Three days after his arrival the Apostle sent for the leading men among the Jews, and sought to remove any prejudices they might have formed against him from the circumstances under which he had entered the capital of the West. Though, he said, he had committed no offence against his nation or the customs of his fathers, he had yet been delivered a prisoner into the hands of the Romans. They had examined him, but could discover nothing he had done that was worthy of death, and would have liberated him, had it not been for the opposition of his Jewish enemies. Under these circumstances, not with any intention of accusing his nation before the emperor, he had appealed to Cæsar. His only crime had been his firm conviction of the reality of the promise of the Messiah, and _for the hope of Israel_ he was bound with the chains he then wore (Acts xxviii. 17–20). In reply to this address the Jews assured him that they had received no information[1149] to his disadvantage from Judæa, and none of the brethren had arrived alleging anything against him. The Christian sect they knew well was everywhere spoken against, and they would be glad to hear from him any statement concerning its doctrines which he might be willing to make. A day was accordingly fixed for the desired hearing, and a considerable number repaired to the Apostle’s own private lodging (Acts xxviii. 23), and from morning till evening he continued to plead with them, delivering his testimony concerning the kingdom of God, and opening up, both from the Law and the Prophets, the things relating to Jesus Christ. The result was a division amongst his hearers. _Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not_ (Acts xxviii. 24), and after much discussion the unbelieving portion departed, but not before they had been warned by St Paul that they were incurring the penalty of that judicial blindness of which the prophet Isaiah[1150] had spoken (Is. vi. 9, 10), and that the inheritance they renounced would be bestowed upon the Gentiles (Acts xxviii. 28). After this address the Jews departed. The ways of the great Apostle were not their ways, neither were his thoughts their thoughts. While they retired to dispute concerning the Christian sect, he remained in his own hired house, and there resided upwards of two years, still indeed a prisoner under military custody, but permitted to receive all who came to him, and to preach boldly the kingdom of God, and _those things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ_ (Acts xxviii. 30, 31). CHAPTER III. _THE FIRST IMPRISONMENT AT ROME._ A.D. 61–63. BEYOND the point where the last Chapter ends, the sacred narrative, contained in the Acts of the Apostles, does not conduct us. The incidents connected with St Paul’s imprisonment at Rome, and his subsequent history, must be gathered from various allusions in several letters he wrote during this period.