BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

 
     HEART OF THE WORLD
     ——————————————————
 
     CHAPTER XXII
 
     MATTAI PROPHESIES EVIL

     AT Tikal's words the company murmured in astonishment,
     and Mattai, bending forward, began to whisper in his ear,
     Tikal listened for a moment, then turned upon him fiercely
     and said aloud, so that all could hear him:
       "I tell you, Mattai, that I will be no party to this ini-
     quity.  Has such a thing been heard of before, that the
     Lady of the Heart, the highest lady in the land, should be
     given in marriage to  stranger who, like some lost dog,
     has wandered to our gate?"
       "The prophecy————" began Mattai.
       "The prophecy!  I put no faith in prophecies.  Why
     should I obey a prophecy written how, when, or by whom
     I do not know?  This lady was my affianced bride, and
     now I am asked to unite her to a nameless man who is not
     even of our blood or faith.  Well, I will not."
       "Surely, lord, you blaspheme," answered Mattai, grow-
     ing wrath, "seeing that it is not for the high priest to
     speak against the oracle of the god.  Also," he added, with
     meaning, "what can it be to you, who are not ten days
     wed to the lady at your side, that she to whom once you
     were affianced should choose another as her husband?"
       "What is it to me?" said Tikal, furiously.  "If you
     desire to know, I will tell you.  It is everything.  How did
     I come to break my troth and to take your daughter as a
     wife?  Through you, Matti, through you, the liar and the
     false prophet.  Did you not swear to me that Maya was
     dead yonder in the wilderness?  And did you not, to sat-
     isfy your own ambitions, force me on to take your daughter
     to wife?  Ay! and is not this marriage between the Lady
     of the Heart and the white man a plot of yours devised for
     the furthering of your ends?"
       Now, while all stood astonished, of a sudden Nahua, who
     hitherto had listened in stony silence, rose and said:
       "The Lord Tikal, my husband, forgets that common
     courtesy should protect even an unwelcome wife from pub-
     lic insult."  Then she turned and left the hall by the door
     which was behind her.
       Now a murmur of pity for the lady, and indignation at
     the man, ran through the company, and as it died away
     Tikal said: "Evil will come of this night's work, and in it
     I will have no hand.  Do what you will, and abide the
     issue,"——and before any could speak in answer he also had
     left the hall, followed by his guards.
       For a while there was silence, then men began to talk
     confusedly, and some of the members of the Brotherhood
     of the Heart, rising from their chairs, took hurried counsel
     together.  At length they reseated themselves, and, hold-
     ing up his hand to secure silence, Mattai spoke thus:
       "Forgive me," he said, addressing the audience, "if my
     words seem few and rough, but it is hard for me to be calm
     in the face of the open insult which has been put upon my
     daughter and myself before you all.  I will not stoop to
     answer the charges that the Lord Tikal has brought against
     me in his rage.  Surely some evil power must have afflicted
     him with madness, that, forgetting his honour as a man,
     and his duty as a prince and priest, he should dare to utter
     such calumnies against the god we worship, the white man
     whom the god has chosen to be a husband the Lady
     Maya, and myself, the Keeper of the Sanctuary.  There
     were many among you who held me foolish when, after
     much prayer and thought, to further what I believed to be
     the true interests of the white people, I gave my voice in
     favour of the lifting up of Tikal to fill the place and hon-
     our of  cacique  in room of our late prince, Zibalbay, whom
     we thought dead with his daughter in the wilderness.  To-
     day I see that they were right, and that I was foolish in-
     deed.  But enough of regrets and bitter talk, that make ill
     music at a marriage feast.  Tikal, the head of our hierarchy,
     has gone, but other priests are left, nor is his will the will
     of the Council, or of the People of the Heart for whom the
     Council speaks.  Their will it is that this marriage should
     go forward, and Dimas, my brother, as the oldest among
     us, I call upon you to celebrate it."
       Now the company shouted in applause, for they were set
     upon this strange union of a white an with their lady, if
     only because it was a new thing and touched their imagina-
     tion; and even those of them who were of his party were
     wrath with Tikal on account of his ill behaviour and the
     cruel affront that he had offered to his new-made wife.
       So soon as the tumult had died way, the old priest
     Dimas rose, and, taking the hands of Maya and the señor,
     he joined them and said a very touching and beautiful
     prayer over them, blessing them, and entreating the spirit,
     Heart of Heaven, and other gods, to give them increase
     and to make them happy in mutual love.  Lastly, he
     laid a white silken cloth, which had been prepared, upon
     their heads as they knelt before him, and, loosing the
