At this juncture, the silversmiths, who made shrines for the Temple of Diana, and the other heathen temples of Ephesus, came together and decided that something had to be done to break up the protracted meeting. They said that if Christ continued to be preached, and Christianity to spread, men would cease to bow down to shrines, to stocks and stones, and then their craft would be gone and the temple of “Diana despised.” Then the excitement became intense, “The whole city was filled with confusion.” Some, therefore, cried one thing, and some another. For two hours all with one voice shouted: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
For the benefit of those who have so much business to attend to, or who have so many newspapers to read, that they habitually neglect the the Bible, I will add in conclusion that the Baptist preacher who conducted this revival was Paul, the Apostle (Acts xviii and xix). According to tradition, the same Apostle was imprisoned here, and the cell in which he is said to have been confined is still pointed out.
The church at Ephesus is the first one mentioned in Revelation (ii: 1-8). John is believed to have retired to Ephesus after his release from banishment to Patmos, and thither the Virgin Mary came to reside with the beloved disciple. Here, says tradition, both of them died and were buried. Their tombs are still shown to the traveler; so, also, is the tomb of Timothy. Near by these graves is the celebrated Cave of the Seven Sleepers.
This once fair and populous city is now nothing more than a lonely, desolate, bleak, and barren heap of ruins. By the remaining aqueducts, foundation stones, archways, broken pillars, and marble columns, the tourist can recognize the location of some of the temples, theatres and public buildings. These have recently been excavated by Captain Wood, of England.
Returning to Smyrna, I immediately come aboard the good ship “Mars.” She at once lifts her anchors, and spreads her sails to the breezes; and soon Smyrna, like Ephesus, Constantinople, and Athens, is among the places that “I have left behind.” The first landing is Chios (Acts xx: 15;) then passing by Samos we come next morning, about eight o’clock, to the island of Patmos, known throughout Christendom as the exiled home of the Beloved Disciple. The island is a solid and irregular mass of rock, bleak and barren. It is ten miles long, and five miles in breadth. The cave, or grotto, in which John is said to have written the Apocalypse is used as a chapel. In this chapel, numerous lights are kept burning, and on its walls are rudely depicted various scenes taken from the Apocalypse. Patmos is now inhabited by 4,000 Greeks, who have two sources of income. One is fishing, while their second main occupation is stealing.
ISLAND OF PATMOS.
On the island of Rhodes (Rev. xxi; 1), we visit the place where once stood the celebrated “Colossus of Rhodes,” known as one of the wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus was a bronze statue 105 feet high. It stood across the narrow harbor, so that ships entering the port would pass between its legs. The statue is said to have cost a half million dollars.