that moment sitting in the presence of the apostle with an adulterous paramour,—trembled at the view presented by Paul of the consequences of those sins for which Felix was so infamous. But his repentant tremors soon passed off, and he merely dismissed the apostle with the vague promise, that at some more convenient season he would send for him. He did indeed, often send for him after this; but the motive of these renewals of intercourse seems to have been of the basest order, for it is stated by the sacred historian, that his real object was to induce Paul to offer him a bribe, which he supposed could be easily raised by the contributions of his devoted friends. But the hope was vain. It was no part of Paul's plan of action to hasten the decision of his movements by such means, and the consequence was, that Felix found so little occasion to befriend him, that when he went out of the office which he had uniformly disgraced by tyranny, rapine, and murder, he thought it, on the whole, worth while to gratify the late subjects of his hateful sway, by leaving Paul still a prisoner.
"This Drusilla was the youngest daughter of Herod Agrippa. (Jos. lib. xix. c. 9. in.)
Josephus gives the following account of her marriage with Felix:—'Agrippa, having
received this present from Caesar, (viz. Claudius,) gave his sister Drusilla in
marriage to the Azizus, king of the Emesenes, when he had consented to be circumcised.
For Epiphanes, the son of king Antiochus, had broken the contract with her,
by refusing to embrace the Jewish customs, although he had promised her father he
would. But this marriage of Drusilla with Azizus was dissolved in a short time,
after this manner. When Felix was procurator of Judaea, having had a sight of
her, he was mightily taken with her; and indeed she was the most beautiful of her
sex. He therefore sent to her Simon, a Jew of Cyprus, who was one of his friends,
and pretended to magic, by whom he persuaded her to leave her husband, and marry
him; promising to make her perfectly happy, if she did not disdain him. It was
far from being a sufficient reason; but to avoid the envy of her sister Bernice, who
was continually doing her ill offices, because of her beauty, she was induced to transgress
the laws of her country, and marry Felix.' (Lardner's Credibility, 4to. Vol. I.
p. 16, 17, edit London, 1815.) [Williams on Pearson, p. 78.]
The successor of Felix in the government of Palestine, was
Porcius Festus, a man whose administration is by no means characterized
in the history of those times by a reputation for justice
or prudence; yet in the case of Paul, his conduct seems to have
been much more accordant with right and reason, than was that
of the truly infamous Felix. Visiting the religious capital of the
Jews soon after his first entrance into the province, he was there
earnestly petitioned by the ever-spiteful foes of Paul, to cause this
prisoner to be brought up to Jerusalem for trial, intending when
Paul should enter the city, to execute their old plan of assassination,
which had been formerly frustrated by the benevolent prudence
and energy of Claudius Lysias. But Festus, perhaps having
received some notification of this plot, from the friends of Paul,