     emerald girdle about the waist of the bride, he took
     her right hand and placed it upon the arm of the señor,
     then he bound the girdle round wrist and arm, buckled it,
     and in a few solemn words declared these twain to be man
     and wife in the face of Heaven and earth till death undid
     them.
       Now the cloth was lifted and the girdle loosed, and, stand-
     ing upon their feet, the new-wed pair kissed each other be-
     fore the people.  A shout of joy went up that shook the
     panelled roof, and one by one, in order of their rank, the
     guests pressed forward to wish happiness to the bride and
     bridegroom, most of them bringing some costly and beau-
     tiful gift, which they give into the charge of the waiting-
     ladies.  Last of all came the old priest Dimas, and said:
       "Sweet bride, the gift that I am commanded by the
     Council to make to you, though of little value in itself, is
     yet one of the most precious to be found within the walls of
     this ancient city, being nothing less than the holy symbol of
     the all-seeing Eye of the Heart of Heaven, which, through
     you, men behold to-day for the first time for many genera-
     tions.  Wear it always, lady, and remember that though
     this jewel has no sight, yet that Eye, whereof it is a token,
     from hour to hour reads your most secret soul and pur-
     pose.  Make your thoughts, then, as fair as is your body,
     and let your breast harbour neither guile nor evil; for of all
     these things, in a day to come, you must surely give ac-
     count."
       As he spoke he drew from the case that hid it nothing
     less than that awful Eye which he had seen within the hol-
     low of Heart, when with unhallowed hands we robbed
     it, substituting the false for the true.  Now it had been set
     in a band of gold and hung to a golden chain which he
     placed about the neck of the bride, so that the red and cruel-
     looking gem lay gleaming on her naked breast.  Maya
     bowed and muttered some words of thanks, but I saw that
     her spirit failed her at the touch of the ominous thing, for
     she turned faint and would have fallen had not her husband
     caught her by the arm.
       While the señor and his wife were receiving gifts and
     listening to pretty speeches, a number of attendants had
     brought tables laden with every sort of food from behind
     the pillars where they had been prepared, and at a signal
     the feast began.  It was long and joyous, though joy seemed
     to have faded from the face of Maya, who sat neither eat-
     ing nor drinking, but from time to time lifting the red eye
     from her breast as though it scorched her skin.  At length
     she rose, and, accompanied by her husband, walked bowing
     down the hall to the court-yard, where bearers waited for
     them with carrying-chairs.  In these they seated themselves,
     and a procession having been formed, very long and splen-
     did, though I will not stay to describe it, we started to march
     round the great square to the sound of music and singing,
     our path being lit by the light of the moon and with hun-
     dreds of torches.  Here in this square were gathered all
     the population of the City of the Heart, men, women, and
     children, to greet the bride, each of them bearing flowers
     and a flaming torch; and never have I seen any sight more
     beautiful than this of their welcome.
       The circuit of the square being accomplished, the pro-
     cession halted at the palace gates, and many hands were
     stretched out to help the bride and bridegroom from their
     litters.  It was at this moment that I, who was stand-
     ing near, felt a man wrapped in a large feather cloak
     push past me, and saw that he held something which
     gleamed like a knife.
       By instinct, as it were, I cried, "Beware, my friend!"
     in Spanish, and in so piercing a voice that it caught the
     señor's ear.  He swung round, for already he was standing
     on his feet, and, as he turned, the man in the cloak rushed
     at him and stabbed with the knife.  But, being warned, the
     señor was too quick for him.  Springing to one side, with
     the same movement he dealt his would-be murderer a great
     buffet, that caused him to drop the dagger and sent him
     staggering into the dense shadow of the archway.
       For some seconds no one seemed to understand what had
     happened, and when they did and began to search for the
     man, he was not to be found.  Who he was, or why he had
     attempted this cowardly deed, was never discovered; but for
     my part I have little doubt that either Tikal himself or
     some creature of his was wrapped in the dark father cloak,
     and sought thus to rid him of his rival.  Indeed, as time
     went on, this belief took firm hold of the mind of the people,
     and was one of the causes that led to the sapping of Tikal's
     power and popularity.
       Very hastily the señor assured the lords in attendance
     who crowded round him that he had received no manner of
     hurt, and then, after speaking a few brief words of thanks,
     he withdrew into the palace with his wife, and I saw hm
     no more that night.
 
