wind. This is done. Cilicia, Paul's native country, is sighted on one side; Cyprus, where he began his mission work, on the other; by and by Pamphylia, across which he passed to Antioch, Lystra, and Derbe. Paul would recognise each point in the coast-line, and thank God for work done while yet he was free. At Myra, a transhipment takes place. A large and well-manned corn-ship lies at anchor there; she is bound for Italy, and has been driven out of her course; with any chance, she will out again and resume her voyage; better to go straight away in her, than by the round-about and troublesome route from Adramyttium; 80 the centurion and his company go on board and prepare to start again.

HARD WORK FOR THE "FAIR HAVENS."-V: 7-13. The Alexandrian was many days "tacking zig-zag fashion against the wind to Cnidus: a little distance, a long time; as the writer of these Notes was ten days "tacking" between North Foreland and Start Point, in Devonshire. At Cnidus, the shelter of the shore ceased. What then? Run before the wind to the south, and then tack westward again. By and by they are under the shelter of an island again; what? Creeping round, they find a harbour; what? Now a difficult question must be decided. The "fast or great day of atonement has passed; that fast, happening in the beginning of October, marked the incoming of the stormy season of those seas, and no compass, no well-drawn charts in those days. Shall they go on, or winter there,stay through the stormy season? What was Paul's advice? But the captain and sailors say, "Poor place this for

supplies, not well protected; better place higher up, Phenice; make for that." This is the decision. A lull in the weather happens; a puff of wind from the south; the sailors shake out the sails, and the Alexandrian is off again.

› REFLECTIONS.-1. A Christian may be safe in all companies.-Paul is brave, free, spotless amidst soldiers and sailors. Do not seek ungodly companions; but if thrown amongst them, confess Christ and trust in Him. Daniel and the three Hebrew children.

2. Godly friendship is steadfast friendship.-Luke has been with Paul on his missionary journeys, ch. xvi. 10; Aristarchus has come with him from Corinth, ch. xx. 4; both have been with him at Jerusalem; will not leave him now. If you want fast friends, seek them amongst good men.

3. Upright conduct wins respect.Festus had probably given orders that Paul must be treated with as much consideration as possible, and Julius carries out these instructions heartily. No one loses by a brave, consistent confession of godliness.

4. God permits His people to face and conquer the changes and sorrows of a human life. This voyage of St. Paul

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illustration. Young Christians must not expect all fair sailing. God must make of them, as of St. Paul, examples of fortitude, devoutness and consistency.

QUESTIONS.-How was Paul brought in sight of the scenes of his past life? What were those scenes? What led to the transhipment at Myra? How far did the vessel make against the wind? How came it to Crete? Where did it anchor? Why was it desirable to find a place to" winter in"? Why did the sailors decide for going on? What favoured their purpose ?

IN THE SEA."-Acts xxvii. 14-29.

by the east to north-east and so on almost round the compass. The ship was caught, before her huge mainsail could be reefed or furled. A certain island called Clauda,-twenty-three miles away; under the temporary protection of this bit of land, measures are taken further to encounter the storm. Much work.. boat,-which, in anticipation of fair weather to Phenice, had been secured by a rope to the stern.

Battered and water-logged, it was no easy matter to get it aboard. They used helps, undergirding,—the rigging of an ancient ship was simple and rude in comparison with that of modern ones. One mast, crossed by a ponderous yard, and supporting one huge sail, sufficed; so that in the case of a strain upon this mast, the beams and planks "midships" were severely tried, and were liable to part away. To guard against this danger, the mariners carried special appliances, here called "helps," by which cables or chains were passed beneath the ship, cross-wise, and made tight. Thus the Alexandrian ship was "undergirded." Strake sail,-from this expression, as well as that in ver. 40, it may be inferred that this large vessel, as was not uncommon, had a second mast of the same pattern, but of much smaller dimensions than the mainmast, and what was now done was to furl the main-sail or cut it away, hoist a sail on the fore-mast to keep the ship steady. The vessel would be steered in a north-westerly direction to keep the ship from being driven on the sandbanks on the coasts of Africa, within a day's reach, if driven before the wind. Next day they lightened,-by casting out the least valuable part of the cargo. The tackling of the ship,probably the main yard, an immense spar, with all its gear; to hoist that overboard, the united efforts of crew and passengers were needed. Think of Aristarchus, Luke, and perhaps Paul, hauling away at the now useless gear of a half-wrecked vessel.

