WANTED FOR ENGLAND,—A CRUSADE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTATOR,"]
Sin,—It is remarkable that whenever a centurion is mentioned in the New Testament he has never "a bad mark." I think it is most probable there were two centurions mentioned in the history of our Lord. One (he who loved the Jewish nation and built them a synagogue) was too modest to come to our Lord, deeming himself unworthy, and therefore sent the Jewish elders to plead his cause ; the other boldly came in person. Again, at the Cross, the centurion in charge was the first Gentile to acknowledge Jesus as the son of God. Again, it was the centurion Cornelius who was the firstfruits of the Gentile world to be baptised, and his story is told at great length in the Acts. Again, the centurion in charge of St. Paul on his voyage to Rome treated the Apostle with much kindness, and interfered to save his life, when the soldiers' plan was to kill all the prisoners to prevent their escape. Surely the Holy Spirit had a design in telling us of so many good examples drawn from one class. The Spectator is such a master of the concrete that I hope you will insert
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