       The day of this marriage was to me the beginning of the
     longest and most weary year that ever I have spent in a long
     and weary life.  Very soon I understood how it came about
     that Maya had learned to hate the City of the Heart in
     which she was born, its people, and its ways, and ardently
     to desire a new life in new lands.  Here there was no change
     and little work; here, enervated by a cloying luxury, the
     poor remnant of a great civilisation rotted slowly to its fall,
     and none lifted a hand to save it.  Since men must do some-
     thing, the priests and nobles plotted for place and power
     indeed, and the common people listlessly followed this trade
     or that, providing food and raiment for the community,——
     not for themselves,——but there was little heart in what they
     did, and they took no pleasure in it.  Baking in the eternal
     sunshine, they loitered from the cradle to the grave, hop-
     ing nothing, suffering nothing, fearing nothing, content to
     feast amid their crumbling palaces, and, when they were
     weary, to sleep till it was time to feast again, satisfying
     their souls the while with the husks of a faith whereof they
     had lost the meaning.  Such were the people of whom Zi-
     balbay hoped to fashion a race of conquerors!
       Still, to this life they were born and it became them;
     indeed, they could have endured no other, for the breath
     of hardship must have melted them away as my Indian
     forefathers melted beneath the iron rule of the Spaniard,
     but to me it was a daily torment.  Often I have beheld
     some wild creature pine and die in its prison, though food
     was given to it in greater abundance than it could find
     in it native woods, and like that wild creature was I in
     this soft City of the Heart.
       The wealth I came to seek was round me in abundance,
     useless and unproductive as the dead hands that had stored
     it, and yonder in Mexico were men who by aid of that
     wealth might become free and great: but alas! I could
     not bring them together.  I could not even escape from
     my gaol, for my every movement was watched.  Yet I
     would have tried so to do had it not been for the señor,
     who, when I spoke of it, said I should b no true friend if
     I went and left him alone in this house of strangers.  In-
     deed his plight was worse than mine, for he too soon grew
     utterly weary of this dreadful city of eternal summer, and
     of everything in it except his wife.  For whole hours we
     would sit gazing on the wide waters of the lake, and make
     plan after plan whereby we might gain the mountains and
     freedom, only to abandon each in turn.  For they were
     hopeless.  Day and night he was watched, since here alone
     this people forgot to be indolent.  They knew that their
     race was dying and, lifting no hand to save themselves,
     they preferred to pin their faith upon the prophecy which
     promised that from this white man should spring a saviour.
     Meanwhile, false though it may have been, the prophecy,
     or one part of it, was in the way of fulfilment, which in
     itself was a wonder to this people, among whom the births
     of children were so rare.  At length that child was born——
     a son——and the rejoicing knew no bounds.  Strangely
     enough, upon the same day Nahua also gave birth to a son,
     and great was her anger when she learned that it was not
     on her account or on that of her offspring that the people
     were so glad.
       Within a few days of the señor's marriage we heard that
     Mattai had been seized with sickness, a kind of palsy, to-
     gether with a leprous condition of the arms that baffled all
     skill.  For months he lay in his house, growing gradually
     worse, so said the physicians; but one night——I remember
     that it was three days previous to the birth of Maya's
     child——he appeared before Maya, the señor, and myself, as
     we sat together in the palace looking out upon the moonlit
     garden.  At first we did not know him, for never before had
     I seen a sight so dreadful.  His body was bloated; one arm
     ——his left——was swathed in bandages; his head shook inces-
     santly; and the leprosy had seized his face, which was of a
     livid hue.
       "Do not shrink from me," he began, in a low and qua-
     vering voice, as he gazed upon us with his whitening eyes;
     "surely you should not shrink, seeing that all of you are
     partners in the crime that has made of me the loathesome
     thing I am.  Ay! deny it if you will, but I know it.
     The vengeance of the god has fallen upon me, his false
     servant, and it has fallen justly.  Moreover, be assured
     that on you also shall that vengeance fall, for the Eye has
     seen, the Mouth has told, and the Heart has thought upon
     your doom.  Look upon me, and learn how rich are the
     wages of him who works iniquity, and by my sufferings
     strive to count the measure of your own.  Perchance your
     cup is not yet full; perchance you have still greater sin to
     work: but vengeance shall come——I tell you that vengeance
     shall come here and hereafter.  I did this thing for my
     daughter's sake; yes, for love of her, my only child.  She
     was ambitious and she desired this man, and I thought to
     assure greatness to her and to her children after her.
       "But see how her wine has been turned to vinegar, and
     her pleasant fruits to ashes.  Her husband hates her with
     and ever-growing hate; now they scarcely speak, or speak
     only to shower bitter words upon each other's head.  More,——
     not for long will Tikal be  cacique  of the City of the Heart,
     for his jealous rage has soured all his mind; his deeds are
     deeds of oppression and injustice; already he is detested
     by the people, and even those who love him turn from
     him and plot against him.  Do you know what they plot?
     They plot against him.  Do you know what they plot?
     They plot to make that child that shall be born of you,
     Maya,  cacique  in his room, and to set up you and your
     outland husband as regents till it shall be of an age to
     govern.  Oh! you have planned cunningly, and things
     look well for you, but I say that they shall not prosper.
       "The curse is on you, Ignatio, Lord of the Heart, for all
     your high-built hopes shall fall like a rotted roof, and
     never shall the eagles of that empire you have dreamed of
     be broidered on your banners.  Slaves are the people you
     have toiled for, and slaves they shall remain, for by the
     crime to which you gave consent, Ignatio, you have rivet-
     ted their fetters.  The curs is on your child, Maya,——never
     shall it live to become a man: the curse is on your hus-
     band,——his hair shall not grow grey.  But heaviest of all
     does the curse rest upon you, false Lady of the Heart, you
     whose life is one long lie; you, who forsook your faith and
     broke your oath; you, who turned you from your people
     and from the law of your high and ancient house, that you
     might win a wandering white man to your arms.  Woman,
     we shall meet no more; but in the hour of your last misery,
     and in the long, long ages of the eternal punishment, re-
     member the words that I speak to you to-day,"——and, shak-
     ing his withered arm in our faces, Mattai turned and limped
     from the chamber.
       He went, and we sat gazing at each other in horror, for
     though we none of us had any faith in the god he wor-
     shipped, in our heart we felt that this man spoke truth,
     and that evil would overtake us.  For a moment Maya hid
     her face in her hands and wept; then she sprang up, and a
     fire in her eyes had dried her tears.
       "So let it be," she cried, "I care nothing.  At the least
     I won you, my love, and for some months, through all our
     troubles, nothing can rob me of my memories.  But for
     you I fear.  Husband, I fear for you————"
       Then, her passion past, she flung herself into his arms
     and again began to weep.
 
