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called the Lord's brother, were brought before him. Being asked concerning their possessions and substance, they assured him that they had only so many acres of land, out of the improvement of which they both paid him tribute, and maintained themselves with their own hard labor. The truth of what they said was confirmed by the callousness of their hands. Being asked concerning Christ, and his kingdom, of what kind it was, and when it would appear, they answered, that it was not worldly and earthly, but heavenly and angelical; that it would be manifested at the end of the world, when, coming in great glory, he would judge the living and the dead, and render to every man according to his works. The men being mean, and their principles harmless, they were dismissed."

If the above passage be taken in connection with another from the old but doubtful book of the Apostolical Constitutions, in which the apostles are made to say, "Some of us are fishermen, others tent-makers, others husbandmen," the probability that Jude was a tiller of the soil is strengthened. At any rate, if the account of Hegesippus is to be relied on, he was married, and had descendants.

One epistle has been so generally ascribed to Judas, or Jude, that it has been admitted into the canon of the New Testament. There is

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hardly another book, however, in that canon, which has been so much disputed. And yet there is no solid reason for rejecting the early tradition which gives it to this apostle. It was known in the first century, and there is no internal evidence against its apostolic origin. It was expressly quoted by Clement of Alexandria, who flourished about the year 194, and, after him, by succeeding Fathers. Lardner supposes it to have been written at some time between the years 64 and 66, that is, a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem.

October 28th is sacred, in the Western Calendar, to the memory of the Apostle Jude.

SIMON ZELOTES.

THE next apostle in order is another Simon, who, in the catalogues of Matthew and Mark, is surnamed "the Canaanite," and in that of Luke's Gospel, and the Book of Acts, "Zelotes." Some have thought that the surname, Canaanite, denoted the birthplace of the apostle; but others, with more probability, suppose that Canaanite is merely a Hebrew word, having the same signification with Zelotes, the Greek word used by Luke, and which means a zealot, or one who is extremely zealous. Simon may have received this appellation on account of his having once belonged to a sect or faction among the Jews who were called Zealots, or only on account of the warmth of his disposition, or the ardor with which he espoused and maintained the cause of Jesus.*

*"This word," says Cave, "has no relation to his country, or the place from whence he borrowed his original, as plainly descending from a Hebrew word which signifies zeal, and denotes a hot and sprightly temper. Therefore, what some of the Evangelists call Canaanite, others, rendering the Hebrew by the Greek word, style Simon Zelotes, or the Zelot."

It is probable, though not certain, that he is the same Simon who is mentioned as one of the brethren or cousins of our Lord. Of the history of his life nothing whatever is known; although the later writers and martyrologists of the Church pretend, as usual, to be intimately acquainted with it, and give us our choice of a sufficient number of contradictory legends. By some of them he is said to have labored in Egypt and Persia, and to have been martyred in the lastnamed country. By others, he is made to penetrate as far as Britain, and there to be crucified. "Nor could the coldness of the climate benumb his zeal," exclaims the honest Cave, "or hinder him from shipping himself and the Christian doctrine over to the western islands, yea, even to Britain itself. Here he preached, and wrought many miracles, and, after infinite troubles and difficulties which he underwent, suffered martyrdom for the faith of Christ, as is not only affirmed by Nicephorus and Dorotheus, but expressly owned in the Greek Menologies, where we are told that he went at last into Britain, and, having enlightened the minds of many with the doctrine of the Gospel, was crucified by the infidels, and buried there."

The two apostles, Simon and Jude, are commemorated on the same day, October 28th.

JUDAS ISCARIOT.

THE last, always the last, on the lists of the apostles, is Judas Iscariot. He is always branded, too, by those fearful and thrilling words, "who also betrayed him." And it is sad that we must close the roll which we have been examining of this glorious apostolic company with the name of a traitor.

His surname of Iscariot probably designates his birthplace; as it signifies" the man of Carioth or Kerioth," which was a town in the tribe of Judah. But this is hardly more than conjecture. There is a solemn obscurity hanging over the life of this man, shrouding everything in silent and immovable shadow, except one deed of gigantic enormity, which raises its high and desert head, and frowns in gloomy solitude over the surrounding waste of darkness and clouds. He is called the son of Simon. Who is Simon? Search the Scriptures for him. The search will be vain. He is only known, as has been forcibly said, only known by the misfortune of having such a son.

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