Sketches from the Life of Paul (1883) — PDF Scan 234

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PAUL A PRISONER . 227 youth, with the singleadmonition: "See thou tellno man that thou hast showed thesethings to me ." When theyoung man had gone, the commandant " calledunto him two centurions,saying, Make readytwo hundredsoldierstogo toCæsarea, and horsemen threescoreand ten,and spearmen two hundred,atthethirdhourofthenight; and providethem beasts,thattheymay setPaul on, and bringhim safeunto Felixthe governor." Lysiasgladlyimprovedthisopportunitytoget Paul offhishands. He was theobjectof so greatanimosity,and hispresencecreatedsowidespread an excitement, that a riotmight occur among thepeopleat any time,withconsequences dangerous to thecommandant himself. The Jews asa peoplewere in a stateofexcitementand irritation,and tumults were of frequentoccurrence. A shorttime previous, a Roman knight of far higherrank than Lysiashimself, had beenviolentlytakenand draggedby themaddened Jews around the wallsof Jerusalem, and finallybeheaded , because he received a bribe from the Samaritans. Upon the suspicionof similar crimes,otherhigh officialshad been imprisoned and disgraced. Should Paul be murdered, the chiefcaptainmight be chargedwithhavingbeen bribed to connive at his death . There was now sufficientreasontosendhim away secretly, and thusgetridofan embarrassingresponsibility. It was importantthat no time be lost. At ninein the evening, the body of soldiers, with Paul in the midst, marched out of the fortress, and throughthe dark and silentstreetsof the city, and at a rapidpace pursuedtheirjourney towardCæsarea. At Antipatris,thirty-fivemiles