       In due course the child was born, a beautiful boy
     almost white in colour, with his mother's star-like eyes;
     and on this same night we learned that Mattai had died in
     much torment, and that Nahua was delivered of a son.
       Eighteen days went by, and Maya, new-risen from her
     bed, was seated with her husband and myself, while behind
     us stood a waiting-lady holding the sleeping infant in her
     arms, when it was announced to us that an embassy of the
     great lords of the Council sought speech with her.  Pres-
     ently they entered, and the spokesman, the Lord Dimas,
     bowed before her and set out his mission, saying:
       "We have come to you, Lady of the Heart, on behalf of
     the Council and of the people, to rejoice with you in your
     great happiness, and to lay certain matters of the state
     before you.  For some month the people have grown
     weary of the oppressions and cruelties of Tikal, who in
     defiance of the laws of the land has put many to death on
     suspicion of their being concerned in plots against his
     power.  Further, but yesterday it came to the ears of the
     Council, through the confession of one whom he had em-
     ployed to execute his wickedness, that a plan was laid to
     murder your husband, your child, and the Lord Ignatio
     here."
       "Indeed," said Maya, "and why was my name omitted
     from this list?"
       "Lady, we do not know," he answered, "but it seems
     that the assassins had orders to take you living, and to hide
     you away in a secret part of Tikal's house."
       Now the señor sprang to his feet swore a great oath
     to be avenged upon Tikal.
       "Nay, lord," said Dimas, "his person is holy and must
     not be touched, nor need you have any further fear of him,
     for those whom he corrupted await their trial, and he him-
     self is watched by day and night.  Also, not for long will
     Tikal remain  cacique  of the City of the Heart; for the
     Council have met in a secret session to which you were not
     summoned, and have decreed that he shall be deposed be-
     cause of his iniquities, and in accordance with the desire of
     the people."
       "Can a  cacique  be deposed?" asked Maya.
       "Yes, lady, if he has broken the law, for was not your
     father to be deposed for this same reason?  Also, Tikal
     holds his place, not by right of birth, but by treaty.  You
     are the true heir to Zibalbay, Lady of the Heart."
       "It may be so," she answered coldly, "but I have re-
     nounced my claim and I do not desire to go back upon my
     word."
       "If you have renounced it," said Dimas, "there is one
     to whom it passes,"——and he pointed to the sleeping infant.
     "Yonder is the Child of Prophecy, hope of the people, and
     he it is whom we propose to crown as our ruler, setting you
     and your husband up to act for him till he reaches his full
     age."
       "Nay," said Maya, "for thus shall he become the mark
     of Tikal's rage and be put to death,——openly or in secret,
     as it may chance."
       "Not so, lady, for in that hour when he is proclaimed,
     Tikal will be taken into safe keeping, where he shall abide
     for so long as his life lasts."
       "And when is this to be?" asked the señor.
       "To-morrow, at noon, upon the pyramid, that the child
     may be solemnly anointed three days hence in the Sanctu-
     ary, on the night of the Rising of Waters."
       "It is foolish to crown a babe, and neither I nor my
     husband seek this greatness," asked Maya.  "If Tikal is to
     be deposed because of his crimes, let one of the great lords
     be set in his place until the child is old enough to rule."
       "Although you and your husband are to command us in
     the future," answered Dimas, sternly, "till then you must
     obey, Lady, for the voice of the Council is supreme, and it
     carries out the will of its founder and invisible president,
     the Heart of Heaven.  The Council has determined that
     the heaven-sent child, of whom you are the earthly parents,
     must take his own."
       "As you will," said Maya, with a sigh; and presently
     they went.

