Peter was to be blamed: those other Jews that were come to Antioch from James--they were to be blamed. Barnabas, under whose powerful protection,--by the Church at Jerusalem, her justly odious persecutor had, at three different times, been endured,--he too was to be blamed. He too was, at that time, to be blamed; and, as will be seen presently after, openly quarrelled with; and, if on this point the Acts are to be believed, parted with. Acts 15:39. "And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus." SECTION 3. DEBATES--COURSE CARRIED BY JAMES AGAINST PETER. Of what passed at this assembly, the only account we have--the account given to us by the author of the Acts--is curious:--curious at any rate; and whether it be in every particular circumstance true or not,--in so far as it can be depended upon, instructive.[33] We have the persons mentioned as having spoken: they are, in the order in which they are here enumerated, these four:--to wit, Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James. Of the speech of Peter, the particulars are given: so likewise of that of James: of Barnabas and Paul, nothing more than the topic. Against the Mosaic law _in toto_, we find Peter; and such contribution as he is represented as furnishing to this side of the cause in the shape of argument. On the same side, were Barnabas and Paul: what they furnished was matter of fact:--namely, in the language of the Acts, "what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them:"--in plain language, the success they had met with among the Gentiles. On this question, on the side of the chief of the Apostles, were--the manifest interest of the religion of Jesus as to extent of diffusion,--the authority derived from situation,--the express command of Jesus as delivered in the Gospel history,--and Jesus' own practice: not to speak of the inutility and unreasonableness of the observances themselves. Yet, as far as appears from the author of the Acts,--of these arguments, conclusive as they would or at least should have been,--it appears not that any use was made: the success, he spoke of as having been experienced by himself among the Gentiles,--in this may be seen the sole argument employed in Peter's speech. Thus,--in so far as this report is to be believed,--thus, upon their own respective achievements, did,--not only Paul but Peter,--rest, each of them, the whole strength of the cause.