hiindj" man such ns the ])risoner was at the time in need ol ; but he consid(Meil it his duly to send liiui back to his owner ; and the Epistle to I'hilemon is the letter of introduction and excu.se sent with him. In spite of its brevity, it is a perfect gem of tact and courtesy ; and it is fitted to awaken many reflexions on the relations of employers and employed.
'1 he last Epistle of this ffroup is that to the Fhilippians ; and, if in Colossians and Ephesians there lie a lack of the iiersonal element, this is ami)ly made up for in this new Epistle, which assures us that imprisoiinient had in no way .soured or damped the .spirit of the writer, who was still as emotional aiui as optimistic as he had alwa3's been. In tcuie it bears a close resemblance to 1 Tliess., and it is worthy of note that it was directed to the same quarter of the world, Philippi and Thessalonica being neighbouring cities. Though penned in a prison, it has joy for its key- note ; ami, th<jiigh addressed to a persecuted church, it expects its recipients to be glorying in the Cross. It is of special value as a document of St. Paul's prison-life. We can see with the mind's eye the Roman soldier to whom he is chained, with the various articles of the panoply mentioned in the last chapter of Ephesians. As his guard would be cli.anged every few hours, numbers of soldiers would be brought in contact with him ; and among these there had broken out a work of grace, which had become a theme amongst the jira'torian guards and had spread from them to the household of the Emperor, from the members of which the author is able to send greetings to his correspondents. (Cf. separate notes on 'pr:etorium' and 'Ca!sar's household' in Lightfoot, Philippidns*, 1S78, pp. 9911'., 171 ir.) Besides, his trial, certain stages of which were already past, was turning out favour- ably, and he was aliile to believe that he would soon be at large again, when he would use his freedom to revisit liis beloved Macedonians. Be- cause the Epistle seems about to end at the close of ch. 2, Bacon fancies there may be two letters united into one (op. cit. p. 368).
(/) Pastoral Epistles. — There remains another group, known by the name of the Pastcual Epistles and consisting of 1 and 2 'Piiiwthy and Titus. They owe this title to the fact that they are addressed to youthful pastors by the aged pastor St. Paul, who, out of his own rich and jirolonged experience, instructs them how it is necessary to comport themselves in the house of God. From their internal structure and contents it can be easily seen that all the members of this group are of one piece and originated at the same time ; but it is so difficult to lind a place for them in the portion of St. Paul's life covered by Acts that they have been assigned to a portion of it subsequent to this, when, it is supposed, being released from prison, he resumed his apostolic wanderings, till he was re- arrested. In 2 Tim. he is seen in prison at Rome, not, as when he wrote Philippians, expecting release, but looking forward to immediate martyr- dom. But in 1 Tim. and Tit. he is at large and in motion, having, when he wrote the one, just left Timothy in Ephcsus, and, when he wrote the other, left Titus in Crete, an island which he visited on his way to Rome but could not have evangelized whilst he was a prisoner. About no other portion of St. Paul's writings, however, has there been so much doubt as to whether he was really the author. In certain quarters it is at present taken for granted that these EpLstles did not come from his jien. Thus, the latest book published in Germany on the subject (II. H. M.aycr, Ucber die Pastoral- hricfc, 1913) assumes this without discu.ssion. But on such a subject votes require to be weighed as well as counlud ; and the completcst and ablest