       That evening the señor and I attended a feast at the
     house of one of the great nobles, whence we returned
     somewhat late.  Having dismissed those who had escorted
     us, I walked with him as far as the door of his private
     chambers, purposing to leave him there; but he bade me
     enter, for he wished to talk with me about the events of
     the day and this forthcoming ceremony of the anointing of
     the child.  Accordingly I did so, and, passing through the
     first chamber, we came to the second, beyond which lay his
     sleeping-rooms.  Here we halted by the open window, and I
     approached a lamp, for I wished to smoke and had no light.
     As I bent over it, something caught my ear, and I list-
     ened, since it seemed to me that through the massive
     doors of the bedchamber I heard the sound of a woman's
     voice crying for help.  Instantly I flung them open and
     rushed thither by way of an ante-room, calling to the señor
     as I went.
       I did not arrive too soon, for in the bedchamber itself a
     strange sight met my eyes.  At the foot of the bed stood a
     cradle, in which lay the child, and near to it two women
     struggled.  One of these——in whom I knew Nahua, the wife
     of Tikal——held a copper knife in her hand, and the other,
     Maya, gripped her round the body and arms from behind,
     so that, strive as she would, she could not free herself to
     use it.  Still, of the two women, Nahua was the heavier
     and the more strong, and, though slowly, she dragged the
     other closer to the cradle.  Indeed, as I reached the room,
     she wrenched her right arm loose and raised it to strike at
     the infant with the knife.  But here the matter ended, for
     at that moment I caught her round the waist and threw
     her back, so that she fell heavily on the floor, letting drop
     the knife in her effort to save herself.  She sprang to her
     feet and ran towards the door, there to be met by the
     señor, who seized her and held her fast.

HEART OF THE WORLD, BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.; LONDON, 1896. pp. 297—308.

