I HAVE often thought that there is a harmony pervading every thing connected with Barnabas, enough in itself to stamp the Acts of the Apostles as a history of perfect fidelity. In the verse which I have placed at the head of this paragraph, we see that he was a native of Cyprus; a circumstance upon which a good deal of what I have to say respecting him will be found to turn.

1. First then, we discover him coming forward in behalf of Paul, whose conversion was suspected by the disciples at Jerusalem, with the air of a man who could vouch for his sincerity, by previous personal knowledge of him. How it was that he was better acquainted with the Apostle than the rest, the author of the Acts does not inform us. Cyprus, however, the country of Barnabas, was usually annexed to Cilicia, and formed an integral part of that province, whereof Tarsus the country of Paul, was the chief city. * It may seem fanciful, however, to suppose that at Tarsus, which was famous for its schools and the facilities it afforded for education, the two Christian teachers might have laid the foundation of their friendship in the years of their boyhood. Yet I cannot think this improbable.That Paul collected his Greek learning (of which he had no inconsiderable share) in his native place, before he was removed to the feet of Gamaliel, is very credible; nor less so, that Barnabas should have been sent there from Cyprus, a distance of seventy miles only, as to the nearest school of note in those parts. Be that, however, as it may, what could be more natural than for an intimacy to be formed between them subsequently in Jerusalem, whither they had both resorted? They were, as we have seen, all but compatriots, and, under the circumstances, were likely to have their common friends. Neither may it be thought wholly irrelevant to observe, that when it was judged safe for Paul to return from Tarsus, where he had been living for a time to avoid the Greeks, Barnabas seized the opportunity of visiting that town in person, " to seek him," and bring him to Antioch. A journey which, as it does not seem to be necessary, was possibly undertaken by Barnabas partly for the purpose of renewing his intercourse with his early acquaintance.

2. Again, in another place we read, " and some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord. Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem. And they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch." (Acts, xi. 20.) Here no reason is assigned why Barnabas should have been chosen to go to Antioch, and acquaint himself with the progress these new teachers were making amongst the Grecians; but we may observe, that "some of them were men of Cyprus;" and having learned elsewhere that Barnabas was of that country also, we at once discover the propriety of despatching him, above all others, to confer with them on the part of the church at Jerusalem.

3. Again, when, at a subsequent period, Paul and Barnabas went forth together to preach unto the Gentiles, we perceive that they " departed unto Seleucia, and from thence sailed to Cyprus." (xiii. 4.) And further, in a second journey, after Paul in some heat had parted company with them, we read that Barnabas and Mark again "sailed unto Cyprus." (xv. 39.) This was precisely what we might expect. Barnabas naturally enough chose to visit his own land before he turned his steps to strangers. Yet all this, satisfactory as it is in evidence of the truth of the history, we are left by the author of the Acts of the Apostles to gather for ourselves, by the apposition of several perfectly unconnected passages.

4. Nor is this all. "And some days after, (so we read, ch. xv.) Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren, in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus."

A curious chain of consistent narrative may be traced throughout the whole of this passage. The cause of the contention between Paul and Barnabas has been already noticed by Paley; I need not therefore do more than call to my reader's mind (as that excellent advocate of the truth of Christianity has done) the passage in the Epistle to the Colossians, iv. 10, where it is casually said, that "Marcus was sister's son to Barnabas" -a relationship most satisfactorily accounting for the otherwise extraordinary pertinacity, with which Barnabas takes up Mark's cause, in this dispute with Paul. Though anticipated in this coincidence, I was unwilling to pass it over in silence, because it is one of a series, which attach to the life of Barnabas, and render it, as a whole, a most consistent and complete testimony to the veracity of the Acts.

One circumstance more remains still to be noticed. Mark, it seems, in the former journey, "departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work." How did this happen? The explanation, I think, is not difficult. Paul and Barnabas are appointed to go forth and preach. Accordingly they hasten to Seleucia, the nearest sea-port to Antioch, where they were staying, and taking with them John or Mark, "sail to Cyprus."-xiii. 4. Since Barnabas was a Cypriote, it is probable that his nephew Mark was the same, or, at any rate, that he had friends and relations in that island. How reasonable then is it to suppose, that in joining himself to Paul and Barnabas in the out