As to these arguments, however,--whatever were the rest of them, of two of them a hint is given by the author of the Acts: these are,--the story of the conversion,--and the boldness of the preaching, which at Damascus was among the first-fruits of it. Those which, under the guidance of judgment, imagination would not find much difficulty in adding, are,--the evil--that might result from his enmity, in case the advances then made by him were rejected,--and the useful service, which, by the blessing of God, might be hoped for at his hands, if admitted in the character of an ally and cooperator: at any rate, so long as the whole field of his exertions, and in particular the geographical part of it, continued different from theirs. With Peter, on whatever account, it was Paul's own desire to hold a conference:--so we have seen him declaring to the Galatians. To this Peter, whom he was desirous of seeing, and whom at length he succeeded in seeing,--to this Peter did he then himself tell the story of his vision, of his conversion, and the mode of it? If at any time he did,--at any rate, if the author of the Acts is to be believed,--it was not till Barnabas, the son of consolation, had told it for him. Had it been by himself that his story had been to be told in the first instance,--he would thereby have stood exposed to cross-examination: and, among those things, which Barnabas might in his situation say for him,--were many things, which, if at all, he could not, with anything like an equal prospect of good effect, have said for himself. To any asseveration of his own,--in any promises of future amity, it was not in the nature of the case, that from his own mouth they should give credence. But, when by Barnabas, of whose zeal in their cause they had received such substantial proofs--when from this son of consolation they received assurance, that Paul had actually engaged himself in that line of service, which he professed himself desirous to embrace;--that he had engaged so far, that no prospect of safe retreat could reasonably be in his view;--then it was, that, without imprudence, they might, venture to hold at least a conference with him, and hear and see what he had to say for himself. As to the account, given on this occasion by Barnabas, of the famous vision,--had it been but preserved, it would probably have been no less curious than those which we have been already seeing. Though we cannot be precisely assured in what way,--we may be pretty well assured, that, in some way or other, additions would have been to be seen made in it, to the list of _variations_.