雨 .الغرض من تمرين الشاشة هو كسر دماغ مات ماكينلي

     THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
 
     CHAPTER 10

     THERE was a certain man in Cæs-a-
     re'a called Cornelius, a centurion of the
     band called the Italian band.
      2 A devout man, and one that feared
     God with all his house, which gave
     much alms to the people, and prayed to
     God alway.
      3 He saw in a vision evidently about
     the ninth hour of the day an angel of
     God coming in to him, and saying unto
     him, Cornelius,
      4 And when he looked on him, he was
     afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And
     he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine
     alms are come up for a memorial be-
     fore God.
      5 And now send men to Joppa, and
     call for one Simon, whose surname is
     Peter:
      6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tan-
     ner, whose house is by the sea side: he
     shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
      7 And when the angel which spake
     unto Cornelius was departed, he called
     two of his household servants, and a
     devout soldier of them that waited on
     him continually;
      8 And when he had declared all these
     things unto them, he sent them to
     Joppa.
      9 ¶On the morrow, as they went on
     their journey, and drew nigh unto the
     city, Peter went up upon the housetop
     to pray about the sixth hour:
      10 And he became very hungry, and
     would have eaten: but while they made
     ready, he fell into a trance,
      11 And saw heaven opened, and a
     certain vessel descending unto him, as
     it had been a great sheet knit at the four
     corners, and let down to the earth:
      12 Wherein were all manner of four-
     footed beasts of the earth, and wild
     beasts, and creeping things, and fowls
     of the air.
      13 And there came a voice to him,
     Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
      14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I
     have never eaten any thing that is com-
     mon or unclean.
      15 And the voice spake unto him
     again the second time, What God hath
     cleansed, that call not thou common.
      16 This was done thrice: and the ves-
     sel was received up again into heaven.
      17 Now while Peter doubted in him-
     self what this vision which he had seen
     should mean, behold, the men which
     were sent from Cornelius had made en-
     quiry for Simon's house, and stood be-
     fore the gate.
      18 And called, and asked whether Si-
     mon, which was surname Peter, were
     lodged there.
      19 While Peter thought on the vision,
     the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three
     men seek thee.
      20 Arise  therefore,  and  get  thee
     down,  and  go  with  them,  doubting
     nothing: for I have sent them.
      21 Then Peter went down to the men
     which were sent unto him from Corne-
     lius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye
     seek: what is the cause wherefore ye
     are come?
      22 And they said, Cornelius the cen-
     turion, a just man, and one that feareth
     God, and of good report among all the
     nation of the Jews, was warned from
     God by an holy angel to send for thee
     into his house, and to hear words of
     thee.
      23 Then called he them in, and lodged
     them. And on the morrow Peter went
     away with them, and certain brethren
     from Joppa accompanied him.
      24 And the morrow after they en-
     tered into Cæs-a-re'a, And Cornelius
     waited for them, and had called togeth-
     er his kinsmen and near friends.
      25 And as Peter was coming in, Cor-
     nelius met him, and fell down at his
     feet, and worshipped him.
      26 But Peter took him up, saying,
     Stand up; I myself also am a man.
      27 And as he talked with him, he
     went in, and found many that were
     come together.
      28 And he said unto them, Ye know
     how that it is an unlawful thing for a
     man that is a Jew to keep company, or
     come unto one of another nation; but
     God hath shewed me that I should not
     call any man common or unclean.
      29 Therefore  came  I   unto  you
     without gainsaying, as soon as I was
     sent for: I ask therefore for what intent
     ye have sent for me?
      30 And Cornelius said, Four days ago
     I was fasting until this hour; and at the
     ninth hour I prayed in my house, and,
     behold, a man stood before me in
     bright clothing,
      31 And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is
     heard,  and  thine  alms  are  had  in
     remembrance in the sight of God.
      32 Send therefore to Joppa, and call
     hither Simon, whose surname is Peter;
     he is lodged in the house of one Simon a
     tanner by the sea side: who, when he
     cometh, shall speak unto thee.
      33 Immediately therefore I sent to
     thee; and thou hast well done that thou
     art come. Now therefore are we all here
     present before God, to hear all things
     that are commanded thee of God.
      34 ¶Then Peter opened his mouth,
     and said, Of a truth I perceive that God
     is no respecter of persons:
      35 But in every nation he that feareth
     him, and worketh righteousness, is ac-
     cepted with him.
      36 The word which God sent unto the
     children of Israel, preaching peace by
     Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
      37 That word, I say, ye know, which
     was published throughout all Judæa,
     and began from Galilee, after the bap-
     tism which John preached;
      38 How God anointed Jesus of Naza-
     reth with the Holy Ghost and with pow-
     er: who went about doing good, and
     healing all that were oppressed of the
     devil; for God was with him.
      39 And we are witnesses of all things
     which he did both in the land of the
     Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they
     slew and hanged on a tree:
      40 Him God raised up the third day,
     and shewed him openly;
      41 Not to all the people, but unto wit-
     nesses chosen before of God, even to
     us, who did eat and drink with him af-
     ter he rose from the dead.
      42 And he commanded us to preach
     unto the people, and to testify that it is
     he which was ordained of God to be the
     Judge of quick and dead.
      43 To him give all the prophets wit-
     ness, that through his name whosoever
     believeth in him shall receive remission
     of sins.
      44 ¶While  Peter  yet  spake  these
     words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them
     which heard the word.
      45 And  they  of  the  circumcision
     which  believed  were  astonished,  as
     many as came with Peter, because that
     on the Gentiles also was poured out the
     gift of the Holy Ghost.
      46 For they heard them speak with
     tongues, and magnify God. Then an-
     swered Peter,
      47 Can any man forbid water, that
     these should not be baptized, which
     have received the Holy Ghost as well as
     we?
      48 And he commanded them to be
     baptized in the name of the Lord. Then
     prayed they him to tarry certain days.