trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. He hoped also that money would have been given him of Paul that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. But after two years Porcius Festus came in Felix's room, and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

Paul's sermon to Felix instructs every minister in the duty of adapting his discourse to the auditory, and instead of indulging in mere commonplace, or displaying his skill in curious and elaborate disquisitions, to call the attention of his hearers to things of everlasting concern; forcibly impress ing the guilty conscience, and speaking to the hopes and fears of the soul, by an unequivocal and energetic declaration of those solemn sanctions, which give life to the moral law, and interest to the promises of the Gospel. Let us all also be warned, by the example of Felix, to shun procrastination; and while the terrors of the Lord are deeply affecting our spirits, let us humble them before God, and continue in prayer, till our weary souls obtain liberty and peace. From Paul's declining to purchase his liberation by a bribe, that valuable rule, not to do evil, that good may come, is exemplified and recommended. To buy what justice should give, is to feed vice, to render it bold and daring, and to diminish to the poor the means of redress. Besides, evil is deceitful and progressive; if we buy justice to-day, we may buy injustice to-morrow, and what we learn to buy, we shall perhaps be equally disposed to sell. It is also worthy of observation, that while Paul could not with safety preach the Gospel at Jerusalem, nor, perhaps, in any city of Judea, he was, for two years, under the protection of the magistrate, in the second city of the province, in the court of the Proconsul; and there had an opportunity of declaring the truth to an order of men, with whom he could otherwise have had little intercourse.

When Festus came to his province, the Jews resumed their prosecution

of the Apostle, who, perceiving the Governor disposed to act partially against him, he again pleaded his privilege as a Roman, and appealed to the personal judgment of Cæsar. This appeal was readily admitted; but as nothing had been charged against him, of which the Roman laws took cognizance, but both the accusation and defence appeared a matter of superstition respecting one Jesus who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive, Festus was embarrassed at the idea of sending him to the Emperor without some specific complaint, and as about that time he received a visit from King Agrippa, who was a Jew, and expert in all the customs and questions of the nation, he gave the Apostle another hearing before him, that after examination he might have somewhat to write. The behaviour and defence of St. Paul, on that occasion, as it is recorded in the 26th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, was truly great and admirable. It is impossible not to feel the beautiful simplicity, and the calm but impressive eloquence of the Apostle's speech. Never did prisoner address his judge with more manly freedom and dignified respect; nor did any minister ever make a more direct but respectful application to his hearer, than Paul did to King Agrippa. This noble defence, it may be presumed, recommended itself to the understanding and conscience of many present, since Agrippa was compelled to confess, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian; and both he and Festus acknowledged that Paul had done nothing worthy of death or bonds, and might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to Cæsar.

Not long after this occurrence, St. Paul, accompanied by Luke, Timothy, and others, embarked for Italy, and the interesting particulars of his voyage are narrated in the 27th and 28th of the Acts. Without presuming that we can nicely scan the wonderful scene of Providence which is there displayed, it is obvious that St. Paul is the principal figure in the piece. To plant the barren rock of Malta with the immortal vine of Christianity, and

to give a loud and merciful call to Paul's numerous shipmates, were evidently a part of the design of Providence in exciting the storm which overtook him; and the whole was ordered so as to fix every eye on the great Apostle, and to prepare every heart to receive his ministration with respect and gladness. To him the impending tempest was first revealed, and as he predicted their danger, so when the storm, raging in its fury, had sunk every heart with sadness, and deprived them of all hopes of safety, he was authorized to announce infallible deliverance, and to declare, that his God had given to him the lives of all who sailed with him. He advises, exhorts, and comforts them, and appears as the angel of life watching over their preservation. From the conduct of St. Paul we may remark, how much superior to all natural and acquired courage is the magnanimity of the humble Christian! Supported on either hand by divine goodness and power, he calmly resigns himself to the disposal of overruling wisdom, knowing, that all things work together for good to the man who fears and loves his God. While the soldier, statesman, merchant, artist, scholar, boast themselves as the defence, strength, and ornament of the land, how little do they reflect, that God's government of the world is of a moral nature, and its ultimate end to promote the greatest possible quantum of moral good; and how little do they suspect, that as the Roman crew owed their lives to the piety and prayers of Paul, so that unless the Lord of Hosts, had left unto us a very small remnant, who are followers of his faith, the country might, by this time, have been as Sodom, and like unto Gomorrah.

