ments, he brought over continually fresh converts to the gospel. In Philippi and in Thessalonica this was not done without suffering and hazard. In the former place St. Paul was beaten and imprisoned; in the latter he narrowly escaped being stoned: yet in both instances the wrongs put upon the teacher redounded to the advancement of the religion which he taught.

CHAP. L.

BOOK OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

ST. PAUL'S TRAVELS.

A. D. 58.

continued.

THE GREAT PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

FOR about fourteen years St. Paul continued thus to labour in the advancement of the gospel of his Lord. He traversed, while so employed, the provinces of Syria, Cappadocia, Pontus, Galatia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Pamphylia, Lystra, Bithynia, Thracia, and Macedonia. He visited Neapolis, Corinth, Troas, Ephesus, Cinchrea, and Athens, in Greece. He encountered everywhere trials, and dangers, and overcame them. In Achaia a mob had well-nigh torn him to pieces, but the governor of the province, Gallio, dispersed them. In Ephesus the fabricators of images of the goddess Diana, with Demetrius, a silversmith, at their head, raised the entire population against him, which the town clerk, not without exceeding skill, put down. Everywhere, indeed, the enemies of the truth sought his life, which was more than once preserved only by timely fight. His works, too, were of equal potency with his words. At Troas he restored to life a young

man, who, while asleep, had fallen through an upper loft to the ground, and was killed. Whereever he went maladies fled at his bidding. Demoniacs, and persons afflicted with epilepsy, threw aside their infirmities, when charged to do so. Nay, so ample were the powers given to him, that "God," says St. Luke, "wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." Memorable, too, were the conversions of which he was the direct cause. Timothy, Titus, Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew, Aquila, and Priscilla, with many more of fame scarce second to theirs, embraced the faith of Christ as he expounded it to them.

But Paul while thus working for the present, was not unmindful of the future. He ordained and appointed pastors to the various churches which he planted, and from time to time made a circuit round to strengthen and confirm them in their operations. His sojourn in different cities varied from a few days to one or more years. Antioch, in Syria, received frequent visits from him; so did Corinth, so did Ephesus. At the latter place we are told that he abode two years, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus, for already were the heads and teachers of sects among the Heathen philosophers forward to hear him. At last he determined to go up once more to Jerusalem, that he might celebrate with the brethren there the feast of Pentecost; and, having sent his friends Timothy and Erastus before him, made preparations to follow.

He had written from Ephesus his first Epistle to the Corinthians, when the tumult occurred of which I have spoken as stirred up by Demetrius

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the silversmith. Paul narrowly escaped on that occasion being thrown to wild-beasts, and not caring to tempt God's providence too much, he hurried forward his preparations. But as he had resolved to visit once more the churches of Achaia and Macedonia, he travelled by way of Troas into the latter province. There he lingered long enough to confirm the various churches, after which he proceeded to Corinth, whence he addressed his Epistle to the Romans. We find him next at Philippi laden with certain alms which the faithful in Greece had contributed for the relief of their more destitute brethren in Judæa; whence he proceeded to Troas again. A journey on foot carried him next to Assos, then a voyage to Mitylene and Trogyllium; from which place he proceeded to Miletus, that he might there meet, and sustain by his advice, the heads of the church at Ephesus. Finally, passing through Coos and Rhodes to Patara, he there took ship and was in due time landed at Tyre. Here many affectionate friends received him. They were importunate, moreover, that he should abandon his purpose of going up, at that time, to Jerusalem. But neither entreaties, nor the forewarnings of danger, with which his friends endeavoured to strengthen their arguments, availed. Paul was resolute to do and to suffer whatever the Lord might require, and he adhered to his determination.

A. D. 60. The first act of St. Paul after his arrival in Jerusalem was to present himself to James, surnamed the less, and the other chief pastors of that city, and to give to them an account of his labours and their results. They heard him gladly and then advised, with a view to conciliate the people, that he should shave his head, and present himself in the temple as one who had taken a vow, and was come up to present the

offering which was customary, on its accomplishment. Paul did as they recommended, but taking with him one Trophimus, an Ephesian convert, he furnished a ready handle to his enemies, who at once charged him with polluting the holy place. A tumult immediately ensued, and he would have been beaten to death in the streets, had not Claudius Lysias, the Roman commandant, interfered with an armed party, and carried him off to the castle. But even in the castle he was not safe. A body of zealots bound themselves by a vow neither to eat nor drink till they had killed him; and a plan was laid for getting him into their power, to which the chief priests seem to have been parties. But a relative of Paul discovered the plot, and Paul himself, who had escaped the disgrace of scourging only by making known the fact, that he enjoyed the privileges of Roman citizenship, desired the young man to report the conspiracy to the chief captain. The consequence was that the prisoner was escorted that same night by a troop of horse, and a body of spearmen, to Cesarea, where Claudius Felix, procurator under the emperor Nero, held his court.

Paul was twice put upon his trial at Cesarea; first when his accusers from Jerusalem appeared by their hired advocate against him, and next when the procurator, with his Jewish wife, Drusilla, to gratify their own curiosity, summoned him into court. No good to him arose out of either examination, Doubtless, he pleaded his own cause so well that his judges felt that he was innocent; indeed, such proved to be the strength of his reasoning about "righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,' that Felix trembled while he listened. But the easoner was not set at liberty, and next year, when

us came to relieve Felix in the government, Paul

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abode in prison still. At last, finding that justice was not to be had in the provinces, but that the new procurator rather sought to hand him over, cunningly to the chief priests, Paul appealed to Cæsar, and secured thereby his transmission to Rome. He did not, however, set out upon that memorable journey till a fresh opportunity had been afforded of testing the power of truth when uttered before guilt in high places. Agrippa, the son of the tyrant who put to death James, the brother of John, governed at this time a new kingdom, formed out of various provinces of Palestine and the countries adjacent. He came with his sister, Bernice, to salute the new procurator of Judæa; and being curious to see and hear Paul, Festus produced him. Paul spoke as before, making his appeal, however, especially to Agrippa; and when he concluded the king exclaimed, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." But there was no release for him. To Cæsar he had appealed, and to Cæsar he must needs go.

A. D. 61. -The removal of Paul to Rome being now finally determined upon, he was given in charge to a centurion, named Julius, and carried, under a military escort, on board of ship. The voyage appears to have been a safe and pleasant one as far as the Fair Havens, in Crete. But there the weather broke, and Paul would have persuaded the centurion if he could, to abide in a place of shelter till the winter was passed. Julius, however, as was natural, paid more heed to the opinions of his ship-captain than to the suggestions of his prisoner; and the former being desirous of prosecuting the voyage, he offered no opposition. A violent storm soon caught them. For three days they were driven they knew not where, and at last found themselves rushing towards an iron-bound coast, which