seem that these voyages exposed him to the "perils in the sea" which he
enumerates among his trials. [120:5] On his departure from Crete he left
Titus behind him to "set in order the things that were wanting, and to
ordain elders in every city;" [120:6] and in the spring of A.D. 57 he
wrote to the evangelist that brief epistle in which he points out, with
so much fidelity and wisdom, the duties of the pastoral office. [120:7]
The silence of Luke respecting this visit to Crete is the less
remarkable, as the name of Titus does not once occur in the book of the
Acts, though there is distinct evidence that he was deeply interested in
some of the most important transactions which are there narrated.
[120:8]

Paul, about two years before, had been prevented, as has been stated, by
a divine intimation, from preaching in the district called Asia; but
when he now commenced his ministrations in Ephesus, its capital, he
continued in that city and its neighbourhood longer than in any other
place he had yet visited. After withdrawing from the synagogue and
resuming his labours in the school of Tyrannus, he remained there "by
the space of _two years_; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the
word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." [121:1] Meanwhile the
churches of Laodicea, Colosse, and Hierapolis appear to have been
founded. [121:2] The importance of Ephesus gave it a special claim to
the attention which it now received. It was the metropolis of the
district, and the greatest commercial city in the whole of Asia Minor.
Whilst it was connected by convenient roads with all parts of the
interior, it was visited by trading vessels from the various harbours of
the Mediterranean. But, in another point of view, it was a peculiarly
interesting field of missionary labour; for it was, perhaps, the most
celebrated of all the high places of Eastern superstition. Its temple of
Artemis, or Diana, was one of the wonders of the world. This gorgeous
structure, covering an area of upwards of two acres, [121:3] was
ornamented with columns one hundred and twenty-seven in number, each
sixty feet high, and each the gift of a king. [121:4] It was nearly all
open to the sky, but that part of it which was covered, was roofed with
cedar. The image of the goddess occupied a comparatively small apartment
within the magnificent enclosure. This image, which was said to have
fallen down from Jupiter, [121:5] was not like one of those pieces of
beauti