MANY DAYS OF DANGER, AND THEN HOPE.-V. 20-26. Neither sun nor stars, - hidden by the stormclouds; no mariner's compass then. After long abstinence." The gloomy prospect assumed a darker hue from the exhaustion of constant labour at the pumps and the abstinence from food which anxiety for their lives and the casualties of the storm had imposed upon all on board." The praying man was now the deliverer. He sleeps amidst danger, and that Master Who had, far away, promised to him Rome," ch. xxiii. 11, and had warned him of coming dangers whilst the ship was at the Fair Havens, now, in a preternatural manner, tells him of rescue. What did he say? Ye should have hearkened, - Paul would now

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appear to them a prophet indeed, his words (ver. 10) had been so painfully realised. Whose I am,-see Reflections. A certain island, so now the sailors would be anxiously on the look out for the land.

SIGNS OF LAND.-V. 27-29. The fourteenth night,-of their drift across the waters. In Adria, - not the narrow sea known as the Adriatic in modern geography, but that part of the Mediterranean which lay between Crete and Sicily. About midnight.. some country,-the well-trained sight of the men on the look-out detected the white line of billows breaking upon a shore. Sounded,..twenty fathoms,.. fifteen fathoms,-the lead told its story truthfully land was close at hand. Four anchors out of the stern,-ships are commonly anchored from the bow; but at Copenhagen, Nelson anchored his vessels by the stern, and on the morning of that great fight and victory he had been reading this very chapter. The anchors laid hold; there was for the present no danger of being driven upon rocks: so crew and passengers wait for the day.

REFLECTIONS.-1. A false course may begin pleasantly, but most surely ends in disaster. The fourteen days' drift in Adria began with a soft south wind. So of sin: at the beginning, it may give pleasure, but "when it is finished," it "bringeth forth death."

2. "Man's extremity is God's opportunity."-Danger, darkness, hunger, helplessness, and then comes the word of comfort. So in the soul's history. God lets a man feel his sins, that they are his own, that his misery is of his own creating, and when the awakened penitent cries, "O wretched man!" the blessed Spirit applies the promises and encourages faith.

3. God's servants are privileged to be comforters of the distressed. - How welcome was Paul's face and voice after the many days of storm! He had got his "good cheer" from God, for man. True believers are happy and diffuse happiness. Choose rather to be a helper from sin, than a helper to sin. 4. God's servants are men

of sympathy and prayer. "God hath given thee all them that sail with thee," ver. 24. Paul had pitied these poor frightened heathen, and had

asked them, for life, for salvation. God gave them to him. An example this for all preachers and teachers.

5. But note Paul's definition of a true servant of God.-"Whose I am, and Whom I serve." Consecration, obedience. Be Christ's; serve Christ; then He will hear you, love you, save others by you.

QUESTIONS.-What prevented the voyagers reaching Phenice? Why did they drive to the south? What island gave them temporary shelter? How did they improve this protection? What precaution was used to prevent the ship parting? What cheering news did Paul give them? Where did he get it? What would be the signs of land near? What was done to prevent the ship being driven ashore?

INTRODUCTION.-A story, so graphically told, of a matter so startling as a shipwreck, will assert its own interest for young minds without much effort on the part of the teacher. The danger is that the rich moral teaching of the passage will be overlooked. We have endeavoured to save the latter without weakening the former. Each section of the narrative is placed under a passage of Scripture which embodies the teaching of that portion on things Divine.

"HE SHALL CALL UPON ME, AND I WILL ANSWER HIM: I WILL BE WITH HIM IN TROUBLE; I WILL DELIVer him, and HONOUR HIM," Ps. xei. 15, with Acts xxvii.30-32.-We left the ship severely straining her four anchors; breakers ahead; a starless night above; soldiers, sailors, passengers, prisoners, watch, wonder, wait for the day. One man at least amongst them is calm, hopeful. He has called upon God, and received the instalment of an answer by a promise, ver. 24. Will he be delivered? His first danger is from human selfishness. "Every one for himself," is the world's motto in time of danger; so with these sailors; they will take to the boat and save themselves. So they pretend that the ship needs other anchors from the prow to keep her steady, and these must be carried by boat some distance to gain good hold. So they begin to handle the ropes by which the boat is suspended from the "davits" or pillars. Paul interferes; he addresses the soldiers, prompted probably by a Divine impulse, but an impulse having this reason, that if the sailors should escape, there would be no one left to handle the ship. Paul is already trusted and honoured; the boat would be one means of safety to

themselves; yet they will risk that: with the short swords which the Roman soldiers carried at their sides, the ropes were in a moment cut, and the boat fell into the sea, to be instantly swamped or carried out of sight.

