Then, addressing the king himself, who, as we have said, was a Jew, he added, “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.”
The arguments of Paul had been so rational and irresistible, that Agrippa seems to have been intellectually convinced by them; for he thoughtfully replied, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”
Paul, whose heart ever glowed with Christian love for all his fellow-men, answered, “I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds!”
This terminated the interview. Agrippa, in conferring with his council, found them unanimously of the opinion that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or of bonds. He therefore said to Festus, “This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Cæsar.” But it was now too late. Paul had made his appeal; and nothing remained but to send him, by the first opportunity, to Rome. There was a ship in port from Adramyttium which was engaged in thecoasting-trade, and which was to touch at various ports in Asia Minor.
Paul, with two companions,—Luke, and Aristarchus from Thessalonica,—was embarked on board this ship. There were other prisoners in the ship, and they were under charge of a guard of soldiers, with Julius, their commanding-officer. The day after sailing, they touched at Sidon, sixty-seven miles north from Cæsarea. Julius treated his prisoner very courteously; and, as there was a church in this place, he was allowed to go ashore “unto his friends to refresh himself.” Leaving Sidon, they sailed across what is called the Sea of Cilicia, leaving the Island of Cyprus on their left, being driven to this circuitous route by contrary winds, till they reached the city of Myra, a large seaport in the province of Lycia.
At Myra they found a ship from Alexandria in Egypt bound for Italy. The prisoners were placed on board this ship, which must have been one of considerable size, as it conveyed, with crew and passengers, two hundred and seventy-six souls. Calms and head-winds delayed their passage, so that it was “many days” before they reached the Island of Cnidus, which was but a hundred and thirty miles from Myra. The wind and the current still opposing them, they, finding themselves unable to sail directly across the Ægean Sea, ran down to the southward; and having doubled Cape Salmone, the most easterly cape of the Island of Crete, they sailed along the southern coast of that island, sheltered from the north winds, a distance of about a hundred and fifty miles, until they came to a celebrated harbor, or roadstead, called the Fair Havens. There was no settlement here upon the shore; but the city of Lasea was situated a few miles inland. Winter had now come; and fierce storms swept the Mediterranean, rendering navigation quite perilous. Upon leaving Myra, they had hoped to reach Italy before the dangerous season should arrive; but the untoward weather had detained them, and there were still many weary leagues of a tempestuous sea to be passed over before they could cast anchor in the Tiber.
The question was anxiously deliberated, whether they should still brave the peril of the seas. Paul, probably speaking, not by inspiration, but from his own natural intelligence and caution, warned them, that, if they continued their voyage, not only would the safety of the ship be imperilled, but also the lives of all on board; but as the present anchorage was incommodious to winter in, and there was no other good harbor near, it was decided, notwithstanding the warning of Paul, to continue the voyage.
About fifty miles west of the Fair Havens, on the southern coast of the Island of Crete, was the seaport of Phenice. Some who had been there spoke of that harbor as a safe one, and urged, that, at all hazards, they should try to reach Phenice, where they could winter if it were deemed expedient. Taking advantage of a gentle south wind, they were sailing close by the southern shore of Crete, when suddenly a very fierce tempest arose from the north-east,—a hurricane, probably such as is now called a Levanter, but then called Euroclydon,—and they were driven helplessly before it, in hourly peril of being ingulfed.
About forty miles off the southern coast of Crete was situated the small Island of Clauda. Under the lee of this island, they succeeded with great difficulty in saving the small boat which was attached to the ship, and which had been in great peril of being staved to pieces. The fury of the wind and waves was such, that there was danger that the over-strained planks would open seams, so that the ship would founder. To obviate this danger, heavy cables were passed around the ship, slipping them over the bows, and tightening them upon deck, so as to bind the loosening planks together. Still the gale was driving them at its mercy towards the coast of Africa.
Near that coast there were two dangerous quicksands, ever shifting their places under the wash of the surging sea, so that their position could never be laid down with certainty in any chart. The storm raged with increasing fury until the third day, when they endeavored to lighten the ship by throwingover a portion of her cargo. Still the days and nights of peril came and went. Thick clouds darkened the sky. Neither sun nor stars were visible. All reckoning was lost, as the shifting gale drove them they knew not whither. During this terrible tempest, the suffering of body and mind was such, and the labors of the crew so incessant, that there had been no opportunity for receiving food. All now seemed to have surrendered themselves to despair. The opening seams indicated that the ship must soon founder. In this hour of extremity, Paul said to the officers,—