MALTA: THE HALTING PLACE OF NATIONS 



451 



i 



his name, and in the 

 Acts of the Apostles 

 is this account of his 

 stay in the island : 



"And when they 

 were escaped, then 

 they knew that the 

 island was called Me- 

 lita. 



"And the barbar- 

 ous people shewed us 

 no little kindness : 

 for they kindled a 

 fire, and received us 

 every one, because of 

 the present rain, and 

 because of the cold. 



"And when Paul 

 had gathered a bun- 

 dle of sticks, and laid 

 them on the fire, there 

 came a viper out of 

 the heat, and fastened 

 on his hand. 



"And when the bar- 

 barians saw the ven- 

 omous beast hang on 

 his hand, they said 

 among themselves, No 

 doubt this man is a 

 murderer, whom, 

 though he hath es- 

 caped the sea, yet ven- 

 geance suffer eth not 

 to live. 



"And he shook off 

 the beast into the fire, 

 and felt no harm. 



"H o w b e i t they 

 looked when he 

 should have swollen, 

 or fallen down dead 

 suddenly: but after they had looked a 

 great while, and saw no harm come to 

 him, they changed their minds, and said 

 that he was a god. 



"In the same quarters were possessions 

 of the chief man of the island, whose 

 name was Publius ; who received us, and 

 lodged us three days courteously. 



"And it came to pass, that the father 

 of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a 

 bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, 

 and prayed, and laid his hands on him, 

 and healed him. 



"So when this was done, others also, 





HausE 



Photograph by A. W. Cutler 



A FAMILIAR NAMF IN A FOREIGN PORT 



''The First and Last Lodging House" may be seen at Valletta, 

 Malta, the name suggesting those inns and road-houses on the out- 

 skirts of American cities which formerly intimated by the name 

 "First and Last Chance" that liquid refreshment might be had inside. 



which had diseases in the island, came, 

 and were healed : 



"Who also honoured us with many 

 honours ; and when we departed, they 

 laded us with such things as were neces- 

 sary. 



"And after three months we departed 

 in a ship of Alexandria." . . . 



St. Paulo and St. Publio are very 

 prominent names in the ecclesiastical his- 

 tory of the island, and to this day the 

 activities of St. Paul in Malta are recited 

 in great detail. 



After the fall of Rome Malta became 