"THOU WILT KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE: BECAUSE HE TRUSTETH IN THEE," Isai. xxvi. 3, with Acts xxvii. 33 -37.-Day is gradually breaking: a crowd of wan and worn men press to the bulwarks to watch the outline of the land now growing into distinctness. For fourteen days, anxiety has destroyed appetite; no meal has been prepared; their forced abstinence from food has almost amounted to a religious fast. Yet in an hour it will need all the strength of a strong man to save each his own life. The prisoner, whose influence has now grown into command, gives a tonic to their appetite by words of cheer, ver. 34. Then, as calmly as if in the house of Lydia or with the brethren at Troas, he drew provision towards himself, he devoutly gave thanks, and began to eat. His example was speedily followed. The number of the persons on board is here inserted, and affords room for the supposition that after the meal there was a muster of the whole ship's company. On that sad morning, one man's peace diffused cheerfulness to a crowd of men with certain wreck before them. How deep, how full is the peace which God gives! 'BEHOLD, THE LORD'S HAND IS NOT SHORTENED, THAT IT CANNOT SAVE; NEITHER HIS EAR HEAVY, THAT IT CANNOT HEAR," Isai. lix. 1, with Acts xxvii. 38-44, first part.-Strength brought willingness for labour: if the ship was to be run ashore safely, she must

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be made as light as possible; so away went spars and rigging, and then the wheat out of the ship's hold. By the time this was done, the land was distinctly visible; not a single familiar landmark greeted the sight. But opposite them was a small bay or cove, with a sloping shore and a beach; perhaps they might ground the vessel there. Preparations are made: first, the anchors are cut loose, (ver. 40. Margin;) the rudders are let down, and the helmsman takes his place. The last and most critical act was to hoist the fore-sail, (improperly translated "main-sail.") The wind soon filled it, and away went the creaking ship towards the land. But the beach was never reached. A little in advance of the shore, a large sand-bank stretched beneath the concealment of

the waves. Into this, the driving ship plunged headlong. Where was Paul's promise now? Who could save

now? God's arm is "not shortened." The Roman soldiers do not even now forget the severity of Roman discipline. Should a prisoner escape, the soldier who had guard over him, forfeited his life. So now they propose to save themselves by killing the prisoners.

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But the centurion takes the responsibility on himself, and prohibits the slaughter. God's strong power thus arrested human wills, as it was about to arrest the power of the waves. Recall our first text. The centurion takes command: what directions did he give? Our section closes with two hundred and seventy-six people struggling through the breakers.

..

"YE KNOW IN ALL YOUR HEARTS AND IN ALL YOUR SOULS ; ALL ARB COME TO PASS,.. AND NOT ONE THING HATH FAILED THEREOF," Joshua xxiii. 14, with Acts xxvii. 44, last part.-One by one the dripping forms emerge from the surf and creep up on to the dry land: not one white-faced corpse lying on the sand; all are saved. Who would be so honoured in that crowd of rescued men as Paul, the prisoner? Read the first text again.

QUESTIONS. How did the sailors show their selfishness? How was their plot averted? By what means did Paul encourage the voyagers? How did he set them an example? What kind of land appeared? What preparations were made for beaching the vessel? What caused the wreck? What new danger threatened Paul at the hands of the soldiers? How was he rescued? Were all the people saved? how?

the "wreckers" who formerly haunted the dangerous coasts of Cornwall. From the people, the wretched company learned where they really were; in the island of Malta. No little kindness,-much the sufferers had need of it many would be in clothes dripping with wet; many would be very barely clad; some not clad at all. The rain was still falling, and as it was now about the tenth of November, the cold would be very piercing. Had gathered a bundle of sticks,-passing easily from his dignified position on board ship, to a work of kindly service on behalf of his fellow-sufferers. A viper out of the heat,-most likely it had been concealed amongst the branches gathered by Paul, in a torpid state; revived and alarmed by the fire, it crept forth. There are now no snakes in Malta; but it is now densely populated and under high cultivation, and these reptiles have been exter