When they reached the shore, some by swimming, and others on pieces of the wreck, the islanders received them with much kindness, and kindled a fire for their refreshment. In this good work the active Apostle was cheerfully assisting, when a viper came out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his

hand, they said, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, and 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 he was a God. From the narrative it is clear, that the Apostle was bitten by the viper, though the poison had no power to injure him. Casual as the incident may appear, the Christian will see in it the hand of God directing these kind barbarians to the man who could recompense their hospitality by communicating to them the unsearchable riches of Christ; and though their first and second attempt to decypher the mystic characters of Providence were unsuccessful and erroneous, yet in the Apostle they found an interpreter, who enabled them to read the writing, and to understand its important meaning. During the three months Paul staid at Malta, he wrought many miracles. of healing, and preached the Gospel with success, as may be inferred from the treatment which he and his friends received; for St. Luke says, they honoured us with many honours, and when we departed, they loaded us with such things as were necessary. Charity also hopes, that of the 276 souls, who owed their lives to Paul, some were found not deaf to wisdom's voice, nor disobedient to the heavenly calling.

Landing at Puteoli, Paul refreshed himself seven days with Christian friends whom he found there, and then proceeded on his journey. At the Appii Forum and Three Taverns, places fifty, and thirty-three miles from Rome, he was met by a deputa tion of Roman Christians, who went forth with as much pleasure and expectation to meet this illustrious prisoner, as ever did the myriads whom that proud city poured forth to grace the triumphs of her Consuls and dictators. To all of them he was known by the elaborate Epistle he had written to them two years before, and a few of them were his dearest friends.

Such were Aquila and Priscilla, his old hosts at Corinth, and in whose house the Roman Christians held their assemblies. Also his convert Epinetus, the first fruits of Achaia, Mary, who bestowed much labour on him, his kinsman Herodian, and Andronicus and Junia, his kinsmen and fellow-prisoners, who were of note among the Apostles, and who were in Christ before him. Some of these worthies, it may be presumed, were among the deputies, and when Paul saw them he was comforted by the demonstration of their love, thanked God, and took fresh courage. Three days after his arrival at Rome he assembled the chief Jews, and when he found that they had neither received letters from Judea concerning him, nor any of the brethren who came from thence had spoken any harm of him, at their request he expounded to them, and testified the king dom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus out of the law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. After having thus cleared his conscience towards the Jews, he turned his ministry to the Gentiles, and was. two whole years in his own house, with a soldier to guard him; preaching with all confidence, no man forbidding him, and with such success, that he declares his imprisonment had fallen out to the furtherance of the Gosfel. For many of the brethren, animated by his exhortation and example, were much more bold to speak the word without fear; his bonds for Christ were manifest in all the palace, and in all other places, and there were now saints of Jesus even in the court of the profligate Nero.

As Paul had appealed to Cæsar, it is natural to think that he took his trial before him, and was acquitted: nevertheless some critics of reputation think that he was liberated with out trial. Nor is their opinion without colour. Paul's prosecution had been pending near five years; the troubles of Judea were increasing; no specific charge had ever been brought against him; the centurion, Julius, would

make a favourable report; his being a citizen would be of some avail; Burhus, the Prætorian Prefect, was a just man; and Nero himself had not yet commenced persecutor. If all these circumstances be considered, it is very possible that Paul was liberated without trial, no one appearing to prosecute him.

The subsequent course of Paul's labours can be traced only by a careful comparison of such materials as may be collected from his Epistles, and as this is already done by the learned author of the Annales Paulini, it is deemed expedient to be guided by his authority in memoirs, the professed object of which is to edify the pious, rather than to merit the approbation of the learned. Departing from Rome, it is reasonable to think, that Paul preached the Gospel in various parts of Italy; and in the year 64 he is supposed to have fulfilled his purpose of travelling into Spain, and to have made his progress through Crete, where Titus was left to settle the churches of that island. From thence, accompanied by Timothy, he sailed to Judea, visited Jerusalem a fifth time, then returned to the Lesser Asia, and visited the Colossians, whom he had never seen before; and leaving Timothy at Ephesus, after he had excommunicated Hymeneus and Phile. tus, he departed for Macedonia, where he spent some time with his beloved Philippians, and passed the winter of 65 at Nicopolis in Epirus. In the spring of 66 he again visited Achaia, and Corinth its capital, and then took his route through Troas and Miletus, where he left Trophimus dangerously ill. In 67, when the rage of Nero's persecution had spent itself at Rome, and the Emperor was now in Greece, Paul, returned to Rome, probably with a view to comfort and strengthen the brethren there, whose spirits were much dejected by the dreadful havoc with which the Church had been wasted. But he does not appear to have been there long, before he was apprehended at the command of Helius Cæsarianus, to whom Nero had delegated absolute power during his ab-.