin, and not far from Troas. 4. goes aboard a fhip of Adramyttium. A. D. 58. 5. Setting fail they took their course by d Sidon, and fo under Cyprus, and then over the fea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, till they came to Myra, a city of Lycia. As for Lycia, it was to Myra in a province lying between Pamphylia to the east, and Caria to Lycia. the west, Lydia (or Afia proper in the Scripture sense) with Phrygia to the north, and the sea to the south. In this province it is, that the most famous and chief mountain of all the Afiatic continent begins, named Taurus. 6. Of Alexandria. The city Myra, at which St. Paul now touched, was the metropolis of the province of Lycia, when under the Romans; and by consequence an archbishop's fee, when Chriftian. St. Nicholas, one of the bishops hereof in the primitive times, is faid to have been a great patron of scholars; his feftival, annually holden on the fixth of December, is celebrated in the church of Rome with feveral paftimes, and ftill in some schools here in England, (as in that of Burford in Oxfordshire, faith my author,) for a feast and a playday. At this place the centurion found a fhip of f Alexandria, that was bound for Italy. For Alexandria is a city on the coaft of Egypt, and was then one of the most celebrated marts in the world, and still is in fufficient repute for merchandize or trade. The great cause of the abatement of its trade has been the discovery of the paffage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, or on the south of Afric. For before this discovery, the whole fpice trade was carried into this part of the world through this city, the spices being brought from the East Indies up the Red Sea to Egypt, and Acts xxvii. 1-5. • Dr. Heylin's Cofmogr. on the place. f Acts xxvii. 6. from VI. from thence by land on camels to Alexandria. It takes its C H A P. name from Alexander the Great, by whom it was built and peopled with Greeks, immediately after his conquest of Egypt. It was afterwards the regal feat of the Ptolemies, whilst Egypt maintained the state of a kingdom; and when it became a province of the Roman empire, it continued the metropolis or principal city of it. It was adorned with many stately buildings, of which the most memorable was the temple of Serapis, for sumptuous workmanship and magnificence of the fabric inferior to none but the Roman Capitol. Here was also a noble library erected by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who had stored it with 700000, or as others, 500000 volumes; and unfortunately burnt in the war between Julius Cæfar and Pompey. The city is built on a promontory over-against the small ifle of Pharos, which is now joined to the land, and a fort built upon it by the Turks for the security of the port. In this little ifle the LXXII Interpreters are faid to have translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, (from the number of the tranflators commonly called the Septuagint) and that in so many diftinct cells or small apartments, and yet all of them to have agreed in the fame words. The bishop of Alexandria has from the primitive times had the title of Patriarch. 7. comes over St. Paul being put into the ship of Alexandria, after many days flow fail, came over-against Cnidus, a city ftanding on St. Paul a promontory or foreland of the same name, in that part of against Cnithe province of Caria, which was more peculiarly called Do- dus. ris. This city was remarkable for the worship of Venus, and for the celebrated statue of Venus, made by the famous artificer Praxiteles. h The master of the fhip, wherein St. Paul was, defigned, 8. it seems, to have taken the shortest cut to Italy, failing from He fails along Crete, the place where they now were over-against Cnidus directly' weftward, and fo keeping to the north of Crete. But the wind not fuffering them, they were obliged to alter their intended course of failing, and to let the ship fail under the east Acts xxvii. 7. Acts xxvii. 7. U-2 and |